the end is near

from this:

to this:


We almost have our whole driveway back! This also signifies the end of our 2009 landscaping adventures. We just have a couple of finishing touches and then we will be able to sit back and enjoy the rewards of our labor! Big B and a neighbor are scooping up the remains of the mulch as we have nowhere else to put it. From the chatter I can hear from outside, I'd say they're done! Finito!

independence day

let freedom ring, let the white dove sing,
let the whole world know that TODAY IS A DAY OF RECKONING,
let the weak be strong,
let the right be wrong
roll, the stone away,
let the guilty pay,
IT'S INDEPENDENCE DAY!
~lines from one of my favorite songs, by Martina McBride

Celebrate your freedom and independence as an American ♥ thank a service member and/or their family.

I haven't felt like blogging much lately, or doing much of anything for that matter.

I started Ambien the other night, about 5 nights ago now. It was on the second or third night that I had "the accident". That next morning I woke up and went to wash my face. When I went to wipe at my left eye I about yelped in pain and then wondered what in the world the reason was that it was (is) reddened and swollen. I went to ask Big B, he laughed asked me if I remembered falling.

Um, no.

He proceeded to inform me that after hearing me yell out in pain, he jumped up only to find me twisted in the elliptical trainer that sits on the side of the room that my side of the bed is on. Hearing the commotion LB came in to investigate only to find his mother looking like a human pretzel. They helped me up, to the bathroom, which evidently was my original destination, and back into bed.

This was all the day before yesterday. Today it's still swollen, painful and come to find out my right forearm is bruised up pretty good.

This incident hasn't helped the homework cause. Luckily I'm pulling strong grades in Psych and Nut. Because we had to go out of town for the funeral last week I fell behind on my A&P studies and had to ask for an extension for Exam #4 which I was set to take this past Wednesday. As it is now I'll be taking it this coming Wednesday. The delay cuts into my time for the next unit, but it just so happens to be the urinary system and fluids & electrolytes. I'm comfortable enough with just having had that subject matter, but needed the extra time for the somatic and special senses and the endocrine system, extra time that has been squandered away with injuries. Who am I kidding, it's going to be about doing some serious cramming over the next few weeks.

The boys have stayed pretty low-key lately. LB continues to do well driving and AW is staying out of trouble.

Big B and I have nearly completed the backyard landscaping, well at least for this year. I'm thinking the yard could use a couple of good specimen trees. That may wait for fall or next year.

I'm leave you with our latest 'scapes:

some befores, for reference


picture from realtor, before we owned the house

our latest work


lavender, crape myrtle, boxwood
just some potted plants, and pots with seedlings to include four o'clocks and portulaca






i love this grouping with my elephant's ears, some geranium and my little pot of cacti and succulents


I don't really have a good before and after for this, but will explain it anyway. To the right of our house, facing it, is a side entry where the previous owner had laid pea gravel. I've been meaning to get rid of the gravel along with the rose bushes that suffered in it, and lay mulch. We finally did it this past weekend. In fact I owe it all to Big B, self-proclaimed, "Mega Mulch". He did the pea gravel removal and has done all the mulching over these past few 'scaping jobs around the house. The rose bush was relocated to the back bed, center (see above photos), and we'll plant hardier, low-maintenance shrubs along the side of the house, soon.



this is actually some coneflower I transplanted in the front, but it's such a pretty color and ti will be nic eto see it mature in this spot

rock and roll

Before


Phase 1, Backyard Landscaping, Complete





This past weekend, amidst the low-key celebration of my role as mother, I laid pavers. Big B had dug up the wanna-be sod from the area, and then LB, his friend, ZA, and I took turns digging up enough of the remaining soil to even out the area. I then laid the pavers, planted the shrubs, and mulched. Yesterday morning I woke up feeling as if I'd aged 100 years, while also having been run over by a large automobile. I wasn't quite 100% pleased with how it turned out after all the work on Saturday, so yesterday Big B and I laid the edging. We recycled some old edging from the previous owner's landscape attempts. It's just been sitting, stacked up, at the side of our house since I took it up a few years ago. It's actually set in upside down as it is the scalloped sort of edging. I think we did a pretty good job, especially considering our extremely limited hardscape abilities.






The next phase involves using retaining wall blocks to edge off the semi-circle spaces on either side of the patio and the back of the house. At the back of the house it will come out and go around in a curve to the end of the house, forming a garden plot.

To be continued...

now that's a big pile of...

mulch. Double shredded hardwood mulch to be exact. 10 cubic yards.

Normally by now I'd have been out working in my gardens, to include adding the Spring layer of mulch. Mother Nature helped ease my yearning to be out there, what with all the cold weather we've had. I have to say I appreciate her helping a nursing student out, but the time has come to get things done. Along with studying and baseball games this coming weekend we will be working on our front and back yards. Our backyard is pretty much a blank slate. Big B has dug up two islands and will finish the planned areas alongside the back of the house and patio. We only have a four foot farm-style fence so our yard is open to the world and I need to have a little bit of seclusion, besides landscaping adds value to the house.

These are some pictures I just took for "before" landscaping.






Yes, the girls just had to be a part of the photo session. They prefer action shots. You can see how they've added to the current landscaping. They'll have to find a new potty spot, since that's where I've planned to scape out a plot that goes flush along the back of the house, and patio.