i finally figured out what to do with a bunch of leftover hanging candle lanterns from my wedding...that was 4 years ago...



take a $1 solar light from dollar tree...unscrew the top...guerilla glue it to the top of your candle lantern...and viola!



hanging solar light!



not bad for a nice backyard glow...the price isn't bad either. :)

ever since we moved into our house (almost 2 years ago!), i'm a little ashamed to say that our outdoor back porch light fixture has not worked!



the home inspector told us there was nothing actually wrong with the light...it was just that the bulb was burned out...and the light is so old (original to the house probably) that they don't make the bulbs anymore. i looked around a bit for the bulb, but then gave up. the light was ugly, rusted, and very 1971 anyhow.

there are things i love about the 1970s...the music rocked back then...but i'm afraid that home design did not!

i dislike most outdoor fixtures anyways...why do they always have to be so boring? and why do they usually look like boobies? seriously now.

anyways...i've seen a lot of people make lights out of crazy random things lately. and i dig it.
so i decided to make a little light fixture of my own.

so i snagged a cheap basket at hobby lobby for $2, and the cheapest light fixture i could find at home depot for $5.



i cut a hole in the bottom of the basket, and it's held up there with the fixture. hopefully it's not a fire hazard. :P if you know anything about that, then please do share. all the wires are all clamped up though and up in the ceiling, pretty far away from everything else.

ok, can i just say that those baskets are tougher than they look?? man, that took a loooooot of cutting! it's not perfect, but i'm happy with the finished product!



i love how its not your typical outdoor light, and how you can see it from the deck! it castes some nice shadows in the dark too.



question...do you think the handles should stay or go? i couldn't decide so i left them for now.



i love the view of it from our deck. and i love this picture.
mostly just because i get to show off the cute little elephant planter that my hubby got me a few weeks ago.

i kind of have a thing for elephants...so it's a good thing i married an indian...
not that they all have elephants over there or anything...though i have seen a few. :)

anyways. creative and cheap solutions make me happy!
i love it when a diy project actually turns out the way you had envisioned it!

happy ending.

confession. i have a gardening addiction.

i don't know why, but i always think of little old ladies gardening. does this make me officially old?
but i have to admit that if i let myself, i could blow some serious money in a plant nursery!

when we bought our house, it was pretty much a blank canvas for landscaping.
meaning...it needed help!

the backyard has been easy and fun to gradually add things to. but the front yard has been my problem child.

it's a north facing yard with three ginormous trees! which makes for a very shady and rooty area.

so i've been trying to figure out plants that can deal well with both...plus maybe have some interesting color? and survive texas heat?? it's a challenge!

this spring our yard is starting to look a little better than last year though. we still have a long way to go, and i'm far from being a landscape designer, but it's nice to at least see some progress.
new additions to the garden this spring were the tiger lilies. i planted them as root balls, and i've been very excited to see that they decided to go ahead and bloom...i put them in the sunniest spot i could manage, but it was still pretty shady, so thankfully they performed anyways!



i picked up a couple betonies last year off a nursery clearance rack. i wasn't really sure what they were, but i kind of liked the foliage, and the tag said they could to part shade, so i thought i'd check them out.



well, this year i have definitely gotten my $3 worth out of those guys! i love their purple flowers, and the splash of color they add!

holy hostas!! probably the show stoppers this year though are the hostas that i also picked up on clearance last year. these pics do not do justice to how enormous they are! i love them!



and another new addition this year sitting next to the hostas are our ginger plants! they're supposed to bloom later in the summer, so i can't wait to see those blooms for the first time. i like the bit of height they add, as well as a kind of tropical feel.

well, that's my little garden update! i'm far from being a pro, so i'd love any advice or suggestions!
i eventually want to extend one side of the garden around the east corner of the house. that corner gets more sun, so i might be able to add some interest there. oh, and i want to add a few more of these little day lilies as well... they seem to do pretty good anywhere!



also i need to figure out how to deal with my roof run off area. it's like a huge bald spot. or as i like to call it...no man's land. know any shady pretty plants that can take a beating? :P

the ground cover around our huge maple is an issue as well. cuz the mondo grass currently there is ugly and sparse due to the crazy amount of roots going on. so i'm considering taking trying to root some clippings of a cross vine i have in the back to make into a ground cover... but i've never seen it as a ground cover, so if anyone knows if this might work then let me know.

hopefully next spring i can show you a completed front garden!
or at least some more progress... :)

a friend sent me this video he took of one of our dogs fighting a sand crab during our recent beach camping adventure...just thought i'd pass it on for kicks! the fight lasted about 20 minutes in real time...that crab was not backing down! haha.

don't worry though...no animals were harmed in the making of this video. :)

by the way, do you hear that wind?? geeeez louise, that was some sandy wind!

ok, so part of the reason i started blogging here wasn't to just talk about big life happenings... but to also capture the day to day little things that our lives are made of.

so that those happy little moments don't just fade into forgotten memories.

i guess basically what i'm trying to say is that if you're looking for excitement, you may not want to read today. but if you don't mind mundane daily life, then you're welcome to take a walk with me and bindi!

bindi needs daily exercise. a lot of it. without it she's the goddess of destruction.
so she has certainly been my inspiration in exploring all the paths and parks of our neighborhood.

and we've found our favorite route. we take this walk/jog about 4-5 times a week, and it usually takes us almost an hour, so it's a nice little workout for both of us.

most of my mornings start with bindi stalking me as soon as i sit down to drink my chai.

this is her begging to go for a walk pose. how can i refuse?
she will harass me until we go, so she's a great workout buddy for accountability.

this is my favorite walk for the scenery, and bindi's favorite for the squirrels.
when you exit our alley, you enter right onto a nice walking path through a park.

these paths go for a couple miles all around the neighborhood, and i LOVE them.

bindi and i take these paths down to our favorite neighborhood park. we usually pass a few bikers and joggers on the way.

this is the view peeking over a bridge into a creek...we're almost to our favorite spot!

waterfalls!

isn't she cute?

i just think this is a cool looking wall. but bindi only cares about the squirrels.

this time of year the walk is extra pretty...because as soon as you emerge from the woods, you find yourself in the middle of wildflowers!

excuse the crazy hair. i just felt the need to get in a pic!



squirrel?

better luck next time bindi.

back in the neighborhood...gotta behave now.

ok, i think all this picture taking is starting to weird bindi out.

home! bindi takes a nice long drink from the goldfish pond...

...and then it's time to recharge!
what a life!

well, i hope you enjoyed our little walk!
reading blogs burns calories too...i promise! ;)

and i'm kind of a homebody.

there's no place i'd rather be than sleeping in my own bed at night with my man. you've gotta do what you've gotta do though, and i really do always have a nice time when i travel as well. mostly because i work with some pretty amazing people.

one of my trips across texas this past month was to corpus christi.
camping on the beach seems like a fantastic idea in theory. the sunrise, the sound of the waves, the sand between your toes, etc...

well it turns out that it's the sand part that's the problem. that combined with 90 mph winds made for a very sandy weekend indeed!

no doubt though, the view was worth it. lots of fun was had by all. and you seriously can't beat an easter sunrise service right on the water!


you just kind of have to embrace the sand and the nasty though.
good times.