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At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

Where Ideas for your Home Meet Inspiration for your Heart

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June 22, 2015

A Lazy Summer Tour

Hello! It’s me, the redhead and I would like to invite you over to our house today for a Lazy Summer Tour…
The crazy lazy days of Summer are upon us, and all I plan to do is bask in the sun and sip fresh brewed iced tea,with little lemon wedges on the side of the glass.

The-Last-Peonies-of-2015

Well…actually, I gave up sunbathing years ago, but I will share that lemon iced tea with you 🙂
I hope you don’t mind if I take you on a little tour of the best parts about the exterior of our home…

Front Yard 2015

The peonies, oh the peonies. They remind me of the Fourth of July fireworks the way they reach into the air and fall.
They explode with layers and layers of sheer beauty.
Open up peony…let us in!!

Pink Peony

Out back you’ll see we live on a lake called Pung’s Lake.
It’s more like a pond…so who ever declared it a lake was fibbing!!

budding tree

We have a family of swans that swim by daily. The baby cygnets are a lot bigger now.
The swans are so peaceful.

Swans Baby 2015

We also have magnificent mature Michigan pine trees in our neighborhood. We don’t have ones like this on our property, but when I go for walk I am fascinated by them. Bunnies love to scurry under them, especially in the morning as I drive my girls to school.

Big Tree

We have to keep it real around here, so unfortunately we needed to “fire” our lawn guy. We decided to bite the bullet and buy a rider. My husband, Rick, is seen here taking our daughter for her first ride.
I think they like it.

20150609_194351_resized-2

We love to sit on our front porch at night because the sun sets on this side of the house. That means warmth and less bugs.
Can you spot the Robin’s nest?

Summer Front Porch

I collect bird houses, but purely by accident.
If you look really close you can see a 4th bird house on the ground (center of photo). That birdhouse was made by the previous owner who passed away. He had it perched on top of a tree that was dead. The tree had to come down, but we saved the bird house. If you look extra, extra close, you may even see the iron bird that’s on the tree above it.

bird houses

I think I could possibly write a book called “Tree Tales”…
Our big Oak in the back yard came down during a storm and demolished our homemade fire pit my husband made out of extra bricks. We finally built a new one last Summer. (If you need details, let me know!)

DIY Fire Pit Kit
I hope you enjoyed the tour…
Petunias

Happy Fourth of July!Turn a grill grate into an American flag with t-shirt & jean scraps!Follow Redhead Can Decorate on:

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15 Comments Filed Under: Decorating, Gardening, General

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Comments

  1. Kim says

    June 22, 2015 at 3:58 AM

    Lovely yard….enjoy! I am jealous!

    Reply
    • Julie says

      June 22, 2015 at 6:31 PM

      Thank you, Kim! The bad part is the leaves. You should see them in a few months!!! YIKES

      Reply
  2. Stacey says

    June 22, 2015 at 4:47 AM

    Beautiful!! I can’t even imagine peeking out to see swans in the pond. Your trees are huge too and so different from what we have in Texas. Loved seeing this.

    Reply
    • Julie says

      June 22, 2015 at 6:32 PM

      So kind, Stacy. I would LOVE to visit Texas. Never been…yet!

      Reply
  3. martina says

    June 22, 2015 at 5:30 AM

    Beautiful yard and gardens!

    Reply
    • Julie says

      June 22, 2015 at 6:32 PM

      Thank you, Martina!

      Reply
  4. Shirley@Housepitality Designs says

    June 22, 2015 at 5:56 AM

    So loved touring your gorgeous property today….from that marvelous pond to the very enchanting gardens and those magnificent peonies!…..So nice that you still have that birdhouse made by the former owner….I am sure he is looking down with great approval. Must be so very relaxing overlooking the beauty of the pond and the graceful swans…Happy Summer Julie!!

    Reply
    • Julie says

      June 22, 2015 at 6:33 PM

      I love ya, Shirley!! Thank you!!!

      Reply
  5. Nikki says

    June 22, 2015 at 8:50 AM

    wow wow wow! Love those peonies! and the baby swans…….

    Reply
    • Julie says

      June 22, 2015 at 6:33 PM

      Thank you, Nikki!

      Reply
  6. Pamela says

    June 22, 2015 at 9:25 AM

    Great looking yard. The pond was really cool and to see the family of swans everyday that would be so great to watch them grow..
    Have a great day.

    Reply
    • Julie says

      June 22, 2015 at 6:34 PM

      Pamela, the swans sold the house!!!!! 🙂

      Reply
  7. Pamela says

    June 22, 2015 at 6:50 PM

    Awwww….is that what is called bitter sweet……maybe you can get visitions….lol

    Reply
  8. Georgia @ Silver Spiral Studio says

    June 24, 2015 at 10:49 AM

    BEAUTIFUL. You must absolutely love living there. Thanks for sharing 🙂

    Reply
  9. Lorrie says

    August 3, 2015 at 7:38 AM

    Looking for details on your firepit. Specifically where you got the hindged grate.

    Reply

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I've been watching our cherry trees bloom for 12 y I've been watching our cherry trees bloom for 12 years now and every year I ohhhh and ahhhh over the blossoms like it's the first time I've ever seen them. I gush and I take photos (that look exactly like the ones I took the year before and the year before that) and I make my family come outside and look at them with me which you know they just LOVE to do. 😉 I think that is one of the main reasons why I love spring so much. On the one hand, it's predictable and yet, on the other hand, it still feels like such a surprise after the long months of barren branches.

And yesterday, as I was staring at the gorgeous blossoms for the umpteenth time, I couldn't help but think that I hope this is how I feel when our lives return to some semblance of normalcy.

I hope that the predictable feels special and that the typical feels anything but. I hope that I ohhh and ahhh over the simple things I've realized I've taken for granted. And, most of all, I hope that feeling doesn't go away for a very, very long time! 💗
Are you living with great expectation friends? Bec Are you living with great expectation friends? Because He is risen!

Happy Easter from my home to yours!
Lemon bars all ready for tomorrow! It’s going to Lemon bars all ready for tomorrow! It’s going to be a different kind of Easter for sure but some things don’t change. Have you been baking and getting ready for tomorrow? What’s one thing on your menu that you have to have every year?
If this is Good Friday, why doesn’t it feel so “good”? It all seems backward doesn’t it?

What could be good about the unspeakable pain he suffered? What could be good about the shame and betrayal?

Easter Sunday is so joyful, bright and cheery. Shouldn’t that be the day we call “good”? It just feels so much better!

But, I don’t know how to rejoice over His resurrection, unless I have felt the pain of His death. I have realized that in life the sweetest victories are the ones which were realized after a pain-filled journey.

And, so it is with Good Friday. I know there will be victory over death, but I can’t skip ahead in the story.

Jesus knew what was coming. He knew what he would experience. And he knew why he would go through it. He did it for me. He did it for you.

Do you know that? Have you felt it down in the very core of your soul? 
Sometimes it makes me squirm a bit. Why would anyone do that for me?

Well, because, I can’t do it for myself!

There is nothing I can do to earn that kind of love and mercy.

That is why it is called GRACE.

His grace is freely given. We don’t have to pay for it. He paid the price for us already.

Do you remember that movie from years ago called “Ransom”? A couple’s young son was kidnapped and the parents went to hell and back trying to find him and pay the “ransom” demanded by the kidnappers.

Well, Jesus is our “ransom”. (1 Timothy 2:6) His life was the payment.

Why is it called “Good Friday”? Because that wasn’t the end of the story….
.
…It was just the beginning!
Raise your hand if there’s a table in your house Raise your hand if there’s a table in your house that’s become the landing zone for ALL THE THINGS! 🙋🏻‍♀️🤪 I’ve never been more thankful for our rarely used dining room table as it’s become command central for school books and laptops and games.

Where are things collecting in your house right now?
“Sighing, tears, frustration, anger.” Every si “Sighing, tears, frustration, anger.” Every single one of these emotions has made their way through our home in recent days and, my guess is, they have in your home too.

I SO needed this reminder today from the new book ‘Adore’ by @sarahagertywrites.

Adoration isn’t just sitting at His feet gazing longingly with stars in my eyes. It’s bringing my fears and my sorrows and gray roots in my hair that desperately needs to be colored and my messy house and all of the things that threaten to send me over the edge right now and laying them down before Him, soaking up His word and His presence so that when I stand back up, I am changed for having spent the time adoring the ONE who is... Healer, comforter, peace-giver, deliverer, redeemer.

What do you need to bring to Him today? I’ll share mine in the comments and I’d love to hear from you too!
I’ve always loved evenings, but since this whole I’ve always loved evenings, but since this whole lockdown thing began, I’ve come to appreciate this time of day even more.

It feels the most...normal. Daytime is strange and foreign right now. My husband has taken over our home office, I’m suddenly taking over the responsibility of managing my kids’ distance learning and let me just say that teaching 7th grade algebra to my daughter is hugely ironic since I struggled with math all the way through school. I’m trying to do my own work but it feels utterly futile with the constant interruptions which take precedence right now. In the daytime, I’m constantly reminded of how upside down life feels.

But, in the evening, I cook dinner like I’ve always done and we gather around the table like we’ve always done and we laugh and tell stories and then clean up and play games or go on a walk or watch a show. And that feels SO gloriously normal.

So now I love evenings even more than I ever did before and I’m so grateful for this little chunk of time where the rhythms we established years ago are helping to sustain us now when so much of life feels outside of our control.

What feels ‘normal’ to you right now? Whatever it is, keep doing it. 🌿
When I was in college I would frequently call home When I was in college I would frequently call home and pour my heart out to my mom, sharing with her all that was happening in my life in that completely unfiltered way that you can talk with the person who potty trained you. These phone calls usually took place at night and my mom would patiently listen as I vented frustrations about professors, roommates, boyfriends and the food in the cafeteria. And, inevitably, they would end with my mom saying, “Everything seems worse when you’re tired. Try not to overthink things or make any major decisions tonight, especially when you are feeling emotional.” Dear friends, may I pass along this advice to you today?

If you don’t absolutely HAVE to make a decision right now, I want to encourage you to wait until life gets back to normal. If you are finding yourself over-analyzing relationships and family dynamics, I want to encourage you to remember that everything seems more dramatic when looked at under a microscope. And, let’s face it, being homebound with our loved ones non-stop makes us all feel like lab rats in an experiment.

If you are tempted to quit a job, start a business, start homeschooling permanently, stop homeschooling permanently, move to a new city, buy a farm, quit pursuing your dream, join a commune or make any other major life decision just…wait. Because, if it is in fact the right decision, it will be made even clearer once our lives return to their ‘regularly scheduled programming’. Instead, in this strange season, let’s all just take a deep, collective breath and let it out slowly, releasing the anxiety that threatens to overtake us. Let’s help each other maintain some perspective and not slip into a posture of over-thinking every little thing in our lives. Let’s remember that the enemy of our souls would love nothing more than to use this time when things feel dark to manipulate us into thinking that aspects of our lives are worse than they actually are.

My prayer for you in these days is that you will have the clarity to know what is true and that you will be filled with peace even while we live in this season of so many unknowns.
Raise your hand if you’re doing more baking thes Raise your hand if you’re doing more baking these days! 🙋🏻‍♀️ I’m trying to avoid gaining the #corona15 but my daughter and I LOVE baking together and it does help to pass the time plus it counts as a science lesson right?

If you’re able to find flour in the stores (for the love people please stop overbuying!) and you’re doing more baking at your house too you need to add this apricot bread to your list of new recipes to try!

Normally I’d point you to my blog for the directions but I’m going to do you a solid and leave the full recipe in the comments.

What have you baked so far during this time of social distancing? I’d love some new ideas!
There are a LOT of people out walking in our neigh There are a LOT of people out walking in our neighborhood right now (but still social distancing!) and she decided that she wanted to bring them some joy and put a smile on their face when they pass by our house. Also, the square with ‘say no to coronavirus’ is priceless. 😂 I just love her so much!
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