Happy 100th, Granny!

This past Monday was my grandmother's 100 birthday - as you can see, she's still got some good wind left in her! We celebrated family style last Saturday and I wanted to take a moment to share some of my favorite memories from the day.

The cake was a wedding size and made by Ukrop's Bakery - for those that know me well, this is my very favorite bakery for birthday cakes and a Richmond legend. My niece, Virginia, had her sights set on the cake since the moment she walked through the door. Her glazed over trance had me laughing and realizing how much of a girl after my own heart she is.

We brought Basil along to join in the celebration. All the children surrounded him and kept him busy the whole day. I joked how all we need to do is hire the little ones in our family to come over an hour a day running around the yard with him as an instant solution for tiring both Basil and the kids out.

At one point, all the men stood up and serenaded Granny with Let me Call You Sweetheart. It was quite the show. You can tell which ones are her sons as they each have their hands waved out in bravado. We have many characters in our family to keep things interesting.

Happy 100th birthday, Granny. I always knew you would make it. I'm proud to carry your name and am looking forward to all the future times we spend together and the lessons you have yet to teach me.

Dog Days of Summer

I wanted to share some photos from our walk down by river near our home. As I've previously mentioned, the heat has been unforgiving over the past few weeks and has made it hard to let Basil go outside to play for any extended period of time during the day.

Once on the riverbank, he didn't waste any time jumping right in. While weims are known hunters and swimmers, it was fascinating getting the chance to watch him jump in and just pick it up like a little swimming pro.

The water not only cooled him off but gave him some of the much needed heavy exercise he's missed out on in the heat. Every time he swam out and returned, he shook off and excitedly turned right back around for another round.

I hope you are enjoying your summer days wherever they might take you. Would love to hear any tried and true tips you have for keeping dogs happy in the heat!

Taking on Basic Composting

Tim and I have been talking about composting our kitchen waste* for a few years now and it was finally time to stop only talking about it by taking matters into our own hands. We knew we wanted to do it ourselves and start out really basic so it becomes something we can lean into as we learn more instead of a huge project we get overwhelmed with - I always think when you start simple, there's always room for growth and improvement.

After researching basic tutorials, we decided to go with a ventilated bin process that we can add to and mix manually over time. The project basically consisted of drilling holes throughout the sides and base of a metal lidded trash bin with a power drill. The holes are there so air can reach the compost. Once drilled, we added layers of dry leaves from the yard, kitchen scraps, and more leaves. We lidded up the bin and placed it on wood planks - again, for ventilation. We plan to continue in this fashion, mixing the compost every week or so, until we start to get that dark rich substance we are hoping to cover the garden with in late spring/summer.

I'm more than thrilled we've finally found a sustainable solution for leftover kitchen waste* other than the garbage. I'm also nerding out a little on the idea that we'll have much less garbage not to mention the sustainable foods we buy and use today will transform into nutrients that will feed and nourish the food we grow months from now - and so the cycle will continue.

*By kitchen waste/scraps I mean: fruit, vegetables, plants, egg shells, and coffee grinds. I understand it's not good to compost meat, bones, dairy, or any processed types of foods. That being said, it's our first time taking on DIY composting, so any tips for success are more than welcome!

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P.S.
As an aside, Basil was intent on supervising the project from start to finish. Can you believe how much he's grown since we first brought him home and even over the holidays? He just turned 6 months old and is still all puppy - just bigger. I promise a more robust Basil update soon.

How To: A Dog Bed for Basil

I will admit something here - Tim and I made a dog bed for Basil before we even knew we were getting him. We knew we wanted a dog and had been on the lookout for some time without much luck - this didn't stop us from preparing though.

One weekend this past summer, yes - summer, we decided to make the bed with some of the fabrics we'd picked up along the way including a burlap coffee sack from Blanchard's Coffee (like the one I used to make this laptop sleeve) and heavy duty canvas from an army tent we came across at a local flea market.

It's a simple square design bed consisting of the following basic steps:

1. Cutting and sewing upper and base fabrics in matching square shapes. 2. Sew lining onto each fabric backing. 3. Face outer fabrics against one another and sew securely around edges leaving a small opening on one side. 4. Flip fabric inside out from opening - you should now have your basic unstuffed dog bed - like a giant pillow. 5. Fill bed with desired stuffing. We chose a mixture of cotton and cedar chips to keep the bed both comfortable and fresh smelling. 6. Fold in edges of opening and pin together. 7. Sew opening closed.

The finished bed sat empty in our basement corner for months and we always talked about whether or not our future dog would like it. Now we ask ourselves if he will ever leave it.

We love the fact we were able to make something together from recycled fabrics that turned out to be so much more meaningful than picking up one of the generic mass produced versions from the pet store. We think Basil agrees.

Photo Recap of the Long Weekend

Some of my favorite preserved memories and found relics from the long holiday weekend at Beechwood:

The time away was indulging, grounding, and gave me that sense of renewal in order to gear back up for the busy holiday season both on and off Etsy - what an exciting time of year.

Basil: An Herb of a Different Breed

Meet Basil, the newest addition to our family. He's a 14 week old weimaraner full of personality. We've known we wanted a weimaraner for a quite some time but had just been waiting for the right one to come along.

After researching the breed fairly extensively to make sure we'd make a good fit for this type of dog, we finally took the plunge and are so looking forward to the adventures ahead of us. That being said, this is the first time I've really owned a dog and I'd love to get any words of wisdom from those of you with experience.