Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Our yard makeover

This has been the year of the yard.  My husband and I decided our goal for this year was to make our yard enjoyable and green.  We had a yard of moss, rocks and nuts.  We had never really made an effort to do more than mow and have a few flowers.

We truly did try to find landscapers to come do the work in a more timely manner.  Yep, we are totally aware that it is late to be doing this.  Sometimes, you just have to roll with it.

Living in the woods causes lots of shade and makes sun-loving grass a challenge.  Eight trees came down, logged and removed.  A professional did two of those because they were close to the house and my husband and son-in-law did the others.  Whew!  Then, a guy came and ground down all those stumps.  The dirt guy asked if we were putting in a golf course after I requested the eighth triaxle dump truck of topsoil.  A couple of weeks with my dad's John Deer was all it took to get it all over the yard and then Daddy used his box blade to smooth it.  Finally, 150 lbs of fertilizer was scattered, followed by 150 lbs of grass seed.  Oh, my!

Then, at last we rented a straw blower to scatter a truckload of straw.  I gotta say this was the most nerve wracking part of the operation.  It was "a monster" and unknown...but when we finally just did it, the whole thing was done in an hour. 

In a thousand years, when they excavate our property, they will wonder about the tornado specific to this area.  In other words,straw was forcefully blown into the trees and on the roof and everywhere.  I got straw in my grill (aka braces) and in my belly button.  And believe me, it was all covered in prayer.   

Moral of the story:  We can do this!
Blessings, Kelley

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Finally, a bloom!

I am over the moon excited to have blooms on this hydrangea!  This plant was a gift when we first moved into our home, 13 years ago.  That poor thing would never really take off, and less than a handful of blooms in all these years.  This year we removed tons of daylilies nearby...wonder if it was struggling with all that competition for water/food?  We have 5 blooms so far. 

This year, our big project is getting a yard.  We have had gobs of dirt delivered and will boxblade soon, followed by seed and straw.  I know, it is late in the season but not for lack of trying.  We started talking to landscapers in February but no one followed through with a quote.  Very frustrating.  Then it became a DIY with lots of help.  We live in the woods and with all the shade and rocks, we have never had much of a yard.  We only mow 4-5 times a season.  But that is about to change.  We trying to REALLY get a yard.


One of my favorite things to do is go to parks and historic sites and play at being an artsy photographer.  This was a special day with my like-minded daughter.  We actually found lots of nice patches of moss, some even had snails hanging out, for The Moss Patch

Things are never boring here.  Painted front door, veggie garden, potted plants, guest room re-do (photos next post), yard sales, pup with ear infections, algebra tutoring, furniture projects...
Blessings to you and yours,
Kelley