I'm gearing up for a ton of gardening in August. Current plans include digging the herb garden (which has been fallow for three years), digging the northeast entrance bed and laying out a couple of rain gardens to hold our roof run-off water. I also need to drag a large tree out of the garden (it fell during a storm we had a week-and-a-half ago). Then, I'll be fixing the garden fence to keep out the pesky rabbits (who managed to wait until everything was ready to harvest to venture in there this year). So, there's a fair bit of work to be done.

We have some rather ambitious plans for our house, too. Stage one starts this month with a fix to the dormers (new windows, siding and paint). Then, we'll move on to finishing the paint on all the wood work. September will be loaded with more painting inside, and I have high hopes for redoing the entry way (money and time will be the deciding factors, here).

This past weekend we made a road map of sorts for what we will do and when. I'd really like to write it all down, so I'm thinking of starting a home renovation notebook. I'll include these paint chips, which I finally managed to pull together from a mass of them that I've had for years. Here's a color key for you: Hot Ember and Honey Pot will be our new kitchen colors, Flagstaff will greet visitors in our entry way, Flower Pot is just a lighter, gentler shade to tone down the Tequila Sunrise orange currently in the entry hall, Song of Summer will be the color of our living room and dining room and Eucalyptus will be in the bathroom.

And, yes, I am still pregnant. Can you say nesting?