well hello, summer May 30th, 2011
It was super hot and sunny this Memorial Day weekend and that means summer is finally here!! Break out your white pants everyone. Woo hoo! We had one of those great summer storms on Friday evening, the kind that sneak up really fast with huge, fat raindrops and gusts of wind. Matt was playing basketball in the street with the neighborhood kids and I was reading in the window seat, when all of a sudden the sky turned dark grey and it looked like the end of the world outside. It poured for about 20 minutes, and then passed on by, leaving somewhat cooler air behind. There was a pretty good lighting and thunder show as well.
On Saturday, we did some work in the backyard — cleaning up weeds and some of the empty pots and things that were left here by the previous owner, and Matt finished painting the alley-side of our back fence with random green stripes. We also pulled out the two old windows with white-painted frames that have been leaning against the fence in the backyard since we moved in here. We were thinking about putting them up inside, or maybe mounting them on the fence with some artwork behind the glass. I like the idea of black silhouettes of something behind the panes of glass, but I need to keep looking around for some inspiration. Finally, I also managed to invoke a million mosquitos out there while I was weeding, so, yeah, summer is really here.
On Saturday evening, we enjoyed some BBQ and watched the Maryland semi-final lacrosse game at Keith and Brigid’s house. I made a strawberry shortcake in my new trifle bowl and it actually came out pretty good! Jill would have been so proud of me, making whipped cream all AND I also experimented outside the lines of the recipe, adding a layer of cream-cheese frosting in the middle. YUM. Anything with fresh strawberries screams sum-sum-summatime!
On Sunday, we ventured to Home Depot for green paint and settled on Limeaid (!!!) for the front door. I finished the third coat tonight, and it’s quite bright and loud, just the way we wanted it. We are on such a green kick lately! We also picked up some flower boxes for the front yard along with marigolds (I learned this is Matt’s favorite flower) and white vinca, and some chicken wire, which Matt lined the fence with. The front yard is now Bowser-puppy-proof. What a productive weekend already!
Today, we spent the day in HoCo with my parents just relaxing and enjoying that crucial third-day off of work. We drove into Baltimore too for a bit, to check out Second Chance, Inc, a non-profit architectural salvage warehouse. There are all sorts of reclaimed materials like kitchen cabinets, doors, mirrors, fences, chandeliers, stained-glass, furniture, artwork, patio sets…. You name it, they have it. If you need home design inspiration, this is the place to check out. JJ introduced me to it a few months ago, and I was really excited to go back with Matt. We didn’t get anything this trip (the giant, metal, multi-colored garden rooster was vetoed by Matt, as were the ridiculous gold and purple couches I found: “we already have one of those”) , but we definitely got some good ideas for future projects. It’s always fun to look, right?
Hope everyone had a Memorial Day as relaxing and enjoyable as ours and also took a moment to remember and appreciate our soldiers and veterans.
tags: DC, homeowners, weather
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May 31st, 2011 at 10:36 pm
Can’t wait to see you both and the house! Sounds like you both are having fun with making updates!