Friday, July 22, 2011

Ridgetop Farm B&B

Ooops.

Haven't blogged for awhile.

I have been on vacation.

San Luis Obispo & San Francisco.

I have lots of pictures to share.

Yesterday on my way home I stopped at Ikea.

I LOVE Ikea.

LOVE LOVE LOVE.

We were there for over 3 hours.

Thankfully, they have free daycare. (Averie loved it)

I promptly got up this morning and did an overhaul of our downstairs guest suite.

Knowing that I was going to redecorate made even the deep cleaning part fun!


The empty room.

Pre-Ikea overhaul.


The new Ridgetop Farm guest suite!
I still have some pictures to hang & a little more work in the bathroom but I was so excited I couldn't wait to share.
So who will be our first guest???

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Typical Tuesday

Tuesday doesn't really get much notoriety.


It's kind of a ho hum day of the week.


I am working in the garden today, so I gave Averie my camera.


I just love getting her perspective on things.


After 2 minutes of snap pea picking.......ugh.


Save meeeee!


Align Center


I love this!


I could eat berries every single meal.


Sugar snap peas.......not so much. :)


Aver's pic of a bee.
I just love how they can sound like angry old ladies arguing sometimes.


Immediately after this picture was taken we had to have a discussion about the Birds and the Bugs.


No, sweetheart those bugs are not Siamese twins. ;)


I love that girl.


This makes me so incredibly happy.

My first raspberries!

Again, I love berries, a lot!


My sweet girls hanging out in the shade of the oak tree.
I adore my chicks.

Averie's picture of me.
She also tried her hand at photo editing......not to shabby for her being 7!
I think this is a definite candidate for What I Wore Wednesday! HA!

Happy Tuesday!
Anyone else have anything exciting going on? ;)

Monday, July 11, 2011

Front Porch

I have been wanting to decorate my front porch for as long as I have lived here.


I am finally getting around to it. :)


It is one of the coolest places to sit in the summertime.


My animals figured that out right away.


There is alway a cat, dog or chicken lounging on the porch somewhere.






Here's the before picture.


We had to start from the ground up.


Matt sanded & restained the decking first.





I love my rummage sale chairs & round table!


I spray painted the chairs red!

The table cover is my Aunt MaryJane's. I think she made it.....awhile ago. I hope she doesn't want it back. ;)
The little bird used to be a poop brown color. It was on clearance at Target for $1. I spray painted it Robin's Egg Blue. Much better!
I found the cute enamel pail at Home Goods.
The Welcome Summer blocks came from Etsy.
That amazing antique door I scored at Three Speckled Hens last fall when I was working a booth. It was love at first sight.

I love my little wreath.
And I am not above shamelessly plugging my friend Lisa's home decor products!
I love them!!!!
Her pennant banner makes this whole wreath!
The wreath literally took me 5 minutes to put together.
I love quick n' easy!

These lights......I hated them.


Until I got ahold of a can of spray paint.
Now I LOVE them!

I am going to dub this "The Summer of Spray Paint!"

I have been spray painting everything.

My fingernails & toenails are black from all the spray paint.


It's almost done!

I am on the hunt for a hanging porch swing for that spot all the way at the end of the porch.

Can't believe I am having such a hard time finding one.

Anywhere!!!

I had to hose the deck down. :(

My chickens missed their Mother Hen (me) this weekend & they decided to hang out on the porch all day long waiting for me (and pooping).

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Puffballs & A Summer's Eve

One of the really amazing perks to having one of my Bff's being a photographer.........

when she visits she takes really cool photos with MY camera! :)

I just love these pics!










They saved a few for later!

The girls picked the vase.




I was picking sweet peas!

One of my favorite things to do.


What's a summer's eve without a sherbet float........

YUM!







I heart Joni Lloyd Photography!

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Best Summer Idea

I seriously LOVE this idea from Somewhat Simple!

Everytime the kidos say I'm Bored they have to go to the jar.

It's not all good in the jar either! (Love that part, tee hee)

She even provides printables.

LOVE IT!!!

Monday, July 4, 2011

The Ranch

My grandfather owns some acreage about 2 miles from our house that is affectionately named "The Ranch."

Our whole family spends a LOT of time there during the summer.

It is one of the coolest spots on the mountain & there is always lots to do.

My kids love it!

Kids taking the raft out on the pond.


Averie waiting for dinner to be ready.


Fields full of my favorite flowers, Lupine!


The peaceful pond.



Baylee is waiting for her next victim to scare on the golf cart.


Ready to roast marshmallows!


My favorite time of the day!

S'more Time!


Being at The Ranch is always quality family time!

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Our Fun 4th T's

Averie's fun 4th T!





I finished up our T's n' Tanks for the 4th!


I used fabric scraps I had, buttons, & basic T's n Tanks from Old Navy.


These are SUPER easy to make & do not require a sewing machine.


Which was nice for me since I have no table to sew on.


My deck furniture is squashed into my dining room. Makes my dining table unusable.


Anyways, here's what I did.


I made flowers!


I tore. Yes, tore. Strips of fabric in 3 different widths depending on what size flower I wanted.


They were 2"x 12" for the large flowers, 1.5" x 10" for the medium sized & 1"x 10" for the small.

Then using a needle and thread (I used 2 strands of white embroidery thread) with a knot on one end, sew a loose running stitch along one side of the torn fabric strip.

Pull the thread to gather the strip.



Overlap the edges of the fabric strip and secure by sewing a button in the center.


I used the same thread to sew the flower & button directly on to the shirt.


So make sure you have a long piece of thread.



Here's my tank!


I lightly pressed the flowers just a bit.


These were sew easy & only took me about 30 minutes!


Can't wait for the 4th!!!






I am sharing at:
UndertheTableandDreaming

Fun Places to Go in Slo!

This week we went for a quick trip to SLO.

My big kids had found an apartment they wanted me to look at, so we drove over for just 1.5 days.

We had a TON of fun!

I had my little girls & my Aunt MaryJane with me.

Of course, we had to go to Ruby Rose!

My girls LOVED & I mean LOVED this store!!!!

The owners are sooo much fun, we had a blast.

The girls ready to hunt for treasures!


Averie found what she wanted before we even went in the store.


I covet this.

Not in my price range this trip. :(


Note: The rest of the pictures below were taken by my 7 year old Averie.

Want to have a whole new perspective through the lens???

Give your camera to your kids!

LOL!!!!

It was hilarious!







I loved this dress.

Alas, it didn't fit me.

Averie took a picture for me so I could always remember that dress.

Something I did buy!

This absolutely PERFECT for my house letter F.

I love it & Aver's pic of it.

Something else I bought!

Morgan wants a cool looking pinboard.

This frame was perfect for what she wants.

Again, the photo was all Averie's idea!

A pair of clogs that Averie really wanted.

Tee Hee......:)

A little to big.

She took the pic of them on her feet.

My Aunt MaryJane dreaming of this lovely vintage gown!



Cute stuff everywhere!


I was in treasure heaven.





I just love Averie's pictures!

She is quite the little photographer.

After a fun morning shopping we really needed some caffeine.

The shop owners at Ruby Rose sent us to the cutest little coffee shop.

Sally Loo's named after the owners pit bull.

Super yummy coffee drinks!

Great atmosphere!

They also had the most incredible assortment of fresh baked goods.

We wanted to try everything but we limited ourselves to 3!

Chai Blueberry Coffee Cake, Oatmeal Raisin Cookie & a Berry Crumble Bar.

Everything was delicious & obviously homemade.


We met my dear friend & her son for lunch at a great little place called Laguna Grill & we ended our day with a walk on the Avila Pier.

It was a fast fun 36 hour visit!