Louisville home & garden

I've been watching hummingbirds through my back window overlooking my deck where a Hyacinth bean vine is growing along my patio railing. I hung a hummingbird feeder right outside my kitchen window to further attract the birds. It's been quite fun watching their activities around the flowers. They are amazing little creatures. I didn't know this, but hummingbirds do sit to rest often. For some reason, I imagined in my mind that they would be hovering at all times. I had to see it with my own two eyes before it struck me that they are not always flying. It's interesting seeing their l ... more

by Reach

You might have seen some of my posts over the years about SumoLounge.com, the scrappy, hip maker of modern bean bag chairs. We began our love affair with these guys a number of years ago when they gifted the Mojo H.Q. with some of their original designs, the Sumo Omni (think modern bean bag chair). More recently, Sumo come out with their SumoSac line of products. It's covered in my blog here, and it's an entirely different animal. Offered in regular sizes all the way up to GINORMOUS, covered in micro-suede and built for comfort. The SumoSac though has one potential drawback, and that' ... more

by chuck

check these out..... I love piddling in my yard and sitting back to enjoy the beauty of it all. ... more

by LaneJane

Such a beautiful week we are having, the sun shining, the skies are a glorious blue, a slight breeze all around, the flowers are in full bloom and this sets the stage for true happiness, at least for me. It doesn't matter what a foul mood I am in or how bad the day has gone, all I have to do is walk in the backyard and catch the fragrance wafting and watch the bees buzz back and forth. Instantly the mood takes an upward turn. I can put all the negativity of the day behind me and feel free once more. The butterflies flit float round and round tasting the sweetness before moving on. I have see ... more

by LaneJane

Do you ever feel like a walking disaster area? Please tell me it's not just me! Yesterday was one of those days that I shoulda just slept right through. Feeling quite energetic in the AM, I decided to haul my old 400# (seems like) old school 36" big-ass non-flat panel TV down into my basement to watch while I work out. Only problem was it got away from me going down the steps, fell off the 2 wheeled dolly I was trying to use, smashed a huge hole in the finished wall going down, and ended up on the concrete floor at the bottom looking like a crazed ex had just taken a sledgehammer to it...cool ... more

by Uncle Junior

Over 90% of poison exposures happen at home.• Common chlorine bleach is the #1 household chemicalinvolved in poisoning. • Organic pollutants, found in many common cleaners andeven air fresheners, are found at levels 2 to 5 times higherinside your home than out. • A person who spends 15 minutes cleaning scale off showerwalls could inhale three times the “acute one-hour exposurelimit” for glycol ether-containing products set by the CaliforniaOffice of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. • Common cleaners give off fumes that can potentiallyincrease the risk of kids developing asth ... more

It only took me two years to get around to completing it, but I'm almost done with the waterfall I built out front after about 3-4 hours of work on it today. Still have to add quite a few rocks around the perimeter and seal off the water, so that it does not leak out the back. Many of the rocks on the perimeter I dug out of my yard, literally from the whole I dug to put in the pond. They are filled with fossils from the Devonian period, which was 450 million years ago. ... more

by Reach

I'm finally almost finished with the arbor conversion I started back in April. The conversion was what I considered "therapy". When I'm out in the yard working on my garden, I am active, but at rest. My mind is in peace. The theme for the arbor was "oasis". I used the color of Japanese shinto shrine entrance to paint the arbor; I also tried to stick with somewhat contemporary, smooth lines. The idea came one day after deciding to tear the swingset down because my boys never use it. I thought "what a waste!" Thought about making a piece of art out of it. As I was looking at the beam ... more

by Reach

If you were around Louisville a few years back you might remember the cacophony you heard around the tunnels on I-64. Those were cicadas. The ones emerging now are a little different, from what I've read, but you can expect the same chorus. If you haven't noticed them yet...don't worry, you will, over the next few weeks. Although they pop up in pockets, so only some will get all the torture. These things can make enough noise to drive you to distraction. Not to mention their short life span above ground...basically; mate, produce eggs and die, leaves the ground littered with thousands of the ... more

by Ignite the Night

I am kicking off summer with a 4 day weekend in Philly and the surrounding area to attend a graduation. We are going to a couple of museums (Mutter Museum is first on the list!) and my 40th birthday is tomorrow, so we are having a fabulous dinner in the city to celebrate! And it gets even better...while I am away, the awesome Bug Collector is redoing my kitchen...he already stripped the ugly ass floor up (300 year old linoleum it looked like)....he refinished the wood and now is it beautiful old growth pine....so nice that a former homeowner covered it up in such nice shape so now almost 90 ... more

by peyton10

Our friends over at SumoLounge.com have come out with a new piece of urban lounge gear, the SumoSac. We made their acquaintance a few years ago when they were just releasing the Sumo Omni (think modern bean-bag chair) and indeed, the Omni's have graced our office and homes ever since. In that same time, the SumoLounge group has also grown up to be a very big deal indeed and I see their goods being covered everywhere these days. (We were here first, you Johnny-come-latelys!) Knowing how much we loved the Omnis (we wrote about them early on), they asked if we'd like to be early testers for t ... more

by chuck

I found these in the yard of a gallery on Frankfort Avenue. I was tempted to pick a piece off and bring it home to see if I could grow it, but didn't. Although, I would like to purchase some for our back yard. If anyone knows what it is, please let me know. I think they are beautiful! ... more

by = Lucy =