A Camping We Will Go

Our friends (and owners of Lily's best dog friend) are having a baby in a few months so we decided to squeeze in a weekend camping trip before their lives change forever.  We had to put in a little research to find a dog friendly campground reservation between us in New York and our friends in Washington D.C., but luckily Pennslyvania State Parks has a really great website that makes the job easier.

We saw hot air balloon races as we left the Hudson Valley.

We spent hours watching the dogs play, chasing Lily around the campground after she chewed through her leash (three times!), and cooking really delicious dinners over an open fire. 

Adam shows off his nighttime tent toilet.

Ohhh those poor dogs have such a hard life! Poor neglected babies.

On our way back to New York we made a pitstop at Becca and Alex's house in Pennsylvania.  We saw them at our wedding, but hadn't seen their kids in over a year! They were a little weary of bouncy Lily when we arrived, but by the end of the visit they were helping me walk her around the yard and giving her commands.  

Lily Climbs Mount Beacon

Crafts in Chelsea Festival

Thanks to Time Out New York for the shout out in the magazine and online photo! 

 Wicked Mint  will be at the Crafts in Chelsea show tomorrow, October 15, 2011 from 10am-5pm on West 21st Street between 8th and 9th Aves.  I'm sharing booth #16 with the lovely Sweet Olive Jewelry.

Landscaping: The Corner Garden, Part 1

The back corner of my yard sits under 3 giant oak trees where grass doesn't really grow and it's difficult to plant anything because of all the tree roots.   I attempted to make it cute by making a bird bath out of a stump, planting two azalea shrubs and ground covering vines, and laying down mulch.  However, my dog uses this corner to visit with the neighbors and she also decided it was her favorite spot to bury her bones. I figured it was time for a new game plan after she killed one of my azaleas and dug up all the mulch.

This is a work in progress since it's September right now and it'll be frosting and snowing before we know it, but I wanted to get a few things started before next spring.

The retainer wall stones I got at Home Depot for $1.88 each, the small pavers in the center were $1.84 each. Not cheap if I was doing a huge wall, but for this I only spent $35 - totally worth it and plus I had a gift card.

I I moved around the ground cover vines, and moved my German iris and hostas from another area in my yard. Lily had destroyed one of my rhododendrons to practically a nub, but it's still alive and growing so I planted it behind the hostas.  Hopefully it'll have a growth spurt in the spring.

Plans for the spring:

• complete a small path through the center of the garden so Lily can go visit the neighbor
• lay down cedar mulch
• encourage vines to creep up the bird bath stump OR make a modern bird bath like this
• move small fence and create another level of garden area

Labor Day Weekend 2011

Nothing says Labor Day like a trip to the local Renaissance Faire and chillaxing with friends and our dogs.

Piper receives her punishment.

Lily + Chloe = Best Friends 4-EvaPure bliss.