Addresses are hard to find for houses along rural roads in the countryside. Half of the mailboxes with house addresses are not on the same side of the street as the house since all boxes are on one side of the road. Our mailbox with our house number stands across the country road to our house. 

Seeing our house street number wasn't a problem for over 30 years since the only people visiting us were personal friends and family. Whenever someone new was coming to our house, we gave them explicit instructions and directions about how to find our house. 

But, with the explosion of online shopping in recent years, FedEx and UPS delivery drivers need to find our house. Unfortunately, the drivers sometimes deliver our packages to our neighbors across the street where our mailbox stands next to theirs or to neighbors down the road. 

Our cedar house sits on two acres. We are lucky some delivery drivers find the house and deliver our packages without a problem. 

Pink Crepe Myrtle | Why Southern Gardeners Love Them

A stunning pink crepe myrtle tree grows on a small farmholding down a country road near me. The tree is an example of why crepe myrtles have been staples in Deep South gardens and yards for generations.  

For over twenty years I have admired the beautiful tree covered in fluffy pink blossoms as I travel from my home to the closest town for shopping. 

Peach French Tuteur Trellis

This spring peach French tuteur trellises are the biggest change in my flower gardens. We had them in the vegetable garden for the past few years, and they were burgundy before being painted peach. 

As I looked at the narrow flower garden strip below the covered back porch, I realized the peach French tuteur trellises would fit nicely in the space and would help hide the dark open area under the porch. 

Backyard Meadow | How To Grow Through The Seasons

Growing a rye grass meadow in the backyard is easy and looks good through three seasons of the year in north Texas. See how to begin and to grow a grass meadow with no pesticides, with no fertilizers, and with little supplementary watering. 

The backyard meadow shown is part of a two-acre lot in the countryside outside any city limits in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. Where you are located has a major impact on what your yard must look like. City codes regulate yards, and close neighbors in housing subdivisions expect lawns to look uniform. 

New Backyard Retaining Wall With Old World Charm

Even though it has been over a 100° for several days, we still have yard work to do. The backyard stone retaining wall had been listing for a few years, but this winter totally collapsed in two places. 

No getting around it any longer. The wall had to be replaced with a new one. The purpose of the retaining wall and terraces is to direct water away from the house and to control the direction rain water flows. 

Part of the dilemma was how to replace the old weathered Austin limestone wall with a new wall that would also have some old world charm of its own. 

Something French-inspired, but within the budget. 

Blue Front Door Wreath | Door Trim Color

Entry ways and porches provide protection from inclement weather, but they also welcome visitors to our homes. How do you say welcome to my home at your front door? 

Nothing is more welcoming than a pretty floral wreath. 

A grapevine with live flowers and greenery gathered from the yard made a fresh unexpected wreath for our blue front door earlier this spring. 

Granted, fresh floral arrangements on a front door last only a few days depending upon the outside temperatures, but live flowers and greens make a show-stopping arrangement to greet guests as they arrive for special occasions, like the book club meeting at my house.   

Every member of my book club commented on the wreath as they came into the house for our monthly meeting. They paused, touched, smelled, and examined the wreath. 

Several people were surprised the flowers were real, but some knew immediately because they could smell the flowers and herbs.  

Indoor Swing Loft Tour BEFORE French Country Changes

When you live in an area with hot, hot summers you can still enjoy sitting in a swing sipping iced tea. Just create a space indoors to set up as an indoor porch ... like our loft that looks out large windows to treetops. 

Bathroom Budget Wise Cultured Marble Countertop

Countertops Part 2 | Bathroom 

Cultured Marble 

The second in a series of three posts about budget wise countertops 

Finding antique and vintage pieces to use in a new house is a way to add character and to make a house your own. A vintage washstand in weathered pine with hand-carved doors makes a perfect bathroom vanity with patina that a new vanity does not have. 

And, if an old washstand has a white marble top, even more patina to love and to cherish. Unless ... the marble top is broken into two almost equal pieces. 

Kitchen Budget Wise Laminate Counter

Countertops Part 1 | Kitchen

Laminate 

The first in a series of three posts about budget wise countertops 

While homemakers dream of luxury marble, quartz, granite, and wood countertops, reality often calls for budget wise laminate kitchen counters. And, budgets are not the only reasons for choosing laminate countertops. 

Master Bath Small Vanity Progress

When you last saw the master bathroom's small vanity area, the vanity was its original lightly stained wood finish, turned reddish, from thirty years ago. Finally, this spring work began to update the old vanity area from its American Country look. 

Here we are, 5 weeks after work began. 

Master Bath Small Vanity A F T E R Painting 

the FINAL coat of white paint 

The first of several planned changes this spring include painting the vanity white, but the number of times the vanity would be painted and the number of colors of white were not listed in the published plan I recently shared.  

Why not? 

Notes From The Country | No. 3

Living in the countryside means getting to enjoy the changes of seasons up close. Every day in the spring is exhilarating with all the new life emerging. Each day something new is noted. Fits and starts of warm days, of cold days, of rainy days, of overcast days, and of BRILLIANT blue sky days make each new bit of green a cause for celebration. 

C E L E B R A T I O N 

for birds and critters 

Wild dewberry vines will provide berries for birds before summer comes. The berries are always small and unappetizing for picking for us, but just right for the birds. An old hollow stump makes a good shelter for country critters. 

Hello Spring Pear Tree

G O O D B Y E  W I N T E R  

H e l l o,  S p r i n g 

H e l l o,  P e a r  T r e e 

All over town there are white blooming trees scattered among the other trees that are still stark bare.  

The Bradford pear trees, fruitless native plum trees, and fruiting plum bushes are in full bloom. Like beacons guiding winter weary travelers along the route, you see another one in the woods, in a pasture, in a garden, or lined up along the roadside before the last one fades from sight. 

Master Bath Small Vanity Update Plans

Small Vanity BEFORE Update 

Plans to update the master bathroom's small vanity area are minimal, mostly cosmetic. 

From American Country to French Country 

Everything is functional and works. Nothing is broken, but the space is stuck in the past when the overall decor style for our house was American Country. The master bath large vanity area at the other end of this bathroom has already been updated to reflect more of the French Country style I prefer. 

There already have been a couple of small decor updates to bring more French Country to this section of the bathroom. But, this spring is the time for even more French Country updates to give the whole bathroom a more unified style.