Redwood flower frames

Posted on April 15, 2013 by casadeberry

We love our backyard, no question about it. It is a pretty decent size, it allows our boys to play hard and it allows us to entertain and grow fruits and veggies for our family.

THAT said . . .

Sometimes things out back get kind of, well, boring.

True, we will have lots of lavender and tomatoes bringing in the reds and purples of summer, and there will be fresh corn and plums, too, but we wanted some instant gratification and my husband decided to put together some frames for nature’s works of art.

The frames are made from redwood planks – we painted them using leftover spray paint and some mistints that cost $5/gallon.

I love looking outside the playroom/office window and seeing these bright pops of color!

We are very happy with how this project turned out, and it has been featured at:

Linked to:

Springing and stretching!

Posted on March 4, 2013 by casadeberry

These last few days have blessed us with glorious weather here in Sili Valley. The sun has been out, but it hasn’t been super hot, I’ve been loving it! This past weekend we decided to hit our local gardening stores – two of them!

Our front yard got some much-needed brightening up with these trailing white flowers on the hanging baskets:

My youngest was determined to get some yellow goodness ;D

In the backyard, we started our herb garden:

My husband added a brick border to define our salad greens area:

Caged and ready!

We also planted more potatoes, including some purple varieties. Our potatoes come back every year but we wanted some russets as well, and then we saw the purple sets. Can’t wait to eat some of those! Our onions and chard are doing great, they come back, too, and hopefully our garlic will do well this year. My husband planted two blackberry bushes in the side yard. We have a blueberry bush that is my boys’ favorite treat. Hopefully the vine will do well again this year so we can make some grape jelly again, and I look forward to the lovely scent of my lavender plants.

My husband and I have the sorest hamstrings ever from all the planting and weeding, I’ve been stretching because otherwise the pain doesn’t let me sleep very well. I hope you’ll follow our gardening adventures this year, I’m very excited to see how our veggies do!

Puttin’ some flair out there

Posted on December 4, 2012 by casadeberry

Our sweet little Christmas tree is now up and delighting my boys with the colorful lights:

But when it comes to the outside of our home, we like our lights clear and steady. No blinkin’ for us ;D

We got a few extra pieces, some to replace items that had gotten damaged over the years. Like these huge red ornaments, they look great against the white garage door!

Between our two windows, we place this lighted wreath, which I love.

The swirly drop ornaments are also new this year. I like the different textures on them; smooth metallic, glittery, etc.

Our entryway has a bit of whimsy with a hanging Ho Ho Ho decoration that Steve painted, and a couple of welcoming pieces leading up to the wreath on the door.

On the front lawn we have some candy canes and sparkly accents:

I didn’t notice my youngest’s big wheel until I was editing the photos ;D but you know, that’s part of our home’s charm.

Are you decorating outdoors for the holidays?

Fifty Shades of Brown

Posted on August 31, 2012 by casadeberry

We had a blast on our camping trip – but let’s face it, there were less-than-glamorous aspects that we had to contend with for four days. The first one was the aforementioned wasps; they got a couple of the kids, so we had to designate off-limits areas. The second one, or rather, uh, number two, was a most odorous situation. Meaning, no-flush toilets. Our friend P, who, along with my husband, decided to aim their headlight down the long-drop toilet to have a look, christened it Fifty Shades of Brown. That’s boys for ya, because I used those toilets as much as they did and not once, NOT ONCE, did I feel the compulsion to aim my headlight so I could see better. Bleargh.

ANYWAY, on to better things now.

The man tackling the wasp situation

The day before we came home we went to a river, it was such fun – the boys busied themselves with building a dam.

Friendly river duck

Our youngest enjoys a jam session with our friend J:

See? This is proof that I was cleaning those boys up whenever I could ;D

The next morning, it was time to pack up and head home:

“Thank you very much, good night!”

And that was our four-day adventure at Yosemite. The boys love camping, playing around in the woods, and being manly men with their buddies. We love hanging out with friends and family and having great food. And wine. Wine is good.

Have a wonderful holiday weekend!

My mother’s day

Posted on May 14, 2012 by casadeberry

Our Sunday was a relatively quiet one, the boys ran around and did their own thing while we (me and my in-laws) enjoyed on the wonderful lunch my husband put together.

But first, it was present time!

I got a sweet, handmade “vase with flowers” from each of my boys – one was on a paper plate and the other was made out of a pasta sauce jar. I’d asked my husband for light summery jammies and he bought me a bunch – thanks, honey!

The food was delicious – the corn on the cob didn’t even need butter!

My burger:

My husband’s burger:

His momma’s burger – she was very adventurous!

Enjoying lunch under our little gazebo

And then — oh my goodness, came the dessert tray:

Strawberries, mango and kiwi dipped in chocolate, and fresh-from-the-over brownies. So good!!!
I had asked for something chocolatey for dessert and boy, I got it!

It was a wonderful day, full of love, and I hope you all had a great Mother’s Day, too – or a great Sunday, if you did not celebrate.

Birthday weekend, part 3

Posted on November 17, 2011 by casadeberry

After leaving Castello di Amorosa, we drove to Joseph Phelps for the tasting our friends C&D had set up for us.

Joseph Phelps has not only great wines, but also glorious views from their tasting terrace:

The tasting we had included their Insignia wines:

My favorite was the 2006 Insignia, followed by the 2005 Cab. I am a Bordeaux girl at heart but love Cabs as well, so this tasting was right up my alley.

Me with our friend M. Yes, I am a hobbit. Ironic since she is from New Zealand

For lunch, M had made reservations at Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen, a super charming restaurant from the owner of Brassica and Mustards. I loved that the window boxes surrounding the restaurant were full of vegetables!

I had the Backstreet Burger, my husband and J had the Adult Grilled Cheese, and M had the Duck burger. Everything was delicious and we headed back to the hotel for a nap. More about my birthday weekend tomorrow!

Fashion Friday: at the Pumpkin Patch

Posted on October 21, 2011 by casadeberry

This time it was time for me to join my youngest and his class on a field trip. We went to one of our local pumpkin patches and had a blast. We’ve gone to Uesugi Farms a few times with our boys and we’ve always had a good time. They have hay rides, a train, a pumpkin lab to see the growth process, and my personal favorite, the honey booth. Not to be confused with a booth babe, the honey booth had lots of different flavors of honey grown in the farm itself. I tried two and they were yummy. My boy was less than impressed but I think it was more the texture of it that made him wrinkle his nose.

This morning was super chilly, so even though I love the cold weather, I brought along a knit scarf to keep my neck warm.

Later on it was a bit warmer so I was glad to wear this super light chevron-stripe top. We each got a pumpkin and I bought some small white pumpkins at 3 for a dollar. We were happy to be home but had a wonderful time with our friends and classmates.

Have a great weekend!

Tiled outdoor counter

Posted on October 10, 2011 by casadeberry

When we moved in to this house, we found a BBQ and counter attached to one of the outside walls. It wasn’t in very good condition and the fact that it was right next to the house concerned us. There was a kegerator with spouts both inside and outside. Awesome, right? Except we don’t drink beer.

The old BBQ finally collapsed, full of rust, and left a huge hole in the middle of the counter. We figured, since we were redoing the bathroom floor, we could use the same materials to re-vamp the counter into an actually usable piece.

The process was basically the same – clear off all old materials, layer backerboard, mud it, then lay and grout tile. For this counter, we purchased edging pieces and an extra pack of the tile we used for the bathroom. At 68 cents per tile, it was perfect.

Now we have a beautiful counter that is both useful and presentable:

On the top left corner you can see a switch box, we can hook up music, a coffeemaker, a fan on hot days, etc. so it is a very serviceable area for entertaining.

My awesome husband did a great job on this as well, didn’t he?

Fall outdoor decor

Posted on October 6, 2011 by casadeberry

I’m joining up the fall parteh at Sarah’s today with my BOO pumpkins. I saw this idea on pinterest and I decided to switch it up a bit.

First, I spray painted the pumpkins with Oil Rubbed Bronze. Then, since my oldest was helping me with this craft I made it a little easier for him by scribbling the letters on paper first.