Before I show you our almost finished yard I must tell you what I was able to accomplish today.
- Finished organizing Charlie's office.
- Put linens away in my new linen drawers (photos to come soon)
- Finished decorating lamp shade for guest room (photos to come soon)
- Got Mitchell's hair cut
- Got Vinny's hair cut
- Got my hair cut
- Made a huge mess in my scrap room decorating the lamp shade.
- Power washed the pool deck (took me two hours)
That is it! The kids did get their rooms dusted, vacuumed and cleaned. Patrick even cleaned his bathroom and his JUNK DRAWER! I still have about 10 jobs that MUST be done before Sam arrives. The rest of the list is just going to have to wait.
The good news is the yard is pretty much done. All we have to do is buy our pine needles to lay down and buy a few flowers for one pot. Here are some before and after photos...
The before is the top photo and the after is the bottom.
The hardest part of this job was removing the bark they had used as mulch. It was causing a white fungus and we were concerned for termites. The pine needles work much better. There are a few beds that are also in the front where we have already put the pine needles down. I will have to take photos of those later. The area in the above photo took me at least two months to remove the bark.
This pot was left behind by the previous owners. I painted it and now need a few pretty flowers to put in it.
This area is on the other side of the door. Storm did all of the weeding one day when we were gone. I just trimmed the trees and raked up the mulch and the old leaves.
We plan on putting in a nice bench under this tree.
This is an old photo of our front porch and door. We plan on painting the casing around the door but we are not sure what color. So, we are open to suggestions. We are also going to paint the shutters which are currently black. Again, suggestions are welcome.
I bought two pots at Big Lots for $5 each and painted them light purple. I planted some kind of plant that will grow taller and will have purple flowers. I also planted two azalea trees on either side of the stairs. The addition of these flowers made a HUGE difference.
I also planted some flowers in front of the Japanese Maple. I cannot remember what kind they are.
This is in the back yard. I had Storm trim this tree and he went a little crazy. I am sure it will come back to life next year.
I worked on this tree a little and then Storm finished it for me. Behind this tree on the fence I found a little surprise which I will show you in a minute.
This is what we call the PIT OF DESPAIR. In our area there is no pick up of yard debris and it is not allowed at the recycling center or the dump. So, if you have yard debris that you want to get rid of you must call for permission to burn it. I wish I had taken a photo or our fire. I just could not get away since I was the only one who knew how to keep the fire burning. There is already new branches that will need to be burned. It is an eye sore in the back corner of our yard. Every house in Roebuck has their PIT OF DESPAIR.
Remember the surprise I found behind the tree? I found these four butterflies that were all rusty. I sanded them, primed them and then painted them. We hung them on the wall behind our patio table. So very pretty.
Wow, this is a long post! If you have stuck with me through this whole thing you deserve an award. As always, thanks for stopping by.
