Change is in the air. Trees and shrubs are budding and the grass is greening. It’s time to rake the leaves to the curb, haul out the garden hoses, clean out the basement and put away the scarves and mittens.
It’s a time of renewal. It’s time to dig in the dirt and start a vegetable [...]
Archive for April, 2009
Spring has sprung
Posted in Gardening, tagged Gardening, spring renewal on April 30, 2009 | 3 Comments »
Porch envy
Posted in Home, Home Improvement, Porch Envy, tagged Home Improvement, Porch Envy on April 29, 2009 | 4 Comments »
I want this porch…someday. I’ve had a case of serious porch envy ever since David’s mom sent this article our way. In the article, there are eerie similarities between this house and ours. …like they are both built in the late 1800’s, the horsehair plaster walls were cracking, the bay window was slumping, there was a [...]
Bathroom metamorphosis
Posted in Home, Home Improvement, tagged bathroom remodel, Home Improvement, home remodeling on April 28, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Our cute little 8th Street cottage had a dirty little secret… it was the bathroom. At a glance, the picture to the left doesn’t look that bad, right? When we took a closer look, we found that the sink cabinet was rotting, the floor boards were weak and water damage from the shower was wreaking [...]
Let your garden grow
Posted in Gardening, tagged flowers, garden, green thumb, planting on April 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The 8th Street house was a clean slate as far as landscaping and gardening was concerned. The home had previously been a rental, so there were no flower surprises that popped up anywhere (as I had hoped.) I had to start from scratch and here are the results! This area between the driveway and the house [...]
Kitchen redux
Posted in Home, Home Improvement, tagged kitchen remodel ikea tile backsplash on April 25, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Ok…our kitchen was nothing to crow about when we bought the house. In fact, it needed some serious love. Because both David and I enjoy cooking, we really needed to make sure the kitchen was up to snuff.
We lived with various versions of the dreaded temporary kitchen during the remodel. Lucky for us- it was [...]
Local peanut butter is the ultimate snack
Posted in Food and Beverage, Northern Products, tagged buy local, naturally nutty peanut butter, shop local, Traverse City on April 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
A few months ago, I made a scrumptious discovery in the grocery store aisle- Naturally Nutty peanut butter. It’s made locally, right here in Traverse City, Michigan!
Today, I was in need of some afternoon pick-me-up. I treated myself to some mocha peanut butter and paired it with graham crackers for a creamy snack while at the office.
The ingredients [...]
Hiking the bluff
Posted in Leelanau County, Living, Recreation, tagged Empire, Hike, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Trail on April 22, 2009 | 1 Comment »
The Empire Bluff Trail hike is short in length, but tall in stunning beauty. I feel so lucky to have already made my inaugural hike in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore this season! If you need a reminder as to why so many of us choose to live here, then by all means, hike the Empire [...]
Salsa gardening
Posted in Cooking, Food and Beverage, Gardening, Home, Living, tagged beginner gardener, container gardening, first garden, Gardening, salsa on April 2, 2009 | 1 Comment »
It’s amazing that you can plant a garden without having a garden plot! My first garden was planted when I was living in Leland and utilized many containers. I wanted a salsa garden- tomatoes, sweet peppers, hot peppers and a few spices.
The harvest didn’t produce the monster-size peppers and tomatoes that you sometimes see in the grocery [...]
Living Room rehab
Posted in Home, Home Improvement, Living, tagged cottage-style home, diy, Douglas Fir, Home Improvement, Living Room makeover, living room remodel, paint, refinish hardwood floors, sage green living room, yellow living room on April 1, 2009 | 3 Comments »
When we bought our first house, it was for it’s potential. We knew we could make it ours. Here is a picture of the living room on the day that we closed on our 1000 sq ft wonder! It was very very yellow with dingy carpet and dated fixtures. Under the carpet we found Douglas Fir [...]
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Appreciating Life Up North
Appreciating Life Up North is a look into my interests and love of life in Traverse City, Michigan. I aspire to live simply, support local businesses, embrace ‘green’ living and try to enjoy every minute of it.
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