Chicken Update – Eggs! – or at least one

First Egg!!!!!!

Today was the big day after a week or so of thinking about it our Leghorn laid our first egg!

Foghorn – our Leghorn who laid the first egg today!

For the past week or so my husband has been obsessively checking in on the chickens – we knew it could be any day now. This morning Foghorn the leghorn started sing the egg song  (seriously look it up –  its a thing LOL) and scratching around in the nest boxes so we were very hopeful and sure enough when we went out to check on her – there it was – our first fresh egg from our own hens 🙂

First egg in the nest box – I am so excited to have been home to see this

Still warm and actually larger than I expected. The proud mom is doing fine and got some yummy treats for her hard work

Buff Orpington fluffy chicken butt LOL

I have been home sick all weekend but I am actually almost glad I caught this wretched cold from my last business trip – since that was the only reason I was at home today to witness this momentous occasion LOL

More pics 🙂

Lily – our Barred Rock

“Not Legorn” – we think she is a Delaware

One of the two Black Sex Links

Cleo – Our Rhode Island Red and Buff Orpington mix

Outdoor Living

Final result – Pillow Puppy approved

One of the things I love about living in Florida is the ability to spend most of your time outside. Yes there are three months in the summer when you prefer the AC inside but the rest of the year is glorious. Now that we are in Oct it is time to open up all the windows and doors.

I love the idea of outdoor rooms and our new house has an awesome covered area that lends itself perfectly to that. No need to worry about running out and removing cushions every time it rains – who has time for that?

I had a vision in mind of what I wanted for out there – nice contemporary wicker furniture – the kind of seating I always love when I stay in hotels with great outdoor spaces. Of course that look normally comes with a hefty price tag….

I wanted something stylish, practical and not outrageously priced.  Lets face it even protected from the rain, this furniture needs to be outside 24/7/365 and with the high humidity in Florida real wicker will eventually get moldy and mildewy – gross!

Patio furniture at last – a bit too much beige…

I found a great collection on Amazon that is a resin, wicker look alike on top of an aluminum frame so no rust or mold to worry about. It came in the nice dark finish I was looking for with weather resistant neutral cushions. Exactly the look I wanted at a fraction of the price and since I have Amazon Prime – free shipping 🙂 Awesome!

But – hold up – when we first moved in, the budget wasn’t going to stretch to outdoor furniture – so I had to put my master plan on hold for a while. Although, I did break down and buy an outdoor rug that was a great fit with my fancy designer fabric inside – it was just too good a match to pass up – but for the past 8 months we have had a nice rug out there and no furniture. The dogs liked to roll around on it so it didn’t go completely to waste LOL

Breaking out the sewing machine for fun with fabric

The weather is changing, holidays and house guests will be upon us soon – time to pull the switch. My long awaited furniture arrived a couple weeks ago, just in time to start taking advantage of the cooler weather. I got a 6 person dining set and a couch and 2 armchairs – they look great and go nicely with the two plantation chairs that I have had for just about forever. They are they best chairs for sitting outside to watch the thunderstorms roll though with a cocktail in hand 🙂

I love it – its exactly what I had in mind – it is all really comfortable and sturdy and for such a great price – I never review stuff online but I had to rate this 5 stars on Amazon. It really looks like the expensive resort furniture that was the original inspiration. However all the natural colored cushions felt a bit bland – it needed a boost

My bargain lime green garden stool – perfect spot for a cold drink

I found a great lime green garden stool in HomeGoods for only $50 and discovered a website that has great prices on outdoor fabric. I picked out two or three prints that would coordinate with the rug and they shipped them out within a couple days.  All in all it cost less than $50 and I have some fabric to spare

It only took a couple hours on a sunny Saturday morning to recover all eight throw pillows and bring a little color into the mix – clearly the final result is Pillow Puppy approved

My outdoor oasis is complete. I officially need never leave the house again! Now where is my frothy cocktail?

Powder room makeover

Too late to turn back now….

The powder room in our new house is not that special – it is the usual small room with a toilet and a sink – it is a nice pedestal sink, but other than that it is pretty unremarkable.  When we moved in, I did the bare minimum – I hung a black framed mirror over the sink and ignored it in favor of all the other things that needed doing.

This weekend, however I decided I was sick looking at the tired paint and before the holidays are upon us and guests are using it more often, I wanted to spruce it up at least a little….

I wanted to go bold so I pulled out some “Cracked Pepper” paint and decided to throw caution to the wind. As the name implies, this is a deep charcoal, almost black, so it took a couple coats to cover, but I was totally delighted to be eradicating the old, boring greenish beige. I got a few raised eyebrows from both my husband and mom when I told them I was painting a small, windowless room black, but they are used to me by now so kept the comments to a minimum LOL

2 coats later

Anyone who has ever painted around a sink and toilet knows it is cramped and unpleasant to crawl around and get into all the nooks and crannies – it always takes longer than you think but once done, I was actually tempted to leave it alone – it was pretty striking against the white porcelain and rich wood trim….

brief moment of hesitation

But to hell with that –  in for a penny, in for a pound!  I said I wanted bold, so out came the Gingko leaf stencil I had stashed waiting for the right opportunity. I hesitated for a moment – would this be too big and graphic in such a small space? Should I just go with a subtle gunmetal metallic grey? Nah! Silver would be way more glamtastic LOL

Glamtastic – I love it!

Besides its paint – easy to fix if you hate it …

Mirror back up

Once done, I put the mirror back up and stood back to take it in. Despite needing some touch up where paint got under the stencil – I am really happy with the result. It is bold and graphic with a bit of an eastern vibe –  not a color combo for the faint of heart, for sure – but it makes a small boring room into more of an elegant statement  – even my husband liked it!

Touched up and final powder room

Design and decorating should be fun – take a chance – go bold 🙂