April News
Successful Projects
Header photo taken at a local green house. I highly encourage you to take a refreshing moment during April “showers” during the cold rainy season as we welcome “The Greening” to our neighborhoods.
A winter client referred me to their young adult family member for help in the attic. After a rushed move, a pet passing, and some career changes, they felt ready to make some headway about storage. We made sure to give lots of space for art supplies, established a new area for seasonal storage, labeled bags to be taken into specific rooms of the apartment, collected 4 bags for donation, and moved the rest of the boxes to a “to sort” corner. She said she could feel the stress level decrease several notable times during our work session…and for me as a professional organizer, the client feeling ease and control is the big win!
I also celebrated pruning season in several yards. A ninebush is pictured here, finally free of dead branches and water shoots from the past couple years. Client loves the flowers, and diversity of color from this shrub through the season. “The shrubs love pruning,” especially some vitality cuts and I look forward to reshaping this later in the season as well. Stay tuned for April’s photos of reclaimed flower beds!
This is actually my 5th tile installation. It’s a basement tile floor, a success from last year. These folks typically have friends help with renovation projects, but their social network is deeply involved with serving folks in need these days. Thus, when they heard about my services through a silent auction, they were glad to see some progress in their own home. Resources get shared, diverted, and come back around!! My services were in this silent auction again this year, won by first-time home buyers and I got to paint bedroom trim for them.
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This nursery has some lovely native plant collections! Www.twofernsmadison.com/our-plants/
UW Arboretum https://arboretum.wisc.edu/get-involved/friends/native-plant-sale/
Olbrich through May 6. https://www.olbrich.org/calendar/perennial-plant-sale
Also try searching Isthmus.com for neighborhood sales!
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I show up at your home with supplies, plan for two hours $50. You provide a gallon of water and whichever tools need attention. The service includes cleaning with soap, rubbing with isopropyl alcohol, and removing rust with WD40. As needed, repairs can be made to tool joints. A metal file will be used to sharpen pruners and shovels. It’s best to work in garages or on porches, but can adjust to your needs and the weather. With any time remaining, I can give some gardening advice, or help with cleaning and organizing other related spaces. The only guarantee is that your tools will be in better shape when I leave.
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After a thorough weeding of flower beds, people add commercial mulch. 2” deep is more than enough for most areas. Bags are running $6 each, and I recommend sharing a bulk delivery with your neighbors. I also recommend using other strategies for more efficient weed management.
Have you thought about using clover to over-seed your lawn? Seed available at local hardwares and nurseries. I’m also putting together a materials guide for reestablishing grass in construction areas.
Don’t miss…
I am deeply grateful to know and work with YOU.
Early in the month, I launched my kayak into Lake Mendota before the ice came to the shore. A lake-front neighbor saw me and offered to text me pictures, which was neat because paddling is usually a solo activity! She sent photos of the eagle that often visits that spot as well. In March, I also finished digitizing family videos. The nostalgia hits in interesting ways! Finally, I did some seed starting for my own community garden plot. I’m trying a new method this year and already have 3 varieties of tomato seedlings. The other two sets of seeds are struggling a bit. Here’s to common hope, enthusiasm, and resilience…
Owner Credentials and Bio
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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.
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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.
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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.