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Letters from the Garden

Cottage

Necessity is the mother of invention

Or: How we got this crazy heavy sink out of the kitchen and onto the deck. I’m writing this Sunday morning. The cabinets are being installed and I’m mostly hiding because I don’t really care for the messy/scary parts. But rather than leave you totally hanging on a kitchen update, I thought I’d share a little item about how to …

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Cottage

The beauty of small decisions

With any renovation there are big decisions and little decisions. I find the big decisions to be nerve-wracking exercises in self-doubt. There is nothing like knowing you are spending a lot of money on something that is not easily changed—the layout, counters, etc—to give you a good case of decision paralysis. Because we sort of fast-tracked our mini kitchen renovation …

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Cottage

Who’s doing what on the kitchen renovation

Last week A couple weeks ago (can you tell the draft of this post has been sitting on my computer for a bit?) I told you that we are getting back into the renovation game and redoing our kitchen. Today I’m going to tell you a bit more about the plan. The layout of the kitchen will stay the same. So …

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Cottage

Back in the renovation saddle again

It has been two years since we finished our renovation. We love almost everything we did as part of that insanely large project although there are very few things we would choose to do differently if we were to do it all over again. But looking back, that renovation damn near killed me. OK, that’s being dramatic, but it was …

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Cottage

Another touch of black

What is it with me and spur-of-the-moment door painting? It’s really quite strange. I usually really think about a project before I jump into it. I’m not one of those people who will tear down a wall on a Friday night without thinking through what happens next. But for some reason, I get a little crazy when it comes to …

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Cottage

List checker-offers unite!

Raise your hand if you’ve ever put something on a list that you’ve already done just to have the satisfaction of crossing it off. I see you all out there with your guilty hands in the air.  Let’s face it, it feels damn good to cross things off a list and I’m happy to say that I’ve done a pretty …

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Garden

Giveaway winners and little changes that make a big difference

Hey, it’s Friday again. I love how that keeps happening. I have a few items on the agenda for the weekend including ordering some fabric from Calico Corners before their 25% off sale ends, cutting down just a few more things in the garden and putting cages around the plants that need protection from deer or dogs during the winter. …

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The Impatient Gardener blog was started in 2009 and its library of posts includes practical how-tos, plant guides, favorite garden gear, successes and failures and much more. If you’re looking for something specific, the search function at the top of the page can help.

Thanks to Longfield Gardens for partnering with me on this post.  You don’t need to look far on this blog or in my garden to know that I am mildly obsessed with dahlias and have been for a long time. And while I admire, and maybe even envy, those photos of a field with row […]

This post is sponsored by Troy-Bilt, maker of great equipment to whip your yard into shape and supporters of neighbors helping neighbors. As usual, all thoughts are my own. Isn’t it funny how we limit our gardens to the little square of land we own? Obviously there’s a reason for this, but if the only […]

My garden has taught me a lot of lessons, but one of the most important is that good enough is usually good enough. When perfectionist tendencies rise to the surface, the garden is the perfect place to tamp them back into place. There is only so much a control a gardener can have over what […]

Thank you to Longfield Gardens for sponsoring this post and feeding my love of dahlias. Over the next couple weeks I will go through all the dahlia tubers I overwintered and plant them up in pots along with all the new tubers I just had to have. Starting dahlias in pots works well for me […]

Spring comes painfully slow here, something that I’m alternately thankful for and tormented by. It’s nearly intolerable to see the beauty of spring, all fresh green and flowery coming to other yards in warmer areas when mine is mostly still brown. But the upside is that I always feel like I get a bit of […]

I found myself with a bit of extra time at home last summer (imagine that) and, inspired by the amazing floral designers who I see sharing their work on Instagram, I decided I would try to get a little better at making bouquets. Mind you, I don’t do anything with these bouquets other than enjoy […]

I always say that the best thing I do for my garden is get out of it. Visiting other gardens never fails to provide the kind of inspiration I can’t find anywhere else. What is always interesting is that the photos I take on these visits continue to provide inspiration long after I’ve left, as […]

Hello flower lovers! I’m partnering with Longfield Gardens on this post, but you know the drill: all words and dahlia obsessions are my own. We interrupt your regularly scheduled holiday activities to talk about something that is, dare I say, even more important. And if you know me, you probably know that the only thing […]

Traditionally the gift guides here have featured a wide variety of gardening-related items for a range of budgets, but this year I’m going a different direction. Everything here is from a small or independent business, and most items are hand-crafted.  You can still check out my Amazon storefront. (If you use that link I may earn […]

I’ve partnered with Garrett Wade to create a custom gift guide from their selection of high-quality tools, gear and accessories. I received some products to review to better inform my list (you know I’d never recommend something I didn’t really like) and compensation for my time. If there was ever a year that called for special