Another patio :)

One of the projects this summer was putting in a patio where we removed this tree and bushes from. I have realized (from other people's teasing) that I have a bit of a patio problem.... this being number 4. Number one came with the house, numbers two and three were put in last year.

No, I didn't cut them down. I try very hard not to cut down anything. We moved them..... (lots of work) You can read about it here.

After that we were left with this lovely mess that we dug a little here and there for a month or two.

We got free bluestone from  house they were knocking down. We just had to dig it all up as it was an old patio that was covered in 20+ years of leaf debris.

I had decided that I didn't care if I finished the patio this year since I already finished a large rock wall and rock edging this year and was not in the mood for more rocks.

And that was fine of course until we decided to have a picnic so of course we just HAD to get this done by the time of the party...... ;)

So, balls to the wall, we dug....

And dug.... finishing at 11:30 at night...... (see crappy photo above :) Even got the stone down too.

We put in drainage pipes and more stone....

And started building another wall. (out of cottage stone ) If you do a lot of gardening I can not stress enough how great a double wheel wheel barrow is.

Go....... yard-gym!

Aahhh..... getting closer. Now it's time for stone dust. Wall just about done.

Closer...... blue stone layed, half of it level and the beginings of stone dust between the blue stone.

Kozmo, just making sure that were doing a good job......

TA DA!!!!!!

Lots of hard heavy lifting but we did it! Scratch one one more item off the list :)

Next spring I will make a garden along the back of the wall, but for now...... some poolside relaxing for the remainder of the summer. 

I even have some left overs for another patio...... ;)

You can never have too many patios,

♥jenny

4H Fair..... Finally.

It is truly not summer without the fair. I had unfortunately missed the two I usually go to and was feeling pretty bummed.

 But alas, the stars aligned and Friday night I got to the Hunterdon County 4H Fair :)

It was a exceptionally beautiful evening, still warm, and a nice cool night. 

I got to see the pig races, all the chickens (my favorite) and farm animals, giant tractors, bee keepers, the dog agility contest and best of all, Fireworks!!

Not to mention the food..... Isn't that why we all go?? All that ridiculous food!

♥jenny

Marvelous Movie Monday... The Big Year

So, the last few weeks have been too busy to keep up with Friday Favorites. So I am going to Mondays :)

I have been watching The Big Year every time I catch it on cable lately. (which is a lot) I love birds and hope to one day become more knowledgeable about species and get more into birding, so this immediately appealed to me.

It is a fun comedy drama where two birding enthusiasts become friends as they try to beat the current world record holder as each are secretly are doing their own 'Big Years'. 

I had never known what a 'big year' is before this movie. (If you don't either, it is a yearly birding competition where birders see how many different species they can fin in one calender year.) It is such a cool concept. I can totally see this happening when I retire :)

You had me at Jack Black and Steve Martin. Then throw in Owen Wilson, Anjelica Huston and Jim Parsons... I'm sold.

And seriously, Jim Parsons as Ichabod Crane..... what more can you ask for?

Watch more movies :)
♥jenny

Niagara Falls!! part 3

Last but not least we went to the Butterfly Conservatory and Bird Kingdom :)

I can never get enough of either of these types of attractions so I was excited.

They definitely did not disappoint.......

Poor little guy...... stuck in a spider web.

Some of the coolest flowers I've seen in a long time.

I mean, who doesn't love an old ice cream truck??

On to Bird Paradise......

So sleepy...... ;)

One of the best parts was the Bat exhibit. I couldn't get any good shots since it was so dark, but they had just fed them so they were more active than I had ever got to see bats. They had a couple Flying Fox which are the largest of all bats. Oh, they were so cute, I could just die.

©wikicommons

Dinosaur mini golf!! I did not have time to play :( But next time...... oh, yes. Next time.

They even have a volcano that shoots fire!

The last Moose......

I am so glad I finally made it to our neighbors up north.  Niagara Falls is truly a sight to see and the town itself though expensive, is tons of fun :)  I would definitely ad it to your bucket list.


Safe Travels,
♥jenny