House – Caroline Mitchell Carrico

Urban Nature

My home is in the middle of a mid-sized American city. The house itself was built in 1941 on a .226-acre lot. That makes it one of the young ones in the neighborhood. I’ve been steadily and happily working to improve our small part of the ecosystem since we arrived in 2013. While it mightContinue reading “Urban Nature”

Stop the junk

I love getting mail. On occasion my niece mails me one of her paintings or a person I met through LibraryThing mails a postcard. My grandparents always, without fail, mail me a homemade card for my birthday. So I suppose it would be more accurate to say that I love getting real mail. Conversely, I hate junk mail. It wastes myContinue reading “Stop the junk”

A new garden plot

After some serious discussion and much internal debating, we decided not to get chickens like we had initially planned. Instead, we are going to use the back corner of our yard where we were going to put a coop as a kitchen garden. That area gets the most sun and is practically shaped so asContinue reading “A new garden plot”

The Reading Chair. A Delayed Gratification Story. Part I.

We recently moved a bookcase, which freed up some space in our living room. Upon taking a step back, we realized it would make a lovely spot for a lamp and a reading chair, largely due to the inability to see the TV from that location. The thing is, we have many projects (big andContinue reading “The Reading Chair. A Delayed Gratification Story. Part I.”

Bones

Some families have elves on shelves. Around here, we have skeleton pets. Happy Halloween!

We labored

On Labor Day weekend, Greg and I decided it was time to make a change. We moved into our house about a year and a half ago, which means that we have been living in a toasted almond world. Every room of our house (save the blue kitchen and the peachy bathroom) was painted theContinue reading “We labored”

Pea production

We’ve hit the part of the summer where I spend my evenings watching tv and endlessly shelling peas. It’s about now when I start to wonder if I really want more peas in my freezer. Lady peas are great and all, but will I really, really want them in March? Then my stomach kicks inContinue reading “Pea production”

Baby food

My kitchen is in a constant state of baby food production.

Summer flowers

I’ve been neglecting my backyard in favor of working out at the garden and canning. The plan is that once the heat breaks in September (or October), we will finish pulling the f—–g privet so that we can put in our chicken coop next spring. It will also give us the space to plant aContinue reading “Summer flowers”

Raised Beds

Back in March, our friends Chris, Patrick and Claire helped us construct raised beds on the side of our house. Our neighborhood is full of mature trees, which makes it both beautiful and shady. The only place that gets consistent sunlight is the south side of the house. When we moved in, that area was plantedContinue reading “Raised Beds”