It's (not) a jungle out there

After yesterday's Bird of Paradise fiasco, DH and I were both a little under-excited about today's planned redo of the back yard. Actually, the hubs was in quite the grumpy mood this morning before church. Thankfully, the worship was wonderful, the message was inspiring, and the fellowship was encouraging. That, and we got to think about working with the most horticulturally talented person that we know: the bestest roomie in the world!

Let me refresh your memory about what we were dealing with so that you can fully appreciate the transformation of this space. We started with this:

 The jungle. All told, these BOP were probably about 10-12 feet high.


After yesterday, we ended up with this:

Clean slate!








Our wonderfully talented friend came over around noon, scoped out the place, and made some suggestions and calculations. After a brief stop for lunch (yummy Five Guys!), we headed to our local home improvement store (the one with the blue theme). We found just the plants for us: 4 podocarpus to create a barrier and 2 climbing fig to cover the ugly pink wall. We also ended up taking a trip to the other blue big box store to get a watering can and some veggie seeds on a whim. And then back to the first blue store for mulch. There was much labor, mud, digging, and fun had by all. And because I'm just so excited about the transformation, I'm just going to share the photos.




I think it's beautiful. And the best part about the whole thing (besides being right on budget) is that we were able to reclaim the space that is rightfully ours that one of our neighbors had tried to steal from us. I can't wait to watch these new plants grow. And because this friend who knows my gardening abilities so well chose the plants (as in, if it's in the yard, it's on its own), I know she selected plants that will be hard to kill.

I feel like a garden party may be in order. The question of the post: do you have a green thumb or do plants whither when you come into view?

In the jungle...

Today I tried my very hardest to continue on my Spring Cleaning mission. It did not go so well. Or maybe I should say it went differently than I had expected. Let me explain. The next two projects on my to-do list are the back yard:

Or maybe I should say jungle?

 And the 2nd bedroom...

slash sewing room (you may recognize my sewing corner from my first post)...

slash guest room...

slash home office.






The yard was supposed to be the easy part. DH listed the gigantic Birds of Paradise plants on our local Freecycle. Several people responded, and we scheduled with one lady to come pick them up this morning under the stipulation that she dig them out herself. Yeah, that went... terrible. First, the lady tried to tell me that they weren't BOP because they were too big. Um, whatever. See that flower right there? Yeah. Then she just moaned and groaned the whole time with her hired hand doing all the labor (hello, these are free? And you're complaining?). They chopped off all the leaves, dug a huge hole, took out one of the plants, laid it on the ground. Then she just left. Yup. It was great. So then DH got another lady to come. No hired labor for her. We helped. Those things were a beast. But they are gone, and hopefully the lady will be able to revive them and make them beautiful. So now the back yard looks like this:

No more jungle and all ready for some new landscaping!

The multi-purpose room, however, did me in. First off, I woke up this morning very much on the wrong side of the bed (actually it was the couch because someone who shall remain nameless was hacking up a lung last night). I was grouchy beyond all get out, sliced my finger open trying to cut my bagel with the injury proof bagel guillotine, and was generally angry at the world. Not so much the best state of mind to start cleaning. But I'm on a role, right? I can do this. No problem.

Problem. This room is filled with our lives, and the first corner I picked (brilliant choice) was the one filled with all of those greeting cards I struggle to throw away. I'm not sure why I didn't pick the corner that holds all of the high school and college papers that I resolved to toss the other day, but whatever. So I spend hours sorting through pictures of people I don't speak with any more, cards from family and friends who have moved on in life or beyond life, and notes from every "best" friend I've ever had (you know, all three or four of them). By noon, I was in tears I was so depressed. Actually, I found a picture of myself that was taken around the end of 1985 when my family was moving into our new house that illustrates how I felt:

So this is what the room looks like after working on it:

I'll work on another corner later. In other news, I'd like to share a gem of an item that I found:

That's right folks, this here is a genuine deck of Quotable Shakespeare knowledge cards. Every card includes an unforgettable quote from the Bard himself (such as "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears"... which always makes me think of Robin Hood: Men in Tights) and a little background of the play. I'd love to see these wonderful cards go to a good home. For who can live without such timeless wisdom:
"He hath eaten me out of house and home; / he hath put all my substance into that fat belly of his" or "For there never was yet a philosopher / That could endure the toothache patiently." Classic.

So, dear readers, what's the most interesting thing you've discovered while cleaning?