Work in Progress, Landscaping the Back Yard

Dirt work is finished and I created a footprint for the new landscaping complete with edging. I thought I'd show a night time photo of a bit of that and the fire pit turned to garden.

We're not fire pit people, so I turned it into a garden bed with irises and snapdragons. I planted these last fall. The irises aren't ready yet, but the snapdragons bloomed a few days ago.

You can see my newly acquired "cherub" in the foreground. Note: Technically, it's not a cherub. It's probably more accurately described as a "putto" (a chubby male toddler without wings). I only use the word cherub because in modern latinate languages "puto" is an inelegant way of saying prostitute.

I'm debating whether to sow grass or sod surrounding the raised landscaped area. I might opt for sod so the weeds don't get a chance to take over. I'll see what I can find--and how much it'll cost.

So far I've done everything on the cheap or free. The cherub was a roadside castoff and the plinth it sits on is nothing more than two cinder blocks with a large paver on top. The plants I've planted so far in the cherub garden are the clearance plants I picked up at Walmart last summer for $10. Amazingly, they all survived to be planted. I sowed some hollyhock seeds in the back and I'll fill in any pockets with annuals that I can change out when they're done for the year.

Before you think that I can recycle, renovate, or ressurect anything that crosses my path, I do have my epic failures. 

One of my most recent flubs is a beautiful gardenia I completely forgot about after I bought it. I can't remember what distracted me. Maybe I was busy elsewhere, maybe my allergies were playing havoc. Whatever it was I absolutely forgot I bought this plant and it sat underneath a bush so even when I passed it, I didn't notice it under camouflage. 

Fortunately, I bought it at Costco and I could've returned it, but I noticed a little green underneath all the dead leaves. I didn't feel right making Costco pay for my negligence. I repotted it with some root stimulator and have been keeping it protected and watered, using some diluted fish fertilizer once a week.

I'm still not out of the woods, but I'm hopeful I can save it.

Another failure is a small bay laurel tree. Again, this was my fault. I noticed last year it was green but it looked like it was struggling. I dismissed it to the very hot summer. Yet all through fall and winter it never rebounded. I decided it was time to intervene and try to figure out what was happening.

It was root bound. I thought it was in a big enough pot, but apparently not. I put it in a larger pot and will hope for the best. I'd hate to lose that one.

Spring is gaining on me. I still have loads more to clean up, replant, paint, and repair. And I have yet to tackle the infamous garage sale. I had hoped for early April, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to push it to the end of April (fingers crossed).  It's just as well. There's rain forecasted for the next two weeks at least.

**I have a slight tiff with people lately. Every time we go to a garden center and people look at our load of pavers, peat moss, plants, or dirt they look at Greg and say, "looks like the wife is going to keep you busy this weekend". 

Look down here, people, I'm the dwarf grunt doing the work. Hmph!! Greg will do some tractoring, but I'm the one doing the heavy lifting. I realize I don't look like much and I definitely can't lift and carry like I used to, but I manage. It just riles me that strangers assume he's doing all the work and I'm sitting back sipping lemonade. Even my family thinks this. They're always praising Greg over how clever he is. I get crickets.  

All right. I'm done venting. LOL!

In other news: Birthday was slightly delayed due to weather, but then our friends surprised me with dinner on Sunday. (Thank you, Mel!) 

And thank you to everyone who texted, messaged, and emailed me. You make an old lady grateful beyond words.  

PS.  Mike, I forgot to take pictures of the food. We were so engrossed in conversation I completely forgot to take pictures. The food was awesome though.

We were late, but we finally got the taxes done (on my birthday, no less). I don't know why we wait so long. It's not like they're complicated. When you're on a fixed income, the returns are always the same.

I'm not a procrastinator in the least, but we do tend to drag our feet when it comes to taxes. I'm sure there's a psychological dread in there somewhere, even though we're never surprised at the outcome. Go figure.

How about you? Do you tend to put off doing your taxes? How about work? Do people tend to underestimate you? I know it can't be just me.

 

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