Yard progress

Ready to see the progress on our yard? These "before" pictures are actually from when we moved in...over a year ago. So imagine everything with an additional year's of growth before we ripped stuff out. The house was vacant for over a year before we moved in. And one of the previous owners (about 5 or 6 years ago) was a master gardener. I would love to see what the yard looked like when she was keeping it up. We've been told by our neighbors that our house/yard was featured in the local home/garden show. Too bad it got so out of hand!


BEFORE (April 2012)

PROGRESS (as of July 2013)

We recently put seed down in the area on the bottom right where all those shrubs and plants were...which is why it's spotty looking.

Where we ripped out a lot of plants, leveled the garden bed to match our lawn, and put down some seed

So...previous owner put that grass thing in a pot in the ground. I guess to keep it contained so it wouldn't take over? We haven't gotten around to figuring out how we're going to get that out just yet...

Trees partially gone. Had to take a break because it was 90º out and our allergies were going nuts.

My dahlias!

This was full of weeds and plants. We took everything out except the rose bushes.

Both sides of the driveway were covered in weeds/plats/ivy. Where those is sitting on the bottom right was a bunch of evergreen bushes.

Got some sprouts coming up we need to take care of, but this whole thing was covered in 3 or 4 huge bushes we removed and ivy that was taking over (the ivy is what's trying to come back).

Previously, we didn't even know that little cement path (we believe it's the old driveway) existed. This whole area was overtaken by some acanthus that was badly overgrown.

Progress, but still lots to do!

More plant/shrub removal.

This is the area of the yard we have yet to tackle. It's going to take another long weekend with help. 

I don't even want to know what's back there...

The view of our patio at the moment. Had to put all those pavers/landscaping stones somewhere when we removed the flower bed in front. Planning to post them on craig's list in the coming weeks to get them out!

Our dirt mound growing weeds...this is where we dumped all the extra dirt from the front flowerbed until we figure out what to do with it.

So there you have it! Obviously, we still have a lot to do, but we've definitely made a lot of progress too! Our ultimate goal is to get a lot of the remaining plants removed and get more grass down so the girls have a better yard to play in. Plus, it'll be a lot less maintenance for us to have more grass and less plants. It's a shame to remove some of them because I think they could be really pretty if they were healthy...but most of them are to far overgrown and unhealthy to even transplant. Though I did attempt to transplant a couple...we'll see how they do. It's taken us this long because with the kids, only one of us can be out in the yard at a time. It's not fully fenced, so we can't both work without keeping a constant eye on the girls.

I'll get a house tour up too from when we first moved in...and then I'll post Eden's room (the only room that looks different with the exception of our furniture being in the house).

New growth and weekend plans

[caption id="attachment_430" align="alignnone" width="459" caption="plum tree blossoms in front of our place"][/caption]

 

I live in Washington State…about 30 miles south of Seattle in a little town called Puyallup. In all my years here (15 to be exact), I have never seen a winter quite like this one. By that I mean that I have never seen winter come to an end so soon. We didn’t even break any rainfall records this year! It was actually a rather dry winter compared to normal, and we only got one dusting of snow. Quite unusual. A little over two weeks ago I was on my way home from work when I thought I saw flowers budding on one of our trees by the driveway at the office. “Naw…I must be seeing things…it’s still FEBRUARY for Pete’s sake!” On the contrary. I think by the end of next week all trees will be in full bloom. My allergies started taking notice shortly after my observation at work, and that’s when I knew: SPRING IS HERE! Don’t get me wrong. Washington and I were practically made for each other. I love rain. And wind. And gray. But I must tell you, there’s no place like Washington on a crisp and clear day when the tiny green sprouts are starting to come out of the ground, the bare trees are getting that green-ish tint at the end of their branches, the sky is a magnificent blue, and that mountain. Mount Rainier. Beautiful and white. *sigh* I love Washington. It’s so gorgeous here when the sun is out. The rain keeps our skies clear and smog-free, so on the sunny days everything seems to just glisten and sparkle. Days like this make me happy inside. I just wish my body agreed with my love for spring and flowers and new growth. Darn these allergies! It’s supposed to be 63 degrees tomorrow. 63 degrees!! I plan to break out the flip-flops and Bermuda shorts. Granted, I’ll be inside all day, but maybe I’ll set myself up by the window… 

Tonight we’ve got the in-laws (well, my in-laws, Corey’s mom and stepdad) coming over for dinner. I wish I could say I was making something delicious and mouth-watering, but I’m not. I don’t even get home from work until almost 6pm, so that doesn’t leave much time for cooking. AND his mom and little sister have Celiac Disease, so everything has to be gluten-free. And I’m lactose intolerant, so I need lactose-free. Yes, we’re quite a bunch. Cooking gluten-free is no easy task. So we’re just going to take the easy route and pick up some salad and rotisserie chicken from Costco. They make it gluten-free. I wish it was as warm out as it looks to be. I would move everything outside for dinner, but I think 53 degrees is a little too cold. Plus, it’ll probably be back down into the 40’s by the time they come over…and it gets dark by 6:30. So I’m out of luck. Oh well. They’re watching my niece tonight too, so I’ll get to see her adorable little face again. Should be a fun time. I love having people over. I love BBQs particularly. I can’t wait until we have a house of our own and can BBQ most weekends in the summer and invite family and friends over. Right now we can barely seat 4 (and there will be 6 of us). That’s the challenging part of our current living situation. But maybe sometime later this year we’ll have a house. Lord willing. 

Tomorrow I’m going to hunker down (of all days, I pick the nicest day of the weekend to do this) and finish up my niece’s birthday quilt. My Pastor’s wife is helping me with the binding. And I’ve decided to go outside what the pattern calls for. It’s a quilt made from strips, and they tell you to “stick in the ditch.” After talking it over with Jenny (Pastor’s wife), I think it would look much cooler free motioned. Except I’ve never done free motion quilting before. Well, I’ve actually never done a quilt before. This is my first one. So Jenny’s going to help me with the free motion stuff. It looks scary. I hope I don’t screw it up!! I’m super excited to see how it turns out. But I’ll probably cry if it looks terrible. 

Ok, I better quit typing and tidy my house up before the fam comes over. Happy Friday, all!