Life's Laundry

Coming Together.....One Area At A Time

I knew we would work in the yard again today after returning from church.  My body told the story of yesterday's physical efforts and accomplishments before my feet hit the floor this morning at 7 AM.  I am not as young as I used to be and the telltale signs of the activity that I participated in yesterday were front back and center.....the center of my lower back, that is.

I popped some motrin and started loosening up for the day.  I was a bit stiff but the many trips up and down the stairs during Sunday School helped. When I got home from church, both MusicMan and I needed a nap, LOL.  It was 2:30 this afternoon before we made our way to the east end of our home and got to work. 

I don't have any before pictures of the areas that we worked on today - just after pictures.  I can tell you; however, that these areas looked neglected and downright unsightly.  I've been procrastinating on this area because I couldn't really decide what to do and there was a lot of poison ivy growing in that bed.  I am deathly allergic to poison ivy.  MusicMan and I made a plan on what he would do to get the ivy vines out of the area and I set about to plant over 100 bulbs along the brick edging on the front corner of the house.  That is the only place that will get enough light for the bulbs to thrive.

We split up the Lenten Rose, moved 3 Azaleas that were buried below some old hedge, and put down some more hostas in front of the Lenten Rose.  We also moved a yellow shrub plant that was a huge sucker plant growing right up against the front of the house....we just dug it up, cleaned out the root system and moved it about 24 inches forward to the front of the bed.  Now it will be able to grow.

Here's some pics:

 

The 3 plants to the immediate left of the shutters that are about 1 foot tall are the clumps of Lenten Rose.  Within a year, they will multiply, fill in, and be a solid mass.  They stay green year round and in late January and February will produce a beautiful butter yellow bloom about the size of a saucer.  We didn't make it past the window. That clump below the window is the remaining Lenten Rose that we will work on tomorrow.

 

Here's where we moved the 3 Azaleas to  - we discovered them under the shrub that used to be here:

 

Look how nasty that brick is....and no! I'm not going to go rent the pressure washer for another half day and wash this side of the house :)  My goal in this blank spot is to mirror the other side of the garage window and divide that remaining clump of Lenten Rose into 3 plants.  I've got 3 more hostas that can go on the right of the window.  I'm contemplating putting my hydrangea right below the window.  It would love the morning sun...which is what this end of the house gets.

 

Here's the view from the front yard.  The Lenten Rose and hostas are behind those taller azaleas on around the corner.

 

I started at the top part of the picture and dug a 6 inch wide trench right up against the inside of the brick edging.  I set over 100 bulbs along the front edge.  There's probably 7 or 8 linear feet of bulbs. In the early spring, when the daffodils and paper whites peek out of the frosty ground - that entire edging will be one mass of blooms (hopefully).  The dirt inside the bed is the absolute best dirt on our property.  It's a small investment for what I hope to be a huge payoff in several months. The dirt outside the bed is horrible and we can't even get Bermuda grass to grow there.  This small area is the view outside of my office window and to the left of where I'm standing is a huge bird feeder and a birdbath.

 

I included this to show you where I had Little Sister plant over 90 bulbs.  I dug back the earth, dumped about 100 bulbs out on the ground and told her to plant them.  The actual planting area is larger than the area that has been watered. I explained and demonstrated how to place the root part (which she called the hairy part) pointing downward and the neck part pointing upward.  When she had them placed - and I wanted her to do it because I knew there would be no pattern to it and they would naturalize better that way - I covered them up and I let her water them in.  I want her to experience the thrill of seeing 'her bulbs' come up in the spring.  Big Brother wanted nothing to do with planting and that's ok.  Little Sister loved it and despite her not having a nap this afternoon while I did, she was pretty good help most of the time.

I have some business tomorrow before lunch and I hope to return to this end of the house with MusicMan and finish what we started today.  I'm thinking of moving the trampoline and finishing out that area so that bed we did on Saturday will not end up against the trampoline.  How much time I have and how well my body feels will be the biggest determining factor of what we accomplish tomorrow.  

I'm loving how this is coming together.....one area at a time.

PS. There's a frost advisory tonight so I don't expect my hostas to be visible for many more days. 

Happiness Is.............

MusicMan and I had a date last night. The kids went to N&P's for the weekend and we went out to dinner.  I experienced one of the most productive weeks with my business and wanted to celebrate - beginning at the restaurant and ending in our bedroom.

While at the restaurant, I drank an entirepitcher of Quervo Gold Margaritas.  Every single one was good.  I met a lady on the way out who leads our local MO*PS group and booked a group spa for her group.  Things lately seem to be landing in my lap.  It must be the energy and focus coming back to me.  When we left the restaurant, I was having one of the best buzzes that I can remember.  It continued after we got home and me being the person that I am and receiving the excellent loving that I did - I was passed out by 8:30 PM.  Good sex does that for me. It was an incredible evening for both people involved.

The drawback to being passed out before 9 is that once I've had 6 hours of sleep (no matter when it starts) I'm ready to get up and get moving.  So - at 3:50 AM this morning, I was wide-ass-awake with my mind recounting last nights time together and then my thoughts ran to how happy I have been.

Now I'm not saying that I haven't had challenges or set backs or arguments or disappointments in the past few weeks.....but I am saying that I have felt better, been more productive both personally, physically and financially and been resting better.  Those 8 weeks in the summer when I had some kind of virus and was literally down for the count - those were miserable times for me.  I felt helpless and had to search hard to find the happiness in that time.  The past two or three weeks are such a contrast to that time and Thank God - I'm doing better.

Happiness for me this morning was being able to come back to bed after being awake a few hours and then sleep till 8.  Happiness was waking up to another round of last night minus the tequila :)  I fixed us breakfast and coffee while he walked the dog and we went to work on the yard again.  I'm starting to see payoffs and I'm continuing to feel better about what we are accomplishing and how it's looking.

Last week I shared pictures when we had the 20 something Camellia tree removed.

Today we filled that area with some new plants and some ground cover that will eventually cover the entire area.  Happiness is getting much accomplished and then being able to stand back and admire your work while knowing that it will continue to look better and better each passing year.  Happiness is also knowing that we spent less than $53 on that entire bed.  Plants that I got last week on sale and pine straw and ground cover this morning.  It's also good to know that I paid as we went.

 

 

The 3 Acoma White Crepe Myrtles that I got last week at Lowe's on such deep discount are the taller trees on the backside of the bed.  The tall plant closest to the bottom right is the first one. The other two aren't very visible in this picture. They are 8 feet apart.  Here is what they look like at full height.  My hope is that they will be a visual "knockout" when you come around the curve in the subdivision and see them and that they will provide privacy from the houses down the culdesac.

 

Realistically, it will take about 6-8 years for them to get to this size; however, I am pretty confident that they will look good in that spot as they grow.  Each year, it will get better and better.

The ground cover is Blue Pacific Shore Juniper.  It will take 3 or 4 years for it to spread to a 5-6 foot area with each plant.  The pine straw will define the bed until then.  I couldn't find a decent picture of what it looks like from 10 feet away but this is the closet to show what I am working towards.

I chose this because of the texture and growth habit of the plant.  Our neighbors have this in their yard about 20 feet away from this bed and I wanted some continuity too.  Once things get established, it will be low maintenance with big impact visually.

Right now, happiness is being done for the day, completing this post, and knowing that a warm shower and chemical peel awaits me.  MusicMan has a gig tonight so I'll have the house to myself.  If I feel like it, I may play with my African Violets and do some re potting on a few of them.

What is happiness for you lately?