prepping the exterior

Our plans for 2012 went something like this:

1. Get Married (gawd, that was soooooooooo 4 months ago!)
2. Fix Up Main Living Space: new wall color, actually hem the curtains properly, paint the ceiling, install moulding so there's no gap for Jaq & Gus-Gus to get in
3. Paint Exterior - All of it.
4. Paint & Spiffy Master
5. Start Kitchen Re-do?

... yeah, no biggie.

So, seeing as item #1 is done and item #2 is somewhere kinda-sorta done (I'm still edging the ceiling... ugh,) we've moved on!

On the right side of the house, there's a flower bed and a walkway to the backyard. On the left side? Oh, that would be the wilderness!

though, the azaleas are lovely in bloom

Sure, ivy-covered walls are romantic or for smart/wealthy-kid schools...

maybe in a little while I could scale the house via ivy?

... BUT THIS IS RIDICULOUS

yes. bars. that's where we keep our pet tiger.

Ugh. Just, ugh. Do you SEE that piece that's inside the screen???? You invasive jerk of a plant!

So, obviously, the ivy needed to come off if we were to paint the house. With just a little pulling, most of it came down, and 3 or 4 bags later we had this:

CLEAN!

While back there, we also trimmed the bushes. The one good thing about this area is that between the large bushes, shade from a nearby pine, and the ivy, not much else in terms of weeds (or poison!) grows back here. Which is nice.

The bars, not so much.

seriously, I look like a freakin' warden

We will give this area a good power-washing before painting to clean & remove the ivy debris. The last remaining pieces of ivy will just hang out upstairs until we get a large ladder/scaffolding to tackle it.

After this was cleared, we moved onto demo....

Because, honestly, who wouldn't jump at the chance to swing a sledgehammer at innocent brick?

Back-story: the houses of this model in the neighborhood all have this little planter to the right of the door. No other styles have that. Just this raised-rancher. It's handy for setting items on as you open the door, but not handy as it is tough to get things to grow in there. Let me rephrase. It is tough if you want something pretty, but low-maintenance and year-round to grow in there. Sure, I could have planted annuals ever 5 days to keep things in bloom, but it's a narrow pain in the butt area to work with. Oh, and it was falling apart. There was that. So, we just helped it on it's way to eventual demise.

Fun surprise? There was a line of cinder blocks inside the brick for added support and headache. And, unfortunately, no pics of the after. Someone MAY have had the camera outside when a passing shower started and they MAY have freaked out and wrapped their baby in a towel to be left alone in the hopes that it was ok all along (totally was.) And now, well, now there's primer over it... so... this is more just a leave-you-hanging kinda post, isn't it? You're welcome.

After a long day of exterior work, this is the proper reward:

grilled branzino with a lemon-herb butter

backyard overhaul: starting a-new

GUESS WHAT I FOUND WHEN I GOT HOME?!?!??!

BEST BF EVER!!!!

Back story: The backyard has never really, truly had a lawn, per se... small clumps of grass, sure.  But a true lawn, consistent covered with the green stuff?  Not so much.  There was almost NO grass when I moved in (see below.)

sorry for the dark photo

And we have tried for YEARS to get grass to grow.... but to no avail.  Part of the problem was not doing it right (as in, not doing enough seeding and fertilizing), and part of the problem was the pup.

REALLY patchy

only kinda patchy

So, the beau stayed home on Monday to make sure all was ok with the new pooch as she adjusted to the place and decided to take on the lawn!  He raked & loosened the dirt, then laid seed and top soil-with-fertilizer (we got the Scott's new lawn top soil,) and covered it with straw/hay and roped off to keep the dogs from trampling it.  We will water this sucker daily for a couple weeks and keep foot (and paw) traffic off it for at least a month.  Fingers crossed!



Shared on Centsational Girl's Spring Link Party.

weekend update: taming the wild

On Saturday, my mom came down to help us with some red fence removal by lending her hard work & pick-up truck.  In return, I cook a feast (more on that later) and offer my sparkling personality.

The picture above is the 1/2 started state my yard was in for a couple weeks; we started pulling some fence down, only to stop when we realized we have no means to dispose of it.  So, yeah, this is the view that greeted me everytime I looked outside.  Fabulous.

Anyways, lets remember the beginning (or close to it):

Now, over the weekend, we laid more grass seed, planted a rosemary bush and an azalea, removed most of the remaining red fence, cleared the hill and side garden, planted hosta along the stairs, and mowed.


BEFORE:

DURING:

AFTER:

Funny story, I started planting some of the extra hosta from around the property to line these stairs.  Only to find out my mom had a few huge bunches at her house, which happened to be the opposite style (white edges with green inside) from what I had just planted.  Soooooo, uprooted the recently planted hosta and replaced with the other variety.  And, ta da!  I'm eager for these to fill in to made a thick border for the (less than appealing) stairs.

Also?  I lied to you.  This isn't completely a "weekend update"... the hosta transplanting was done earlier.  Shh!  It'll be our little secret.


Now, for the fence & vegetable garden...

BEFORE:

DURING:

AFTER:

Oooohhh, Aaaaahhh!!!!  So, to tally the work done: rock border moved out to meet the patio, removed old boxwood bushes, transplanted all remaining hosta and daffodils, removed red privacy fence, and cleared out all remaining junk from behind the fence,* leaves, weeds, and excess ivy. 

True, now I can see easily into the neighbor's yard, which may or may not be a good thing.  But, it also makes the yard feel bigger and will allow more sunlight to reach the vegetable plants.  Which, in case you didn't guess, is totally awesome!!

*Behind the fence, there were a bunch of metal posts, trash, a fiberglass whip, and wire.  Yup, this is the gold I find in my backyard.  

Meanwhile, the Hill of Pain and Doom still spreads its reign of horror on all who challenge it.

BEFORE:

DURING:

AFTER: 

I gave the hill a good dousing with poison & brush killer, to try and get things good and dead.  Or dead and good.  Whichever way you look at it.  I'm sure it killed something... but not a lot.  Or, rather, not enough!  I wanted to go on a weed & poison killing spree.  Take no prisoners!  Ask no questions!  But, I was thwarted by the lack of chemical strength, (or maybe lack of "ammunition"?  Next time: 4 containers of brush killer...  per weed.)  Back to the matter at hand: soaked the weeds, transplanted all random daffodils from around the property to make a line behind the rocks at the base of the hill, filled in the line of hosta (between the daffodils & the rock line), and then raked, cut, & cleared all debris.  So, though the hill is still home to the most wretched weeds, it looks better!  

Our rationale for leaving the weeds for the time being is that the roots, damned as they may be, are holding some of the hill in place and thwarting that dastardly erosion.  Will work on uprooting & banishing all interloping plants once we have the new, permanent residents (probably a basic ground cover) ready to go.

Here's the final "AFTER," once the weekend was done:

You can't tell, but there are tons of tiny baby grasses incubating here!

Just wait until that path & patio are sparkling with awesome renovation.  Just... wait...

Yup.  There you go.  Very productive & satisfying weekend.  And I am oh-so-glad that we chose to do this work in the humid, 88degree heat.  Smashing good idea.

bench press

You know what's awesome?  When three men decide to stop by your house and magically lift the 700lb* slab of marble onto the legs to make, voila! a bench!!

The worst of it is this bench has been in pieces in my front yard for a good 9 months without any progress.**  Let me tell you, the curb appeal on this place was SKY HIGH!  


*Ok, maybe it wasn't 700lbs.  But, lets humor the boys- it's more impressive for them this way.  I have no idea how heavy it was... but it was heavy!  Heavy as a rock!!
**9 months.  Maybe more.  Don't judge me. 

But that all changed, recently!  It started when my beau re-dug the holes for the legs, (re-dug because after 9 months, holes start to cave in and fill up,) and filled it with concrete.  We opted to fill it with dry concrete, with the idea that it would draw moisture from the damp, surrounding ground and any coming rain.  And guess what?  It worked!  So, holes were dug.  Initial leg stones were placed in the holes with concrete and leveled.  The remaining leg stones were stacked with a few dots of Liquid Nails between each for stability.  And finally?  The keystone!  The pièce de résistance!  The bench seat!!!!

 Look how pretty!  It's a bench!  Ignore the random pieces of 2x4 and plywood.  Just enjoy the bench.  Soon to be surrounded by amazing landscaping!*  And the best part?  Almost 100% free, thanks to my neighbor having access to free, leftover stone** & marble and my mom's leftover concrete; I bought the Liquid Nails & caulking gun.

And I must thank the three very helpful men- I am so grateful!!!


*"Soon" is a relative term with me.  See above: 9 months.
**My neighbor & I moved the bench top from the curbside all the way to this corner of the front yard, Egyptian-style with rope and rolling bars and planks.  

weekend update

This past weekend, we started the massive undertaking of tackling the backyard.... which was AWESOME!  And couldn't have been done without the help of my mom & my handy beau.

 The Hill of Doom: you can't see it very well, but this hill is covered in leaves, weed-trees, vines, and ground cover.

Things accomplished: raked & bagged the top level/tier of the yard, replaced the scalloped edgers around a crape myrtle with field-stones, cemented the legs for the to-be-built marble bench in the front, transplanted salvageable plants from The Hill of Doom, sprayed The Hill of Doom with brush & poison killer, removed 2 bushes, widened the vegetable & herb garden, and started taking down the red privacy fence. 

I can't wait for next spring when this line of daffodils comes up bigger & badder than ever!

Unfortunately, most of the things, (like raking and spraying killer,) aren't exactly visual improvements... in the picture above you can see the line of daffodils I transplanted (AND I still have a few more clumps to move!)  It was recommended to me that after transplanting the flowering plants, to cut them down so that only 3" remained.  This is to alleviate stress on the plant, as supporting blooms & buds & full growth would be tough on a just-transplanted bulb.  Now, for the (one) before & after!


BEFORE

I don't remember the exact state of this garden when I moved in... I know there was a dog house where the hibernating hydrangea is and there was another boxwood bush.  But, otherwise, who knows!  Dark memories are easily blocked from my memory!

Last year, I planted a few peppers and a couple tomato plants in this garden, and had an ok crop.  But, things were cramped and never received enough sunlight.  So, my vision is to remove the back two bushes and the red fence.  Then, move the rock line towards the slate pathway/patio, to widen the garden.


AFTER

And, there's my photogenic dog.  Smiling for the camera. 

But the garden!  Already looking MUCH bigger & just aching for some plants!  We had to stop tearing down the fence because we had nowhere to take it.  The rest will (hopefully) be removed when I can borrow my mom's pick-up for runs to the recycling center.  And my mind is racing with what kinds of peppers, herbs, tomatoes and other veggies (zucchini!) I can plant! 

everyone I meet says I am one fungi!

GET IT?? FUN-GI??? FUN GUY! ... I guess this would be better if I actually was a guy. Huh.

Cleaning up leaves and the gardens this fall and minding my own business when... wait, what? What is THAT?!!??!

Yup. My yard is infested with alien spores. To be expected. Couldn't just have mushrooms like a normal house. NooOOOoooOOoo. They have to be pods of yellow death in the earth. And everywhere I looked? MORE!


Luckily, they popped right up from their earthly bed without any fuss. But still! And surprisingly? Those suckers were heavy!

Well, here's to hoping I didn't breath in toxic spores....

stoned

Look at my boot tray! My house doesn't have an entry-way, but instead opens straight into the family room. Therefore, I wanted to have a boot tray for ... um... boots. And shoes. You should see the amount of dirt the tray collects! Actually, you shouldn't. Too dirty. Anyways, I saw this idea on a blog & ran with it. Got cheap bags of decorative stone from Ikea to fill the tray- really helps it blend into the room instead of standing out like a sore thumb AND adds a nice natural element. I'm planning on looking into painting the tray, itself, as black doesn't really fit in.....

the original

This is the posted Virtual Tour outside of my house. Looks good, no? Serene, no problems... it's like the Bate's Motel.