The fall of summer

I took these pictures today. Yep the fourth day of summer. There is a giant tree in our neighbour's back yard that starts losing its leaves during the first week of June and keeps going until they're gone in the fall.

What a pain in the bum.

We're out there every other day raking leaves already. The tree is sick but our neighbour hasn't had anyone in to look at what the problem is yet. The problem is that tree doctors are expensive. 

So until someone comes in, we're stuck with this. Lovely.

Speaking of pains in the bum, my Mac keeps crashing and I'm writing this from my hubby's MSFT Surface and I'm about to tear my hair out. So frustrating.

Ok that's enough complaining for one post. 

On a more fun note, some nice person nominated this blog for a Mom Blogger Award from Toronto Mom Now and I made it to the top 30. So thanks to whomever nominated me!

Backyard ideas: filling in the driveway

via 

Mark was looking through an old House & Home Magazine and found a picture of Marilyn Denis's backyard that he really liked. We're always talking about our styles and he says "You want to know my style? It's this." I think it's pretty nice too and we thought it would a great idea down the road when we infill part of our driveway.

Right now it's perfect for the kids because they play with all of their toys there since we park near the front of the house. It seems unfinished to us though so eventually we'll want to landscape this area by pulling up all of the concrete and adding some softer elements to it. It's all down the road of course, but for now it's the kids' domain.

Fence update: Charcoal Stain

A couple weeks ago we put the final touches on the fence stain (see the before pics here!). We still need to figure out what we want to do with the floor of the deck, but I thought I'd share some updated pics anyway. We chose Charcoal by Wood-Shield and love the way it warms up the back yard. It makes the greenery really stand out!

Next up is the deck floor as I mentioned and we just put in an order for a sail shade for under the pergola because it gets really hot up there in the afternoon. Stay tuned!

On blog boredom

If you know me, you know that I get bored easily. Not with everything, but with many things (Ask my hubby what I'm like playing 18 holes of golf). It's kind of weird because I'm a bit of a homebody and I don't really like change all that much. Maybe that's why I get bored? I dunno.

Right now I'm kind of bored with blogs. Sure it's all over the 'net that the blogosphere is changing and maybe that's part of it, another reason that I'm sure of is that it's really close to those hazy, lazy days of summer where I'd rather be outside reading a book or walking with the kids than inside on the computer. I have some client work to do now so I get what I need to get done for that and then I'm off.

But when it comes to blogs, I feel they're so forced now. I can't stand how commercial it all is: product placement, splashy ads, noise. I've been a bit guilty of this too, but I try to focus on things I really believe in like Etsy. I find many blogs now remind me of radio and TV commercials. 

When I read blogs, I want genuine stories and experiences. There are still blogs out there doing this well of course and those are the ones I choose to follow. I still love the old school befores and afters, the DIY, the fun stuff. The bloggers who have fun writing and taking photos. They feel real. I can sense their personalities behind the writing.

I'm not really sure where I'm going with all this. I think as my kids get older and we spend more time outside together I realize real life is more important. Yesterday we spent the morning by the water and we didn't rush. We just walked randomly and sat on the rocks. It was fun to enjoy the sun on our faces and listen to their little conversations.

It was real.

Anyway that's my weird rant for the day. I'm off now to enjoy some more sunshine with the sweeties.