A Plan, A Start and No Photos

So I finally got going on some of the yard work around here. Oh my there is so much that needs to be done. This is the year I want to get the yard to the point that it looks as nice as I can make it be with a minimal amount of work on my part. I am not a gardener. I like a nice looking yard and I have all sorts if ideas of what needs to be done but I am not so good at the doing. If I had minions to do all the work, I could boss them around like nobody's business.

So in the real world, while I have had offers of help, the reality is the its up to me and this is the year that I want to get the yard finished. I want to dig up the big flower bed by the shed and re plant it. I have decided on mostly hostas for that spot as a lot of it faces north.  I am done waiting on my neighbour to decide if he is taking down the trees between our properties or if he is leaving them. The trees shade my flowerbed and I was waiting but now I have decided hostas will work if the trees are there or if they are gone.

So I got digging on Saturday. Well that was an eye opener. In order to dig I have to stand on my bad leg and sink the shovel with my good leg. Bad leg was not impressed with this little adventure and in short order let me know this was not going to be tolerated or the entire flower bed. I am the first to admit, that I never had a vast amount of energy but since I was sick I have next to none. Shoveling was interesting. I did get a four foot by eight foot patch dug up before I hollered UNCLE and gave up. I had the best intentions to finish the rest today. Did not happen, I also did not take pictures. I forgot the befores and if I took an after, you would wonder what I did with my time. I don't know what the heck I do. The Banker does yard work and her place is pristine, not a leaf, twig or root out of place. The dirt of her beds has no debris in it at all.  I work til I am done in and at best it looks like toothless goats have been at the place.

I need to come up with a free  super economical edging for the flower bed that is not wood. Water lies along the bed every spring and the landscaping timbers just rot. I do need something to keep the dirt in the bed. So my thinking cap is on and I am searching Pinterest for inspiration.

I had a rest, got myself cleaned up then went out for sushi with The Hostess. She was in town and we got to have a good catch up over supper. It was a lovely way to end the day. Time spent with friends is always time well spent.

Today, I weed whacked the front lawn. It was so over grown that the lawnmower just flattened the grass without actually cutting it. My battery died just as I got the front finished. I, then mowed, raked and briefly wept at the mess the flower beds are in. I straightened up the lawn ornamentation and weeded around the peonies. I also finally cut down the dead peony stalks, picked up the garbage that has blown into my yard and swept the sidewalks. By the time I had done that I was bushed but its a start!!.

I wanted to keep going, it was such a lovely day today, cool and overcast. It was a joy to be outside but I just could not do any more. This is so sad because my lawn is the size of a postage stamp. It should not be this hard to get it done. I need to keep at it, its so good for me and I need to get back the little energy I had before my leg changed the game plan. I am enjoying it too, even though I have to quit sooner than I would like to. I am enjoying feeling like doing stuff. Making plans and doing projects after so many months of not caring gives me hope that I may get back to my old self yet.

So the plan is that a little gets done each day this week. I want to get the front flower beds weeded and worked up. Kill the weeds down the sidewalk and weed out the hosta bed at the front. Then I want to dig out the bush I planted last year, dig out a lot of the dirt around it,  replace the old with fresh compost and dirt. I will then buy a third bush and hope to heck I don't kill this one as well. The veranda needs to be cleaned up and washed down as its loaded with winter dirt and debris

In the back I want to finish digging the flower bed, weed the patio and add sand to the stones. I need to weed whack the lawn and then mow it as well. The second fern bed needs to be fenced in again. just with the cheap dollar store fencing. it really works to hold the ferns up. The two benches back there need to be painted. I am thinking red will be the colour of choice. That's the plan for the yard. It needs to be done before I get the bedding plants and can start to plant the beds.

I love love love my green bin from the City. Its so nice to have a place to put the dead vegetation. It was a blessing to be able to roll it up and dump stuff into it without bagging it up and throwing it into the dumpsters.

Once the yard is done, I plan to tackle the shed. I need to paint the last wall, decorate the outside, then the inside is going to be purged. There is a lot of stuff in there that does not need to be there and its time for it to be gone. I was in the shed today and I would really like to be able to walk in there without having to move a bunch of stuff to get to what I need. . Its stuffed with things I need but there is a lot of stuff in there that I do not need anymore, not to mention the leftovers from the previous owners. Time for it all to go. That should take some time!!

I have a plan, I have a vision and I am have made a start on it. All. of this makes me very happy...... and very tired!!

Toodles,
Linda