{Lily Lately} County Fair


Summer means one thing for a little girl... fair time!! She has a memory like you wouldn't believe, so she knows that there is a fair that we go to every year. They've kept some of the same rides the same for the past few years and this is her favorite. It's a fun little rollercoaster. She loved it the first year she rode (age 2), hated it at age 3, loved it again both last year and this year. 

Here she is last year with her friend, Daisy (who we didn't know at the time but now goes to the same preschool). 


Here's 2012 when she was NOT a fan! 


And the first year we went, back in 2011 with a two year old Lily...



{Lily's Garden} Fairy Garden

So I said earlier this summer that I was done adding beds to Lily's Garden. I was wrong. But... this one is different! And I had the room to do it so I figured I'd get it done before we put the gravel down (finally!). 

After having Lily, I decided to have a fairy garden but it just never really happened. I had many thoughts of where it should be, size, things to include, etc but it never came to and so it was always on the back burner. One of many things on our to do list, although it was never a huge priority. That all changed after I finished all the big beds in the flower garden and I was walking around the raised beds and noticed one little area. It's tucked away from the main view of the garden so I thought it would be the perfect spot. It's long and narrow, perfect for a little miniature fairy garden. 

As you can see, I added the bricks to edge it all in and to match the other beds. These are still the bricks we were given for free, so no money was spent there. The houses, larger rocks, and all the other stuff we already had (well, that you can see). The only thing I needed to buy were some plants. 


This rock used to live in my fish tank. I had a 70 gallon fish tank for years (it was huge!) but eventually sold it to a friend. I kept all of the stuff, thinking some day I'd use it again or like what actually happened, it all found its way to the outdoors. I put the marble in it but I think Lily took it out after we finished the garden. 


I had all of the supplies, but a few plants were needed. A local trip to our favorite nursery and a nice 50% off sale got us home with some great sedums and a few others. The sedums above were actually growing together but due to being in one container, they only cost me the price of one. I liked the look so I kept them together. I actually have the smaller type in various other parts of my yard and it spreads like crazy! But it's a great low lying plant and looks great with others. 


I bought a bleeding heart (I forgot the variety) so lets hope it'll survive here. I've had a few before that haven't survived. This one is doing great so far! 


A shot looking down of the "river" we made using things we previously owned. The little bridge and the fairy next to it were bought at our local nursery. Lily really wanted them both and I loved that they were metal. 


The "river" starts with a shell Doug found after he demolished our old concrete stairs (to make room for our deck). The "borders" of the river include larger rocks and shells. Both work to help hold back the fish tank gravel. 


You can see the bridge better in this angle but the fairy hides behind the bleeding heart. Under the bridge we put a small plastic container and filled it with the marbles. It'll actually hold water when I water the plants or it rains. I'd love for a little visitor like a toad or frog to come live here, but I haven't had much luck with them in the past. I guess we're too urban for that, even though the garden would provide lots of food and shelter. 

Lily loves the area and I'm glad I added it. We are trying to finish up the black tarp/ground cover and then we'll be working on getting some rock to fill in the whole garden. Once that's done, I'll show some new photos of everything. I hope to have a true garden tour up before the end of summer. 

{Lily's Garden} Flowers

These photos are a little old as my Asiatic lilies haven't been blooming in awhile. But I wanted to show them anyway. 




These sunflowers were volunteers from the bird seed and have changed so much since this photo! I'll have to do an updated shot soon. 

{Deck} Container Gardens

I love the outdoors and now that we have our new deck, going outside couldn't be any easier. OK, so it wasn't hard to begin with seeing as we have a great covered porch on the front of our house and a large patio on the back.. but you get what I mean. We built the deck last summer and this summer, I wanted to add some plants. I figured that if I were to spend any amount of time outside, I'd need something to scare away the mosquitos because my dream of them all dying hasn't happened. Yet. 

So, in comes Pinterest to the rescue to tell me what type of plants help keep mosquitos away. Basically, the majority of herbs with strong smells... Cilantro, basil, mint, rosemary, and more. I planted them in containers made to sit on the deck railings. We had two already from our strawberries (that produced about 2 berries) and so I added four more. I also added marigolds and some petunias for color. 





Below left is a pineapple sage that smells like pineapples!


In the last two photos you can see our "kids area"... aka our swing set, slide, and giant trampoline (that we got for free!). The second to last photo shows our sad little shed that desperately needs a makeover. It'll get one, this fall hopefully, in time for its new purpose in life next spring... half chicken coop, half storage. Now, Doug will just have to find the snake and kill it because he said he saw one and I don't do snakes in my yard. And speaking of the kids' area too, we have more plans for that may start this fall in preparation for Nate's first birthday! 

Sharing at: Work It Wednesday

{Life} Messy Kids



"Hi, my name is Nate and I love food." 

Can I teach him that?!? While giving a person a hand shake (and a strong one too!). 

And yes, that's a blueberry piece on Lily's tooth. She's fully aware, thought it was funny, and wanted photos of it. She then got sad it finally came off. True story, I can't make this stuff up.

Nate's issue? His momma dumped out a bag of freeze dried fruits on his tray and half the bag was dust. He thought it was great. The white stuff is cottage cheese. And there's some puffs in that mix too. He has a well rounded meal.

And just because... here's Lily covered with freeze dried strawberry powder from February 2011...



{Lily's Garden} June Update

It's not often that I use my nice camera to take photos of my garden, I usually just use my iphone and post them to Instagram (follow me at @thebrickbungalow). Anywho... I took some photos and finally got them on my computer. 

Below is the oak leaf hydrangea I planted a couple years ago. Behind it, towards the window, is the climbing hydrangea that will eventually (hopefully) fill up the wire trellis that we installed last year. It's doing great so far! In the bottom right is a hosta. The bottom left and mid left are lilies, and behind the oak leaf are two more regular hydrangeas. 


The sunflowers are all from the bird seed and I let them go. The birds are now enjoying them as food! 

The back of a sunflower can be just as interesting, if not more so, than the front. I'm thinking this would make a great painting! 


My allium (flowering onion?). It's not as big as I want, I want the giant versions, but they are a fun change this year. 

And a few coneflowers. I started adding them in last year and now have red, purplish pink, coral, pink, yellow, white and an orangish color. I'm starting to spread them throughout the garden and hopefully will split a few more this fall. 


The Asiatic Lilies are almost all done blooming and the daylilies have started. Everything else is doing great and I've only lost one plant so far (it was a new one that was questionable anyway). 
I thought I was done making beds after finishing off the last two corners and fronts near the sidewalk but I found a place for one more... so stay tuned as I finish it up! 
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