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.