Finally finished project 18 The Courtyard Renovation

I am a very lucky lady to have both a home on the Atlantic Coast and a home 1/2 mile from the Gulf of Mexico in Southwest Florida. I do love the sea and always desired to be near it.

The water in this part of the Gulf is warm and clear, and a beautiful shade of aqua, very often like the Carribbean. I swam in it today for at least an hour. I love the variety here. Some days the water is as calm and serene as a sea of glass. Other days there is a current and  waves. I love waves. I also love it calm and clear. Variety, ahhh the spice of life.

So onto the finished project of creating a  courtyard in the front entrance of my home here by the beautiful Gulf of Mexico.

 Finally complete

It used to be a garden entrance full of stone. Dark Grey stone on the sides, with plants. A pathway of pink stone, and diamond shaped stepping stones was how we entered. Everyone grumbled, when pulling their suitcases in, believe me. A real nut test!

 Here it is Before.

And  ouch, ooch, yikes, when i ran out there in bare feet! There were always small rogue pebbles on those stepping stones!!!
So I'll cut to the chase and give ya some other before and after shots! Thanks for tuning in!

The fountain area, now.

The Fountain Area Before:

And when we removed the stone, you can see how bad the concrete was in this shot.... yikes it took a lot of work to fix this concrete with patching and cleaning and a coat of stain before doing the brick stamping pattern.

The Concrete under the stone

And after I stamped it.

And here is the Window Wall now.

Inspired by the clay and white room below

More inspiration photos and us cleaning out the stone are HERE in my previous post

I love these shutters! i found them at Sarasota Architechtural salvage.

You can see the floor pretty good in this pic. I used a sponge and clay color cement stain to achieve this look.

I stenciled some of the bricks for a Mexican tile effect. I used a mixture of grey stain and aqua paint for the stencil, the stain was way too thin for stenciling, so i needed to thicken it up for doing the stencil, once the brick design was dry.

The boring window wall before 

So I am a happy camper now, no more stones under my feet, when I walk out my door I see this pretty courtyard .

A complete do it yourself project and very satisfying.

 A big shout out to Johanna, without who's help, I could never have accomplished removing all that stone or moving those huge pots through Home Depot!

Adios Amigos!

Now I can head back to Jersey for Easter!
Happy Easter.

Linking up to these parties:
The Mommy Club
Good Life Wendesday
Wow us Wendesday
Vintage Inspiration Friday
Feathered Nest Friday

As winter Sets in.

Now that the holidays are over, the sillouette of winter is upon us.

The sun is setting at 4:45

It will be a long time before I can pick these blooms again from the bush out front. It is merely a stick now.

The pool beyond the windowsill is closed with a sturdy cover, strong enough to hold an elephant.

The visiting ducks have flown to warmer places, 

as we settle in for our long winter's nap.

I'm dreaming of playing in the sand, of warmer days, of strolling along the beach not fighting the wind

Of summer sunsets

As I pass the winter painting and crafting, working, and hibernating.

I'll take the white caps of waves over snow any day.

I  prefer my winter  would come and go with hardly a nod

Cabin fever strikes me quickly, the minute the cold sets in, I want to run off to Florida.

Do you?

Yes.. I've never heard anyone say " Darn the winter just wasn't harsh enough for me!"

I often come in from the cold chill and say"This weather is for the aliens"and my kids laugh at that.

So I pass the time working, and keeping warm, and fixing things and updating. 

That's the upside, more time indoors, more things get done.

It gives me time to finish up the room I've been putting off. The guest room.

I normally get things done much quicker, this one is taking way too long. Started in September!

For me necessity is the mother of invention. 

This room... I haven't felt that necessary. But I'm on it now.

 I promised myself January is the month to complete it.

A peak at the chippy Urn I will be using in my new office/ guest room which I promise to post.

I love this urn. Nifty thrifty yard sale find.

I've been painting and primping lots of furniture and walls. Feathering the nest for winter.

When I cleaned up all the Christmas mess, I just couldn't put these away....

 I think i will leave my little bottle brush trees in the cream cheese crate for the duration of winter.

I like how they look.

As I wait for the summer sun once again. 

I do love the Seashore, and taking pictures of it.

Joining these parties

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday @Coastal Charm

Knick of Time Tuesday #15 {Vintage Style Link Party}
Boogie Board Cottage
Feathered Nest Friday
Vintage Inspiration Fridays

Last night's Beautiful Beach Walk

Has anybody noticed how pretty the sky has been this last week?
I went for a walk in the evening last night and this is what I saw!

 Good Lord above!

The end of our Florida Keys trip ` the Purple Isle"

For "The Florida Keys Song"  while your reading click the video above.

I have to show you the places we stopped on our way back from Key West.

A little Key called Islamorada

The name Islamorada, meaning "purple island", came from early Spanish explorers in the area. Its pronunciation has been Anglicized toaisle-a-more-AH-dah.

You can understand why they named it the "purple island" when you look at the waters.

The waters are full of purple and aqua and blue

 the pool had a gorgeous view

And the morning coffee went down easy with this to look at.

Easy to ignore the roof.


This was a nice little stop with azure waters and soft sand. 

But wayyyy too much noise to get any sleep on a Saturday night.
This place was hoppin.

~~~~~~~

I can't forget about Key Largo

Hop a boat at John Pennakamp Coral Reef State Park and get in some snorkeling.
We enjoyed it

( Florida tourism pic) all others are mine.

.


After that.

We visited The Carribean club where they filmed the movie "Key Largo"

Step inside

 Here is the corner where Bogey sat while the hurricane brewed outside.

If you walk through the bar, you can go outside and watch the sun set.

Of course we did. No hurricane today.

Have a beer, catch the last glimpse of it.

Then we had dinner at a nice place down the road, but I forget the name of it.

So if you are driving through the Florida Keys, the Carribean club is one of the first places you will see in Key Largo, it is on the right side of the road.
Have a beer and sit in Bogey"s seat.
Tell em Eileen and Mary Loiuse sent ya.

Key Largo will be aired Sunday May 1st on TMC


Life is good. I've been blessed.


sharing with "The good life Wendesdays" at Sarah's 
Thank you Sarah for this wonderful party were anyone can post anything!!


Show and Tell wendesday