Deck Gardening
Congratulations, Auntie Em! You’re the winner we drew for the OKA b. Shoes, made here in the U.S. partially from recycled materials! Go to the OKA b. shoesthatloveyou.com website, choose the style and send me your shipping address and shoe size by tomorrow (Tuesday April 20 at 5 p.m. CST) to claim your prize! My email: fivecoat@ozarkmountains.com Thanks to all of my readers who participated in the drawing, and thanks to OKA b. Shoes for participating in this Earth Day giveaway! If you didn't win, please consider buying your summer sandals from OKA b., I know I've already got my pair picked out!
Buddy Planted Himself in a Flower Pot
As spring unfolds here at The Little House, it means getting the party deck ready for long afternoons with a book, backyard bar-b-ques, and stargazing.
I consider myself a “deck gardener,” mostly because I’ve never had a yard that compliments any type of real gardening skills.
In the city, our yard was pie shaped, with the wider of the ends toward the front of the yard. We had one large tree in the middle of the backyard, which shaded our yard, as well as part of the neighbors. We also had the utility box for the whole block’s power and cable parked in the center of our yard by the back fence. Both obstacles made planting difficult and once we had the house treated for termites, we could not plant anything around the barrier of the house either.
Reducing Waste
When I think about how I’ve changed since moving to The Little House 2 ½ years ago, it really kind of amazes me (and also disproves the old adage that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks). J
Before Dale started his new job, he was taking care of most of the household chores, and while doing dishes, he broke my carafe on my programmable 4-cup coffee maker.
I wouldn’t say I’m as die-hard of a coffee drinker as my mother, who would brew up to 4 full pots daily, but I do need my 4 cups in the morning and another small pot to keep me going in the afternoon.
Luckily, I have an older reserve coffee maker that I could use. The carafe on the older model wouldn’t fit my programmable pot and it is also much slower in the brew process. I admit that I’ve been spoiled by setting my coffee so that is already brewed when I wake up. Waiting 10 minutes for the older model to brew about killed me some mornings!
To Enjoy Good Food, Good Conversation
Dale likes this table much better. Photo by Kevin Pieper
I love the tiny kitchen table we have in The Little House, but that wasn’t always the case. Scrounging for a small kitchen table was my first foray into second-hand shops when we built The Little House.
I found the perfect kitchen table that was well, less than perfect. It was one of those early 90s models with the fake wood glued on (although the fake wood was peeling off) and it caught my eye because it had two matching chairs with the fake wood bottoms and green backs.
My mom went with me to the thrift store and we didn’t think it was a bad purchase, but Dale hated the set, even when I bought a dark green tablecloth to cover its’ imperfections.
For Writing and Storage
People have asked me how to find furniture for such a small home. When we were building The Little House, we had planned on using it for weekends and vacations and eventually, a guesthouse. We needed something functional, but we wanted it to be cute as well.
We found two foutons that looked like they belonged in a cabin and fit our woodsy décor. We used one in the bedroom, where I was able to fold it up when not in use and use half the bedroom as an office. The one in the living room was eventually moved to The Belle Writer’s Studio and we took the one from the bedroom and placed it in the living room of The Little House so we could still sleep a guest there if need be.
