That's what I have to tell myself each Monday because it is sincerely my hardest day of the week. Three Monday posts have proven that, I think. This past weekend was inadvertently busy. I wanted to spend Saturday in my jammies and watch movies. It would have been reminiscent of my single days lazying around watching Lifetime and thinking about how great my life was compared to those dark movies I'd watch.
**Yeah. So much for that.**
Neil pops up first thing in the morning and says he'll tackle the shrubs that are *long* overdue to be trimmed. We're talking small tree trunks sprouting out the top here. My honey-do list for him initially involved him hanging some wall decorations above Drew's crib - getting him ready to move in with big brother and taking care of hooking up the computer to make it wireless so I can finally retrieve all my e-mail lists. If you haven't
gotten an e-mail from me in the past two weeks, this is why.
****
I didn't end up bothering him with those tasks since he offered to cut the shrubs. All last week I debated making a call and having someone come out and trim them. The problem isn't that we're lazy or that we think we're above the work. The problem is that the hedge clipper we have isn't long enough to reach over to get everything up against the house. So...that nice little yard chore parlayed itself into other yard grooming like de-deadifying the pampas grass we have and finally taking care of our front bed, which has needed to be dealt with for quite a while. Some of you know the craziness that happened last July when a driver ran the curb, launched off our beautiful hedges, caught some air before taking out our neighbor's tree and totaled not one, but two of their three cars.
I give you...the "before" photos
the MLS pictures from when we bought our home - don't ask me *why* I have them, but that's the only picture I have with the shrubs in tact.
our beautiful hedges, destroyed just two days before we left for Myrtle Beach - July '07
the trail of destruction...the tree and the cars that were totaled
small brag - I took these with my iPhone - not too shabby, huh?
I have to mention that the driver did not hit either of our cars, despite the fact that Neil parks closest to the neighbors and parks far away from the garage because their pine tree leaves sap everywhere. It was reported to be a large truck, possibly the size of a 250. He also managed to miss our trash can which sits between our driveway and our neighbors in his quick getaway. So...he didn't hit our cars initially or in backing up in his 'getaway'. He was never found despite my rapidly circulating neighborhood e-mail.
Over the course of three months we took out those shrubs (which, by the way have the most gnarly root system I've ever seen!) and it left us with bare ground...winter was on it's way so we decided we'd wait until Spring to take care of things. That turned out to be this weekend. We spent all Saturday...and I mean *all* day Saturday out in the yard. Parked the car in front of the driveway so the kids could ride their toys...used the shade from the other car to put Drew's exersaucer out so he could play. Jonathan rode his scooter like a mini pro. Then Ashley got home and took out a blanket and laid down with Drew. Paige had a blast riding her Radio Flyer tricycle (via a great Craigs List find!) and her little hitchhiker - her Sprite bottle. By the time she was done riding and after all the falls it took, I'm sure it tasted like sweet lemoney limey water, lol. So, our yard is complete...for now. The bed closest to the house is the last to be taken care of and we'll probably do something similar to the front bed.
We got a nice little letter from our neighborhood HOA late last week - about a few weeds that have sprouted - obviously our lawn service is failing us. Either that or the weeds grow just that fast! From the looks of things, they were on the warpath because all of our neighbors were out working in the yard to spruce things up. I *wish* I had time to devote to our yard. But it just isn't happening and I've conceded defeat on that front. So, here are a few pictures of the finished product. We *were* going to put down (and still might) some flagstone or slate in the bed with some wildflowers growing between them. Yeah. We'll see how motivated we are and how long it takes me to post that it was actually done!
my beautiful purply grassy plant. I just wanted something a little different
I call this stuff pony grass - who knows what it's called, but it's drought resistant so it works for us!
the garden bed in profile...it's got nowhere to grow but up!
I give you...the "before" photos
the MLS pictures from when we bought our home - don't ask me *why* I have them, but that's the only picture I have with the shrubs in tact.
our beautiful hedges, destroyed just two days before we left for Myrtle Beach - July '07
the trail of destruction...the tree and the cars that were totaled
small brag - I took these with my iPhone - not too shabby, huh?
I have to mention that the driver did not hit either of our cars, despite the fact that Neil parks closest to the neighbors and parks far away from the garage because their pine tree leaves sap everywhere. It was reported to be a large truck, possibly the size of a 250. He also managed to miss our trash can which sits between our driveway and our neighbors in his quick getaway. So...he didn't hit our cars initially or in backing up in his 'getaway'. He was never found despite my rapidly circulating neighborhood e-mail.
Over the course of three months we took out those shrubs (which, by the way have the most gnarly root system I've ever seen!) and it left us with bare ground...winter was on it's way so we decided we'd wait until Spring to take care of things. That turned out to be this weekend. We spent all Saturday...and I mean *all* day Saturday out in the yard. Parked the car in front of the driveway so the kids could ride their toys...used the shade from the other car to put Drew's exersaucer out so he could play. Jonathan rode his scooter like a mini pro. Then Ashley got home and took out a blanket and laid down with Drew. Paige had a blast riding her Radio Flyer tricycle (via a great Craigs List find!) and her little hitchhiker - her Sprite bottle. By the time she was done riding and after all the falls it took, I'm sure it tasted like sweet lemoney limey water, lol. So, our yard is complete...for now. The bed closest to the house is the last to be taken care of and we'll probably do something similar to the front bed.
We got a nice little letter from our neighborhood HOA late last week - about a few weeds that have sprouted - obviously our lawn service is failing us. Either that or the weeds grow just that fast! From the looks of things, they were on the warpath because all of our neighbors were out working in the yard to spruce things up. I *wish* I had time to devote to our yard. But it just isn't happening and I've conceded defeat on that front. So, here are a few pictures of the finished product. We *were* going to put down (and still might) some flagstone or slate in the bed with some wildflowers growing between them. Yeah. We'll see how motivated we are and how long it takes me to post that it was actually done!
my beautiful purply grassy plant. I just wanted something a little different
I call this stuff pony grass - who knows what it's called, but it's drought resistant so it works for us!
the garden bed in profile...it's got nowhere to grow but up!
So, this was our Saturday. Inhaling grass dust from our pampas plant, spending time perusing through the landscaping magazines at Home Depot and finally deciding on the bare minimum to keep the HOA fairies away. I was a little hesitant at Neil's choice of black mulch as well as how very little we put into the ground, but I'm starting to think less is more. It looks good and it makes me think about how nice it is to pull into the driveway and have something pretty looking back at me.
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