We know our garden gate will only serve its functioning purpose until sometime down the road when we can install something that will really enhance our yard. Here is some inspiration to get me to that point.
image from alamodeus
image by Gardening in a Minute
image by -StingRay-
image by woodcut55
image by ace97302
After several weekends out of town Patrick and I finally found some time this weekend to get back to work on the house.
We are watching my parents dog for almost a month while they take a road trip almost across the country to visit Wyoming. This is really a treat for us because we absolutely love Weston. He is such a good dog. He’s an eight year old golden retriever and probably the sweetest, smartest boy ever!
This weekend’s project was focused on our extended dog sitting job…. most of our yard is fenced however there is a small section that is open to the road on the side of the yard. When speaking to the past owners that said a gate had to be removed some time ago to run the utility lines underground and they never got around to re installing the gate.
While we trust that Weston has no interest in running away, we know that he will run out to visit anyone or dog that walks by the house. Most importantly I don’t want to worry about him running into the road. It’s not too busy but unfortunately dogs don’t understand the concept of looking both ways before crossing the street.
Here is a picture of Patrick standing in the opening. 
The good news is that they never threw away the old gate!
So our plan is to get this thing install asap so Weston can enjoy a little yard time without our supervision or without being on a leash.
The crepe myrtles are in bloom here in Richmond.
(photo from http://weednstitch.blogspot.com/)
I love these trees and we are so happy to have three in our backyard!! Two are purple and one with pink flowers. We haven’t had time to clean up that portion of the yard but hopefully we will before this time next year and they will look even better!!
This is the view of the tree tops out our bedroom window. So pretty! 
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My mother-in-law had this posted on facebook yesterday. I’m not sure where it came from or who said it first but it really makes you think!
Patrick and I took off last weekend to have some fun! I went to Charleston, South Carolina for a bachelorette party weekend while Patrick went to Charlotte, North Carolina to hang out with the bachelor, his best friend.
It was such a nice vacation and will probably be our only one until they get married in Napa Valley, California this October. We can’t wait!
Weekend pics to come!
My parents came in town last Saturday to help as we begin renovations and improvements to our “new” house. It took a little while to get started but we were able to make some good progress…….much thanks to mom and dad!! They are both retired and were able to stay through most of the week to continue working on the house while we went to work at the office!
We had the hardwood floors refinished. They look great!
Take a look at the before and after.
Living room before…. heart pine
Living room after!
Patrick and I met the former owners of our new house last week and discovered the home and garden were featured in Better Homes and Gardens when owned by the first owners between 1936 and 1954!! Unfortunately that’s all the information they could tell us so we have a pretty broad search ahead of us!
Today I spoke with someone at Better Homes and Gardens and they have no electronic record of articles dating back that far….so I’m off to the Richmond Public Library!!
We’ve purchased our first house and we are so excited about what’s to come!
Over the past 50 years, the home as fallen into a state of neglect and disrepair. The house needs a lot of work and the garden is terribly overgrown. Fortunately through it all we were able to see its potential!
Here she is……what do you think?
Blogging: It’s so easy to get started…I guess. Well here we go!
Welcome to Lloyds Playing House! I’m Kimberly and that’s my wonderful husband Patrick. We are newlyweds, married September 4, 2010 in Richmond, Virginia and we are traveling down the road of life together taking on new things every day!
We both grew up in the Roanoke Valley of Virginia; however we didn’t cross paths until we attended Virginia Commonwealth University for college. We were connected my mutual friends and here we are almost seven years later.
Halloween 2004….our first picture together. We weren’t even dating yet!
Our latest photo together. April 30th at a friend’s wedding.
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