2012 yard project - Part 2

Yea!! I finally got all the plants in the ground.  Now to see how it looks by the end of the season.  I'm so pleased with how it turned out.

It's a work in progress but it's off to a good start.

2012 yard project - Part 1

A friend of ours is graduating from CWI with a degree in Horticulture.  He needed a senior project and we have plenty of projects that need work.  I've wanted a flower garden.  So he came up with some plans and we went forward.  It's great, we will only have to pay the cost of supplies.

These are the flowers for the planter boxes.  Since they were such a good price, I got some to go up around the house in my other pots.  It doesn't look like $500 does it.

Trees, Trees and more trees

James had heard about a tree auction on the radio. We decided to check it out since I wanted a tree for the side yard. We talked to some of the nursery people to learn about some fast growing shade trees for the front yard. We found three for the front yard that would give some shade and color in the fall.

So the next morning, Alexia, Trevor and I went to see if we would get some trees. I got the Flowering Plum and the Purple Ash within the first hour. Then they slowed down. Really slowed down. I had James come and get the kids. Finally about three o'clock they started to just go where the last of us wanted to go. The prices started to climb by the end of the day because the dealers came in. I was able to score the Blazing Maple and the Bloodgood Sycamore for not much more than I paid for the first two.

Now the fun begins. I went Tuesday morning with the trailer to pick them up. These trees are about 3" in diameter and close to 20 feet tall. They place them so they hung off the back of the trailer. Once I got them, I left for work. James called a lanscaper friend to see if he had time to place the one "small" one, Flowering Plum. He came and looked at them and let us know we needed to get them in the ground quick. So we called around to find someone to help us get them in the ground. Dan Huckstep, in our bishopric, owns a backhoe and came and helped James the next day put them in. It took eight hours. The Purple Ash's leaves had shiveled up and the others had some, so were hope they won't die on us.

Phase I - courtyard

I always wanted to bistro set for the front yard. They aren't cheap, but my favorite store, Lowes came through. They had one on sale. I can't believe they are already getting rid of the summer stuff. Summer officially started on the 21st.

Anyway. The plan is to eventually have a courtyard in the front of the house. So I made a little paver patio in our side flower bed for my bistro set. It's a great spot in the evenings.

Gardening

We finally got our garden up and running. We are a little behind on the wedding. Our peas never came up. Oh I take that back we got five. We can't remember which is the zucchini and which is the summer squash. We hopefully left enough space for the viney plants. Not pictured: cucumbers, grapes and cantaloupe.

corn, beans, 5 peas and carrots

tomatoes

watermelon, pumpkin, acorn and some squash

James got a new job

After 3 years, we have decided it is time to finish our side yard. We borrowed a friends bobcat and went to town. We had to bring it down about two feet so it would drain away from the house. The plan is to have it done by the end of June. Maybe if John came to help?!

Bird brain

I now know where this term originates. As soon as I put my window boxes up, this very annoying bird decided that the grass was greener on the other side from him. Twice a day, he comes and stands in each window and tries to get to the other side. Flapping and beating his wings all over the windows, jumping up and down and pooping all over the plants. I've had to put dish drains and a refrigerator shelf up to keep him from smashing all the plants.

Has Spring finally sprung?

I hope it has for at least a few days. The weather has been in the upper 60's and yard work is calling. I was able to get my new shutters on and all the flowers planted in the window boxes and pots. We are still pondering on the garden, that will be a little more work. A friend from church called asking if we wanted grapes. YES, YES, YES! We planted those yesterday too, they will border the top and side of the garden area.

Food Storage

We have alway had a food storage of some sorts and some years are better than others. Since James' job has had its up and downs, I started to focus my attention to things that I do have control over. So I have a system that I buy the same things in rotation every 6 weeks.

While shopping at Costco, (one of my favorite stores) a food rotation vendor was there for can goods. The price was great, I just wasn't sure how I was going to swing getting any. You can't build one on your own for the price they were selling. The question was were would we put them, we are already wall to wall shelves in the storage room. James was all for something, he hated to try and rotate the new in with the old. So we bit the bullet and bought two. I calculated that I had over 600 can that needed a home. By the time we had rearranged, we could have taken down two of the regular shelves. The kids actually like getting can goods when asked. I'm quite please with the set up now.

Before
After

Home Improvement

Since James had a mandatory 2 weeks off from work for Christmas, he had grand ideas of home improvement projects. One of them was the boys bathroom. This as been an on going project since before Steven went on his mission. It has flooded over the years and I just haven't wanted to really get into it. We solved the flooding when we added the garage, so we decided that maybe we should finish it.

We talked it over and wanted to tile. It would be our practice before we tackled the upstairs bathrooms. It was a fairly easy project. Thank goodness it's a small bathroom. The hardest part was the grouting. We used epoxy grout, it doesn't stain.

PS He got the garage passed off. It's complete!!

Growing Pains

The kids won't stop growing. Mikah is taller than me, Connor is well on his way. We have been looking off and on for a vehicle to replace the volvo. I will never own another. They're CRAP!! James found this 2005 Cadillac STS for an incredible price. So without missing a beat we traded it off. The best thing about it is it's 'RED'!

Anyone for cinnamon rolls?

We have a tradition of cinnamon rolls on Sunday morning. Once James had a secure job, we decided to upgrade our appliances. The microwave just accelerated it. It took one appliance a night to get them all installed. Nothing in this house is quite up to code.

New furniture

It's always fun to get new things. Uncle Darrill Tew broke one of the bar stools and thus started the search. The old table was about 10 years old and was still in good condition, just needed to have the varnish redone. It's the same one that Mom and Dad got not too long ago.