Natural Bug Spray Recipe
It’s the end of August.and I am so fed up with battling mosquitoes. I know they are God’s creation and all…and I know that they have a great purpose in our ecosystem, but they drive. me. crazy!!!!! They steal so much joy out of an otherwise lovely day! My girls and I always get eaten…
Read MoreHow to Prune Hydrangeas…and When
Several weeks ago I started a series of posts on one of everyone’s favorite landscape shrubs…the loverly hydrangea. I started with defining and describing the different types of hydrangeas…and next how to plant hydrangeas. Today I’m going to continue along the hydrangea path with answering one of the most common questions I get from friends and family…How do you prune…
Read MoreIntroducing … Lisa Steele and “Fresh Eggs Daily”
As I’ve said on previous posts, one of the biggest perks of this RYG journey has been getting to meet some truly amazing people. (I air-quoted “meet” because I haven’t actually met them…or even talked to them, but I have gotten to know them on their blogs and through emails back and forth.) Anyway…the latest person I’ve met is Lisa Steele…a 5th…
Read MoreFabulous Friday Find … “Kitchen Garden Cookbook – Celebrating the Homegrown and Homemade”
I’ve got a Fun Friday Find for you this week…no make that a Fabulous Friday Find! Kitchen Garden Cookbook – Celebrating the Homegrown and Handmade by Jeanne Kelley. I am in love with this new gardening book / cookbook. I just can’t get enough of it! I have thoroughly enjoyed paging through all the beautiful and creative…
Read MoreHow to Plant Hydrangeas
Last week I started a series of posts on hydrangeas…which seems to be one of everyone’s favorite plants – particularly here in the South. My initial post was all about the “what”…outlining the importance of knowing what kind of hydrangea is best for your space…and noting that there’s a ton you can get by simply looking at the scientific name.…
Read MoreHydrangea – Quick Reference Guide
Based on the positive feedback I received from some of my fellow ground redeemers, instead of burying the Quick Reference Guide to Common Landscape Hydrangeas at the end of the post where some folks might miss it…I’m giving it a post all to itself. So if you did miss it and want to download and print it off……
Read MoreRedeem Your Story – “Your Story Starts NOW” [from Dr. Kelly Flanagan | UnTangled]
Alright, it’s time for me to go deep again. I guess a diet of only hydrangeas, potting benches, and scarecrows just isn’t doing it for me. It seems that unless I take the time to consider the more important things of life – the bigger story, all these other things…although nice, only serve to fill up my days…which frankly can leave…
Read MoreDIY Pallet Board Coffee Table
I’ve finally jumped onto the DIY pallet board bandwagon. Last week I finished up a pallet board coffee table to go in front of the hanging day bed on our pergola. Now…the girls and I did make a wall hanging of sorts for Britt for Mother’s Day a couple of years ago out of pallet…
Read MoreA Hydrangea…By Any Other Name
It’s clear by just quickly looking over our yard that hydrangeas are one of Britt’s and my favorite plants…particularly during the late spring and summer months. Not only do we love their massive blooms popping all over our yard, we also love the life they bring when we take them inside. And apparently we’re not…
Read MoreMy Potting Bench (Post #2 of 2)
If you’re just tuning into RYGblog and haven’t seen the first post about my potting bench, I’d recommend that you do. It provides you with a bit more context, as well as some instructions on a few of the potting bench’s details (i.e., this post doesn’t cover it all). Regardless, let me remind you of what…
Read MoreMy Potting Bench (Post #1 of 2)
Greetings fellow Ground Redeemers. I hope this post finds you well…enjoying the final days of summer – which is so hard to believe. Well, I’m excited about sharing how I’ve spent some of my summer days…building a potting bench. And I’m a tad bit proud too…not only because I made it with my own two…
Read MoreHow to Make a Scarecrow
The one downside to having a veggie garden is…the critters that come and feast on the vegetables without an invitation! It’s so frustrating going out to find a squirrel dining on the very nice, large, green tomato we’ve been waiting to ripen and dreaming about eating ourselves. And they never say “thank you”…such poor mannered critters! We have tried…
Read More“I love my new yard!”…Backyard Makeover Tips
There are few things that satisfy me more professionally than seeing pics like the one above and hearing words like “I love my new yard!”…especially from my youngest of clients. And that’s what eventually happened after I got a call from a good friend of mine late last spring…asking if I could help them figure…
Read MoreTips for Growing Tomatoes
Whether your veggie garden consists of a single pot or vast acreage…or whether you’re a veggie garden beginner or a seasoned veggie veteran, odds are that tomatoes are a part of this summer’s harvest. Like my other posts on gardening how-to’s, there’s so much more to know…but understanding the following tips for growing tomatoes really…
Read MoreEasy & Oh-So-Tasty Tomato Pie Recipe
“There are two things in life that money can’t buy…it’s true love and homegrown tomatoes”…that’s according to a song my Aunt KK used to quote. And I think there’s some real truth to that! Money couldn’t…and didn’t buy the true love I found in my Resident Gardener. And there is nothing like a…
Read MoreRedeem the Meaning of “Beauty” for Your Girls [From Dr. Kelly Flanagan, UnTangled]
To celebrate the Fourth of July Britt, the girls and I spent the weekend with my in-laws at their lake house. It’s actually more of a down-home, shabby-chic fishing cabin…and for me it’s one of the most relaxing places on earth – simple, cozy, slamming screen door, and the smell of whatever is being prepared…
Read MoreWhy, Yes…Our Backyard Chickens Do Have Names
I shouldn’t find it funny, really…that one of the most common questions people ask about our chickens is “Do they have names?”. Although having chickens as pets is trendy in some circles, it’s still not the norm…so given that most peoples’ context for chickens is what they’re having for dinner, it’s not that odd of…
Read More30+ Fun Activities for Kids to Play in the Dirt
As I’ve shared on previous posts, I’ve got a thing for dirt…I love the way it smells, the way it feels, and all it represents. And if you’ve ever been on RYGblog before, I hope that you’ve noticed that I love my girls from my head to my toes…and that I have a passion for…
Read MoreHow to Grow Cucumbers
As I mentioned on yesterday’s post (Tracy’s Mustard Pickle Recipe), cucumbers are always part of the Scott Family summer vegetable garden. Not only because we love cucumbers and pickles, but also because I’ve found growing cucumbers is very easy…and truth be told, I like easy when it comes to gardening. Now there have been some…
Read MoreHow to Grow Blueberries
We love our blueberry bushes…especially this time of year when they’re busting with berries. Britt and I love how having them teaches our girls where food comes from…beyond from a carton at the grocery store. We love the daily family-berry-picking sessions. We love casually snacking on them while we’re playing or working outside. We all…
Read MoreHow to Make a Driftwood Candle Holder
Last summer Doug and I found a really cool piece of driftwood that had washed up on shore at my parents’ lake house. It was a really interesting piece of wood…with its unique curves and beautiful grayed, smooth texture. Given that we found it at my parents’ lake house I knew right away that I wanted to turn…
Read MoreThere’s Just Something about a Tire Swing
I don’t know what it is, but there’re very few things that say carefree summer days more to me than a tire swing. That’s probably why when we were trying to come up with images to represent the PLAY section of RYGblog that we landed on a tire swing. The crazy thing is, I didn’t have…
Read MoreGreat American Backyard Campout Day!
Mark your calendars…this coming Saturday, June 28th is Great American Backyard Campout Day! Who knew?! This year the National Wildlife Foundation has set a goal of getting 200,000 people across the country to camp out this weekend. To learn more, as well as get some great tips and ideas for your camping experience you can…
Read MoreZucchini Crisps with Basil Dipping Sauce (from McNack’s Kitchen)
One of our favorite veggies to grow is zucchini…always the first to make the list when we sit down to plan our summer garden. They are easy to grow…as long as I’m able to keep the vine borers and squash bugs away from them…and the girls and I love it whenever Britt fixes zucchini for dinner. One of my favorite things about my RYGblog…
Read MoreTake the Party Outside!
When considering where to host a special event like a birthday bash or a large dinner party, it seems that most of us limit our thinking to either having it inside or paying to have it somewhere else – when all along there’s very likely a great space just outside our doors. With just a…
Read MoreRedeem Your Day
This weekend was bittersweet. Sweet in that Sunday was Father’s Day and I was showered with love and attention by Brown & Littlest One…and Britt. It was really great…soul-filling…affirming…and so rich. I’m blessed. Bitter in that I got the news of 2 horrible things that had happened this past week. First, a guy I briefly worked…
Read MoreNational Get Outdoors Day!
Did you know that June 14th, 2014 is National Get Outdoors Day (GO)? That’s THIS Saturday people! So what are you going to do to celebrate? Since we’ve just recently learned of this great day, we at the Scott Household are still trying to figure out what we might do tomorrow to celebrate, but we definitely…
Read MoreHow to Prune Azaleas…and When!
A few months ago I wrote a post about some of my favorite white spring flowers. If mine had been in bloom at the time, I would have also included the Mrs. G. G. Gerbing Azalea (Azalea Rhododendron indicum ‘Mrs. G. G. Gerbing’). Because my G.G.s make up the foundational backbone of my landscape, I…
Read Moregot margin?
got margin? I don’t. But I need to. Really, we all need to. Either real or perceived, it seems like we are all running around with very little margin. And when we don’t have margin…or don’t feel like we do…we don’t rest, can’t rest…don’t see, can’t see…don’t feel, can’t feel…don’t think, can’t think…don’t dream, can’t…
Read MoreInspiring Gardens
Sometimes I just want to be inspired by what I see…and not be distracted by someone blathering on about some deep thought or story. So in an attempt to not distract you, I’ll simply include a number of images of gardens that have inspired me. But because I can’t help myself, I will give you just a…
Read MoreRyan’s Story: An inch & a half of comfort changed my life forever
Greetings fellow ground redeemers. Last week I upped the RYG ante a bit and challenged you to consider your story…and then tell your story…believing that when we do, we affect others’ stories for the better. But you may be asking yourself…That’s great and all, but what in the frick-n-frack does my telling my story –…
Read MoreFertilizing Basics: The ABCs and NPKs of Fertilizer
A couple of weeks ago I started a series of posts on dirt…err, soil. The first was on the basics of what soil is…your plants’ home and its food. Last week I gave you some basics on why and how to amend your soil. Today’s post I’m going to explain the ABCs of fertilizing your…
Read MoreWhat’s Your Story?
Do you have the kind of friend who will really tell you like it is? Not in a jerky kind of way…well because that’s not a friend, that’s a jerk. No, I mean the kind of friend who will speak into your life in a critical, yet life-giving kind of way. I do…in fact I’m…
Read MorePlease won’t you be my neighbor?
There are few things that make my mind zoom back to my childhood quicker than hearing the song from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, take a look at the video below or ask one of your parents.) Man that was a long time ago…and when I consider how different many…
Read MoreThe Basics of Amending Your Soil
Last week I posted on the different types of soil…and how clay-heavy soils and sand-heavy soils provide less than ideal growing conditions for your plants. And unfortunately most of us are dealing with one end of that soil spectrum or the other…which requires us to do more than just throw our plants into the ground.…
Read MoreAmending Your Soil …. the DIRT on Dirt!
I love dirt. I love the way it feels between my fingers and toes. I love the way it smells. I love what it represents. I love seeing it on my kids’ hands and faces because of what they’ve likely been up to. I just love dirt. But all that dirt is to me…it’s not…
Read MoreSummer Family Read Aloud Books
So last week I wrote about how reading outside is a great way to redeem a little ground at home. Going off that, I’d now like to encourage you to choose a family read aloud book for the summer – something you could read together as a family…maybe while laying on a blanket on a…
Read MoreThe Hanging Daybed – a Perfect Spot to Read or Snooze
So Britt has started this series of posts on redeeming your ground by reading outside; however, as she suggested last week…I’m not much of a reader. I know I should be for so many reasons, but I’m just not. Sorry. That said, I redeem my ground in different ways…and one of those ways is to…
Read MoreSummer Reading…Take It Outside!
The countdown to summer is on at our house. Just two weeks of school left until summer vacation! And I’ll be honest – we. can’t. wait! It’s hard to prioritize homework when it’s so beautiful outside…the sun is setting later and frankly we are just tired of doing homework after 9 months. We definitely have spring…
Read MoreTips for Watering Your Lawn
I’m going to take a break from my deeper WHY redeem your ground posts to give you some helpful information on HOW you can redeem your ground. And I mean quite literally…how to best water your lawn. Given that it’s already getting into the mid-80s here, it’s something a lot of people are asking. But by…
Read MoreGet Outside & Play! (The Importance of Outdoor Play)
Odds are, if you’ve read even just a few of our posts you’ve gleaned that one of the reasons Britt and I are doing this whole redeem your ground thing is out of our desire to get kids outside to play more…ours, yours, whomevers! A lot of that is likely due to the fact that…
Read MoreLiving Gifts that Keep Giving
I’m on a gift-giving kick right now. After writing last week’s post on ground redeeming Anniversary gifts I’ve been motivated and thinking about what I’m going to get my Resident Gardener for Father’s Day…in June! But in the meantime I’ve also been gathering a few friends’ birthday gifts, end-of-the-year teacher gifts, and of course a Mother’s…
Read MoreMy Top 5 Chicken Coop Designs
Now that spring is here and the weather finally seems to be cooperating, I’m chomping at the bit to get some of my projects outside underway. One area of our yard I’m going to focus on first is in and around our chicken coop…my ladies are needing just a bit more attention! So off to Pinterest…
Read MoreRedeem Your Own Self…Live a Healthier Lifestyle
Today I’m going to take a break from posting about how you can redeem your ground with beautiful flowers and chickens and veggie gardens…to post on something that helped kick-start this redeem your ground journey of mine in the first place. That was to “redeem my own self”…by living a healthier lifestyle of diet and…
Read MoreThe Window Box at My Back Porch…Before and “During”
In last week’s post (Container Gardening 101…a la Helen Weis…) I mentioned that not only had Helen so graciously shared some of her container garden magic with all of us…but personally, she gave me some suggestions as to what to put in a few of my container gardens as well. The window box at our…
Read MoreGround Redeeming Anniversary Gifts
My Resident Gardener highlighted our beautiful Lady Banks’ Rose on RYGblog earlier this week. Oh how I love her! I love how she has created a lush canopy to welcome our guests. I anticipate her beauty every spring as it is such a pinnacle moment when she blooms. I always want to invite guests over…
Read MoreThe Grand Lady Banks’ Rose
With all of the many flowers bursting at their seams with life and color this time of year, you’ll find more of my posts detailing out some of my favorites. Today’s spotlight flower is the Lady Banks’ Rose. I actually have very few roses in our outdoor spaces. Not because I don’t like them, because…
Read MoreCrisp & Clean…White Spring Flowers
As I have mentioned on a previous post or two, I have a penchant for white flowers. And there’s no better time of year to see some of my favorites on grand display than right now. Whether if it’s the white Chinese Snowball Viburnum poofs weighing down its branches…or the dainty flower of the Reeves’ Spirea –…
Read MoreDelicious Recipe for Rosemary Bread
If you’ve visited RYGblog over the past couple of months you’ve gotten to know my friend and fellow home gardener, Tracy Prather. Her Creamy Asparagus & Roasted Artichoke Soup recipe made us all think twice about two veggies that are often avoided (at least I once did)…and her last recipe for Parmesan Pork with Fresh Oregano definitely…
Read MoreTop 10 Landscape Design Tips (Part 2 of 2)
Last week I laid out the first five of my Top 10 Landscape Design Tips … and today I’ll finish up with the other five. As I concluded last time, if you want more details on a specific point, let me know and I’ll focus a future post on just that topic. So here are my…
Read MoreWhy Redeem Your Ground? Your Kids.
Okay…I’ll admit it…it’s been a tough couple of days. A few things that I had hoped would come together didn’t…and a few things I didn’t want to happen did. Launching a new business, particularly in an industry you didn’t build your 20+ year career on, is challenging to say the least…frustrating at times, and sometimes…
Read MoreOur Staycation…Staying Close to Home for School Break
Now, I’ll say it upfront…I may be a bit jealous of my friends and family who are posting pics of their amazing Spring Break trips to beautiful beachside villas or dramatic snow-capped ski resorts. But this year we decided to stay close to home and go on a staycation. And we were not alone. For…
Read MoreTop 10 Tips for Landscape Design (Part 1 of 2)
Greetings fellow Ground Redeemers! If your weather is as amazing as it is here in Atlanta, I’m certain you’re itching to get outside to enjoy your day…or to get some of the projects off your list so that you can enjoy the outdoors even more in the days to come. If one of those projects…
Read MoreGrilled Parmesan Pork with Fresh Oregano
[A few weeks back I introduced you to my friend and fellow home gardener, Tracy Prather…when she got us salivating over her Creamy Asparagus & Roasted Artichoke Soup recipe. Well she’s back today with yet another lip-smacking delicious recipe…Grilled Parmesan Pork with Fresh Oregano. Thanks again Tracy…I look forward to trying this one out too!]…
Read MoreDon’t Miss the Flowers of March
My walk around the yard yesterday and today’s beautiful weather got me out there again this morning…and this time I was struck by the beauty of 3 flowers in particular. One bursting with color – Forsythia. Another dainty and intricate – Loddon Lily. And finally, a graceful addition cascading from my favorite vine – Evergreen…
Read MoreRedeem Your Ground…The Video
Earlier today, as the sun finally shone through after some very gray days, I closed my laptop and took a walk through my yard…stopping to breathe it all in. I was excited to see the hostas and peonies starting to break through the ground…my G.G. Gerbing azaleas promising a sea of white in a matter…
Read MoreSpring Forward…Taking Homework Outside
“Spring Forward” always brings with it a little bit of good and a little bit of bad to our home. Some of the bad is simply that I’m still dragging along from missing that one silly hour of sleep. And beyond that, my mind still hasn’t adjusted to the “sunlight clock” and I’m still thinking that…
Read MoreOur Family Vegetable Garden…In the Beginning
Our family vegetable garden story started about 4 or 5 years ago when Britt signed Brownie and me up for a “Family Vegetable Garden Workshop” at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. We had talked for years about having a veggie garden, but like many other things we’d talked about, it had remained just that…just talk. But…
Read MoreOutdoor Themed Dishtowels
After weeks on end of planning for and celebrating everyone else in the family…I got a little gift for myself this week. And of course I had to share it with you guys as a Fun Friday Find. This Fun Find just makes me smile as they brighten up my kitchen and seem to…
Read MoreRaising Backyard Chickens 101: Why & How Many?
My chicken posts from the last couple of weeks seemed to have piqued the interest of quite a few…particularly on the design of our chicken coop. Today’s post will be the first of several where I’ll provide greater context and a bit more detail on not only the design of our coop, but on a…
Read MoreSpring Is Springing…Top 3 Early Spring Flowers
[Sorry for the delay in getting this post out. A combination of Atlanta’s schizophrenic weather and my running around like a madman has left me in bed sick with some nasty crud. But without further a do…] Over the past few weeks, as the seasons are struggling to turn, I’ve finally been able to see…
Read MoreGardening Themed Birthday Party
So since I am STILL in birthday mode this week (see last week’s post if you missed my last birthday post)…I thought I’d share another great outside inspired birthday party from the past. When my Littlest One was turning five, we planned a gardening themed birthday party. In my mind it would be held in…
Read MoreCreamy Asparagus & Roasted Artichoke Soup
[So today I have the pleasure of introducing you to Tracy Prather, a great friend and fellow home gardener. She will be gracing us with some of her delicious recipes from time to time…and today’s Creamy Asparagus & Roasted Artichoke Soup is the first. I wouldn’t be surprised if her healthy recipes inspired you to…
Read MoreRaising Backyard Chickens…Answering Your Questions
We really had a great response from last week’s post on the truth about raising backyard chickens…at least my truths. In addition to a good deal of traffic, we also got some good questions. I’ll answer some of them here. Please keep your questions coming…I’d love to provide you any insight that I can. “What,…
Read MoreCamping Themed Birthday Party
‘Tis the season for birthdays at our house. Three of our four birthdays are in a span of 33 days in the Scott household. So needless to say we do a lot of celebrating during that time period…and I do a lot of party planning! At the moment I’m in full force birthday-party-planning-mode for the…
Read MoreThe Real Truth about Raising Backyard Chickens
When I first started raising backyard chickens I really knew next to nothing. I knew what I wanted to get out of raising chickens, but beyond my vast experience at raising parakeets as a kid (which didn’t help much at all…surprise), I didn’t have a clue. Now, after having a whopping 1.5 years of experience…
Read MoreGather, Play…and So Much More
[So I asked my friend and fellow family and outdoors lover, Jen Overly, if I could use her comment on a recent post as a post in and of itself. “Asked” is probably not the most accurate word…more like “told”. I “told” her because I simply didn’t want what she had to share buried in…
Read MoreGetting Ready for Spring…Make the Most of It!
Now that the ice has melted (at least here in Atlanta) and all the love that could be spread on Valentine’s Day has been spread, you may be wondering how to best prepare your yard for what’s just around the corner…SPRING! Of course you are. Well I for one will be glad to have these…
Read MoreWhere am I?
[Once again…due to Atlanta’s crazy weather, we interrupt our regularly scheduled ground redemption posts to pause…to pause and consider. WARNING: This post is a bit deeper than most…but hang in there with me.] I woke up this morning to see my world covered in a blanket of white. It almost looked other-worldly…a bit Narnia’esque. Although…
Read MoreThe Home Vegetable Garden – Clearly a Family Affair
There’s a ton I could say about today’s guest-blogger, Josh…but I’m going to limit it to these few words or phrases: husband and daddy; outdoorsman; home gardener; and friend. What sets him apart, though, is the infectious fervor with which he approaches each of these areas of his life . He’s that guy who makes…
Read MoreLookin’ for Love…Gifts in Nature
So I have this little rock that sits on my windowsill above my kitchen sink. It’s been sitting there for a couple of years now. It isn’t anything fancy. It’s rough and it’s rugged! But it’s special! It’s special because my girls gave it to me. They found this little treasure-of-a-rock while playing in the…
Read MoreThe Potting Shed…a Solution of Function & Beauty
Earlier this week I introduced you to Brenda…my fast-talking, bigger-than-life mother-in-law…lover of her garden and all things beautiful. Recently she took a trip to visit a friend out of town…and as you can tell by her post below, she was quite impressed by the beauty and functionality of her friend’s potting shed. I think you…
Read MoreFamily Roots Run Deep & Strong…
Not only did I come from a family who enjoys being outside…whether hunting in the woods or getting our fingers dirty in our yard, I was also fortunate to marry into one that does as well. Some of my richest memories of childhood are of being outside with my family…something that Britt and I are…
Read MoreWe Love Our Backyard Chickens … But They’re Not for Everyone
Britt and I were just talking the other day about how crazy it is that we’ve become chicken people…not crazy, walking around with feathers in our hair and chicken poop on our clothes chicken people (well most of the time), but chicken-owning, chicken-loving chicken people. When we got married we would have never dreamed of…
Read MoreSnow Days … the Perfect Time to Gather and to Connect
One Tuesday back in 2014 I spent over four hours stuck in gridlocked, icy roads desperately trying to drive a carload of 2nd graders back to school from a field trip to anxiously waiting parents. Many a moment along that journey the feat seemed impossible…the kids hadn’t had lunch, some desperately needed to go to…
Read MoreSnow Days … the Perfect Time to Pause and to Play
Being the Florida boy that I am … the closest thing I had to a snow day growing up was having to stay home from school because of a hurricane. But those days were characterized by simply being stuck inside and fearing that our windows were going to be blown in. I’ve since learned that…
Read MoreFun Friday Find: Nature Cards
After reflecting on my last post, I was thinking that some of you may be wanting to foster exploration in your kids and get them outside adventure-ing (my new word), but maybe you don’t know how, maybe you feel your kids aren’t naturally wired as explorers or maybe they’ve become “bored” with their typical outside…
Read MoreThese Boots Are Made for Exploring!
A beautiful Spring-like day in January beckoned us to get outside for some major playtime and exploration this past weekend – knowing that some bitter cold temperatures would be moving back in soon. As Doug wrote in his last post, he and Brown-Brown had recently cleared a path to the old, dried up lakebed behind our home…
Read MoreDo you know where your kids are?
As I was starting out on this whole redeem your ground journey, I was told by two completely unrelated people that I should read “The Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder” by Richard Louv. And I’m so glad that they did. It’s a great read – it’s thought-provoking and for…
Read MoreThe Burlap Wreath | Year’round Door Decor
Since Doug shared what he made for the family Christmas gift exchange this year (a Pallet Board Red Ribbon Star), I felt sure everyone was dying to know what I made. Well probably not, but I’m going to flatter myself and share what I made with you anyway. A burlap wreath! (That probably doesn’t surprise…
Read More“Well hello there!”…What’s Your Home Saying?
The entrance and approach to your home is your house’s way of greeting your guests. Some houses do a great job at that, essentially saying “Hello…welcome, I’m so glad you’re here…we’ve been looking forward to seeing you.” Others on the other hand say “Stay away…don’t bother me…I’m not in the mood to have guests right…
Read MoreWhat’s Your Family Story?
There are few things that move me more than music. Sometimes a song will just send me somewhere. And you can call me a sap, but “The House that Built Me” is one of those songs. Although Miranda Lambert didn’t write it, her performance and the words that writers Tom Douglas & Allen Shamblin penned,…
Read MoreDIY Pallet Board Red Ribbon Star
In keeping with our theme of simplifying life, my dear wife suggested that we all bring homemade gifts for our Christmas gift exchange with her extended family this past year. Although I think it took a little bit of convincing for some (they weren’t certain if making something was really simpler than just buying something), eventually everyone…
Read MoreZip Line Adventures in Our Own Backyard!
Woopwoop! Our first “Share Your Story” submission! Hopefully this trend will continue…where others will start sharing their stories here too – inspiring others to live fuller lives at home outside. As you can see by the submission below, here’s a family that’s doing just that! [Alright, in full disclosure…this story was not submitted by…
Read MoreBringing the Outside In | Our Great Room Renovation … per Doug
[Lesson learned: Britt and I need to be clearer as to whom is going to write which post – we weren’t when it came to writing about our great room. See Britt’s post below. Since we offered different points of view and some different information, we’re going to go ahead and post them both. You’ll…
Read MoreFrom “Land of the Lost” to “Scott Family Farm” … for Our Backyard Chickens
When thinking of how to describe what our side yard used to be like, I couldn’t help but think of one of my favorite childhood after-school TV shows – “The Land of the Lost”. While there were no Sleestaks nor close calls of being eaten by a dinosaur, it certainly was the part of our…
Read MoreSweet Potato Surprise … Tasty and Very Easy Sweet Potato Fries Recipe!
Our long awaited, but long forgotten sweet potatoes are here! This summer while planting our garden we tried our hand at growing sweet potatoes with just a couple of sweet potato plants. Unfortunately the plants themselves were a favorite for our resident wild bunnies to nibble on. We tried to ward them off through various…
Read MoreBringing the Outside In | Our Great Room Renovation … per Britt
So this is often where you will find me writing. This section of bringing the outside into your home…this is where I thrive. I don’t have the green thumb that my Resident Gardener has, but I sure love the aesthetics of nature and enjoy finding ways to make them a part of our home. Often…
Read MoreNot Your Average Treehouse
My girls had been asking me to build them a playhouse for some time. For months I thought through design ideas, but I couldn’t get the thought of this diminutive structure being outgrown by both of my girls no sooner than I finished building it…and then it would go unused and become less than worthless…
Read MoreFamily Fireside Chats
There is nothing more mesmerizing to me than staring into a fire. I could do it for hours. At the hunting camp growing up, I can remember ending every day hanging out at the campfire – not only because there was nothing else to do and it was freezing cold everywhere else, but because there…
Read MoreEvergreen Cuttings…Underutilized Throughout the Year
Christmas seems like one of the only times of the year when people use evergreen cuttings inside their homes…and when I say evergreen I mean a landscape shrub or tree that stays green all year round…not just from a fir or spruce tree. I guess one of the few exceptions to that is bringing in…
Read MoreRYGblog Categories…What’s In a Name?
When Britt and I first started talking about doing a blog we knew that we had to come up with a creative way to organize our ideas that captured our passions in a memorable way. We identified six areas in which we’d personally “redeemed our ground” at home and felt like they would resonate with others too. We came…
Read MoreHow We’ve Redeemed Our Ground … and Will!
Winter is a unique time of year for those of us who enjoy spending a lot of time outside in our yards. This is a common time for organizing our tools and cleaning things up, but it’s also a great opportunity to reflect over the past year’s projects, while looking forward to the next. As…
Read MoreRedeem Their Ground…At Home Too!
Although we’re going to invest in redeeming the ground for the kids at Beat the Drum in Kenya…that’s certainly not where it has to start or end. Helping redeem the ground of neighbors or friends…or someone we barely know…is a great way to pay it forward too. It doesn’t have to be overseas…and in fact,…
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