Friday, June 24, 2016

Let The Games Begin....

... or in this case, Let the Boules begin!

A year and a half ago my parents rented a cottage on Omaha Beach, Normandie, France and took all of us on an amazing vacation. 

The cottage was a converted gatekeeper's cottage from an old, large estate! 
We toured the D-Day beaches by day, visited the local markets for delicious food to have at "home" in the evenings and had so much fun playing on the Boules court in the backyard of our cottage.




From this viewpoint ( picture above) you look through the fence and over the rolling hill to hedgerows that are still thick and standing. If you remember WWII history the hedgerows in France helped to stop German tanks. It really was an amazing place to visit. So many stories came to life ... all the history class lessons and movies and books through the years. My family lives in Bedford, VA which is home to the DDay Memorial. The "Bedford Boys" are a very famous part of the story of DDay and the liberation of France. My brother in law grew up in Bedford with some of the Bedford Boys who survived DDay.


We had such a great time drinking delicious French wine and eating fruit and cheese from the markets that we wanted to replicate the fun at home!

So last Fall we began our Boules Court believing that it would be ready for Winter fun.
We have a sunken firepit off of our porch and we thought wine, cheese, firepit fun and Boules sounded perfect.


But like all outdoor projects in Georgia, it begins with leveling the rolling ground :)
Last fall. Dreary and gray weather.



It gets ugly before it gets better!
We had most of the timbers and we had to transplant a few things to make space.

And  we  my husband dug and dug. 
And then we seemed to be responsible for causing the rainiest Fall
 in recent Georgia weather history.
We couldn't get a dry day or the ground dried out to dig.
So the project just sat in it's half finished state through the Winter.
It happens. #unfinished projects!

And then it warmed up and we got productive in the Springy weather!
We just do better when it's warm and sunny.

So we started digging and leveling and hauling stuff around.
The Mother's Day crab boil with friends became the new deadline.
And we made it!! Barely.

I mean barely!
It's a construction zone!
If you look closely you can see saw horses
and ladders leaning where we worked on the small pavilion
 that has Adirondack seating on it.

Propped up lattice and the "burn" pile from pruning around the court..
Generally a mess!


.

The only thing we really had to purchase was a truckload of finely ground granite.
In this picture it is newly laid and leveled and still not compacted.
It has become very firm over time and we have a bin of loose granite that we can sprinkle and level the court with as needed.

( Wheelbarrow and dirt pile still at the end of the court on Mother's Day.)

The construction mess did not keep us from having a ton of fun playing Boules
 (Bocci, Lawn Bowling - choose your country!)



Our court is not the regulation 91 feet. 
The one we played on in France wasn't regulation either and we had a ton of fun. 
We made ours as long as we had space for, added some seating and in just the few weeks we've had it we have had a ton of laughs out back!
We still want to add some lights and a holder for the balls and a sign with the rules.
Maybe I'll have pretty, blogworthy pics by Summers' end.


But we haven't let that or the lovely dirt pile and unfinished landscaping keep us from enjoying our Boules court with family and friends!

Having a boules court in the backyard?
C'est magnifique!



Linking up:
Savvy Southern Style

Monday, June 20, 2016

from my iphone...

I have not compiled one of these "from my iphone" lists in quite some time.
So here goes, in no particular randomness...  

(And most of these are images saved from IG)


Planning to get a Lily Planner is still one of Mollie's favorite things to do. I can't wait to use one someday.
 I have to use one provided by my workplace. 
Maintaining two would be too confusing. 



I need to go here. 
NOW



I am a big fan of porches. 
Especially this one. 
I have a blue ceiling on my porch.
 I think it's a given. Porch ceilings should be blue. #itsasouthernthing




Makes me want to paint something "serious" 
a bright, fun orange! 



Mollie and friends took my phone on the flight from Honduras and gifted me with 38 selfies while I was talking to someone. 
They had it maybe two minutes. 
Mollie says #yourewelcome






I love this feed cause I love Charleston. 



I want to line my steps with hostas. 
This is a fabulous gardening inspiration IG feed. 



Obsessed with this room. 
I'm freshening up the Master with things I have already and this is my kind of "look".
 I love the OKL feed! I save images all. the. time. 


I'm still obsessed with my hydrangeas this Summer. 



Again with OKL.
 I have the flamingo print in my downstairs powder room. I'm planning a gallery wall in the Master Bath. I have everything ready.
 The planning part of this is that I just need to do it! 
And I'm late to the gallery wall thing. 
It's probably "out" but I have extra stuff and I've chosen a big blank wall in the Master Bath. 
It's the only big blank wall I have. 



I do not need any more chairs. 
Repeat. 
I do not need anymore chairs. 
#iliketobuychairs 
#noideawhy 
#chairhoardingisathing

 So that's my fair share of random things for today!





Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Hola! I've Been In Honduras!

If you follow me on Instagram
then you know I have been on my yearly trip to a remote village in Honduras.
This was our 3rd year in a row to go to the same area.
It is one of my favorite weeks of the year.
Mollie and I go together.

Our team does VBS and work projects that are designed to improve the living conditions and overall health of the children who reside in the remote villages.

Mollie and I oversee "Biblia" - Bible School.




Kimberly was a fave!!



Yes, we checked Mollie's bags for small children before we left the country!!


Her bags did not conceal small children (luckily)
 but we did by some wares from the local basket makers.
They are works of art.
They charge so little for something that takes such time and is perfectly crafted.
We can't bring ourselves to bargain.






I'll be showing you some more pictures from our trip and you may notice the casts
 so this is my disclaimer:
These two came pre-injured. This did not happen in Honduras!