Backyard

My Project:

The previous owners put down massive amounts of gravel in the backyard. All the house programs say to do this for a finished look but I tell you what, walking in gravel is a pain in the neck. It's got to go.

Is this a ton of gravel? Is it several? What do you do with loads of perfectly good gravel? LOL.. Spend money hiring a skip to throw it all away? Try to offer it for sale, to have strangers traipsing thru our space forever as we try to get rid of it?

Well, remember the decks we want to build off the two sets of french doors? I'm going to frame out the decks, then FILL ALL THE SPACE INSIDE with the gravel! I'm going to HIDE it all! LOL. Think it'll work? Theses top two pics are the 'before' shots.


Not too long ago, I noticed the plants we'd brought from the flat had started to show signs of growth. They'd been left heeled-in to a rough trough I'd dug behind the little picket fence and I felt I had to move them quickly.

Border work began. The brick outline will probably be rearranged a bit more, then I'll cement them in properly, and grass the gaps. We're also thinking the green colored fence stain will soften the lines of the fence.

The birds either love the suet mix in the new middle feeder or they're snobs for it's fancier 'dispenser'. We've got yellow and blue finches, tiny robins, blackbirds who sing so pretty and other birds that look like a thrush of some sort. Rizzo twitches at the kitchen doors, watching them.






In the meantime, we'd been to a garden store and I'd picked up some seedling potatoes. They spent a few weeks in the kitchen windowsill, chitting in two george foreman trays. LOL. Inventive? Tidy!!

Yesterday was (past) time for them to go in. I looked a sight, it was cold so I wore a stocking hat and layered up fine, Montana-style. Dug a trough wide enough for two staggered rows. Mixed manure into the bottom and plunked the potatoes in. Got some stain on the fence too, since I was already dressed for the occasion!

Today Aunt Flo has made an appearance. I'm not only sore but crampy too. It sucks, but the weather is even colder and more blowy today. I accomplished a lot yesterday and almost feel I deserve to take it easy today.

Next to do; more compost to mix with the border soil. Half hardy annual seeds planted there along with the last few of the potted plants. Move the very last heeled-in plant from the veggie patch. You can see the hollyhocks in the last picture, to the very left of the line of tarp, right underneath the stain line. They have to go so I can get the patch up and running. Put the shallots and onions in, move the strawberries in and the one blackberry bush I found here when we moved in. Finish painting everything.

I'm excited to do all this, but I wonder if my goal of accomplishing all this in one season will kill me. LOL..