Tool Time with Matt and Ashley

When we purchased our house last year, it was very basic (no crown moulding, no trim around the windows, etc.). I am slowly adding the niceties that the house needs. Over the last 5 days, Ashley and I installed trim around all the windows in the house. I think it looks great.

Working in the kitchen.

Here's the finished product in the living room. We also installed wooden blinds.

The guest bedroom.

The window in the master bathroom.

The kitchen window overlooking the backyard.

One of the windows in the master bedroom.

Relaxing after a job well done.

We grilled a MONSTER steak.

How does your garden grow?

My vegetable garden has been growing nicely. If all of our plants produce fruit, we should be able to open our own produce section at the local grocery store.

Here is a picture of the "tomato factory":

Here is a long shot of the veggies, so you can see the size of the garden.

Here's the corn, peppers, and cucumbers.

Here's the squash and arugula.

I included a picture of my gardenia, because it is laden with blooms right now. This plant smells spectacular.

We spent the past few weeks landscaping the backyard.

We also replanted an oak tree and added four hydrandeas. Two of them are from north Alabama and two of them are from Florida. I planted roughly 40 caladiums and 6 hostas along the house.

I built a huge vegetable garden. I have 26 tomato plants (3 types of tomatoes), 9 green bell peppers, 2 sweet banana peppers, 2 arugula, strawberries, 9 corn, 9 cucumbers, 9 summer squash, thyme, 2 oregano, 2 types of basil, 3 lemon balm, mint, rosemary, 2 types of sage, 2 cilantro, 2 parsley, and lavender.

I planted a gardenia that I found in Birmingham, Alabama. The blooms smell amazing. I planted it next to the dining room, and if you open the dining room windows, the smell of gardenia comes into the house.

I added two spotlights to the backyard: one lights the gardenia and the other lights a big oak tree next to the back fence.



We built a nice area for the dogs' house and planted flowers around it.

Eventually, I will probably put a picnic table in the middle of the yard.

Happy Happy Birthday

Today, my sister is officially 28 years old! In honor of all the great times we have had over the past 5 years (basically, since I have owned a digital camera), here is a short video to celebrate the birth of Margerine.