August News

Successful Projects

  • Flowerbed Restoration

  • Fresh paint brings the light inside

  • Creating space for a new garden

(Top banner photo taken at Olbrich Gardens). So how was your July? Was yours full of unexpected events also? And I hope you’re finding your feet each day, my goodness. Project successes include plenty of yardwork and a few paint projects as usual. For one client we finally were at the point to bag up all the yardwaste for the clearing we’ve been working on. The perennials and roses we planted have struggled to survive the weather and rabbits but I have intent to help with watering more often to give them a solid finish for the season. Another client finally has a bright yellow living room in her new house, after enduring the grays throughout her kitchen remodel. It was a joy to see her face as the first wall was freshly painted! A third client wrapped the yard renovation before her summer family trip. We cut shrubs back significantly and heavily mulched the last of her flower beds. She’ll just have some maintenance to manage with my help for another six weeks. 

I’ve really enjoyed shopping the sales at our local nurseries. Now is still a great time to plant perennials, especially because it gets increasingly easier to keep them looking fresh as the weather changes. I met Athena this month, at Two Ferns (link below) and highly recommend ordering native plants and shrubs through her greenhouse! Also, a friend of mine referred a colleague to me. The colleague grew up in Africa and is enthusiastic about the wellness benefits of homegrown herbs and veggies. I’m grateful to have a decade of experience to assess the light and space at her home, and the time to meander a plant shopping experience with her. It’s an inspiration to discover gardening with new people!!

Someone I’ve known for decades is moving this month and said these ideas were helpful in downsizing. “To know I want to live in an uncluttered house, to be able to use the garage, and that I can’t keep it all. I remember going through things in 2006 and deciding that I could let go of pictures because I have the memories…if I had to.” It’s hard to emotional and physical work to move one’s whole life, and focusing on the future functionality and your own internal resolve gives you the energy to pursue. (also watermelon?) 

Scheduling Availability for August: 6 Transformations, and about 10 Unbundled visits. The Essentials program might be full for a couple months. Click here to learn more. https://www.projectswithjulia.com/home-transformational-services-and-project-photos

Resources & Info

I am deeply grateful to know and work with YOU.

The extreme heat and resulting schedule inconsistencies got to my head a bit in July. I had a moment, as I approached a kayak launch, where my soul could feel sweatshirt weather on the distant horizon! With the A/C running this month, I got caught up on some deep cleaning and had time to send out a few hand-written notes. I know you’ve taken the time to engage your values in the community, but don’t forget to talk with your neighbors about the primary election.

https://myvote.wi.gov/en-us/

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Owner Credentials and Bio

  • Julia is a midwestern child of the 90s, and inherited the hobbies of parents including cooking, camping, veg gardening, wood refinishing, repainting bedrooms, playing piano and a few crafty things. In part the hobbies kept us out of trouble, but also instilled a variety of mental and mechanical skills that became otherwise useful. Following tradition, I ventured to college toward a teaching career and found success in this. Along the way, several fabulous mentors provided skills in construction, electronics, painting, and management through producing theatre productions. Collaborating in building stage performance drew out the creative, person-centric, flow of energy that encouraged me to find some professional energy beyond the requirements of elementary education credentials. Summers found me as a waterfront director at a summer camp in northern Wisconsin. Here I honed skills in outdoor work, adaptive recreation, leadership of peers, sailing, pottery, and loved every moment with the kids. Lifeguarding roles clarified my tendency to be prepared and keep safe spaces for all participants. After achieving a graduate degree in education came the search for permanent classroom positions in Denver, then Chicago.  

  • There’s a richness to life in a city setting, and many people (especially women) have discovered the many rewards of veering from a path well traveled. Mentors along the way provided me with opportunities to appreciate the feeling of jobs well-done, celebrated the wins of going the extra mile in the work, and the thrill of executing another brilliant plan. I served communities as a licensed K-12 teacher for a decade before turning to the nonprofit sector. For seven years in Madison, Julia then supported job-seekers with training and advocacy, and celebrated 74 people finding new first paychecks.  This role in social work introduced me the vast needs and resources for households in Dane County, and appreciation for many ways that plans can change to meet a person’s goals. At a turning point with (ex) boyfriend in 2021, I became a first-time home buyer with a condo by Madison’s Tenney Park and put all the mechanical hobby skills to good use. The condo bathroom was moldy so the vanity and floor got ripped out; I laid new tile and build floating shelves from Habitat Restore urban lumber. I installed a pedestal sink, new toilet, and used an epoxy paint to resurface the entire shower. After a good scrub, I painted every square inch of the place, of course. The condo floor was 1949 original and in good (but ugly) condition, so I installed LVP throughout 800 sq ft, along with new baseboards. In 2022, I renovated the kitchen, shopping for all new appliances, designing a couple custom cabinets, and installing a gorgeous glass-tile backsplash. Home is a passion project! Then there came a turning point with career, where diligence was met with coworker resistance, and I decided to capitalize on strengths, launching the LLC in 2023. Self-employment allows me to truly be of service to you! I have been veg gardening in Madison since 2012, love to kayak, volunteer in several organizations, and pop up at free events around town. 

  • Project Management. Department of Public Instruction license for K-8 classroom. Ethics in Disability Services. Motivational Interviewing as Community Health provider. Red Cross Lifeguard. Mental Health First Aid. Wisconsin Driver’s License.