The Garden.

The Garden.

Carrots are looking good 

Moving out here to our little farm has been challenging at times everyone has an idea of what we are supposed to do out here. They ask us what kind of animals we are going to have, are we going to have goats? Cows? Do we want horses? What about chickens?  They want to know what we are going to plant and some save seeds for us or they gift us plants with the general idea that we have the room so why not plant it. 

I’ve realized that out here things need to be planned or at least I need to be able to plan them. You would be surprised how much ideas change depending on how far our water hose reaches. One hundred feet doesn't get us very far out here!

The Dream.

If you are from Texas or you watch HGTV at any point in the last few years you have heard of or seen Joanna Gaines. You might have even visited or wanted to go visit Waco, TX and go to the Magnolia Market at the Silo’s to either be inspired or do some shopping or like me do both. Now I wasn’t inspired go shopping for land because of the show or our many trips to the Silos but seeing what she’s done with their acreage is inspiring. I mean just look at her garden- its gorgeous. 

Joanna's home garden featured in County Living

My latest obsession is Garden Answer ( you can find her YouTube channel here ). Laura gives me the idea that although in south Texas acreage properties have these sweeping lawns with grass that goes on forever, maybe I can create something a little more lush. Maybe the idea of having a garden goes beyond raised beds. 

The Reality.

For now I have an idea of what I would like to do with my garden but we will just chip away at all the big luscious dreams with a few raised garden beds and the beginning of some landscaping around the house. Eventually I see a lot more raised beds and landscaping. Can you see it? I can!!

Onions & Garlic 
These won't be ready until the summer!

Lettuce & Carrots
These will with stand colder temps

Tomatoes
Peppers
Basil
These will go away with the cold temps

And now we're here.

This weekend was low key, not much going on. That wasn’t the original plan of course but sometimes that’s just the way it goes. It all works out for the best, it gave us a chance to work on a long over due project. 

It’s been a year now since we moved into our home, actually we have officially been here for a year and 19 days. Our official closing date was on October 31st of 2019 and we are the crazy couple that lined everything up so that by the end of the day one the 31st we were 90% moved into the house. It was a long and tiring day but worth the overdue wait. 

One of the challenges of building on your own land, especially one that didn’t quite exist before is that no one can find you. That is of course, not always a bad thing (said the introvert in me).  As for the issue of mail, the good ole’ USPS, UPS, any furniture being delivered and let’s not forget the tried and true Amazon, still they have trouble finding us. 

After scouring Pinterest for ideas, I came up with a simple idea that I love and hopefully I can add to in the future. Out here bigger is sometimes better, going with a small sign by the door just wasn’t going to be enough. 

A few weeks ago we put in the the frame just a simple two post with a 12 inch wood beam in the middle. It is treated wood so we had to let it dry out for sometime or it just won’t take the paint well. And finally this weekend I was able to paint! 

Once it was painted and dry I added some little details, I found these lights at Home Depot and I thought it would be pretty neat because once it's dark out here it's dark! So any amount of light would be nice and helpful when we have visitors. 

Adding the numbers was pretty easy work once I figured out my center points of the beam. I found the numbers here and they are floating numbers which I was excited about. Until I hammered my thumb. As it turns out - it hurts a lot. That was a first for me, I never realized how useful my thumb is until I couldn't use it! 

I absolutely loved how it turned out. In the spring I think I'll add some flowers around the base. Out here all of these projects take time. There is so much to do and just not enough time to get around to it all. As it turns out a year later and many lost packages after - we finally have something to help find us. 

Getting to know Kayleen McCabe

Lake Conroe Home and Garden Show

Another adventure and another amazing experience. This past weekend I had the awesome opportunity to head out to Lake Conroe for the Home and Garden Show and interview Kalyeen McCabe host of DIY Network’s RescueRenovation. I was excited and nervous and maybe even a little giddy, partly because I’d never really done an interview (shhhhhh don’t tell anyone) and mostly because it has a lot to do with the direction I am trying out lately.  How many of you watch DIY shows and feel like you could really do that? I know I do, constantly.

I’ve been ready to start working on bigger and more serious DIY projects, maybe redo some furniture - maybe even make some furniture - who knows the sky is the limit right? So having the opportunity to pick the brains of an awesome female DIY’er, Contractor and Show Host was like there was a little light shining on a wonderful opportunity I couldn’t pass up.

Lunch box + Purse = Cute!

When the time came to sit down with Kayleen and Kay from The More theMerrier, it was like the nerves were set aside and we sat back a talked like a bunch of old friends that love power tools and share a craving to make things. We talked about how naturally it is that we can look at something and think “I can make that” or “I can make that better”.  We talked about the smell of saw dust and how really empowering it is to say “I made that”.

Eventually we had to get down to real questions and answers, if not I am pretty sure we could have spent the day just chatting :)

Q1: How does it feel to be a woman contractor? Does being a woman make it harder?

A1: Actually no, most times when she walks up to a job site, from the moment they open the door she has already broken down stereo types just by being a woman! They already feel comfortable with her. Women are just better at being a contractor, we have a great sense of detail. When two guys are bumping heads a woman can just walk up and be like come on – let’s figure this out!

 “As a woman contractor I get to have a big tool collection & I have a big shoe collection too!”

Q2: What is your favorite renovation?

A2: There was one renovation that was just bad, the weather was horrible it had been raining the whole time, they were building a pergola into a sloping hill. Everyone kept telling her she couldn’t complete this project, there was just no way it would work.  Then when it was time to lift the top to the pergola – it was like the skies parted and there was just silence and as the crane lifted the top it was perfect.

Q3: Worst renovation?

Pergola being lifted -Clear Skies! 

A3: While putting insulation down in an A frame house Kayleen lifted her left to get over a beam and just as she was making her way over her overalls were caught and she found herself stuck, in an awkward position for about three hours!! It gave her plenty of time to think things over "It this really the line of work I want to do?" or "I wonder if someone will find me here years later mummified just like this". She finally wiggled her way out of her overalls only to realize that she still had turn around and make her way back out. :) 

Q4: I couldn't help myself, I had to ask her about the time she ran a marathon :)

A4: She was offered the chance to run a marathon by a sponsor, she agreed to do it (with no training) she figured after being on her feet working on a job site for 18 hrs she surely could run for 6hrs!! AND she did, not too sure about doing it again though :)

In the end, I was drawn by Kayleen's insight to her current mission, teaching youth about learning a "Trade" and the fact that college is not your only option. She wishes someone would have told her she had another option when she was younger. "No one ever told me I could be a contractor"

Her message to adults? Respect the trades, it takes 27 trades to be able to build a house. DIY shows will give you the illusion that you can do-it-all-yourself truth is sometimes you need to hire the right person for the job. Coming from a family of trades men – I understand where she is coming from.

If you want to be inspired you can watch a little bit of Kayleen’s story here.

"It's all art actually just, do you hang it on the wall or did you build the wall you’re hanging it on"