Ten on Ten - September 2011

These are all iPhone pics this month.....

starting the day with Words with Friends!



breakfast




ignoring the jungle that is my backyard



yummy treat while out shopping

I don't recommend visiting a brand new Sam's on its very first weekend.



ducks and turtles at Northpark




as seen in one of my favorite stores....Anthropologie




new makeup from Clinique during bonus time yields a fun new bag!



love me some Chopped!



ended the day with a movie


Go here to see other blogs participating this month!

Spring Saturday

For the past few weeks, I'd hear about something, mark it in my mental list of things to do and then move on. When I finally started writing all those "somethings" down, they were all happening today! So, I made a list and headed out (after sleeping in, of course!)

1. First on the agenda - early voting at the Civic Center. I'm going to be with my family next weekend and wanted to make sure my vote would make it in.
2. Heights Recreation Center to pick up my 2 free rolls of blue recycling bags from the city (anyone need some? I still had 3 or 4 unopened bags from before!) and buy a box of trash bags.
3. bank
4. local high school band fundraiser garage sale - saw a cute snowman salt/pepper set with a spoon rest. alas, they wanted more for it than I wanted to spend.
5. church youth fundraiser garage sale - score! new end table for $10 (Ethan Allen in great condition!)
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. A few Saturdays ago, I scored a Scrabble game (it's our family's newest obsession) at a garage sale for 50 cents. Amazingly, it was only missing 2 letters!! One of my favorite stores, Junkadoodle, usually has a bowl full of Scrabble tiles and tile racks. I went last Sunday and they were completely out of letters! Ugh - apparently someone else came in and literally cleaned them out. The guy told me that Betty Ann was out that weekend stocking up on new stuff and would probably come home with a new stash. So, I called last night to make sure that she had success. A quick trip and 45 cents later (for two letters and one tile rack), my Scrabble game is complete!
7. Leisurely driving through neighborhoods on the hunt for more garage sales. Found a few, but nothing interesting worth bringing home.
8. A stop at Lowe's to try and think about finding some flowers to plant in my front flowerbeds left me completely overwhelmed! So, no plants today. I've sent off a note asking for help from my high school huddle leaders who own a landscaping company in Abilene.
   
9. Last stop was the Cottonwood Art Festival. I have discovered that I really love buying interesting and unique things when I can get them direct from the artisan. Last year I got a funky handblown glass bowl. This year, a fun metal flower sculpture!
   
   
   
   
   

Whew.....and then of course, there are the typical weekend chores....laundry, dishes, etc. I'll sit down to read or watch a movie here in a little bit.....maybe!

Holiday

So, not knowing how long the Garage Makeover would take, I decided to take off today, since Phillip and Daddy had today off for MLK day.

But, we finished yesterday with a few hours work after the Cowboys less-than-impressive loss, so we had this morning to play. We split up - the boys set off to get Phillip's truck inspected and washed. The girls set off for Office Max (for Turbo Tax), Target and FootLocker (to exchange Emily's christmas present of new tennis shoes). While at the mall, I decided to treat Emily to a ride on the carousel. She actually got two rides because another little girl was riding first. I think Emily enjoyed the second ride more -- especially because she asked for it to run again!!

We picked up Granddaddy to join us for lunch and then I headed back home to settle back in for another busy week. Now I'm catching up on the first two hours of 24 from last night and will move on to the 2 hours from tonight when I'm done.

Back to reality tomorrow......then I'll probably tackle my leaves and possibly reorganize my own garage this weekend!!!

In Progress

So, I'm finally getting something done with my front flowerbeds.....a few months ago I called Brad and he came and pulled out all the holly stumps (remember the bushes I showed you that I conquered way back in May?). And this week we were finally able to meet and start on a plan.

I have been getting home close (or past) dark the past couple of days, so the pictures aren't the greatest, but I can't not take in progress photos.

First, down came the side fence/gate - it was very sad and hard to use. So we are replacing that small section.




















Marking the spot for new front bushes.....Brad is going to be able to transplant some dwarf yaupons (I think) from another client that is pulling them out. So, about half price for me. Yay!




















Today: fence supplies in and ready to go....

and some of the bushes, just hanging out, ready to drop in the holes!

So excited about the transformation to come.....

Hammock

I ended up ordering a travel hammock due to the size constraints of my exsisting posts. It came in only a few days! Here is the before:

and the after! I tried it out after mowing, but had dirty feet and didn't read the instructions on how to get in the thing, so I didn't spend much time and it wasn't very comfortable because I didn't know what I was doing!! I'll have to go back out later this afternoon and give it another whirl.

Stormy Weather

Almost 4 inches at rain at my house in the last 24 hours.....lots of wind and maybe almost a tornado in my part of the state.

Thankfully, I never lost power (there are still 250,000 people without power) and only had two casualties in my yard.

A tree branch from the neighbor's yard is hanging into mine.....

and the most sad.....my new wind chimes snapped. I think I can fix them though - just some good wood glue should do it....

I fought the holly bushes.....and WON!

So this morning, I worked in the yard.  Mowed, edged, and weeded.  Then the fun began.

When I moved into my house, this is what the front looked like.  See that wall of holly bushes?  They have bothered me for quite a while......they are too big for the house, too prickly, to hard to keep up.  So, today, while it still isn't quite summertime hot, I decided to do something about them.

Here is the pile of trimmings mid-project:

And the view of the house, mid-project. 

And the finished front view......the 7 holly bushes are gone, as well as a sick tree that was being taken over by honeysuckle.  A huge thank you goes out to my neighbor Scott and his son Dylan for helping with the final cleanup.  Scott trimmed down remains to stumps and cut down the tree for me. 

and the HUGE pile of brush remains ready for pickup.

Now all that remains is finding someone to dig out the stumps and prepare it all for replanting.  Oh, and deciding what is going back in.  Something smaller and easier to maintain.  I've got some ideas, but do any of you?

Mowing, part 2

Still no juice to the mower this morning.....guess it is going to get a visit to the lawn mower doctor.....

Planning to visit an estate sale in my neighborhood this morning when it opens, take the mower in, and run a bunch of errands. Make a couple of treats for class at church tomorrow and a Cinco de Mayo potluck for work on Tuesday. Put away clean laundry, straighten up the house.....all just basic Saturday chores.

Mowing

Well, it has been raining quite a bit, so my yard is quite full of weeds. I was going to mow tonight since it is supposed to rain some more this weekend. Alas, I couldn't get my mower to start. Possibly I flooded the engine. I don't know. All I know is that the weeds will continue to grow while I enjoy a nice evening inside.

Being neighborly

Earlier this week I decided that I would work in the yard today. I had to make the decision in my head and remind myself over and over again that was the plan so that I wouldn't procrastinate the work.

Then I heard the weather forecast for today.......high of 50 (at 5 pm) with 25-40 mph NW winds. Brrrrr. BUT, I would much rather work outside in the cold than in the hot, so after breakfast (sausage and egg bake made last night and baked this morning), I got ready to head out.

First order of business.....figure out what clothes to wear to stay warm! I intended to wear a pair of cotton leggings under my work pants ..... but apparently at some time in the past I got rid of them. Boo. So, I pulled out some shorts and knee socks to layer under the pants. Then a tshirt, long sleeve tshirt and sweatshirt. Finally, a headband I bought to go skiing in college to keep my ears warm.

As I was getting ready to go out, I heard a knock on my front door. I almost ignored it because last night about 8:30 my doorbell rang and rang.....and of course, when I got there, nothing. Some neighborhood kids must have been roaming around ringing doorbells and then running off. But I did answer the door this morning and it was my next door neighbor asking to borrow an egg. I've never actually had that happen before! This neighbor is the one that occasionally trims my front hedges for me and, when I met him shortly after I moved in, offered for me to borrow tools any time I needed something.

So, I handed over the egg and finished getting ready to go out and work. On the agenda for today: finish taking out the wood post flowerbed borders in the back, carry them to the curb for pickup and take up all the flagstones from the front flowerbed and move to the back for use in another way yet to be determined. (I'm hoping that my St. Augustine grass will fill in and take over that space.....)

I started carrying armloads of posts to the front and had a thought.....this sure would be easier if I had a wheelbarrow. Hmmmm. Wonder if my neighbor has one I could borrow? In the past, I probably would have had that thought and let my pride rule the day and not go ask (because if you know me at all, you know that asking for any type of help is rather challenging for me). BUT, because he had already come to me today asking for something, I forced myself to go next door and ask if he had a wheelbarrow I could borrow. And guess what? He did!

That wheelbarrow turned my much-bigger-than-I-thought job (which initially also included the first edging/mowing of the season) for the day into an actually manageable task. I spent about 2 hours loading, hauling and unloading......if I hadn't had the wheelbarrow, I don't think I could have finished AND it would have been a MUCH harder task. I also still got in plenty of exercise and sore muscles.....

I definitely learned a lesson today about being neighborly.....and how it tends to cause others to do the same. I hope that I will hesitate less next time before humbling myself to ask for help!

Yard work

I just finished vacuuming my back yard.....no, not really, but that is what it felt like!!  I used the vacuum component of my blower and sucked up two full bags of leaves....cleared off the deck and cleaned out the cabana and some out of the yard.  It was pretty windy while I was out of town, so the leaves are distributed better across the yard.  Another day when it is cooler (it is 75 degrees now....on the way to 82!!  wait, isn't it January?!?) I'll pull out the mower and mulch up all the leaves.

Christmas is all finally packed away and put up....I did a little reorganization in my garage today to get my new icicle wreath and outdoor Christmas tree a home.  For the rest of the day, I'm going to relax!  Perhaps to read a book, or watch some shows on my DVR.

Oh, before I forget....anyone have any ideas on how I could decorate the top of my TV cabinet?  I never have really figured that out.....I don't love the chest (got it for free), but could see greenery coming out possibly.....I feel like it needs some height, but am having a hard time visualizing anything......my friend Kelly is already on the case, but I figure it can't help to have more brainstorming!!

Sore.....

I forgot how much it hurts to work in the yard...... all the pulling and twisting and lifting. Every move is difficult today - even holding a pen to write notes at church this morning.....ugh.

Saturday

Today is the first Saturday in a while that I've been home with no schedule. I had plans to work in my front flowerbeds in preparation for a new Christmas decor item that will be going up next week, but with no timetable, I was able to sleep in until about 9:00. Dressed and ate breakfast, had my first Google Video chat with my parents (MUCH easier than Skype, by the way) then headed outside.

I have decided that I don't hate yardwork. I hate yardwork in the summertime. I had an enjoyable morning outside today - it was about 55 degrees - dressed in scrubs, a tshirt and sweatshirt. It was perfect.

So, to the project at hand. More than a year ago, I had some rather hideous bushes removed from the front flowerbeds. I have recently decided on what needs to be done there and what I want to plant. First order of business and task for today: remove the brick edging.

Here is the before (and to echo all my friends' frustrations - why is Blogger all of a sudden posting pictures backwards?!? had to do some planning to get these in the right way)



















The bricks are out! All 158 of them (yes, I counted). It only took about 45 minutes, sitting on the driveway and knocking out the dirt, snails, and earthworms. Also took the opportunity to pull up some particularly ugly weeds by the root.




















And the transplanted bricks......along the side of my garage in a particularly useless piece of back yard. Yes, I lifted carefully (from the legs, not the back) and took stacks of 4-5 at a time.

























In among trips to the back, I used my yard rake to spread out, break up, and even out the dirt in the front bed. Still isn't perfect, but is much better. While I was digging in the dirt, I found all manner of crazy objects. Including, but not limited to: a golf ball, a tennis ball, a piece of rebar, a padlock, a child's spiderman skull cap, marker, pencil, and at least two spoons. Guess the boys living in the house before me liked to play in and around those old bushes!!



















Next order of business will be to get someone (not me, preferably) to till the soil up, set new weed barrier (is that really necessary?), put in some stepping stones and plants! But this will do until after Christmas, at least.

While I was outside and in the working mode, I also moved stacks of wooden posts that are in my backyard as bed edging to the front for pickup. Most of these had rotted out and fallen over. So over the past two years, I've just been piling them up. Today was the day for transport. This is just about half of the posts. The rest would have required a little more effort to get up and I was tired by this time.
















Resting now before I finish getting ready to go to dinner with my friend Sarah tonight. Also just turned on my heater for the first time - it felt good for the house to be 55 degrees after I finished working, but once I cleaned up and cooled off, it was quite chilly!!

Catching up.....

For the past two years, my neighbors have infrequently edged parts of my yard, but there have been spots that have never been edged since I bought my house. And with St. Augustine grass, that makes for a messy sidewalk or driveway.


So, I finally broke down and bought an edger. And did a pretty good job, if I do say so myself.

What I've done so far today:

• put together the edger
• mowed
• weed eated (is that really a word?)
• edged
• used my vacuum/blower to suck up all the grass mess from the initial edging

Still to come today:

• Henry's 4th birthday party at Pump it Up
• hanging my fire extinguisher in the garage so it is at the ready, just in case
• Kelly's lingerie shower

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In other news, I casually mentioned something about painting my front door when I was home for mom's surgery. The response from my family reminded me that I never posted pictures! Also, I finally found something to hang to the left of my kitchen window (WAY on sale last night at Kohl's).

So, here is a look at the (mostly) finished front porch. Still would love to have a screen door -- and in my spray painting, I didn't tape off quite enough of the trim, so I'm trying to figure out how or if I want to touch that up. If I do get a screen door, I think that would camoflauge most of that issue.

Saturday in Suburbia

Typical Saturday morning in suburbia.....yardwork!

I intended to sleep late this morning, but I woke up about 7. I lounged for a little while before getting up and getting started.

Enjoyed my chocolate chip bagel on my new outside patio.....it was so nice! The breeze was strong enough that I didn't even need to turn on the fan.

Then off to the mowing.....mowed the front and turned on the sprinklers, then headed to the back yard for the real work. The project last week of trimming up the photinias left a yucky mess of old dead leaves and twigs that needed to be collected and bagged. I used my yard rake to pull everything out in the yard and then started to bag. Midpoint through the first bag I was starting to get tired and wondered if I could really get it all done!

At this point I had an epiphany.....when I moved in, I bought a leaf blower. I thought, hmm, do I remember that it was also a vacuum/mulcher? And it was! Once I figured out how to attach everything and the most comfortable way to hold the collection bag, the job was much easier. Four bags of leaf/twig mulch later, I finished the last of the mulching with the lawnmower.

Yet more evidence that the right tools make any job easier!

Saturday morning projects

Well, what with miss Emily's arrival and all, it had been 2 long weeks in the hot summer since I mowed my yard. Thankfully, it didn't look too awful, but it was definitely longer than it needed to be. So, I got up this morning and mowed.

I also spent about an hour trimming some photinia bushes in my back yard. They hadn't trimmed well and were pretty scraggly, but the new growth was falling down into the yard and just looked yuck. So, I decided to try and trim them like the crepe myrtles.....into a tree (sorta). We'll see how they continue to grow -- if I don't like them, I can always have them dug out....

before:

and after:

oh, yeah .... and the pile of trimmings and cabana project trash waiting to be picked up Monday morning!