Pandemic Gardening: A Year for Experiments

We haven’t done a real garden in years, mostly because we’ve gone on long summer trips every year lately. That and how we are, historically, not very good at gardening. But this year we’re home at least until the end of June and maybe all summer (we change our minds pretty much daily about which is more likely; at the … Continue reading

When People with No Idea What They’re Doing Reseed a Lawn

Were I the sort of person who understands lawns I might have a better idea about what exactly happened to ours last year. Maybe it was the relentless rain. Maybe it was grubs. Maybe it was just the grass’s time to go. But, whatever the reason, by the end of last summer, our special mix of Bermuda grass mixed with … Continue reading

DIY Under-the-Deck Chicken Pen and Coop

Post contains affiliate links. If you buy something after clicking on my links, you don’t pay any extra, but I make a small commission. Thanks for supporting Boxy Colonial!  Last time we had chickens, in our old house, we started out with a chicken coop smack in the middle of the yard. Then we realized that this resulted in an … Continue reading

Porch and Deck Plans: the Fun Part is Here!

It’s blissfully cool here in Georgia right now; I am, in fact, wearing a jacket as I type this, and my air conditioner hasn’t cut on all day. It’s still August, and I’m sure there’ll be at least one more stretch of hot weather to endure before fall settles in for good, but it’s reminding me that it’s time to … Continue reading

DIY Deck Repair/Rebuild, Part 3: Some Details

This post is coming to you much later than intended, because I’ve kind of been dreading writing it. It’s one of those posts where I have to consult extensively with Dave, since I wasn’t really the primary decision maker or the primary getting stuff done-er on the project. And I hate talking to Dave. Just kidding. But it’s an extra … Continue reading

DIY Kids’ Backyard Construction Zone

Important lesson in parenting that I suspect most parents grasp a lot more quickly than I have: if you tell your preschooler that you’re going to build him a construction zone in the backyard “soon” you should make sure that you really mean soon….otherwise he’s going to ask you in an eager little voice every few weeks, “when are we going … Continue reading

Deck Repair/Rebuild, Part 2: To DIY or Not to DIY

Way back when we built the kids’ swing set, I wrapped things up with some philosophical musings about reasons for DIYing a project. I’m going to return to that topic in this deck rebuild post, because, as I’ve mentioned before, this project really pushed us to the very edge of our DIY comfort zone. Sometimes to DIY or not to … Continue reading

DIY Deck Repair/Rebuild: Before and After Pics

I’m going to do a big post with lots of details about the deck building process, things we learned along the way, and whether we’d go the DIY route if we had it to do over again….but for today I’m just going to show you the pretty pictures. The back of our house has a screen porch (well, it used … Continue reading

Deck Plans!

I’m having computer problems that are making blogging extremely slow and difficult. And I’m having a very difficult time picking out a new computer. I actually ordered one from Amazon, but then it got here and Abe’s room looked weirdly day-glo green on it, and no amount of tinkering would fix it, so I sent it back and now I’m … Continue reading

What’s Going on Around Here Lately

It’s time for one of those periodic “I don’t really have a project to show you, but honest we HAVE been doing stuff. Here: let me show you” posts. Easter happened (umm….it was almost a week ago now! Hope those of you who celebrate had a great Easter!) Abe was the only one of my kids to hunt for eggs … Continue reading