Here Birdy Birdy...

Last weekend when we were home I was walking through the yard and noticed my Mom's new garden decor. I'm usually not one for things like this but we went to the place where she got it from and I got one for myself! Hey Mr. Bird!!!

I thought he was kinda cute:) While I was admiring my bird, Stella was playing with a moth she found. She also learned how to catch ants last weekend thanks to my father. Yuck!

Summertime Flowers

A couple days ago I ran to one of my favorite stores, Lowe's and picked up a few pretty little things. You know what else that means? I get to cross off one of my summer "to do" items!! Booya! As you can see I picked some flowers for the wine barrel, potting mix and a little sample of a paint color I've been thinking about for the living room/dining room/and upstairs.

It didn't take long for Stella to take her first victim.

Here's a look at my homemade dirt from our compost bin!!

Crazy Eyed Stella

I filled the bottom of the wine barrel/pot with the compost dirt and although it's not perfect, there are quite a few sticks and rocks in there, I was able to get a really good base.

I filled the rest of the barrel with potting soil and planted the french marigolds.

I also picked up this grayish brown clay pot for this lovely, oh so pretty petunia gem. 

Now if only I could get a personal assistant when it comes to picking out plants/flowers for behind the garage. I feel very clueless and want to make sure I pick ones that compliment each other as well as ones that are relatively easy to take care of. Any takers or tips?

To do list for the yard:

* plant wine barrel

* add plants/flowers behind garage

* build a deck

* keep growing grass & picking weeds

* border around front/side of house

Let There Be Grass Part II

Well my friends, the seeds I planted a few weeks ago are finally making their debut! There is still a lot of work to be done but at least it's a start.

As you can see, Stella's hole is still there but it's not as noticeable as it was before.

Here's a close up. All the seeds seemed to have slid down to the bottom and didn't stick to the sides.

See...it's not perfect but we're getting there.

Oh...and now the ants have decided to show up, unannounced of course. They're like the crazy family members you purposely don't invite to family gatherings because they're a little wacky but they somehow still manage to be right on time. I don't get it.

And now for my next phase of the "The Yard Revolution", I want to plant a little flower/shrub garden along the backside of the garage. Let's face it, I'll be growing grass out of my ears by the time I get done with the lawn so phase 1 will never be complete. The back of the garage faces the south and gets that nice afternoon sun we all love. Not sure what I'll be planting or what would grow best so suggestions are always welcomed.

I would love to start working on this now but I have a feeling it won't start until we get back from our trip at the end of May. One week from today I'll be taking my last final for the semester and in two weeks from today Joe and I are off on our next adventure. We are SO excited!!

Oh and before I go, last night Joe, Stella and I went out for a walk around 9:30ish after he got home from class. It was beautiful outside (hello summer!) and like always, we like to take advantage of the warm weather when we have it. Anyway, all of a sudden we were witnessing a high speed chase through this quiet neighborhood we were walking in. Thankfully we were on a different block from the action but nonetheless it still made our hearts beat a little fast and I was scoping out places we could run if they crazy driver turned down the street we were on.

Shortly after we couldn't hear the sirens anymore so we assumed the driver made its way somewhere else. As we turned down the next corner, there they were. Cop cars with lights were flashing and the crazy car was facing the bluffs with the door wide open. We're not sure if the person tried to make a run for it or if he was already in custody. Either way, I am just grateful we spent a few extra minutes soaking up the warm evening at a nearby park before continuing our walk because the street this all happened on was the route we were going to take.

I promise, we don't live in a crazy neighborhood. It's actually pretty quiet for the most part.

Let There Be Grass!

Last year I got a little out of control with the weed killer. Our yard is about 22% grass and the rest is every weed under the sun..crab grass, creeping charlie...you name it, we got it. Now, my dream before we leave this house and move on to the next is to get a great yard! And I am serious about this dream. That is why this year marks the start of "The Yard Revolution" (I just made that up). First step in achieving this dream is to plant grass. Duh! Joe and I discussed getting rid of the weeds first and then planting grass but we figured we'd probably be looking at dirt the whole summer and we're just going to embrace the weeds. For now.

I've already put two bags of seed down but these will be considered the "Before" pictures. Look at that nice dead spot in the middle of the yard! Created by yours truly!!!

As you can see...one big path down the middle of nothing.

Joe had to dig this area up when we switched cable providers last fall. Hello dirt!

Stella graced our yard with a hole she dug. Thanks Stella.

Yep, the yard needs some work! Big time!!

When I was at Lowe's today I saw a 20lb bag for about $64. I've been buying these smaller, 7lb bags at $24-25 bucks a pop at Wal-Mart & Menards. Not quite getting the best deal...oops!

Hopefully magic flows through these seeds and creates a nice lush carpet of grass. Wishful thinking, maybe so.

Hard to see but grass seed is down!

Stella enjoying her stick.

Now, we water....or to Stella, get a drink.

Haha! What a goofy dog! 

If anyone has any "how to get a great lawn" tips...please!!!! let me know! I'm flying by the seed of my pants:)  

Fall: brings a yard full of leaves.

We have a few big trees in our backyard that cover our yard with a blanket of leaves every fall. Sunday Joe and I finally got around to packing them up and it was my job to rake them away from the fence. This pile doesn't look big but it was a lot of leaves. I think our neighbors next to us were jumping for joy because they like to have a leafless yard and that wasn't happening because our leaves would blow over their direction. Oops. haha

Call us redneck but this is how we get rid of our leaves. The majority of our neighbors rake them up and bag them. We did that the first year Joe had the house and said we would never do it again.

Leaf dust. Joe was covered from head to toe at the end of the mowing the yard.

Ahh....you can see the grass again! For now. Apparently we might have our first snowfall this weekend.

One day I want to live out in the country so I don't have to worry about picking up the leaves in the yard. Oh the little things I miss about living outside of a big city. On a side note, I officially start my training for the new job tomorrow. This past Tuesday I had a Skill Refresher course and now I'm ready for the residents! Since I'll be working from 6-2pm there is no way I'll be post anything before I leave at 5:30am!! and when I get home I'm going to bed (that could be wishful thinking though) so cheers to a happy weekend today. No post for me tomorrow...I'll let you know how my weekend of work goes on Monday.