House Reveal

 This post is a long time coming for sure but the project, which was SUPPOSED to be fairly quick, turned out to be more of a project than we thought.  You know how that is, you start something and that leads to another thing and so on and so on.

It started after the great Fort Worth Freeze of February 2021.  Every living thing, plant life I mean, perished during this time.  It looked like somebody had gone through all the neighborhoods with a blow torch and singed all the plants.  They started coming back but truly there was no redeeming them.

So all of those were removed and replaced with flirt nandinas.  It probably doesn’t really look like much here but there were two layers of shrubs and in part of the bed there were these really treacherous rose bushes.  Great home security because they had thorns so thick and so mean that it would very painful to crawl around in there and my poor husband who is on blood thinners sported all sorts so wounds from those rose bushes for days.  We eventually got it emptied out and started completely over.

In the second photo there is an archway of cedar posts painted dark brown.  I am not a huge fan of dark brown and this arch-y thing always looked unfinished to me.  So, we decided to embellish it and I am happy with it, you will see that at the next photo.

I decided I wanted to get rid of the dark brown trim — the front door was dark brown and looked like a black hole, the window shutters were dark brown and so was that arch.  We painted the shutters three times before we got the color we wanted but I think we are finally satisfied.  The flower beds look a little sparse but we are liking it so much better than the overgrown, over-tall, jungle that was there.  So, here is Fox Hollow at Prairie now — we are satisfied and we are done.  What do you think?

We added the fencing and the brackets to make it a bit more “cottage-y” and more finished looking.

This is a faux window that we hang a little flag in — right now there is a Christmas flag but we have been hanging a fox-themed flag to honor Finnegan and Fiona, our resident foxes

Had to find a place for the fairy door — just in time for the cooler weather — don’t want the little fairies to get cold.  No, I haven’t been imbibing — Bean just loves this kind of thing so I have to incorporate little bits and pieces here and there.

Hard to see them, but Hubs planted over 30 of these Flirt Nandinas.  They will spread out but they will stay low which is good.  I am a little paranoid about shrubs growing up in front of windows — thanks to my mother.  She was always afraid somebody would hide behind them and that stuck with me so no shrubs in front of my windows.)

Meet the hubs — painting the shutter for the third time.  I am satisfied with the color, thank goodness, because I didn’t want to have to ask him to paint them again.

The wreath I have used for about 25 years.  I was going to make a new one but decided against it and just stuck this one up again.  It has held together pretty well for 25 years, don’t you think?

So, anyway, that was our summer/fall project.  I am glad it is over and one of things we did that I didn’t show was paint the porch ceiling a sky blue called “haint” blue — a southern tradition to keep away evil spirits and, apparently, wasps.  I remember my great-grandmother’s house having a blue ceiling.  So, I thought it a cute tradition and brings back memories for me so we went ahead and did it even though Hubs had to stand on a very tall ladder and I stood out there and spotted him because anything above a two step step stool and I am having a nervous rigor.  

That is it, we are happy with it and I wonder what you think.  Of course you have to just imagine it before but that isn’t hard — just plug in dark brown everywhere and you get the idea.