Fickled Mother Nature

April 4 ~

Menopausal Mother Nature is being her typical spring self by being extremely hot one day and freezing cold the next.  It has also been raining... a lot!  All I can do at this point, is prepare the areas I want to plant/transform and wait until the appropriate time for the actual planting.

So...what have I done?

I've bought lots of pots, dug out, cleaned out, plotted, planned, made the necessary lists and sat back to envision what the finished product will look like.

The waiting is the hardest part.  I have Hosta I want to move, Azalea I want to plant, but...I have to wait.  **sigh**

Fast forward to Saturday April 11...

We're off to Aldi to see what kind of things they have for the garden.  They advertised a deck bench for $39.99 and , since I've been thinking about buying one, I had to check it out.  Wound up buying one and...a bird bath, bird feeding station and a cushion for one of the chairs in the yard.

The Bird Feeding Station - the birds love it!

The Deck Bench - I LOVE IT!  Easy to put together and will be great to store cushions in for the winter.

The Bird Bath - very nice!

Sunday April 12...

Finally I can do the shopping I need to continue.  It's been a gorgeous weekend and Lowes has a sale on garden soil. Since my brother is borrowing a truck (without a camper on the back) I asked if he could haul some stuff from Lowes for me.  He was happy to and met us there before lunch.  The garden soil was going for 5 for $10.00 (1 cubic foot) and I wanted 15 bags.

 Also purchased 3 bags of gravel and 2 bags of quickrete to fill a hole in our drive.  After that was all paid for, my brother (and his little entourage) took everything back to our house and unloaded it (filling the hole while they were at it).  Mom and I went back inside and bought a few plants.  Although I was looking for pink pampas grass, I couldn't find any anywhere near us so...I just bought white. Also purchased:  Sweet Potato vine, Boston Fern (for the barn), a double Fuschia, and 2 Mandevilla (vining and in pink).

I planted the pampas grass and sweet potato vine in pots for the front of the house.  We'll see what they look like in a month or so.

I still have lots to do to finish this (as if it will ever be truly finished) and know it will take a long time, but...at least I've made a start.

All in all it was a pretty good weekend.  Even the napping feline agree.

                                        Someone really likes the new seat cushion.

Pacey prefers one of the chairs on the front porch.

                            Tink gave up the swing for the hard ground.  Go figure.

Lastly...I love the way things come to life in the Spring.  My new azaleas (planted last year) and the Dogwood are so happily in bloom.

                                      I love the blossoms and color of these Azalea.

                                          Happy Dogwood blooming its' heart out.

Next weekend there will be more work.  I'm so excited!!

Affirmation

I Love waking up to a clean slate and the knowledge that I can write myself a new chapter every day.  Today's will be Epic!!

Lovely Spring Days...

I came home from work today with every intention of working at the barn. However, after doing my chores, fixing supper and cleaning up the dishes, it was already starting to get dark.  So...I walked instead.

First...I am really out of shape.  Have been for many years.  Today I decided to walk out across the Christmas tree farm in front of us.  I walked all the way to the first road, which is quite a hike for me at this time, and back.  Yes...I did get winded, but stopped in the road and rested before staring back.  I really need to do this every evening to build up some stamina.  The scenery is quite lovely (as you can see below) and, other than the gun club shooting next door, it's rather quiet.  The sun is setting, there's a cool light breeze, the birds are singing and it's just relaxing...other than the heavy breathing I'm doing.  Ha!

Learned:

1) The walking was easier today.  I'm guessing because I've been working outside more lately.

2) Wearing yoga pants gives my back the support it needs to keep it from hurting and slowing me down.

3)  I really need to do this every day.

Lots of trees. Note: This was taken earlier in the day.

My starting point. I'll show how far I walk later on.

Rocks!  Yep, there are lots of big rocks at my stopping point before I head back to the house.  If you know me, you know I love rocks.

Making Some Headway!

Today they were calling for rain...so I tried to do what I could before it got here.  You can see that I've made a little headway on my project.  I filled two garbage bags with cat little boxes and plastic containers. I was going to recycle the containers, but there are just too many of them.

I dug out the dead pampas grass which actually wasn't as much of a job as I thought it would be. The ground there is amazingly soft and a very rich black color.  If I decide to plant something in the ground, it will do wonderfully.  It is, however, a very dry spot...which I'll have to take into consideration before planting anything.

Nice start, I think.

See?  Getting a good start on the trash reduction on this end.

Pampas Grass be gone!  ...along with the hedge tree the birds planted.

This is the front side of the barn I didn't show you yesterday.

There's a Carolina Jasmine trapped in that maze of Honeysuckle.

That tree has to come down.  It's a mimosa type tree, but doesn't bloom.  It does, however, have some dangerous thorns running up and down the trunk and on the limbs.  Gotta be very careful when taking it down.

The other side of the barn. That's a Walnut Tree growing beside it.  I would drop it, but I like the root system.

Yeah...everyone likes to dump stuff on us.

Lots of cleaning...

purging to do on this side too.

Moved an old cooler to find this hole in the back.  Don't know who dug it or why, but it needs to be filled in.

See...love the Walnut Tree roots on this side of the barn.

A glimpse behind the fence.  I can see another Mimosa that has to come out.  It has thorns too.

Hmmm...things are beginning to transform. Can't wait till the digging and purging is done and the decorating can begin.

For now, it's getting late and I still have things to do in the house.  Clothes need to be folded and put away, dinner needs to be cooked, and the kitchen cleaned up before I settle in to watch The Walking Dead.

Hello Again...

Yep, it's been a while since I've last visited this little blog.  Life has been interesting, shall we say.  Friends, life, work...it's all been a factor.  I've reconnected with family I haven't seen in many many years and I have facebook to thank for that.  It's been nice and feels good.

In January my Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer.  That's been a journey in itself.  Doctor visits, surgery, now radiation.  At least there was no chemo.  I've found a lot of tears, fears, hopes, strength, knowledge and joy from all of this.  She is half way through the radiation and seems to be doing very well.  I've learned more about cancer, the treatments and how it affects everyone not just the cancer victim.  It's all good.

I have many projects in mind for myself, the house, the yard and my life.  In January I began a budget plan which seems to be working out pretty well.  The plan is to be debt free in less than five years and I'm getting a really good start on that. February's challenge got booted to March because of Mom's situation, but the daily walking has begun.  April's challenge is all about reclaiming my yard which has been neglected for 10 years or more. I got a jump on that last weekend by extending my hosta garden at the fence out front.  However, there is so much more that needs to be done.

During the week I made the decision to begin with just one particular project and see it through until it's done before moving on to another section/project in the yard.  Today began the reclaiming of the barn area.  Once upon a time we had horses.  They were my brother's, but we have the land so here they stayed.  I was gifted with a really nice barn he built.  After they took the horses away I had so many plans for that barn, but just never got around to doing any of it.  My mistake was listening to people who told me I couldn't do the things I wanted with it.  I'm very glad my frame of mind has changed to where I don't listen to other people anymore.  I'm going to do things my way.

Below are some of the before pictures.  I'm trying to work on it a little at a time...mainly because I'm so much older and really out of shape.  It will take me longer, but it will get done.

Today I trimmed limbs, cut down shrubs, cut poison ivy vines in half at the bottom of trees and the barn and began to throw away the mountain of trash my family has left for me inside the barn.  The plan is to work on it a little every day.  Of course, that would be in between the rain we have coming.  I am not, however, in too much of a hurry.  Cleaning out is first, then comes the redecorating and planting...and...since I can't really do any planting until the middle or end of April, I have plenty of time.

I'll leave you with the before pics and then I'm going to take a shower because just the thought of poison ivy is making me itch.  :)

The plan is to clean everything away from the outside and start new.

The trash that's been left for me to deal with.

I have plans for upcycle some of this stuff.

I counted three old school desks which I plan to fix up.  Not sure what to do with the shower door, but I'll think of something.

The old ironing board is going to be repurposed as a table for outside the barn.  Scrape off the rust, paint it some funky colors, set it where it sets lower to the ground and I can put potted plants on it or use it as a coffee table for my outside seating area I'm going to fix.

Poison Ivy vines are up to the rafters.

Tink decided to help me by laying on this railroad tie.

This is the back of the barn.  I'll be getting rid of the shrub tree the birds planted.  Later on the hosta that's already planted here will be coming up.

Poison Ivy vine on the outside.  I've already cut it all at the ground and will pull it off the barn and throw it way down in the woods.

Wish me luck!