Can You Fit a Car Into Your Garage?

When we bought our first home, we had a small detached garage. To access it, you needed to drive down an alley....we never put a car into it. In fact, there were several strong wind situations that I thought for sure, would put our sad little garage out of it's misery. We moved.

Not this garage...but very similar

Next, we went to London. When we moved to out to Ascott, we had a 1 1/2  car garage that we used to store many of our things. New Jersey was the next stop where we bought a much smaller version of the house you see in my header (pre-renovation). The former version had a 2 car garage that was made for small cars....I almost never parked inside that one.

NOT MY GARAGE, but you get the idea.

...and NOW, we have a 3-car garage that I always park in (1 bay). The second bay, where my husband parks, is not quite as accessible. It is cleared for the winter, however in good-weather months...not so much. Here is a picture I took of the 3rd bay when I was refinishing my china hutch.

There are so many "potential" projects waiting for me in all that "stuff". Now, at this very moment, you can't get any cars into any of the bays' because my shelving for the Spring Into Action challenge is spread out over the entire space! Which got me to thinking.......why doesn't my garage look like this?

Or this?

If my tools looked like this, I could find them sooner and save so much time!

This was an extremely long way of asking you creative people....can you fit a car into your garage?

Friday's...in The Garden...Rhododendron Ambush

Hi Everyone...I was in my friend's garden

This week, I ambushed my friend's rhododendrons. I have been telling her for the longest time..."You're house has no curb appeal, because you can't SEE your house".

Her house is actually really cute, once you find your way around the rhododendrons. I won't show you a picture of her home because she has no idea I am doing any of this....she is on vacation. Good thing she doesn't read my blog. A few landscapers gave her various advice on the best way to tackle these overgrown bushes. Two said "tear them out and start fresh". Another said he could trim them back for $500.

They are huge, and this is a big job. My opinion was to do it over 2-3 spring seasons (after the bloom). This is the longest slowest process, but will have the least amount of shock to the plant. Not to mention the fact that her husband doesn't want them touched. Did I mention that she is also my lawyer? Something about a cup of coffee and a ten dollar bill... she can no longer repeat anything we discuss. All of you former lawyers turned bloggers are nodding your heads.

This is a quick reference on how to prune a shrub

I don't want to do a tutorial on this because you can kill the plants if you prune too much. For some good tips on pruning rhododendrons, go here.  If you are doing more than just shaping and pruning...you should consider hiring someone who knows how. I worked for a few hours and took off this much

Since my friend is out of town, when she returns....if she is still speaking to me....I'll suggest I come back for round 2. This will give you an idea of how it is shaping up

It is starting to look so much better. I hope her husband isn't mad. They are having a pool installed, and I want to be on the "swim" list. Don't let your shrubs get this out of control! It is much cheaper to have them pruned than it is to replace them or deal with a huge pruning bill like this would have been. Was this considered trespassing? I have a feeling she will let me know.

Spring Into Action (week 2) & a Waffle

Welcome back to week 2 of Spring Into Action. I am tackling my basement shelving that I have been procrastinating for over a year! You can go to the beginning, here. There are 11 other bloggers working on their DIY's, too.

Before I tell you about my progress....my window boxes are on Dancing With the Stars The Waffler. Where America blogland gets to vote for their favorite. If you have an extra "click" in you today...go here, and vote for your favorite look for my house! If you are feeling indecisive about something in your life, have The Waffler poll blogland for a vote.

Now, back to the basement shelving. Here is my old shelving that no longer fits

It is just 1x12 pine boards that I cut down. As you can see, I used large cleats to hold the shelves

Here is part of the problem

The large cleats prevent storage boxes from stacking neatly. Also, the shelves are an awkward width

More wasted space! Since I need to chop them up, anyway......might as well (famous last words) really make them custom. I disassembled the shelves

Sanded all the rough spots from the previous glue, etc

...now I need to measure and reassemble. I have 1 week left for that. As for the dehumidifier....I wanted to install a hose to the back

Here are the parts

I followed the manufactures instructions

...and this happened

I can't get it close to the wall (insert bad words)! I need a 90 degree bend so the hose will lay straight. I can't imagine why I procrastinated on this project. it has been nothing but fun? Looks like I will be spending this lovely weekend in the basement. Come back next week to see if I put all of this curbside for bulky trash! To see the reveal, go here.

Now let's see how the other projects are failing doing!

Kerry - Design Du Monde 
Jean - Flower Hill Design
Becca - From Gardners 2 Bergers
Carrie - Hazardous Design
Sam - The Junk House
Tiffany - Living Savvy
Nancy - Powell & Brower Home
Lisa - A Room With A View
Cathy - Room RX
Suzy - Saved by Suzy
Laurie - Traditional & Modern

Put Your Hands Up!

I am off to get a manicure. I get the same color every time....because it is the only CND color I like

It lasts 2 weeks, and keeps my nails extra strong. My hands are in desperate need of help. I need a miracle lotion for them, so they will look like this

OK, maybe they won't look like that. All of you DIY-ers, horse people, mom's, craft-ers, florists, etc....

What is the best hand lotion...aka miracle treatment you know of?

Ebay & PA

This was a crazy busy weekend. It started with an Ebay auction. I have been on the hunt for a vintage 60's-ish wall sculpture. Maybe something I could put over my bed? I don't need to tell you how hot this stuff is now... I needed to get lucky. My search was "metal wall sculpture" and I did it under "distance nearest first" for sorting. That way, I might find something close to my home.

I got lucky! I found this with "Pick-up Only" in the description.

It looks to me, like a {similar} mirror image of this one

RUE

There was a slight problem....it was in Philadelphia, 2+ hours away. To my shock, I won the auction with only the minimum bid required $59. So, my daughter and I took off to spend the day in PA.

It was perfect weather! We went to a few museums

So took loads of pictures. We walked all around

Had lunch...and drove home.

What about the "men"...aka, husband & son? They went on their annual Spring outing to the NY International Auto Show. My son met NASCAR driver Joey Logano

He was also able to sit in this NASCAR

I would say that spring break is off to a good start!

Friday's in The Garden...Bye Bye dead trees, Hello new blog

Hi Everyone...it was a messy gardening week.

Last October, we had a horrible freaky storm hit our area. Most of my trees and plants are coming back strong. However, I had one dead tree and one dying tree, both standing. One thing is for sure, a dead tree standing....will eventually fall! So this week, I had tree work done at my house.

If you have ever had tree work done, then you know it is loud, messy, and inconvenient (why yes, I do need to get my car out of the driveway sometime today!). Now that it is over, my yard looks so happy.

I want to tell you about a, new to me, blog....Connie at Hartwood Roses. I stumbled upon her blog when I was buying my white roses on-line. She is an avid rose gardener, so if you are looking for a post on pruning roses



...go to her blog, here for a full tutorial.  She also does some fun DIY stuff. Have a happy Holiday this weekend!