the fall outdoor cocktail hour

What to do when you dream of travelling and you have to stay home?

You try to recreate the scene of the travel of course!

I recently saw this cool pic on IG of an "impromptu" fall picnic 

in the English Countryside:

(Photography: @hope_and_wander)

and it was simply lovely.

As I was sharing this with one of my girlfriends,

she dared me to recreate it our backyard!

I had to change the narrative from impromptu fall picnic during car ride

to fall cocktail in the "woods".

It required grabbing planters, pumpkins from the front porch,

and blankets from different rooms to the backyard

and set it all together....

The final ingredient was the cocktail,

 I found the perfect one: apple cider Manhattan from Inspired by charm

Originally I was concerned it was too sweet with the maple syrup,

but it was just right.

We have made it 4 or 5 times, a new favorite!

2 oz bourbon, 0.5 oz sweet vermouth, 1.5 oz apple cider, 0.5 oz maple syrup,

2 dashes of bitter (orange which I do not have) and a cherry, of course!

I quickly prepared a little appetizer,

to help absorb the alcohol...

some thinly sliced baguette with a little fresh goat cheese

and herbes de Provence, toasted in the oven...perfection!

Somebody decided that they smelled too goodto let them sit outside....

so Lou ate them all!🙈
At least we enjoyed the cocktail and the setting!
Happy day!

Front yard overall, part two

We left off last time just after the masons have finished all the stone work:

looking very nice, ready for the carpenters!

We were looking for a simple front porch, very square, like the house. Because of the timing, we were not sure it would get finished as our state started to shut down. Our contractor decided to keep working as all the work was outside.

With the columns, it really started to take shape.

But then there was a long time waiting for the inspector,

and finally the under roof was installed!

And the magic of paint finished it all off:

As the grass started to grow, we made a new house number, brought in a rocking chair from the back yard...

and started planting some plants and flowers

in the new bed between the driveway and the walkway.

We put more plants and added gravel, perfect for lavender.

We purchased a set of new chairs for the porch,

perfect for 2 people, and just the right size for the space.

So are we done?

Well almost, the driveway needs to be redone,

(actually just finished!)

and I would like to get new light for the porch,

more specifically get another light on the other side,

which requires an electrician to enter the house,

and I am not ready for that.

Happy Day!

Front yard overall, part one

Last time, I shared our new front porch,

well here is how it all came to be ....
But first we need to look back to the house in 2011:

Good house but not very interesting from the outside.
The first thing we changed was the front door, it was not closing properly. we had to replace it with a custom door as it is very wide, great for moving furniture!
A couple years later, the two huge windows that are in the stair case,  went from single pane 1960 windows to double pane windows, no more rain inside from condensation!

The house remained this way for a few years, not beautiful but very comfortable. You can see scars just above the front/large window where a porch or something must have been.
Finally last year we had the house repainted, we thought about doing ourselves, but felt overwhelmed.

Tall ladder and roof are not my friends! The crew we hired did a great job, and were able to work uninterrupted, probably the only week of summer without rain!

The color is SW Oyster Bay .
From the pictures, you cannot tell but the retaining wall was rotten, and started to fall over, it was time to do something.
Finally this year, in late February, we started the front yard overall! We hired the same contractor/mason that did  our back patio 6 years ago.

The first part is always a little scary and ugly!

We were the envy of the neighborhood!

Once the dirt was removed, they built some forms

and it started to look less scary...

Once the concrete was poured,

they started building walls and covering all the concrete with blue stones.

Coming home every night after work was a treat,

always looking better....

and until the masons were done:

(the driveway still needed to be redone)

Next up: building of the front porch.

Happy day!

morning coffee on the front porch

This summer we are staying home, like a lot of people, so we have been enjoying a new routine on the weekend: coffee on the front porch!

We also use it after work for a cool beverage,

and a chat with the neighborhood and its many dogs!

I could not resist adding some sunflowers, 

both in plants and in prints,

so cheerful!

Espresso and homemade lemon biscotti (still working on those..)

are a fun way to dream of Italy and the vacation we could have had...

Our front porch is a new addition to our house,

and we love it.

We also added a walkway through the front yard,

and it is so nice!

We still have some things that we need to work on, but it is so much nicer than when we moved here over 9 years ago....

I will do a post over our front yard transformation in the near future...
Happy day!