A Few Good Projects

I've been working hard at a few projects to try and further beautify our house and yard. First, I got some flowers to put in the planter box Lee and the girls made me for Mother's Day. I also sanded, stained, and waterproofed our bench for the front porch. Anytime I say "I", by the way, it really means Brynne and I. She is my #1 helper. It doesn't matter what I'm doing, she wants to help. When she found out I was going to take some pictures for my blog, she volunteered to be in each picture for me. :) I wish I had taken the pictures earlier in the day when the sun was shining and the colors were more vibrant, but you can still get the idea:
Today I found something I've been looking for for several months -- a patio set that would fit on our tiny patio but was big enough for four people to eat on. I honestly didn't think there was such thing, but I saw an ad for someone in Layton selling a perfectly sized set for only $50. I called my sister Alyson (who lives in Layton and happens to be getting over pneumonia, but who still stepped up to help out -- thanks, Aly!!!) and asked if she'd go take a look at it and get it for me if it looked nice. Aly ended up picking it up for me, then she met me in South Jordan to get it to me. I drove my friend Denise's van since it would never fit in my car -- thanks, Denise!!! I (I mean, Brynne and I) cleaned it up a little more and set it on the patio. Isn't it perfect?!! (Now we just have to hope the Spanish Fork weather doesn't rip it apart...)

I also found a great deal on a bench for our backyard. I really want a cast aluminum bench. I have found several that would be great options, but they are all $130 - $200. If I'm going to spend that much, I want to make sure it's exactly what I want. I also have to make sure I have that much! :) So I had decided maybe I wouldn't be able to get a bench this summer. That's when I found one on clearance for $26. Mind you, this is the kind of bench that looks really nice but is actually quite cheap and weathers quickly. I decided that as long as the bench lasted this summer (and we might be able to get another one or two years out of it if we're careful) then it would already be worth the $26. I somehow managed to put it together myself (don't tell Lee I can do all these things by myself!). I think it's great, and so does Brynne:

The final project is one we just completed this evening. We planted a vegetable garden! We have two small planter boxes, and I set out to plant my own garden for the first time. I (I mean Brynne and I) planted cucumbers, zucchini, string beans, lettuce, peas and strawberries. I am quite anxious to find out if things even grow. This picture looks like some boring beds, but I'm really hoping to have a picture in a few months of the same beds full of yummy veggies. (Keep your fingers crossed!)

This last picture is just a cute one. We helped my sister Alyson in her yard a few weekends back. Unfortunately, Alyson has an abundant supply of snails in her yard. Alyson thinks they are pests; Morgan thinks they are pets. :) Morgan seriously carried her snail around for a good hour. She kept stroking its neck, and I swear the snail loved it and thought it was in heaven. Morgan was very sad when she had to put it down, but Aunt Alyson was quick to point out that it would probably be happiest in a special place a good 30 yards from her house. :)

Landscaping -- Final!!

It's done!!! We're still hoping to get a bench for the backyard and to put up a fence, but otherwise everything is done!! I am quite mad at myself that I didn't take any pictures at the end of last summer when there were weeds as tall as me in the yard because those would have been the real starting pics. The only picture I found that shows anything is this picture of Brynne getting ready for her first day of school. You can see some of the weeds and the dead grass (the front yard had some grass, but it was laden with weeds; the back yard was all weeds). We had to find a strategic place to have her stand where there was enough room for me to also stand and get a picture of her without a weed in the way.

Then we spent hours and hours pulling up each and every one of those weeds before covering the ground with plastic and rocks. The rocks were to hold down the plastic since its really windy in the morning around here. I was very grateful to discover that putting down the plastic saved us $500-$700 since the landscapers didn't have to scrape up the top layer of dirt anywhere other than a little in the front (where the grass had not yet had time to completely dissolve...)

Here's a picture of the work in progress in the front yard.

And here is a completed picture. It was taken at a bad time of day, so you can't see the plants around the house very well, but you can see my new tree. They put in a white flowering crab apple and it was supposed to be pink, so they swapped it out for me. This tree is much taller and it has deep purplish-reddish blossoms.

I put in this picture so you could see the plants and flowers next to the house better.

This is the side of the house to show how the plants and flowers wrap around the porch. (The bricks piled by the stairs are to take the patio out to the fence line once we get a fence in.)

For those who don't remember, this is what the side of the house looked like before we started. The cement patio was caving in by the far window well (causing flooding problems), and the patio went more than a foot onto the neighbors property. You can also see that the stairs were becoming a safety hazard.
Here's what it looks like today.
The backyard started out looking similar to the front with plastic and rocks.

Then is started to take on a little form...

And now we have a beautiful backyard!

This is what the area immediately behind the house looks like. We have two planter boxes for vegetables and a few bushes. (The things laying on the grass are window screens -- I've been washing windows...)

This is the back corner a week ago. The rock area currently serves as a launching pad for our sand-box boat. In time, however, we are hoping to put a shed there. The area by the tree was designed to be a sitting area.

And here it is looking more like a sitting area. They got the flagstone put in along with the last few bushes. The bench will sit right in front of the tree between the bushes. As the tree grows larger, it will be a really nice shade area.

This is a picture looking at the yard from behind our property. It shows the plants on the back corner of the house (which are lilacs--yeah!).
The final picture shows the other corner of the backyard up close. I love the mixture of red bushes and golden bushes. The flowers are all daylilies that will come in various colors.

Landscaping Update -- Take 6 (And a Little Spring Cleaning)

I've received several subtle reminders that I have yet to publish pictures of my finished yard. We are still waiting for any nursery in the area to get one of the plants we need in the backyard, and we're still waiting for the flagstone and bench (also for the backyard). I took some picture of the front yard on Monday, however, and I realized I could at least show you those pictures, but before I do... you have to endure an explanation of why I haven't posted these front yard pics until now. It has to do with a little spring cleaning. I offer Exhibit 1:
I have spent three full days working on cleaning windows and window wells. I got all the window tracks (both upstairs and down) cleaned out. I also cleaned the inside and outside of the downstairs windows (upstairs is still on "the list"). The biggest accomplishment was climbing down in all five window wells and cleaning them out. In this particular well (above), there was a whole box of garbage and weeds growing halfway up the well. I got rid of all the garbage, cleared the vegetation, raked the ground flat (putting down weed fabric and rocks is also still on "the list"), and...this is the best part that really shows off my issues...I washed the white tin really well (see how nice and clean it is?!). The dirt you still see on the ledge is actually concrete or stucco or something else that is stuck on there from when they built the house. So my excuse is that I've been busy with other projects and, hence, let my blog updating slip. I've also fallen behind on a few other things (as witnessed below by Exhibit 2 and Exhibit 3):

All I can say is -- at least I got the laundry done! So what if it isn't all folded yet? :) And somehow the kitchen doesn't necessarily look all that bad in the picture below, but it still felt bad. I'm pleased to report, however, that I did all the dishes and straightened the counter (mostly) before doing this post; so I'm on my way...

NOW FOR THE LANDSCAPING!!!!!!!

First, a picture of the flower bed in front of the house. The spot where it looks like there should be a flower on the right, actually does have a flower; it's just a flower that blooms a little later (I specifically asked for all season flowers). And the whole front area is available for me to plant what I want. Technically, I could plant what I want anywhere, but I requested weed fabric for the rest.

And here is that corner spot out front by the boxes. I think this is one of my favorite parts. Even though everything is still small and young, I can totally picture it in 3-4 years when the bushes and fuller and the tree is taller and the flowers are all blooming. Who knew you could actually make it so people didn't even notice the boxes much? And as a reminder...I also have a strip along the curved edging in this bed where I can plant whatever I want. (I'd also like to point out that the bed has been cleaned out and raked smooth since I took this picture, but you get the idea.)

I LOVE this picture!!!!!!! It's a view looking down the side of our house. It's just pretty with the mountains and the pretty landscaping. :)

And here's a picture of the same area, but from the other direction. If you enlarge it, you can see the bush we planted by the utility boxes on the side of the house. It is a thin, popular bush (I think it's called a boxwood) that grows tall enough to "disguise" the boxes. You can also see the patio and the new stairs. I thought about not posting this picture because it is definitely not the stairs and patio at their finest (still has a little extra sand working its way in between the bricks, and is drying out after being wet, but you can get an idea of how nice it is).

So that's it for now. I will post another picture of the stairs and patio along with lots of pictures of the backyard as soon as the plants get here (hopefully within the week, but not sure...).

Landscaping -- Just in the Knick of Time

The workers laid sod last night until there was no light left. Then they returned this morning to do the last little bit. Right now it's all done except for a few edging pieces getting cut. It's a good thing they worked hard to get it done, 'cause it has been raining a lot of the day; and I just looked out a minute ago and saw snow! I decided to take pictures from in the house to appease you all until Monday when everything is completed and I (hopefully) take some outside pictures of everything. Here's the view out our living room window into our front yard:
And here's the view looking out our family room window into the back yard. See the snow?!

Anyone know what this means?

Landscaping Update -- Take 5 (Plus Some Randomness From My Day)

First, the landscaping update. As always, there have been a few delays. We were hoping to be basically done by today, but the "basically done" got moved to tomorrow. The only problem is that a load of rain is supposed to come in tomorrow and last for a week. It's going to be a close call, and I'm trying not to get my hopes up...

Meanwhile, lots has gotten done everywhere else. Today they tore out our old stairs and started building new ones. They are only partially completed in the picture below, but you get the idea... It'll be nice to see the patio when the sand gets worked in and it gets cleaned off.
The mulch got put in and spread out almost everywhere (not in the very back yet, where we are waiting on a few more plants to arrive at the nursery). When Lee and I planned to do the yard by ourselves, we were just going to do an edging close to these boxes and then put in basic rock. This is much, much more beautiful! Aside from the tree, there are two green bushes and one smaller red one that will all grow to be 3-4 feet (wherever we decide to keep them trimmed to). The other items are flowers that will bloom throughout the spring and summer. The flags show places where some other flowers will be planted (once again, waiting for the nursery to get what we want). The one-foot area right by the curved edging will be my "play area" where I can plant whatever I want.

This is obviously the porch area right in front of the house. Those plants wrap all the way around the side of the porch. Supposedly they will grow together enough in a few years to be a hedge. I'm not sure how tall we'll have them be, but we can play with that when the time comes. Just in front of them you can see some of the perennials that were put in. And, once again, the one-foot area in front will be my "play area" to plant what I want from year to year.

I, like many people in the world, am a lilac fan. I love the scent of lilac. It bugs that they only bloom once and for not too long. Most of the rest of our yard is full of things that bloom off and on all season, so lilacs didn't really fit into the plan. Well, our landscaper saved the day with a great plan! He put some lilac in a little corner area we have behind the stairs on the side of our house. (The white board with writing on it is part of a concoction Lee put up for me to try and lessen the amount of snow that blows down into the stairs. If the board weren't there -- and I suppose we could take it down now -- you would see pretty white slats that are the railing around the stairs.)

And here is my attempt at vegetable gardening. At first I planned to have three boxes that were all twice this size, which means my actual bed space represents 1/3 of how much I planned to have; but I think this will be okay. It's hard to say how much we'll grow since we've never had our own garden before; but at this point it will simply have to be enough!

That's it for the landscape update. Now for a quick note on my mental state these days. I woke up Morgan this morning and told her she would be having pizza at school today. I knew she would be excited and figured she'd wake right up. Instead, however, she proceeded to get really sad and tell me that they had served pizza yesterday and that she had been so upset that they had sent her to the office to eat and calm down. Poor girl! If I'd known, I would have told her to get the pizza and not eat the home lunch; but we've never had that situation before. Even though I look at the calendar each day to see what they are having, I got my days mixed up. I felt REALLY bad!

Then, this morning I took Brynne to preschool and drove to the gym. That's what I do every Tuesday and Friday. Thursdays, however, I usually go to the temple. I was about a mile into my run when I suddenly realized that today is Thursday and I should have been at the temple. Oops! I usually go swimming after the temple, but realized I could just finish my run instead and then go to the temple afterwards. I am really losing it!

Vacations are fun, but how long til I get my brain back (what little I still had)?

Landscaping Update -- Take 3 and 4

We just got back from an amazing trip to Arizona for spring break. I have way too many pictures to sift through before I can do a blog, but keep checking...

Meanwhile, we came home from our vacation to see this:
That's right! The edging was done, and the plants and trees were delivered. The patio is also done again, and the sand is working it's way in between the bricks. You can kind of see that in this picture:

Here's the back yard. You can see the flowering cherry tree peaking into the top right corner of the picture (it wasn't planted yet).

The workers spent all day today putting the plants and trees into the beds. I'll do some pictures up closer when they are totally done, but this gives you an idea.

This is the very back of our yard. My favorite part of the landscaping is in the bottom right corner -- this is where the flowering cherry tree was planted, and we will put a bench there to sit on. It will be a pleasant place to relax and watch the kids play or to just look at my beautiful landscaping.

Tomorrow they finish with the beds, then the grass goes in -- yea!!!

(Don't forget to read about our Easter fun in the next post.)

Landscaping Update, Take 2

(Once again I've done several posts at the same time; make sure you read them all!)

We finally had another break in the weather so the workers could move forward with the landscaping. The funny thing is that the patio picture actually looks like they took a step backwards (since the patio was all done in the previous picture), but this time everything is getting put in correctly... Here's a view from the back. They got the dirt all spread and ready for the edging guy to come do his thing. You can also see the planter boxes Lee built for us right up close to the house. Don't you love our pile of litter in the bottom of the picture? I've requested that everything other than the rocks be hauled to the dump. And many of the rocks will be used by friends and neighbors (Denise has first dibs), so hopefully it won't look like a dumping ground when we're done.

Here is a new picture for you. I wanted to show you these ugly utility boxes they stick in front of houses here in Spanish Fork. This is looking down off our front porch. This corner should look much nicer in a week or so!Here is the front of the house. The next step is for the edging to be put in, then they can fix the beds with plants, flowers and trees. I think the sod is last. You can tell that it is raining again, though, so it'll be into next week before they get back here. They are hoping to get it done next week, which would be great. We're heading to Tucson to see Lee's dad and step-mom for our Spring Break, and I'd love to come home to a beautiful yard! You realize if this happens, however, there won't be anymore "work in progress" pictures. Keep your fingers crossed...

We went to an Easter Egg Hunt this morning (watch for pictures in the next few days), and I got this sign. Doesn't it look so cute and inviting next to all the crud laying around?! (Brynne has been very concerned about trash the workers leave behind. I told her it would all be cleaned up and look beautiful in the end!)

Happy Easter everyone!

Landscaping Update & A Brynne-ism

We finally had a couple days of really nice weather, so the landscapers got busy on the pavers patio. I was so excited to have it done and thought it looked nice. The boss guys, however, looked at it and told the workers to pull it all up and start over. Apparently they didn't line things up the way they are supposed to, so the lines in the pavers aren't parallel to the house. It's a little thing that I hadn't even noticed. Once they pointed it out I could see what they were talking about, but it wasn't a major problem. Nevertheless, out come the pavers... I must say that I am impressed with the guys who are doing our landscaping -- that they would be honest to point out something that they felt was anything less than perfect and start over at their own cost. I like honest people.
Check it out -- no black plastic! (All the rocks are now lying in the area behind our house-- you can see some in the picture; we may end up using a few of the nice ones in our landscaping.) They got the ditches dug for the sprinkler pipes and got everything laid (or lain, depending on how your English is). Tomorrow they're bringing in the dirt and the real fun begins.

And here's a little something extra... My girls were really starting to fight a lot again, so I got a book full of good ideas for motivating children to do what they are supposed to. The girls each made a face on a paper sack (Morgan's face is almost too light to see.). Then we cut a slit through which we can pull out a roll of gum tape (you know, that stuff you buy at the store that is a big long piece of gum rolled up like a snail). Every time someone forgets to "bite their tongue", the person they spoke rudely to gets to cut off 1 inch of the offenders gum and keep it. At the end of the week, the girls will get whatever gum is left in their bag. So far this has worked exactly as I'd hoped and we're having a great week!

And here's something cute Brynne said today: She was trying to do her hair, but it wasn't cooperating with what she wanted it to do. She said, "My hair doesn't like me. It just likes staying on my head and going for rides." :)