Christmastime is Here

... And things at the Smith house are looking glittery and bright! While my mom and our friend, Marilyn were here visiting, we dove right into decorating for the holidays. I thought I would share some of what we did with you!

Let's start with the great outdoors...

A vinyl-sided gingerbread house ;)

Come on in!

We picked these wreaths up at Michaels for $1.99 each!

(we made the bows out of outdoor ribbon from Lowes)

I made this wreath out of curly fabric bows from Hobby Lobby

Little Christmas Curls

On the front porch

(I found the wicker cabinet on the side of the road!)

A garden ornament with snowflakes and glittery stars

The nest of the elusive Peppermint Sparrow

Our little outdoor tree

(it lights up at night...that will have to wait for another post)

Happy holidays to everyone! Hope your decorating is going well!

~ Mari

Late Summer Update

After all those years of watching my mom and dad garden and do yard-work, I realized how much I didn't want to have any part in that world. The world of spiny plants, yellow jacket attacks, and rushing inside to take a shower to get the ticks off. Yeah. Not really appealing, right?

Wrong. Ok - so, the actual act of gardening isn't a super fun time, but the result of all that hard work is quite magnificent. Especially when you can eat the things you grow!

I started a little herb garden next to the garage. At first, I was dissapointed with my thumb and it's ability to grow healthy plants (the leaves were a little yellow and they were growing pretty slowly), but after a month, the garden is doing quite well!

I have mint, basil, sage, oregano, parsley and... sunflowers (just for color). I've been using herbs from my OWN garden and am quite proud of myself. :)

Here was my other project - the front flower bed. The rose bushes don't look so hot and they will probably be gone (by way of Ryan and a big shovel) by the fall, but they shall stay there for now. I planted some Gerber Daisies, Pink Vinca, Lantana, and a Butterfly bush. It looks so much better now that we've mulched it and planted a few things!

And there's the front porch - where I sit and watch the hummingbirds guard their feeder. :) I cannot tell you how GLAD I am that it's starting to cool off here. Yahoo!

Thanks for looking!

~ Mari

Summertime Moments

It just rained at my parents' house here in TN. It's so beautiful here after a rain - I just couldn't resist getting some pictures outside. Hope you enjoy!



Hummingbird moth:

Hope you're having a great summer evening as well!

~ Mari

Ugly Little Cuties

We've got babies! No, not the human kind - the feathered (well, fuzzied) kind. Our mommy bluebird was quite busy building her nest for weeks.. and then we looked in there and 5 precious little blue eggs were nestled down in the straw.

And guess what's in there now?

They're so ugly that they're adorable! Their little gray eyes haven't even opened... and their balding. I mean, how cute can you get, right?

Hopefully we can get more pics as they get older (and less ugly)!

Yay for Spring!

~Mari

NOC

Yep... that's me on a giant $1000 dollar faux black bear. Good times, right? Today was the Business During Hours (Fancy, right? During instead of after... clever folks!) for the "NOC" (Nantahala Outdoor Center) Great Outpost in downtown Gatlinburg. It opened just a few days ago, and wow is it cool! It's located right at the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and is a welcoming structure for those coming in to Gatlinburg from the park! Also, it's super cool inside - most of the building is wallpapered with reclaimed tree bark and there is an indoor rock climbing wall. One really cool thing is that they have a shuttle that goes to and from the AT trail for those AT hikers who want a rest. They also have showers for the AT hikers - which I would imagine is a veeery welcome sight. My fam and I had a great time wandering around - just soaking in the atmosphere. I had to really control myself in the shoe department (one word: Chacos) and in the clothing department (for someone who doesn't hike or camp, I certainly love me some outdoor clothing...). All in all it was a great experience!

So, if you're in the G-burg area, I would recommend checking it out!

~ Mari

Spider con Babies

** Baby Spiders **

** Here the spider is eating a ladybug **