finally, summer

It's been a gloomy June, and just when I was starting to despair that the entire summer would go by in a hazy blur, and then winter would be upon us (no, oh just, please, no) --- the sun came out. PHEW. I woke up this morning to a gorgeous and warm sunny day, which meant: a long walk with the dog to admire our neighbors' gardens (during which I underestimated just how warm it was, and we had to stop for a few minutes for a hot and weary Lola to rest in the shade of a tree); tinkering in my garden (the veggie plants are looking good, the hydrangeas are about to burst, and Sir Ian McGnomey's zinnia garden is in full bloom); a dog in the kiddie pool (instant cooling down for our Lola - well worth the $15 we spent on this tiny plastic pool last summer); Lola going crazy chasing the hose spray as I watered the lawn we just seeded yesterday; and feeling even more excited that I found an inexpensive little patio set at Target this past weekend (why is it so hard to find decent-looking patio furniture that doesn't cost a small fortune?), which will no doubt get plenty of use over the next couple of weeks when Kevin's parents come to town.

I'm off to the hardware store to buy some chicken wire to protect my veggie garden (those damn rabbits), and then it's dinner with friends at a Mexican place we've never tried. We have a fun weekend ahead, full of outdoor projects (weeding, mowing the lawn, moving some plants around, staining the deck and back fence), getting the house cleaned and organized in preparation for the in-laws' visit, a bachelorette party, a going away party, and a picnic and live music at the Lake Harriet bandstand on Sunday. If it's warm enough on Sunday, maybe we'll spend the first half of the day at one of the lake beaches. There is just nothing like summer in the Twin Cities.

I love this charming tiered garden in the neighborhood.

Tomatoes, basil, peppers, kale, and lettuce - in containers in the old sandbox we've been too lazy to dig out and replace with an in-the-ground veggie garden. Next year, maybe.

Those hydrangeas are looking to be spectacular this summer.

Sir Ian McGnomey and his zinnia garden. 

Hot dog in a kiddie pool.

Not too fancy, but it folds up for winter storage, so there you go. 

Happy weekend!

easter weekend

It's warm-weather project time! We started this weekend by picking up some more indoor plants (have you ever heard of a ZZ plant?), and by starting some basil and cilantro seeds in a couple of small pots and an empty industrial-sized can of dijon mustard that a chef friend gave me last year.  Hopefully, in a couple of weeks we'll start to see some green goodness pop up in these pots. Kev will start his tomato seedlings next weekend. This is our first attempt at growing our own food , and we're pretty excited. 

Then we started a couple of painting projects that I've been meaning to get around to since last spring (eh, we've been busy). We're finally painting the $30 Craigslist coffee table and the $70 vintage cane chair that I bought last year. A little sanding, a little priming, a little painting, and we should have two beautiful pieces - the table for our front porch, and the chair for our living room. 

Kevin celebrated Easter by taking the dog for a run on this gloriously sunny day, and I celebrated by making a flowery bow for Lola's collar and then subjecting her to another one of my photo shoots, in our coming-to-life-again backyard. Behold, the beauty. 

 

I made my first batch of deviled eggs ever, for Easter dinner at our friend Kristin's house. I used a recipe from Martha Stewart (of course), and also made a big pan of scalloped potatoes. Delicious!

Sir Ian McGnomey (our garden gnome) celebrated Easter by looking jolly and wise, and keeping guard over the squirrels, bunnies, flowers, and trees that inhabit our land. 

Hope you all had a wonderful and blessed Easter. Come see us soon. Minnesota's finest days are nearly upon us, and we can promise bike rides around lakes, fish taco dinners, and plenty of long walks with the world's greatest dog. Sounds good, right? 

P.S. Kevin thinks Lola doesn't love our little photo shoots as much as I do. Does this look like the face of a dog that is suffering? 

  

Meh - she'll survive. 

saturday morning

It's a gorgeous day. Wonderful, happy, lazy, and sunny morning in the Shevlin house. Reading "Lord of the Rings," sleeping by warm vents (mostly Lola), enjoying the light in the house at this time of year, and getting ready for 10-mile runs in 31 degrees (Kevin, not me).  Hope you are all having as nice a morning as we are!

P.S. I think we're all in such a great mood because it's sunny and "warm" (31 degrees), and we've been told it's supposed to get all the way up to 47 degrees by Monday! YAHOOOOOOO!

fall weekend and halloween

Before November comes to an end I suppose I better take the opportunity to get caught up on my October posts, and to say: HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Yes, I'm falling behind on blog posts again, but, better late than never.

Kevin and I both love fall, and we've been having an exceptionally fally one this year. The weekend before Halloween Kev and I managed to pack in a ton of fall/pre-Halloween fun. Kev took an introductory woodworking class that Friday evening, and came home with a wooden tool chest that he made. It was so great to see the big smile on his face and to hear about all of the skills and tools he learned to use in just three hours. When he walked in, big smile on his face and the tool chest in hand, I felt so proud of him! Kev's talked about getting into woodworking for a long time, and I'm so glad that he finally decided to start taking some classes. Saturday morning we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast of oatmeal and coffee, and then headed off to Minneapolis to pick up our friend, Jesse, on our way to Apple Jack Orchard and Farm. We picked our pumpkins, did a little apple picking, took some hammy jumping shots, and made our way through the corn maze. After the farm we met up with Jesse's husband, Matt, at a haunted house in the burbs. I, the woman who cries during scary movies because she just can't handle the anxiety that they cause, was not thrilled about the haunted house, but it actually turned out to be fun (sort of). On Sunday morning we decided to drive around the neighborhood and look at the spectacular fall leaves (and, you guessed it, to take some more jumping shots), and then we set off in search of our Halloween costumes. A quick trip to a Halloween store and the Goodwill for some inspiration/supplies for Kev's costume, and then a trip to the fabric store for everything I needed to make my costume. We spent the evening at home, where we enjoyed a tapas-style dinner of sliced apples, green olives, manchego cheese, crackers, smoked oysters, and fig spread (delicious!), and then carved our pumpkins and set up our Halloween display (complete with the ghosts I made - I was feeling crafty this year). We got a little adventurous with our pumpkin carving this year, and the results were pretty darn good (we got lots of compliments from the trick-or-treaters this year, so we impressed children at least). 

 

Halloween (one of our favorite days of the year) was awesome in our new home. From decorating the front yard with pumpkins and the old hay bales that used to reside under the tree in the front yard (we never did know why they were there in the first place), to handing out candy and meeting some of our neighbors, to hosting a Halloween party, it was a very good first Halloween in the new house. Kev and I were both happy with our costumes this year, and even though we didn't have a "couple's" costume (I just could not sell Kev on the Peter Pan/Tinker Bell idea), I think we looked cute together as Indiana Jones and a bumble bee. Kev's costume consisted of a $3 tan shirt and $14 leather jacket from the Goodwill store, khaki pants he already owned, a hat and whip set from the Halloween store, and his very own beard. I think he made a great Indy! My costume consisted of sewing long strips of bright yellow felt onto two large pieces of black felt, and then sewing the two black pieces together to make a jumper, wings made out of a pair of white tights and two wire hangers, a headband wrapped in yellow pipe cleaners with two fuzzy black poms from the craft store glued to the ends, and a black long-sleeved shirt and black leggings that I already owned - super easy, warm, inexpensive, and cute (my four requirements for Halloween costumes). Our party was small - about 15 people - but really fun. Everyone got into it with the costumes, and we played a couple of rounds of the game "Celebrity" (a really fun version of charades). A great night with good friends!

Phew! A long post - thanks for sticking with me. Get it? It's a bee pun. Hope you all enjoyed Halloween as much as we did.