Tag Archives: patio

Nov 15 2012

Paving Stones with Pizazz

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I was going through a magazine as I sat in the doctor’s office this morning.  I saw the most beautiful patios with gorgeous paving stone.  The colors and designs were amazing.  I think my favorite photo of the bunch was one showing a terracotta colored stone in an intricate star pattern.  Each stone interlocked perfectly to form a seven pointed star or almost a flower design.  It was rimmed with a contrasting deep chocolate color that gave the whole design a richness and made it look very expensive.

I’d love to have a patio like that at my house.  I wonder how hard it would be to install patio pavers by myself.  I bet I could save a bunch of money if I cut out the cost of labor and just paid for the materials.  However, I’m not an expert at this kind of design, so I would probably be better off hiring a professional company to come out and do it for me. Then I would get to enjoy it all and not hurt myself in the process from lugging the stones around.

I wouldn’t stop with just paving my patio though. I would also have my drive way paved in a beautiful matching stone.  I might as well go all out and have the whole front redone if I’m going to do it.  I bet I could get that large star flower done on the patio and then maybe smaller versions of it as you drive up the drive way.  Or, maybe doing just the opposite design would look better.  I’d have to see a mock up or digital rendering of what the entire project would look like before I committed either way. I’m sure some companies provide a service like to help their customers visualize their dreams.

Apr 6 2012

Inspiration From Our Surroundings

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Appreciating my surroundings is something I’ve always been taught to do. Sometimes I like to take a drive around the country just to look and see what has popped up around me. Occasionally, I’ll see clusters of new homes being built or even new shopping centers. The Boca Raton Architects have really produced some lovely buildings.

Driving through new neighborhoods and looking at the new homes gives me ideas of ways to add special touches to my home.  Sometimes I might see some neat landscaping out front.  Other times, my eye might be caught by large arch windows.  Most recently, I was excited by a quaint little breeze way at the entrance to a home.  It was a about a ten foot arch with lattice work.  Hanging from the lattice was ivy and some beautiful pink and purple flowers.

I wish I had a grand entrance at the front of my home for something like this.  The lattice work was breath taking.  I suppose I could always add something similar to the backyard and patio, but I really thought it was stunning in the front yard.

Mar 28 2012

A Perfect Evening Outdoors

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My next door neighbor invited Lady Bug and I over for dinner tonight.  We sat out back in her Adirondack chairs as we watched her husband get the barbecue ready to grill the steaks, and the girls played in the yard.  I couldn’t help but admire the lovely bird feeders she has hanging from the patio.  They were made especially for hummingbirds.  She had two hanging from opposite sides of the patio.   It made me think that I would really like to have a few things like this in our back yard.  I know Lady Bug would love to watch as humming birds drifted in to our home and then away again.

Once dinner was ready we all sat at the Picnic Tables she has in her back yard.  She has a really cute plastic table for the kids and a metal and wood version for the adults.  The tables had pink plastic table cloths taped down protecting them. Everyone found a spot to sit at the appropriate tables and we began to eat.

After dinner, we all walked down to the park. Our kids played on the playground and we relaxed on the Park Benches.  It was a great way for them to burn off their last bit of energy for the day.  We enjoyed listening to them laugh and play for awhile and then headed home.  On the way back we stopped and picked some flowers in our garden to give to the neighbors as a thank you for such a wonderful night.  It really was a perfect evening.

Mar 10 2012

Change Your Clocks for Daylight Savings Time

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Two times a year we have to change our clocks here due to daylight savings time.  I don’t really mind it that much in the Fall when I get to sleep in for an extra hour.  But when it means I have to get up an hour earlier tomorrow morning, I’m not really too excited about it.

Thanks to technology I don’t have to change the clocks on my computer or even on my cable box. However, I still have to go around and manually change all of the rest of the clocks in my home. I have more clocks that I realized.  I have a clock in each of my bathrooms, alarm clocks in our bedrooms, the microwave, and a nice wall clock in the living room.  I even have one hanging outside on the patio.  The digital clocks took no time at all to reset, but the analog clocks required me to take them off the wall and rehang them.

Now that I’ve changed all of the clocks in my home, I have to remember to change the clock in the car before I go to church in the morning.  Clocks, clocks, everywhere sheesh!