Tuesday, January 5, 2021

Keep In Touch #181

Hi, Friends, 
How are you? 
Happy 2021. I resisted the urge to make too many comments about 2020 because as bad as you think a year is, the next one could be worse. 
Every year seems to have its challenges that push me ever closer to the Lord. Each year has its share of blessings too. 2020 is not exception but that is another post.
I'm sitting on our sweet screened in porch out in East Texas. It is a cool sunny day. 


The new mattress has arrived so I can head back into town in a little while. I need to wait until after rush hour because I don't love the traffic once I'm out on the highway. 
Our little house is 2 hours and 8 minutes away from town on a good day. About an hour of the trip is country roads. The last bit of the trip is highway. The traffic builds and builds until I get home. After a stint out here, I wonder why we live in the city. There is a lot of traffic but Hobby Lobby is 5 minutes from our city house. Except for high end or luxury stores we have everything within a 5 mile radius. The nearest Walmart here in East Texas is about 25 to 30 minutes away. The nearest grocery store is about 20 minutes. I'm sure that would get old if we were here full time but I guess we'd get used to it. 
The rural feel is exactly what we wanted in a weekend house. 


I got here yesterday afternoon with the intent of planting some flowers. This is Texas so we have several winter flowers. It's our reward for making it through August. 
Out near Canton, (Google it) I saw a couple of deer along the highway. I realized that I may have just bought deer food instead of seasonal color. Oops. 
Let me know if deer eat pansies. 
There are deer tracks all over our yard, yet none are near the house. It will be something new to research. 
 

Some bulbs were planted that may need chicken wire surrounds when they come up. The rest of the beds got dianthus because the former owner had one little dianthus plant in back. It didn't get eaten so I hope we are good there. Nothing got eaten overnight. Either side of the front walk desperately needed curb appeal. (The whole front yard needs curb appeal.) I raided my yard at home of iris, liriope, and lilies but much more needs to be transplanted out here. The former owner had a gardenia or two, and a couple of roses. There are some other plants on each corner but I have no idea what they are. There is a dogwood somewhere but I'll have no idea where until spring. I'm so excited about that. Everything needs to be somewhat xeriscaped because I don't know how often I'll be here to water next summer.  

If you have been following, I painted the kitchen cabinets last week while I waited for the bed that didn't show. I added some knobs to them last night. I still need more but I love the vintage look of these. 


I can't do pulls on bottom cabinets, so I need to find something for the bottoms. 
I got these at Hobby Lobby. They have silver centers so I could always do some silver pulls. 
The other house has a mix of three different styles. It would be fun to mix in some vintage knobs as well.I putzed around today while I waited for the bed. I did a few paint touch ups. I also sewed up all the seat cushions. That was one of these nagging things that never got done initially. 
The screened in porch got photographed so I'll have a reveal of that soon. It's such a fun spot. 
Check out these two posts if you haven't seen them. 

That is a bit of an update. Now for the features. 




One Christmas feature for you from Rever en couleur. 


Thank you so much for all of your support this past year. 
We've grown a little and that makes me happy. 
Make sure you are following on Instagram for more up the minute stuff. 
Blessings, 
Katie 

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13 comments :

  1. Katie,
    Happy New Year!!!
    Thanks so much for taking the time to host each week!! It truly is appreciated!! Stay safe, healthy and happy!!
    Hugs,
    Deb

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  2. Hi Katie! You’re so ambitious with all that you’ve done. I’m in awe! 🥳 Happy New Year to you and thank you for hosting.

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  3. Hope the deer don't notice the pretty flowers! thanks for having us over, Katie. Have a great week!

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  4. Katie, thanks for hosting throughout the year!

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  5. I garden with deer--as in deer in my yard every day! I have found that putting an organic fertilizer called Milorganite around the beds helps greatly in keeping the deer away. Also a spray on deer repellent such as Repells All works well. I am afraid pansies are a plant that most deer love, but my deer seem to not like violas.

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  6. I hate to tell you that in my Virginia garden, pansies and lilies do not stand a chance against deer. I'm hoping that the Texas deer don't like either. I spray Liquid Fence on things that the deer like and it works!

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  7. I always forget to see what's at the garden center this time of year, Katie, thank you for the reminder. I can't wait to follow along and see what you're up to again this year. You guys are always on an adventure. Thanks so much for hosting and Happy New Year! Hugs, CoCo

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  8. Love the way your country house is coming together! We have a screen porch that we love, so I'm excited to see yours!

    Niky @ The House on Silverado

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  9. Oh Hi

    Yes you said it ! 2021 could be much worst than 2020, I'm not relaxing yet
    I'm enjoying catching up on reading your past post anyway.
    I am going to get back into blogging again instead of worrying and eating way to much LOL

    Janice

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  10. I'm so happy that you have found your second home. We downsized 3 years ago to our cottage on a lake in MI and love it. We have to drive farther to get to major shopping but it's so worth it. The drive is peaceful and beautiful and we are so blessed to live here. AND, it's so nice to maintain a smaller home. No regrets!

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  11. Happy New Year! I am not sure if deer eat pansies but I do know spraying plants with an egg|water mixture prevents the deer from nipping. For whatever reason they do not appreciate the taste. 🤷‍♀️. I learned this from all my years of living back east in the metro area. Good luck!

    XO- MaryJo

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  12. Thanks for hosting, Katie. Your special place is coming right along. What fun to have a sweet getaway..Stay well..xxoJudy

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  13. Hi katie, Okay I knew I had missed the weekend house update! I saw pics on Instagram but I missed the details. What a fun treat! laura

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