Landscaping Therapy!

Let's Play In The Dirt!

After months of 

chopping and hacking away

at vines, brambles,limbs and stumps,

I have decided that it is time

to make some Pretty.

I don't know what it is with me....

but looking back at my life,

there is one thing that connects the dots for me

rocks.

I realized that at every home we have  

rented, built or restored,

I have installed some sort of

rock garden.

What is it about the rocks?

I don't know,

but I think it is a serious

addiction.

I love rocks.

It was very good therapy

this weekend 

for me to become one

with the rocks.

Let's unload this pallet of rocks, shall we?

I will spare you pictures of me

covering the entire surface

with newspaper 

anchoring the newspaper 

with wood scraps

when the wind whipped up

and threatened to

blow all the paper away.

Then removing the wood anchoring the paper

as I spread top soil and compost

over the paper.

Then re-stacking the wood to get it out of the way,

spreading the dirt around,

and 

unloading every rock and 

looking for pieces that 

would fit together well.

Separating rocks that

didnt want to be near each other

breaking up rock fights

and such.

Must be girl rocks!

Notice how I kept the lawn chair 

very nearby for

frequent rest and water breaks.

Sometimes you just have to

walk away from the rocks

and let your eyes rest.

But in the end

there was rock harmony.

And rock beds

where the rocks can sleep in peace.

Right now there is just a thin covering of dirt,

just enough to keep the paper from blowing away.

I will be bringing in

more bags of topsoil and compost

to make it ready

for plants.

Plants.

Flowers.

Groundcovers.

Flowering shrubs.

ok, back to work~

Corbels

Just when you thought

you were through 

learning new words,

I have a new one for you.

Corbels.

Beautiful,

big,

heavy

cedar

corbels.

Here is the A Team installing

the corbels

These corbels are not made of anything

poly.

Nope, they are solid cedar

and they are 

heavy.

I hope Brian knows there is a sharp

pointy thing ready to catch him

if he loses his balance.

Here ,hiding in a very tiny space 

is ATeam Leader

installing the support brackets

that will hold this bad boy up.

It looks very crowded in there.

I dont know how he got his whole body in that little space.

Note leg sticking out of the  window!

ATeam leader is 6'7"

Hole is 6'5"

He didn't stay in there very long!

Here they are

all installed in their new home.

Looking very strong and important.

Like they are holding the whole roof up.

Actually, they aren't holding anything up.

They are just for looks.

Don't they look good?

Job well done, A-Team!

ps...I stained the corbels.

All 9 of them!  

Yeah team~!

Lady in Waiting

Here she is

in all her nakedness.

The dresser on the left

is stripped of all her 

hinky-ness

and waiting for

the perfect white dress.

I mean paint.

Notice the depressed 

hinky- oak c-olored

sister

on the right

waiting for her turn.

She is orange with envy.

Don't worry little sister,

You too will have your day

in the sun.

You too will be shabby chic

When my fingers stop throbbing.

this is for Kimberly.

Sometimes

a thing

just calls out your name.

I love old things.

I love flea markets.

I love seeing how creative people

take old things

and give them a new life.

When I saw this old thing

I could not walk away.

The green color 

is delicious.

I smoothed it down 

just a little

and rubbed it down

just a little.

And now it is waiting

in my garage

for 

you

Kimberly.

Waiting for you

to give it new life.

I know you will love it

and will find

a special place

for it to live.

And 

I can't wait 

to see

what you do with it.

When I first started

to clean it up

I started to suspect

that it was in such good shape

that it might not

even be old.

But then I noticed 

that the metal parts

are all rusty.

And the nails 

are square.

Square.

But the thing that called out my name

was

the

green

color.

I hope it makes you smile

when you see it.

I love you.

Hello friends.

I know, I know,

it's been a long time.

There is much progress 

out at the cedars.

I have pictures to prove it.

But for some reason

my camera is not wanting to

let go of the pictures.

It may be a couple of 

dead batteries.

It may be a full moon.

It may be menopause.

But there it is.

No pictures.

Let me tell you

about it instead.

The deck floor is almost finished.

The soffits are almost finished.

The windows are almost all installed.

Hubs is almost finished measuring for cedar trim boards.

I have been staining the cedar beams that hold up

the deck.

I have been stripping the finish off

an old oak bedroom set

so that I can paint it white.

Yes, Lisa I know you are cringing...

I can hear you!

Trust me,

this hinky orange-y oak-ish

orphan furniture

will be 

lovely and loved

once again!

I am building my first flower bed

island 

among the trees in the front yard.

I am spraying the weeds and vines again

and continuing to chop

and trim cedars.

I

cannot get the black

stuff out from under my 

fingernails.

But I don't care.

My house is very dirty.

But I don't care.

We are moving forward.

Pictures at 11:00!

hit the fast forward button!

I am counting my blessings,

naming them one by one....

Since this picture was taken,

there are floor boards in place

ready for the composite decking

that is laying in a pile on the ground.

The two beautiful arched windows

are installed in the

dining room

and Jim's office.

The reports are back

on the lawn mower.

Experts have deduced 

that it was not my fault

that the thing died

while I was using it.

It''s been in sick bay 

for two weeks now

and 

today I went out all ready to mow

when one of the tires

indicated that it did not want to mow today

and hubs was too busy with his

cleanup project

to go get it fixed

so I didn't have to mow.

Final stages of repair.

Yesterday I swept the entire house.

It took me all day.

I have two large blisters

and some very sore muscles.

I got up all the rubble, sawdust, nails

empty energy drink bottles

and general trash.

Today, I picked up nails outside and

Jim spent the entire day

cleaning,

picking up trash,

loading up extra lumber 

for the lumber yard to take back.

It looks a lot better with all the lumber and debris gone.

Tomorrow I will mow, hopefully

and stain the cedar poles holding up the deck floor and roof.

The framing team has pulled off for a week

to work on some other projects

so it will be quiet.

Very quiet.

I like that.

When they return

they will put the floor on the deck

and build the stairs coming off the deck.

Install the last two windows and

install soffits.

Then maybe the front door.

Then siding and cedar trim.

ahhhhhh.

Life is Good.

ouch!

What do you get

when you look to the left

and you look to the right

and then you 

back straight 

into 

a 

tree?

You get this.

Here.

Let's try looking at it

from another angle.

I am currently trying 

to think of something funny

about this.

The only funny thing I can think of

is that I got out of the car,

went to the back and looked

and did not see this.

I was looking at 

the bumper.

There was nothing there.

Nada.

Nary a scratch.

I even said a prayer of thanks to the 

Good Lord

for protecting my little car 

from that mean old tree.

And I put my rubber boots on

and got to work 

picking up trash 

and throwing it on the fire.

Feeling proud

of my strong little car 

and her strong little bumper.

Of course, 

my trusty son

the one who sees 

and knows

all

came over

 and the first words

out of his mouth were

MOM  what did you do to your car????

What do you mean?

Nothing.

Well, ok, I did back into a tree.

But I checked!

there was nothing there.

Whew, I said.

Lucky me!

Husband and Son dash outside

to inspect the damage.

Husband predicts

$1000 - $2000

in damage.

Husband and Son cannot believe I didn't see this.

I even opened the back hatch to put my boots away.

And did not see it.

The  only thing that is keeping me out of the doghouse

is the fact that

Husband has a big dent 

in the passenger side door of his

Chevy Silverado

from when he

backed into a tree

several months ago.

Hahahahahaha.

I'm not  laughing.

I'm just chuckling inside.

firebugs

Burnin, burnin, burnin,

keep those trash piles burnin....

gotta keep em burnin.....

Rawhide!

Men , they won't be learnin,

they'll always be a yearnin,

though it's too hot for burnin,

Rawhide!

Giddyup, hm-mm,

Somethin, somethin,

Giddyup somethin,

Somethin, somethin...

giddyup

somethin

somethin....

Rawhide!

W - is for Windows.

Wow.

Wowza.

Woah.

Weally?

Waiting.

Watching.

Wondering.

Wonderful

Windows

Here is what it waiting in the truck.

Woo Hoo!

It is Wonderful.

Wery, Wery, Wonderful.

Aren't they precious?

Look at these two sweet twins!

Outside.

Inside.

Can you feel the Wonderfulness of it?

Wait til you see Monday's

Window Wonderfulness!

Wait for it.

I'm leavin

on a jet plane...

don't know 

when I'll be back again..

oops, that was a mistake.

we're actually gonna load up

a trailer

and go get some

composite decking

for 

the back porch.

be still my heart.

Emanuel and Antonio

are working hard

on the roof.

Preston has been working hard

on the stairway to the basement.

I am on my way out to

mow.

Isn't this the time of year when

things dry up 

and turn brown?

Parched and dry...

dormant?

Not this grass, vines, poison ivy

pretend blackberries, and honeysuckle!

No parching here. Just green green tall grass

all around.

And so I mow.

And then I'm

leavin on a jet plane,

don't know when I'll be back again!

Just kidding.  I like to be silly on Mondays.

It's August - the month I hate most

in all of the year.

So be gentle with me.

I'm trying to get August cancelled 

and I have decided to pitch this idea

to my congressman.

Just think how much money

we could save if we just

eliminated one month out of the year.

We could probably bring the deficit back under control.

Im surprised  chairman  O hasn't already thought of this.

It's just wrong. 

OK, I'm through ranting.

I'm off to Walmart for milk, coffee and a new box of crayons. (Before they are all gone, it being August and all.)

Welcome, August.