Dog Days of Summer
Hey Everyone! It's that time of year again - the dog days of summer. It's unbelievably hot outside with temperatures well over 90 in the Midwest this week! County fair season is just getting started (funnel cake, anyone?) and a few stray bottle rockets are still hanging around from the Fourth of July. Weekends are spent cooking out on the deck with friends, neighbors, and family. The public pool is the busiest spot in town and air conditioner never seems to shut off ... did we mention it's HOT??
Even with all the heat and humidity, though, the home improvement and gardening enthusiasts at HouseBlogging.com aren't deterred. "Bungalow Insanity" is busy cleaning up bricks from their yard, "Gear Acres" is building a new deck, "The Flipping Couple" is adding on to their sprinkler system ... and there are so many gardens just on the verge of providing fresh produce.
It's such a great time of year ... see the posts below for all the ways the HouseBlogging.com community is keeping busy despite the crazy heat!
soaker hose
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Category: The Flipping Couple
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Published on Monday, 18 July 2011
Authors: Cindy @The Flipping Couple
In our never-ending quest to keep plants in our backyard alive, we've expanded our automated above-ground sprinkler system to include the raised bed we recently planted.
The catch to this little expansion is that the garden bed is separated from the rest of the sprinkler system by a sidewalk. And I have rules...
One Landing Down, One Landing To Go
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Category: Gear Acres
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Published on Saturday, 16 July 2011
Authors:
It was unbearably hot today. What should have taken maybe 2 hours max, ended up taking all day.
The landing deck is completed (except for nailing down the last board). We have the same landing deck to complete on the south side (kitchen) tomorrow.We did lose some time today going to Home Depot to buy 5/4 boards and more joist hangers....
The Garden Keeps Blooming
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Category: Driftless Home and Garden
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Published on Friday, 15 July 2011
Authors: Donna
The different types of lilies are the main show this last week. Here are the daylilies.
Lilies, I not sure what are Asia and Orientals but I just love having them in the garden.
Here picture of my small garden bed beside the back deck I am working on now. There is another daylily is this picture when I brought this plant...
Outdoor views
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Category: Newly Woodwards
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Published on Friday, 15 July 2011
Authors: Kim @ NewlyWoodwards
I thought I'd share a few of our outdoor views as we head into a weekend.
Our little succulent container is doing wonderfully. The plants seem to enjoy this hot and humid Midwest summer and have really filled out. And the yellow blooms on the far left are quite lovely.
Our rain garden, despite a lack of recent...
Waste Not, Want Not
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Category: Young House Love
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Published on Thursday, 14 July 2011
Authors: Sherry
That was my attitude when it came to using up the rest of the oil-rubbed bronze spray paint from this project that I had leftover. So I turned my attention to the mismatched patio furniture that we inherited from the previous owners (seen here in an old photo with my dearly departed ceramic dog, sniffle).
Sure, I like painting things...
Crack Sand.
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Category: Young House Love
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Published on Thursday, 14 July 2011
Authors: John
You know we love to save a buck wherever we can. Sometimes to a fault. And as any scrimper knows, sometimes it can bite you in the a-dollar-sign-dollar-sign (a$$). Though I’m not sure we ever expected that we’d wish we had splurged on “the fancy sand”…but that was the case after living with our finished...
Goodbye, old chimney
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Category: Bungalow Insanity
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Published on Wednesday, 13 July 2011
Authors: julio
6 1/2 years ago we demolished the chimney that used to run through our pantry closet. It was no longer being used, as we had switched to a high efficiency furnace and a tankless water heater, both of which vented out the side of the house. The bricks sat in a pile in the side yard for six months, until we moved them to the back...
Garden progress 2011 - July edition
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Category: Newly Woodwards
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Published on Wednesday, 13 July 2011
Authors: Kim @ NewlyWoodwards
In addition to basil and lettuce (as discussed in the pesto post yesterday), we've been having a pretty good year in regards to the garden.
Particularly since renovating and school and life haven't really given us much time to work in the garden. Weeds are a fact of life this year. There's something humbling about...
This post is about posts
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Category: Gear Acres
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Published on Wednesday, 13 July 2011
Authors:
Last night at around 8pm, R and I went back outside and dug 3 post holes. It was so much easier when it wasn't 90 degrees and sunny.
Today we positioned the posts and clamped them in place. Again the post levels came in handy. I'll try and remember to snap a photo to show you what they look like.
Once the sun was low enough in the sky to...
Progress on Rebuilding Deck
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Category: Gear Acres
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Published on Sunday, 10 July 2011
Authors:
I swear we always wait until it is HOT HOT HOT outside to work on decks. You would think we had learned our lesson on B & G's deck but... oh no! Here we are on the south side of the house in 90+ degree sunny weather.Today we dig more post holes and maybe even install a few posts. After the posts are installed we will go back to...
Got a minute? Stain something.
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Category: Russet Street Reno
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Published on Wednesday, 06 July 2011
Authors: Sara @ Russet Street Reno
So, I think I'm the queen of "hey, I know I'm only weeding and planting stuff, but....I think this wine barrel planter looks shabby so I'm going to stain it RIGHT NOW at 7pm"...observe:
It was not good. Maybe some people like weathered silvery wood, but I was sort of depressed looking at it. I stained...
Mud, Sweat and Fears
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Category: The Lil House That Could
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Published on Tuesday, 05 July 2011
Authors: Rebecca
This weekend consisted of a lot of cleaning up. The weeds out front were the first to go. Did you think I was kidding about the 4 foot weed?
Those stems sticking out of the top? Follow them with your eyes and see how tall they are. I was considering waiting until it bloomed and seeing how it looked, but instead I plucked it. It was...
