Wednesday, October 19, 2016

My New Best Friend

Let me introduce you to the newest member of the family...Sampson!  For awhile I've been talking to the fella about wanting a dog and to make a long story short he was out one day and found this little guy who was in need of a new home.  
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Sampson is quite the people loving little guy and so, he works out perfectly coming to work with me everyday, as I run a program for elderly individuals who have a form of dementia and need memory support.  He is the perfect therapy dog, not only for my clients but also for my hardworking staff and myself.  Everyone absolutely adores him.  He sits on laps, knows how to avoid walkers and wheelchairs, calms anxieties, snuggles in beds, entertains, is patient, triggers good memories, is a quiet presence, gives kisses, and in general creates smiles.  He gives LOVE and is LOVED.
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He's been adjusting really well to all seven of our cats.  Not an easy task for a new member of the family that's not of the cat species.  He is turning into a mama's boy and is my constant companion.  I have bestowed upon him his new nickname Samspoon as his favorite past time is cuddling in bed.
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Not only am I lucky enough to be able to bring my dog to work with me everyday, but there is also a great walking trail two feet from my building that's dog friendly.  So, Sampson and I get to hit the walking path daily for a bit of mid-day exercise.
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I can't tell you how happy I am to have a dog in my life again.  But of course not just any dog, Sampson is really one of a kind and I'm so lucky to have him.
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See ya soon!
~MaryDeluxe & Samspoon

Saturday, October 8, 2016

Wrapping Up The Summer and Moving Into Fall Projects

Once again a season has flown by a bit to fast for me. I LOVE Spring/Summer and it's probably the time of year when I am the busiest. I also LOVE projects and get lots of pleasure in creating and surrounding myself in a space that makes me happy. (Funny that I don't feel that way about my office at work, that space is pretty much walls with a door, comfy chairs and a desk.) So, this Summer was spent checking projects off the to do list.

 Here's what got accomplished around the homestead this Spring and Summer:
  • Chicken Coop and Landscape 
  • Fish Pond and Landscape 
  • Move the existing Veggie Garden and create a bigger one 
  • Landscape front of Bungalow 
  • Paint back porch on Bungalow 
  • Paint outside of the 1957 Liberty Mobile Home
I've already posted about our chicken coop we built and about the new placement of the veggie garden. So, lets take a look at some of our other completed projects.

We have been working on landscaping the main house, the bungalow for awhile now and this summer we added a stone path to connect with an existing cement stairs, stone edging around the flower beds we put in last year, and new flower beds.

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Last Summer we painted the front porch and added the wooden swing.  We also did a lot of perennial planting around the front porch last year.  You can see a nice before shot of the house below to see where we started in March of 2015.  I was so happy to see those shrubs go!

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I like having a water feature where I live, there's just something about the sound of running water that I find very calming and relaxing.  We got out the heavy equipment and got to work building a rather large fish pond!  I located the pond in an area of the garden I've been working on this summer.  I will expand on the landscape around the pond on the opposite side next summer.

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Our last big Summer project that wrapped up this week was the painting of the vintage 1957 mobile home.  The reason we moved this project up on our to do list is because we have decided that we will be using the mobile home to open our own vintage shop in Spring of 2017!  I am super excited!! This winter we plan on renovating the inside of the mobile home.


We decided to go with the turquoise/white/black color scheme instead of the original red and white one. We thought it would be neat to buff the aluminum shiny but quickly realized we just didn't have the time or energy to put into doing it so, white was our second option.  I still think it turned out great!

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I went ahead  and added the black pin stripping line and created the V on the back of the trailer.  It actually turned out better than I thought it would.  It's a real eye catcher as you're driving down the road!  Here's a before and after look at what we've done below.

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As you can see, we removed a lot of shrubs from the trailer this Spring and once again I was happy to see them go.  I will spend some time in early spring 2017 working out the landscaping and perhaps a tree removal will even take place?  See how I'm just adding to my to do list!  I love it!

By now you must realize that we have not one house, but actually three houses here on the property to maintain and renovate.  We are currently living in the little apartment/cottage behind the main house attached to the garage...here.  We are still renovating the bungalow, though the progress has been slow lately, and plan on living there eventually.  The trailer will become our shop and the cottage apartment will become anybody's guess right now??  I'm sure we will figure something out!

Thanks for stopping by!

Until next time
XOXO
~MaryDeluxe