All Manner of Pressing Issues

I hope you’re enjoying your day. We are enjoying being home catching up on a few yard and household chores.

So thankful to be free.
Happy Memorial Day!

When we first moved into our townhouse I was determined to consider the state of the yard a project and not a thorn in my side. The day we moved in it snowed and then a few days later we got a few more inches and about a week after that the two big storms hit. So, needless to say it was mid/late March before I was able to get out and do anything in the yard!

The very first thing I did was tear the ivy off this tree. I literally had to climb the tree to get it all off. It was misting and cold the day I decided to do it but I didn’t care. I was determined to get every leaf off!

That was just the beginning of many yard projects. The next project was planting Elephant Ear and Caladium bulbs. Before I did that Richard rearranged the bricks and part of the path. Planting the bulbs was a challenge only because Olivia thought the bulbs were balls.

There were other little projects in between to clean up the yard, but the next major project was the digging up of the roots of this “spider grass” <??> that was threatening to take over the yard. The people who lived here before us said that they tried everything to get rid of it and couldn’t. Well, all I needed was for someone to tell me I couldn’t to make me determined to get every piece of that grass out of our yard and that’s exactly what I did. During my spring break, I dug up every root. The roots were as long as I am tall and were at least 10-15 inches in the ground. I had to tear out our pathway so I could get to the roots. It was the hardest yard work I’ve ever done but it made such a difference in the yard looked! Do you see the flower pot in the picture holding all the roots? I dug out at least 3 maybe 4 times that much. My hands were so sore!

The original plan for this area of the yard was to have all Elephant Ears, Caladiums and Hostas. I got really impatient waiting for the bulbs to come up. I actually thought I had rotted them out by over-watering. So, I went to Home Depot and to our neighborhood nursery/garden center and bought tons of plants to go in this bed. Unfortunately, I purchased plants without really planning a design and bought based on what I liked and sentimental value… so the area isn’t as thought out as I would like. I am hoping that once everything starts to really take off it will look better. The lavender is about to bloom and I’m so excited about that I can hardly stand it! And…  wouldn’t you know that after I spent tons of time and money on all these other plants that the Caladiums and Elephant Ears are starting to come up? There aren’t many though, so I don’t know if I rotted the others out or if they need more time. I may have to do some moving around to accomodate them.

At first this back corner was on the bottom of my to-do list. I resigned myself to attempting to start Sweet Woodruff back there as a ground cover. The Sweet Woodruff wasn’t growing as fast as I would like. My gardener friend told me things take time to grow, but I just couldn’t stand to have that area look like crap (sorry, Mom) any longer. So, to Home Depot I went to buy plants for “shade garden”. Luckily, this time, I went shopping with a plan. I had mapped out where I wanted which plants and bought with purpose this time. I am really pleased with how it turned out. I miscalculated the number of Impatients and Begonias I needed, so that is why the semi-circle is even more semi than it should be. I went to our neighborhood nursery yesterday to buy more, but haven’t planted them yet.

Here is the finished product so far. We’re attempting to grow grass in the middle. It would help if we’d water every single day. The oblong planter on the right contains 3 plants that were dying that I’m trying to revive. That’s a story in and of itself. I’ll give you the short version: When the horticulturist says to loosen the root ball of a plant before planting it, she doesn’t mean to beat the plant on the ground until every speck of dirt is off the roots.

My latest project in the yard was adding the mulch. I couldn’t believe how much better it looked after that. I’ve also added a couple of more planters around on the side (not in the photos) and some more flowers in some built in planters along the side part, too. Things are shaping up.

Olivia absolutely  L O V E S the yard and has since the day we moved in. She even loved it with 2 feet of snow. I feel like I have gotten so much of my life back just because I’m not having to take her “potty” so many times each day. We can just open the door and let her out. SO NICE. Sure beats going down an elevator, walking down the street, etc.  what felt like 14 million times each day.

This is the back of our house. I’ve got herbs in the terracotta pots and there are some Petunias in the hanging basket.  In hindsight that wasn’t the best idea because of the shade, but so far they’re surviving. The oblong planter on the rail contains 3 begonias. Two are red and one is white. Since this picture was taken, I placed them caddy-corner in a corner on the rail and it looks better. The vine on the porch was badly damaged during the snow storm. I can’t believe it looks so full because I had to tear out a ton of dead parts that were broken because of the weight of the snow. Yesterday we noticed there are buds on the vine and one is about to bloom! I am not sure what kind of vine it is, but I hope the blooming season lasts awhile!

P.S. Sorry about the quality of the photos… all of these were taken on my phone.

Since we moved here I have had a fascination with Costco. I knew it was like a Sam’s Club, but I have still been eager to get a membership and find out for myself. So, Sunday afternoon, Richard fulfilled my dream. He took me to Costco and bought a membership for us. The lady who took my picture for the membership card laughed when she told me she was going to tell me I could smile for the picture, but quickly realized she didn’t have to tell me because I was already grinning from ear to ear! Richard laughed at me, too. I was a little on the “too excited” side considering the fact it was only a Costco membership we were getting.

So after we went through the membership process, Richard and I started shopping. I had intended to only buy paper towels, toilet paper and Kleenex, but the deals were just too good to pass up! I have been paying 50 cents/can for Diet Dr. Pepper at Target. I got it for 25 cents/can at Costco. We got two large bottles (110 loads each) of  Tide laundry detergent for $17. We got 5 tubes of Crest (with scope) toothpaste for $9. I got the biggest box of Bisquick I’ve ever seen in my life for $5.  I got 600 Vanity Fair napkins for $7.  We got 20 of Richard’s razorblades for $40. I’ll quit listing the deals we got, but I am just still not over it! I just cannot get over how much less things cost there. It’s a good thing we have storage space in our basement! I am a little sad that everything we got there will last such a long time because that means I can’t go to Costco very often!

Do you shop at warehouse type place? What’s the best deal?

Olivia spent the day with the groomer today. I dropped her off at 8:00 this morning. I had a dream last night that I forgot her appointment.

When I dropped her off, I told them that I wanted the traditional Westie cut, but a very short version of it because she’s already been hot. I took her bed with us because I knew she’d be in a crate after they finished grooming her. I thought she’d be less likely to drive them crazy all day if she was comfortable on her own bed. Richard thought I was nuts for taking her bed, but when I picked her up they thanked me for bringing it because she slept almost all day! They said she looked so comfortable they wanted to get in with her!

Here are some before pictures:

All day I was eager to go pick Olivia up! I didn’t like the thought of her being in a crate all day when she is used to having free reign of our entire backyard and I was also eager to see her new do. When I walked in the door and greeted the worker at the groomer, Olivia started barking in the back as soon as she heard my voice. Sweet girl knows her mama! I was not prepared for what I saw when they brought her out. That little thing had B O W S in her hair.

I thought the bows were absolutely hysterical. Apparently Olivia had fooled the groomer into thinking she is a little lady because the groomer said that any dog with a name like Olivia absolutely must have bows in her hair! Well, Princess Olivia was back at it as soon as we got home–chasing squirrels, birds and tennis balls. The bows didn’t last long! It also wasn’t long before her shiny white coat was covered in dirt from all the fun she was having. That’s the Olivia we know!

P.S. The groomer said she was really calm and relaxed except when they trimmed her nails. Click here for pictures of the first time Olivia got a major haircut.

P.S.S. My friend at school who has 2 small children gets a BIG kick out of how I talk about my pet like she’s a child. Apparently there are a lot of similarities though because the maintenance man in my classroom today was telling me they’re having trouble with their 12 mos old climbing out of bed and we have the same trouble with Olivia. I suggested he crate train his baby.