the new tree house....

I am sharing today

another one of hubby's projects....

a two story tree house,

featuring an out-look porch,

a rock wall and a rappel rope.

He is such a rock-star

 to the girls right now.

You can see the work in progress...

Hubby and Katie built this tree house together in two days.
I think that is quite impressive.

Here is the rock wall and rappel side.

They are debating adding a slide on this side as well

onto the first floor platform.

You can also see the bucket they rigged up

for getting their goodies up and down.

Can you spy one of our hounds in the picture?

The dogs keep checking the bucket to see if there

is anything they need in it,

but there never is.

Here it is with some left over

and salvaged pieces from the yard for decoration.

The size of the pieces are actually

perfect for the size of the house.

I love that my girls instinctively think know that furniture alone

is not enough and that they think know

that they need a centerpiece for their table.

You know the old saying about the apple and the tree....

The girls have already divided it up.

Katie and her friends hang out on the second floor

and Mogie and her friends hang out on the first floor.

{for the most part, that is, there are still some turf wars being waged}

To be honest, the second floor was added

after I got home from work

and saw how high the top floor was.

It made me too nervous to have my little one

up that high, and I knew she would

not be able to resist it.

So, the second floor addition was built.

This did not help anything.

She still goes up there

even though she has a floor to herself,

and to top it all off, she glides up there

 faster and easier than anyone else.

What is a mother to do?

So, there it is, tree house Bradley!

There are still some touches here and there

that need to be added,

but for the most part it is

ready to go, and definitely

ready to be played in!

I am loving all these projects getting done!

What will I come home to next?

the beginnings of our veggie garden....

I mentioned last Thursday on

hubby's birthday that we were

building raised veggie gardens this year.

Happy Birthday to us both!

So, I thought I would share with you

 how they are coming along...

I wish I had gotten a picture of the soil

and railroad ties before they

were placed and filled.

I was at work when they were delivered,

and this is where hubby had gotten with

it all when I got home.

Pretty amazing considering

that the ties weighed 250lbs. each

and the soil was a mini mountain.

I helped finish them off,

but all the credit goes to hubby for these.

I am so excited about them.

Who's birthday was it again?

Here is what we did on Sunday....

Everything is planted, labeled, watered

and ready for the growth to begin.

We are taking major precautions this year

to keep the animals out.

{ours and wild}

Last year, we grew great and glorious veggies,
just to have them all eaten by 

the little woodland creatures in our yard

 and our dogs.

So, we have planted marigolds around the perimeter,

put up metal fencing, and my hair dresser

is saving some hair for us to sprinkle around.

Hopefully, that will all be enough.

I love how I can see the rows

where we planted the seeds.

They were a lot of work,

but now that they are here

we will always have them,

and next year it will not be nearly

as much labor.

Now, we just need for everything to sprout!

Grow baby, grow!

bringing the indoors outside part 2...

I have gotten so much out door inspiration lately

that I thought I would share some with you.

This is actually a picture out of a pottery barn catalog.

I have started checking on Craig's list for a projector, once I have that

We can throw up a white sheet and call it a drive in!

{no necking of course!}

 and this room,

just stop it!

I love it so much I can't stand it!

However, it is completely unrealistic for my space

and so shall remain a dream.

*sigh*

 and how much fun would this be?

we have all seen the outdoor chess,

but outdoor scrabble...genius!

{I think it is funny that spell checker had to correct my spelling of  genious genius}

{{obviously, I am not a genius}}

{{{Oh for heaven's sake, now it corrected obviously!}}}

This rug made out of rocks is beyond words!

I think it would be so much fun to make, 

but keeping it that way would be a night mare.

So, that will have to be for someone with out as many kiddos and pets 

as this zoo has... 

 I am not crazy about the stripes in this one,

but I love how they made it look like a room with the vines

on the arbor and the candelabra.

This is so up my alley!

I need this as a gate at my house!

I even think hubby would go for this one, 

so maybe just maybe this is in my future! 

So, now that I have some out door inspiration

{again}

Here I go to spiffy up the joint.

Hubby just loves it when I get "inspiration" and "good ideas"

His favorite words of mine are,

"I just thought of a good idea!"

His usual response is,

"Oh no, how much is this going to cost me, and how many man hours are involved?"

Here's to inspiration and realistic hubbies!

The Covington Cottage...

I thought I would share with you what the front of the cottage looks like....

I always love to see the front of homes and full room views,

but no one ever really shows that.

So, I thought I would start with the front of ours...

We have lived here for over 10 years...

We have some plans in the works for it.

Our master bedroom suite, office and library

{I use that word library loosely} are all upstairs,

but there are only two windows up there.

I love natural sunlight.

So, it drives me CRAZY that there are not more windows.

We would like to add three dormer windows on the front of the house.

and maybe even a walk out deck with french doors.

Alas, all of that costs mega bucks,

so the plans wait for now.

I'm hoping to save up enough to get started in a year,

so cross my fingers and say a prayer!

And there ya have it....

The Cottage on Covington.

Have a great weekend!

We will be at a Loretta Lynn concert tomorrow night.

My 11 year old daughter adores her,

and I call that being raised right!