CHIC COUNTRY LIVING

How was your weekend?  Mine was quite lovely, such wonderful weather here and being Father’s Day on Sunday I got to hang out with my family which is always a treat.

My extended family met up in a little rural town called Grafton; think rolling hills, houses acres apart and fresh air.  Grafton is home to Canadian famous, St. Anne's Spa and also my Grandparents and Aunt and Uncle. I’ve been going to this quaint little town since I was born, frolicking in the raspberry bushes, swinging in the hammock and mostly running from all the bugs.  Until a few years ago, I didn't really appreciate just how beautiful this precious land is; now I savour every nugget of its undeniable beauty.

Thought I would give you a little break from your everyday (although, maybe your everyday looks like this, in which case you know what heaven is) and share with you just a slice of chic country living.

This is my Aunt and Uncle's place, a quintessential country home that’s complete with a gazebo, several horseshoe pits (duh?) and way too many beautiful secret spots to escape to  with a good book. 

  

LANDSCAPE CHRONICLES || backyard design scheme

Glorious, glorious, what a wonderful sunny day; seems like the most appropriate time to post our final design for the backyard reno.  Actually, we are pretty lucky, right now the yard is a blank slate and there aren't any major quirks; the only thing that’s staying is the deck which was here when we moved in, but everything else is being primped and polished.  

Main objective for this petite space = create two  functional areas for entertaining, one for  dining and one for lounging.  Since the lawn has been such a nightmare (can't get it to grow) we decided to simply cover the beast with a natural stone patio, problem solved,  this will be the lounge area. This means the dining area will be up top on the walk-out deck (I’m kind of cursing this decision now since I’m having a biatch of time finding a table to fit). 

Here’s a pic from last year before we moved in, didn’t I tell you, total mud pit!  

I’m sooo looking forward to having a sexy space where we can entertain, have a glass of wine or toast marshmallows over the fire pit, can you imagine?  I’m also uber excited to have a real garden, funny as this may seems since I’m a major hazard to the plant world; thankfully hubby spent his summers landscaping during high school. 

I'll leave you with a few pics that inspired us when creating this design; let's hope the backyard looks even half as fab as any of these outdoor dreams. 

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DIY || mother's day indoor herb garden

Do you have your Mother's Day gift picked out yet? I was scrambling a little bit until today, some of my supplies for my DIY gift didn't arrive until last night, wasn't sure if I was going to end up empty handed. But...crisis averted I got the goods and whipped up these li'l cuties. 

This was a super easy DIY project; I personalized it by choosing paper shades and patterns that go with my MIL's decor, and picked herbs that I thought she would use in some of her favourite dishes.

 

 

 

- empty tin cans, washed and dried

- herb plants of your choice (I went right for the plants that were already in bloom, no patience to wait on seeds)

- potting soil and pea gravel

- shovel and garden gloves (if you're like me and want to protect your mani)

- glue, paper trimmer, stamps, ink pad and kraft paper

- wallpaper samples - these can be left over from an old project or ordered online. I used Lowes Wallpaper Studio .

Indoor tools

Outdoor tools