May You Bloom and Grow (Forever!)

Hello! Sorry for the silence...there haven't been too many exciting updates on the kitchen front. The propane tank is being installed this afternoon so we should have our gas stove hooked up tonight. YAY!!! That is the final, final step in this whole process--besides decorating/accessorizing which may take awhile since we spent a pretty penny on the kitchen and car. So, I'll be back tomorrow or Friday with the final pictures of the kitchen. Oh happy day!

In the mean time, if you've come to know us at all you know that we haven't been sitting around twiddling our thumbs while we waited for the propane tank. This past weekend we took advantage of the spring-like weather on Saturday and spent the day in our yard.

We started by ripping out a huge rhododendron in front of our side porch. Here's a before picture:

This thing was a beast! Jeremy used a chain saw to cut most of it out but we still had to get the root ball up and out. After about a half hour of prying, and one broken shovel later, we managed to pull the root ball out! Sweet victory.

And here's the gaping hole it left.

We bought a hydrangea and densiformus yew (which is a hedging shrub) to fill the space.

And let me tell you, it has made a huge difference.

Again, here's the before:



And here's the after:

Here's a close up:

We bought these rocking chairs from Ocean State Job Lot (one of my favorite stores these days) for $60 each. And then we bought the cushions and table from my other favorite store, HomeGoods. Oh, and we added shutters to this window. Guess who got to paint them?!



We did more than the little porch make-over. We also spread 10 yards of mulch:

And we finished it off by planting some annuals and perennials. This was a welcome change from the kitchen renovation. It felt so good to be outside, enjoying the fresh air and getting some Vitamin D.  We are officially ready for spring!