The story of a small Oak Park bungalow and our experiences transforming it into our home.
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About four years ago, my daughter made a couple stepping tiles for the garden. One was a father-daughter project that we did one summer afternoon. The other was a project she did while at pre-K. Last year I bought the supplies to make a few more but never got around to it. Yesterday we did another batch of stepping tiles and they came out pretty good. We also decided to try to make something new. I had this idea to cast bowls and other objects because I thought the forms would be interesting for the garden. I had a left-over light globe and my daughter taped glass tiles to the inside surface and then we filled it with concrete. I think we can perfect the process but it still looks pretty cool...
read more at Tiny Oak Park Bungalow Posted 2 days 14 min ago.
As is typical for this time of year, I've spent a lot of time in the yard tending the garden. We haven't gotten much rain so I've watered quite a bit. There are also some new additions to the garden that I am nursing along to make sure they make it through the season. Everything looks very lush and it was a great year for the daffodils and tulips and the lilacs look fantastic but many of the other flowers are a little behind. The allium I planted last year is just beginning and looks great. Here are some pics of what is happening in the front yard....
read more at Tiny Oak Park Bungalow Posted 5 days 23 hours ago.
This is what the planting beds look after the winter. Everything fared well. I have a minor repair to make to one of them and most of the herbs died this year but otherwise, I am happy with things. I started clean up in this area of the yard yesterday - it seems like it is the first really nice day we've had on a weekend this entire year.I added a bag of soil and humus to the raised bed before re-planting and will probably do the same for the others. I still haven't figured out what I am going to do with the rest of the beds this year but will likely do some of the same items we did last year: cucumbers, zucchini, maybe some tomatoes and greens.I also started pulling out the hops this year. A lot of folks will lament this...
read more at Tiny Oak Park Bungalow Posted 3 weeks 3 days ago.
I figured I would create a new post so, at the very least, folks don't stumble onto the site and are greeted by Christmas decorations. Spring has hit the Tiny Bungalow but it sure doesn't look a springy as it did last year at this time. The daffodils are in full bloom and stuff is peaking up out of the ground but otherwise, there is not a lot of activity. Hopefully that will change in the next couple of weeks...
read more at Tiny Oak Park Bungalow Posted 4 weeks 20 min ago.
I finished putting up the lights out front this year. We have an addition to our yard. I am sure many folks will think it is tasteless but I think our plastic light-up nativity is fun. The dog, snowman and moose don't like that they aren't front and center anymore but there isn't much I can do about it. Next year I need to come up with a better way to plug everything in...
read more at Tiny Oak Park Bungalow Posted 22 weeks 5 days ago.
I tried my hand at something new this year: limoncello. There are countless recipes online and they all seemed somewhat simple: take lemon zest and put it in alcohol and let it steep. Add simple syrup and then put in the freezer. The not so simple part is that there are nuances to the recipes that I think will take a couple of tries to adequately sort out. For my recipe, I used 15 lemons and a bottle of 100 proof vodka. I steeped for 30 days and then added simple syrup made from 3 cups of water and 3 cups of sugar. I let it sit once more, for three weeks, and then removed the zest and put in the freezer. The result is good... if you use it as a mixer. The taste is a little harsh and very strong on the vodka-side...
read more at Tiny Oak Park Bungalow Posted 22 weeks 6 days ago.