Brown Thumb

Successfully killed both of my fiddle leaf figs.  Sad but true.  Nothing left but sad little brown sticks where once there were beautiful waxy leaves.   That’s what I get for following the design flock.  Should have known my brown thumb would show it’s true colors.  I can  maintain outdoor plantings just fine but my indoor plants seem to always suffer from neglect.  I simply forget to water.  Or in the rarer case of the figs, I over watered them when I first got them and they promptly began a slow decline into hibernation and eventual demise.  My first instinct was to run back out to Ikea to pick up some more but I stumbled across this specimen on the 50% rack at Lowe’s and it called out to me.  It is already in a stressed state from over watering so I figured my skimpy attention would be just the sort of attention it needs.  At $10, I am not going to fret if I kill it.  I sort of love that I have a specimen standard that is not as predictable as a fig.

Don’t forget about my giveaway.  You have until midnight EST, tonight to enter to receive a personalized glass tumbler.  Good luck!

All photos and layouts by mrs. V unless otherwise noted

kisses,  mrs. V

Tales From the Projects - Enjoying my Sweat Equity

Morning Constitutional

On most mornings you will find me puttering around the yard.  Watering plants and such.  Drinking coffee and enjoying all the hard work that has gone into making Chez V a home.  When I first arrived on the scene, Chez V was the consummate bachelor pad with no curb appeal.  Slowly, we have tried to beautify both the inside and out.

Favorite spot to do some patio perching with a cup of coffee

 

For as much as I dream of having a bigger home with nicer things, I can say that I will be sad to leave Chez V if and when that day comes.  We have done almost all the work ourselves and every ounce of sweat equity has been worth it.  Makes each and every corner so much more meaningful.  By far, the outside projects have been the most arduous but the most satisfying.  With the exception of the big pines and maple trees, I have planted every tree, shrub, and plant on this property.  I jack hammered the front walkway, laid pavers, dug a back patio, laid lots more pavers, dug a 2,000 gallon pond with a shovel, and hauled 20,000 lbs of fieldstone from building sites to my backyard.  You can read more about the patio project here.

So every flower, every path, every arbovitae, every pebble has meaning.  And I really enjoy taking my morning constitutional around this tiny corner we’ve carved out for ourselves.

All photos by mrs. V

kisses, mrs. V