Spring is in the Air

and nesting instincts are in full swing!....OK...last blog one of the home improvement projects I shared was the mantel and built in that Bill refinished....so of course that prompted needing to redo the entire space. We got a new painting for over the mantel....which I believe I shared already....and now for pictures of the new furniture.

That is from three different views....I still need a new coffee table....found the one I want at Sam's....Found the perfect lamps at Home Goods .....I'm still on the look out for end tables.

Now for Easter, of course most of my pictures are after pictures....but these cute little "favors" and my cake were both ideas from pinterest.  We also had the typical Ham dinner; the Cervantes gang came over and we got to enjoy a little egg hunt and Easter baskets with the boys....of course I didn't get any good pictures...but Tiffany did, so you will just have to wait for her Blog update for that.

I did manage to get some flowers planted in the front this weekend; only on the left side through...I ran out of flowers and it started raining.  The first year I had these areas to plant....I did multi color...an explosion of color is what I had in mind....then last year I tried all red and that didn't look nearly as good.  By looking at the left side you can see my before.  Usually Bill prepares the dirt for me and all I have to do is waltz in and plant...but for some reason this year I was on my own....I have my suspicions as to why, which I will share when I get to my veggie garden.

Below are my herbs, the biggest plant is an herloom tomato, also there is a big pot with a lone jalepeno....I'm also going to plant some eggplant in that pot.

This (pictured below) is the outdoor kitchen counter Bill finished.  I LOVE IT!!!!!!!

And last but not least...my veggie garden....my potatoes are doing awesome...but the veggie garden, not so much.  Everything around the perimeter is growing, but everything in the center dies; my suspicion is that when he was preparing the dirt....he got carried away with the round up....of course he denies this, but that is really the only explanation.

How does your garden grow?

I know it's technically still winter....but the garden has started...mostly indoors, but started none the less.

We currently have tomatoes, broccoli, peas, beets, lettuce, beans and cilantro started.  I will get a few of these in the ground in the next week or 2.

I think a couple of post ago, I talked about a pinterest idea of growing potatoes in a barrel....well here is my barrel.  This weekend I put in about 6 inches of peat moss and then 6 inches of dirt and planted potatoes.  As they sprout and grow, I'm supposed to add more dirt...and according to Mother Earth News...you get a boat load of potatoes.  I'll let you know how it goes...I'm hoping we don't have as hot of a summer as last year....

Looks like the strawberries survived the mild winter....last year they did pretty good....the birds got to them before we did...but we did produce some berries.

Now to share what Bill has been up to.  In the downstairs living room is a built in entertainment center that is hideous, and to add insult to injury the white trash that had this house before us....did a crappy job of antique-ing it....then ripped out the TV mounting.  See below

Ugly with a capital UG.  Bill has stripped, sanded and stained....it's not done...but looks SOOOOO much better.

I'll share a picture when it;s all done, but I'm pretty excited about how it is looking so far......so now the wheels in my head are turning and thinking about re-decorating....my mother in-law's furniture is in this room....it's good quality...but horribly out dated...the floral sofa is a flashback to to 80's.  I had the brilliant idea of slip covers for the wing chairs and sofa .....so much cheaper than replacing....and Bill seems to be OK with it!  Once he finishes the entertainment center, he is going to attack the mantel.  I'll keep you posted on the progress.  Below is a picture of the ugly sofa.