Our Little Corner of the World

 

This weekend, my mom and Aunt Bean descended upon our new home like two very active fairy godmothers and helped us unpack the kitchen, buy lots of stuff at IKEA and most exciting, set up our new garden! They are both expert gardeners so it was a real treat!

First things first, we pruned the very pretty Rose of Sharon tree that hangs over my neighbors yard into ours. The branches were hanging so low that our tiny yard was basically cut in half. Good thing my mom is a junior tree warden (no, I'm not kidding)! She is an expert pruner and quickly achieved the perfect balance of just enough tree to frame our kitchen window but not so much that we can't use the yard!

Then we did lots and lots of container planting! We now have pots of herbs and lettuce plus lots of flowers, succulents and ferns. The herbs have changed my life- we've been making agua fresca with mint, lemon and cucumbers all week to battle the heat.

The next part is my favorite and something I can't wait to dig into: decorating! My goal is to make the little yard into a little french-y paradise with bistro chairs, striped linens (like this scene, below, at Terrain) and some sort of hanging luminaries or chandelier.

Too bad these chairs cost a fortune! Anyone know of a cheaper alternative?

I'll have more pictures soon as things start to shape up!