A play date with Nana (Bloggers Give Back)

"Why are you home Mummy?" That was what greeted me when I walked in the door after a busy day working at George Herman House for the Bloggers Give Back project (check out the site, and all my old posts here, here, here, and here). The reason? The boy had had a fantastic day with Nana, she'd brought him a picnic lunch, they'd played baseball, played in the park, had smoothie pops, and more. Basically he'd had an amazing day doing everything he wanted!

I had a fantastic day too. I met a lot of great ladies involved in the Bloggers Give Back project, and we really managed to turn the garden at George Herman House into something beautiful for the residents. We assembled all the furniture IKEA Canada had donated, got the beautiful Tonic Living Cushions, and some planters and flowers from the Home Depot Canada.  Now there are seating areas, an outdoor dining table, and places to relax. Just what everyone needs in a green space, especially in an urban setting.

Now I'm already looking forward to the fall, when Frank Ferragine AKA “Frankie Flowers” comes out to help us finish off the transformation at George Herman House. It will be another great day out for me, and another fun play date with Nana for the boy.  It'd just be nice if he at least pretended to miss me next time though!

The debris being cleaned up

The Ikea Falster Bench and Arholma chair with cushions from Tonic Living

A great place to hang out now and relax!

Colour & Fabric Choices (Bloggers Give Back)

For everyone who's following along with the Bloggers Give Back project (check out the site here, and my old posts, here, here and here) I thought I'd give you a quick update. We'll be doing a garden clean up early in June, and getting some containers and planters installed, prior to Frankie Flowers working his magic on the whole garden in the fall.

At the same time we will be delivering the fantastic furniture Ikea donated along with the cushions from Tonic Living. This means the women at George Herman House will have some plants to look at, while sitting in some very comfortable chairs. Hopefully all while enjoying the nice weather that is on its way. 

From their Summer Collection of outdoor furniture, Ikea donated 8 ARHLOMA armchairs with pads, 1 ARHOLMA table/stool , 2 LACKO tables ,1 FALSTER table and 2 FALSTER benches. Tonic Living has donated outdoor fabric and sewing skills for 4 throw cushions for the armchairs, and 2 long cushions for the FALSTER benches. But Tonic Living has so many great patterns, how do we decide? Head on over to the Bloggers Give Back Site and let us know what you like. Personally I'm a fan of Slick Mink with Sunnyside Robin or Flatiron Pacifica with Sunnyside Chocolate. I asked the boy and he likes Sunnyside Coral and Cool Stripe Coral. Actually, I also like his choices, maybe he's got decent taste after all!

L-R Flatiron & Sunnyside Chocolate, Slick Mink & Sunnyside Robin, Sunnyside Coral & Cool Stripe Coral

Gardening Time (Bloggers Give Back)

The boy and I were outside exploring our garden today (in the rain – he loves to be out in the rain. Who am I kidding, he just loves to be outside!) and looking for any new plants coming up. We had planted a bunch of bulbs in the fall, so it was fun to see them peeking through the ground starting to bloom.

The boy really loves to garden, he even has his own gardening gloves, wheel barrow, and trowel so that he can 'help' me in the yard. So when we planted our bulbs in the fall, I let him help me with it. He told me where he wanted them, I dug the holes, and he popped them in and put the dirt back in. It was a great afternoon and we both had lots of fun. What it does mean is that my bulbs are in some weird clumps and odd spots in my garden. But any sign of spring and flowers growing in my garden is a nice sight no matter where they are.

I love working in the garden with the boy, it's a lot of fun, especially on beautiful summer days – which I'm can't wait for – and it's great to do something productive and useful. Not only does the boy get to enjoy being outside, but I get to enjoy beautiful flowers, how can you beat that?

This led me to thinking about what the garden at George Herman House will look like and what would be nice for the Bloggers Give Back Project (if you're new to this, you can check out my old posts here and here, and go and see the Bloggers Give Back website where you can learn more about the project and how to get involved) But then I remembered the fantastic news – we don't have to worry about the garden anymore, we have a real pro on our side! Frank Ferragine (aka Frankie Flowers) and Beth Edney, a certified landscape designer are going to help us bring this garden to life!

Isn't that amazing? So not only have we got great sponsors with Ikea Canada donating all the outdoor furniture, Tonic Living donating outdoor fabrics and sewing services, and Mastermind Toys helping us purchase plants and other materials, but we now have Frankie Flowers helping us with the actual garden. That means that the residents at George Herman House will get something really special, and they both deserve and need it. Everyone should have somewhere they can go and relax, even if the flowers are in weird spots or not in colour co-ordinated groups. And since Frankie Flowers is on board now, we can count on the women at the house getting something even better than that!

Outdoor Space (Bloggers Give Back)

I've mentioned before how much the boy loves being outside, and I mean loves being outside. What that means for me is that my backyard (when it's not covered in snow) is taken over by a sand box, slide, and any number of other toys (shovels, spades, rakes, lawn mowers etc.). Which means I don't get to use it quite as I would like.  

Don't get me wrong we garden, we grew herbs, tomatoes and peppers last year, and we've dug new beds to expand our veggies this year. And there's grass for me to cut, and leaves to rake. But I don't have a really nice relaxing space with comfy outdoor furniture, and my flower beds are exceptionally low maintenance (to survive being run over by small children)

However, my parents (Monster Grandma & Granddad) have a fantastic garden, they spend hours out there in the summer growing food, (it keeps us all fed for months!), planting flowers, and enjoying a pond and water features. This means if I want to sit in a beautiful tranquil setting, we just head over to their place – a little bit of free babysitting, and I get half an hour of p&q!

So when Bloggers Give Back started the project to redesign the garden at George Herman House, I was totally in. Not only is it a worthwhile project to help create a green space for women who are dealing with the challenges of mental and emotional health issues (see my previous post here & check out the website for the event here), but it gives me a chance to see what some great design gurus are going to do, plus imagine what I could do around here, with a toddler in tow, that doesn't take more than minimal upkeep!

It gets even better, we now have some great sponsors for the project – Ikea is donating outdoor furniture, and Tonic Living is contributing outdoor fabrics and sewing! How amazing of these companies to step up and help. This meant I got to browse some fantastic furniture from Ikea and some beautiful fabrics from Tonic Living to come up with what I think could work in a low-maintenance garden.  

So here's my two cents (or you can see it below). A great couch and chair from Ikea to just relax on, some fun fabrics from Tonic to help give a bit of colour, very low maintenance plants like sedum, alyssum, and hostas, and a fountain (I love water features in gardens). And maybe in a few years when my backyard has become too small for the boy and he needs to go to the local park to play, I can look back on all of this for ideas and take back my yard from the plastic toys that currently seem to grow in it!

Green Space (Bloggers Give Back)

I just wanted to share something that my friend Lindsay over at Aubrey & Lindsay's Little House Blog is doing. She is looking to help George Herman House transform their backyard into a soothing and usable area. George Herman House provides supportive housing for women with mental and emotional health issues, and I can only imagine how helpful it would be having somewhere close to them that they can sit in and relax, reflect, and unwind.

We all need somewhere green & peaceful to go and unwind, whether that's your backyard, a cottage, a local park, or an urban forest. Think how much your kids love to run around outside and how good they feel afterwards. The boy especially, loves to be outside as much as he possibly can, and is so happy when he can just be left alone to potter around in the backyard. In fact in the summer he would spend all day outside, trying to get out the back door while he's still in his PJ's!

Now imagine you are dealing with the challenges of having mental or emotional issues, how much more valuable would that access to somewhere soothing and relaxing be? If you can help Lindsay in her project, or want more information, check out her blog post here.