A "Punchy" Outdoor Sanctuary

Being outside has been such a blessing this year since my girls are getting older and absolutely love being outside in our yard.  No matter if we're laying on the grass watching clouds roll by, playing "house" in their playhouse or hunting for toads, my girls could literally stay outside all day long.  Landscaping has always been such an intimidating feat to me, I did not grow up with a family that could keep much alive besides the animals and us kids.  So, when my husband and I decided to landscape our place we hired a company.  I really do admire those folks who have a talent for planting and landscaping their own place and Ashley Kasner has just about the cutest yard that I've ever seen!  She's definitely inspired me to keep an eye out for some kitschy, country and cowgirl pieces to add to our yard.  Here's the lowdown on Ashley, her family and their little slice of heaven in the Sandhills of Nebraska!

Family: Husband-Matt Kasner, Professional Team Roper-Heeler.  Currently setting 18th in the PRCA World Standings. Son- Krosston Thomas, is 3 yrs old. He loves his favorite pony, Johnny Cash and every kind of construction vehicle and tractor. He also loves being outside and is a big helper with the water hose! 

Me- I am a Reading & Math Interventionist at a small school in Martin, SD.  I have my Masters from UNC allowing me to also be a College Instructor teaching online college English courses for National American University.

Location: We moved here almost 4 years ago now from Texas, the only place Matt had ever lived, to raise Kross on the ranch and surround him in the ranch way-of-life and to be with my family, Jim & Janet Heath in Sandhills of Nebraska near nowhere, or, Cody, NE. My mom watches Kross for me while I am teaching.  More of the ranch is actually in South Dakota, but we get our mail in Nebraska.

Yard Details: Our yard was nothing but a sticker infested mess when I began my landscaping. Little by little, year by year (3 summers now) shopping at Bomgaars and only buying perennials, it has begun to look less like a sticker sand lot. I buy many of my plants at the end of the summer sale and have had great luck. Most, if not all of the decor I have used to build special places have been pieces from the original ranch houses on the ranch. The turquoise table, which was just white before adding my favorite color to it, came out of the first built cabin on the ranch; one of the trellises was a shutter off of the same cabin.

I painted the "Be Blessed" sign, as it is reclaimed wood from ranch windbreak. I took 2 feed pallets and built our deck patio table. The wooden box with the metal cross behind it was actually a dynamite/explosives box that Great-Great Grandma had refurbished and used as her kitchen cabinets and drawers. The walkways are lined with cedar fence post that were too crooked to use for fencing and we use river rock to line the fence.

 

I love the quote: "To plant a flower, is to believe in tomorrow." I compare planting and yard work to the peace, comfort and fulfillment I find when riding and training young horses. I am a pinterest junky! Many of my projects are inspired by others posts that I see on there, but I also LOVE interior design, so I feel like I take some of my inside ideas outside. Just as you put groupings together inside, I do the same with plants and flowers outside.

****Do you love Ashley's style?? Make sure to check out her Facebook page for her company The Punchy Pony!

Enjoy the sunshine!

Cooped Up Cowboy's Wife- Candace