The Great Outdoors

We are spending a lot more time outside than usual with our big landscaping project, and I'm really enjoying it. It's nice to enjoy the sunshine and see all of the plants and trees blooming again. God really created a beautiful world!

This past weekend was dedicating to outlining our flower beds, trees, and mailbox with rock. I just have to say....what a big improvement!!! I was pretty nervous about it before we bought the rock at Reseda. I had a hard time picturing how it would look with our red brick house. Plus, the rock was going to cost over $200! So, if it didn't turn out very good, there goes all that money down the drain! Luckily, although we are pretty frugal in most areas, our house projects usually spare no expense as far as Travis is concerned. So, he wasn't worried about it at all. That is, until the guy at Reseda loaded the pallet of rock into the back of the truck. I think Travis was about to panic thinking that Jeff's truck was going to fall apart under the weight of the pallet. Luckily, the truck did just fine, and we made it home with all the rock and the truck in one piece. Whew! :) Thanks again, Jeff and Melissa, for letting us borrow your truck! Hopefully we can get it back to you after this coming weekend! :)

We bought the rock early Friday afternoon and spent the rest of the daylight hours starting our project. Since we obviously couldn't lift the pallet out of the truck ourselves (where was that forklift when we needed it?), we had to take the rocks out of the pallet by hand and load them into a wheelbarrow. It wasn't too hard. Travis commented that this part of the project was the most fun yet "because it was a lot like Tetris". Trying to fit the rocks together was pretty fun and a nice break from digging holes! We got the left flower bed and small semi-circle bed finished on Friday, and we were so happy with the results!

Yay!

Double yay!

What a difference those rocks make!

Saturday, we woke up early and got started a little after 7:30 AM. We got the right flower bed done by about 12:30 PM. Before laying the rock down on that side, we put in a metal liner to keep the grass/weeds from growing into the flower bed. We decided not to worry with that on the left flower bed since it is lined by the sidewalk. Installing the metal liner was pretty easy. You just lay it out and hammer it down with stakes. We put the rock in front of the liner so you can't even see it from the road. It looks great!

Putting in the metal liner

Unloading the rocks

The right side is finished

Yay!

After a break for lunch, we went back outside to start outlining around the trees. We have two maple trees and one magnolia tree in our front yard. Previously, they were outlined with really ugly red brick that didn't even match the color of the brick in our house. It really looked bad. The new rocks are another big improvement! We had to stop several times during the afternoon because quick rain showers would pop up. So, we'd go inside for a few minutes to wait it out. But, finally we got finished!

It all matches!

Our last project of the day was outlining the mailbox with the remaining rock. We were almost out of the rock by this point, but luckily we had enough to finish. Soon, there will hopefully be some pretty flowers planted here!

Yay!

By the end of those two days, I felt like I'd done about 1,000 squats at the gym. So much bending down and standing back up! But, it was worth it!

I have to confess that we're not quite finished with the rock part of the project. Before we lined the left flower bed with rock, we dug a shallow trench for the rocks to sit in. They are stacked two high, but you can really only see the top layer because of the sidewalk. However, on the right side, you can see both layers clearly. We are going to go back and add some dirt back under the rocks on the left side to make both layers visible. We think it will look better overall that way. We are planning to do that tonight, so hopefully it will be pretty quick and simple!

This weekend, we are planning to finish this landscaping project for good! We want to plant a few flowers in between the shrubs and then add a layer of mulch to all of the beds. And that should do it! Next week, hopefully I'll be able to post some good "before and after" pictures!! :)

Although landscaping has taken up a lot of our time lately, we are still somehow getting our normal weekly activities done too. You know, things like working, sleeping, eating, running, etc. Once we get this landscaping finished, I think we'll take a few weeks off from house projects. I have a feeling our schedules are about to get pretty busy anyway with a half-marathon, graduations, teaching Bible classes at church, birthdays, vacations, and Guntersville camp coming up anyway. May and June especially are always pretty hectic!

Speaking of running, I took a week off before running for the first time again last night. Apparently, the week off only served to make me MORE out of breath; it did nothing for my foot. It hurt as bad as ever if not worse. It's been pretty discouraging the past few weeks to be getting slower instead of faster, but oh well. At this point, I'll just be glad to finish the race and "retire" from long distance races. I think my body is better suited for 5Ks anyway! The race is a month from tomorrow, so I'll just have to tough it out until then...

I'll leave you with a few pictures of Gabby and me. In the middle of a rain shower on Saturday, I decided to try to snap our picture...

Doesn't Gabby look excited to be in the picture? :)

Oh my. I can't help laughing when I look at that! Luckily, Travis didn't mind snapping a much better pic for us. I know Gabby was relieved to get both of her eyes in this one!

I love her!!

I love Felix too...he just doesn't cooperate too much when he's held. A.K.A. bloody-battle-with-Travis-on our-anniversary. He'll never live that one down! At least it's somewhat funny now looking back on it :)

There's always something going on around here, that's for sure!!

March "Madness" at the Grants'

I guess since it's feeling like summer outside, it's fitting that I've already gotten my first sunburn of the year. I just don't think about needing to wear sunscreen in mid-March! But, we were outside all day on Saturday, and by the time I put sunscreen on, it was too late. I can't even count the number of comments from people like "Wow, you got a lot of sun this weekend". I even got called a "redneck"...HA! Get it? My neck was literally red. Yes, it was corny.

Friday afternoon, we got the last of the shrubs planted that we'd bought the weekend before. Now, all 12 are in the ground! It took us until it was dark outside to get finished, but at least we got it done. Of course, I didn't contribute much other than measuring the holes, but that's ok. I was moral support at least. I did manage to create MORE work for Travis when I was backing out of the garage to go buy more potting soil at Bennett's. I was trying to hurry to get there before they closed, and I scraped the front left side of my car against the weatherstripping on the side of the garage opening. OOPS. The weatherstripping is now cracked and bent, and it will have to be replaced. Guess we can add that to the other projects on the to-do list. Sorry, Travis. Now he'll have a good reason to claim he's the better driver of the two of us!

Saturday morning was our long run. It was supposed to be 11 miles, but I quit after 9.2. I didn't drink enough water the night before or that morning, so I was getting too dehydrated by the end. Plus it was already hot and sunny by the time we ran. Travis made it the whole 11 miles, but he had to walk a few times. My foot (the one that's been hurting for a couple of weeks) was really bothering me the whole time, and it also hurt pretty bad on Monday when I ran, so I'm taking a week off to let it rest. I'm afraid I've got another stress fracture like I got in high school. Same foot and everything. But, I'm really in a bind because if I go to see a doctor, they'll tell me not to run for 6-8 weeks I'm sure....meaning I would miss the race. Or, I'd be really out of shape if I took several weeks off in a row. But, if I keep running on it, it's not going to get any better. So, I don't know what to do! Maybe taking a week off will help, and I can keep running at least until the race next month.

Saturday afternoon (after we ate lunch and cooled off a bit), Travis cut the grass, and we trimmed the bushes in the backyard. It was an all afternoon affair, and he didn't even get to cut the front yard. Whew! We were exhausted by the end of the day. Being a homeowner is a full time job! No wonder we don't have any free time anymore...

Hydrangeas that we planted on Friday

Look how many leaves our Japanese maple tree has now!

The right flower bed is finished...for now!

As of right now, it's supposed to be rainy on Friday and possibly Saturday too, so I'm not sure how much we'll be able to do outside this weekend. We'd like to go ahead and buy the rock to line the flower beds with and maybe even plant some flowers too, but we'll just have to wait and see if the weather cooperates.

By the way, we must be "regulars" at Lowe's now because one of the employees recognized us there on Monday night and said "Back again?" Haha...we're definitely helping them stay in business.

Well, Mom and Dad went to the lake house for a few days, and you'll never guess what Dad found in the pontoon boat...

KITTENS!!! 5 of them! They were inside one of the seats next to a life jacket. Gabby and Felix were so excited to hear the news. They really want a little brother or sister. Sadly, Mom did some investigating and found out that they belong to a lady up the street who has lots of cats. Apparently, the momma cat likes to go off and have her babies and bring them home after a few weeks. When Mom went to go check on them the next day, the kittens were gone. So, either the lady came and got them, or the momma cat took them away. How sad! Felix and Gabby really wanted another playmate :) Oh well. One day, they'll be getting a boxer puppy to play with...I'm sure they'll love that!

Speaking of cats, Felix did battle with a wasp the other day. A LIVE wasp. He kept picking it up in his mouth and slinging it around. Then, he'd paw at it a few times. I think he would have eventually killed it (or gotten stung on the nose!) if Travis hadn't come and shooed it outside. That crazy cat. He's scared of his own shadow, but wasps and spiders don't bother him a bit.

Well, that's about all that's been happening around here lately. We're just staying crazy busy as usual!

Erin

Green thumb?

So, I'm really getting into this landscaping stuff!

For the last 4 or 5 months, our flower beds have just been plain dirt. Really, plain red clay. Back in October, we pulled up the pitiful little shrubs that were already there. I don't know how long they'd been there, but they definitely weren't very big or healthy looking. So, we decided to just start over and plant what we wanted.

"Before" picture.....empty flower beds!

Well, we've finally got some stuff planted!

Friday was our "planning" day. First, we measured the beds, and Travis drew them on graph paper with labeled dimensions. We also took some pictures of our house and printed them out on paper. Then, with a few shrubs in mind that we liked, we headed to Reseda Nursery. A guy there showed us around, took a look at our pictures and drawing, and gave us some suggestions for what to plant where. It was pretty overwhelming at first...just because we didn't know what we were doing! We spent a couple of hours there, and then we headed to the other side of town to check out Bennett's Nursery. We did basically the same thing; someone showed us around and gave us their ideas for what we should plant. Overall, we spent about 4 hours looking at everything! After a quick supper at Sun Cafe, we looked over all of the different shrubs online one more time and made some final decisions about what we wanted to plant.

Travis's artwork!

Some of the house pictures we took to the nurseries

We were hoping to be able to get everything from either Reseda or Bennett's (to save us some driving), but, of course, we ended up picking stuff that either one or the other place didn't have. So, first thing Saturday morning, we headed back to both nurseries to pick out and buy our shrubs! It ended up taking all morning to do that...just because we wanted to look at everything one more time and get some last-minute opinions on a few things from the people there. We ended up buying 12 things between the two places! We got home a little after 12 PM, ate lunch, and headed outside to get started planting.

I don't think either of us had any idea how long it would take to dig those holes! The instructions say to dig your hole 1.5 times as deep and 2 times as wide as the container, which turned out to be pretty big holes for some of the stuff. Travis did practically all of the digging, and I was the assistant "measurer". Because it took so long to dig the holes, we only got 7 of the 12 shrubs planted. The others are sitting in their containers on the back patio ready to be planted this weekend (hopefully!).

Without further ado, here's what we ended up picking out. These are pictures I found online to give you an idea of what they'll look like in a few years after they grow...

Green tower boxwood

These boxwoods are on the very left and the very right side of our flower beds. They grow to be 8-9 feet tall and not too wide, so we're hoping they'll be a nice "frame" for the house.

Indian hawthorne

We planted two of these in the left flower bed (as you're looking at the house). They don't get very tall, so they're perfect for underneath the windows. They also bloom white flowers in the spring.

Mountain Fire Japanese Pieris

I'm really excited about this one. We planted this in between the windows in the left flower bed. It grows 5-6 feet tall, and it's just really unique looking. We were trying to stay away from reds and pinks because we thought they might not stand out against our red brick house, but I couldn't resist this!

Green velvet boxwood

We bought two of these, and planted one on the very inside of each flower bed. They don't grow to be too wide or tall, and you can shape them however you want to. They will frame the entrance to the house. You can't tell from this picture very well, but the leaves have a golden/yellow tint to them on the edges.

Autumn chiffon azalea

We are going to plant one of these azaleas under each window in the right flower bed. They only get 2.5 to 3 feet tall, so they won't block the windows much. The flowers are white with pink centers...very pretty!

Mikawa yatsubusa Japanese maple

This was our big purchase and Travis's favorite too! This type of Japanese maple only gets 6 feet tall, so it won't be too big. We planted it in between the windows in the right flower bed. We thought the bright green leaves would really pop against the red brick. Right now, ours only has 5 or 6 leaves, but one day it will really be pretty! Bennett's only had one of this type of Japanese maple, so I bet we'll be the only one around with one!

Endless summer hydrangea

We've also got a small semi-circle-shaped flower bed on the side of the house by the driveway. I've always thought hydrangeas were pretty, so we're going to plant two of these in the small bed. I love the blue color!

I think that's everything! Here are some pictures of what we've done so far. You'll have to check back in a few years to see them when they've grown some :)

5 more to plant!

The left side is done!

Our little Japanese maple :)

Yay!

I'd also like to plant some flowers to fill in the gaps between the shrubs. I found a few pictures of flowers that I like, so I'm looking forward to picking some out and planting those too. Hopefully I can even dig those holes myself! :)

Astra white balloon flower

Bavaria Blue Dwarf Bellflower

Color Wheel Stokes Aster

 Yellow Daylilies

Mums

Origami Mix Columbine (LOVE THESE!!!)

Rebecca Viola

Tulip

Variegated Jacob's Ladder

Decisions, decisions. I know I can't plant all of those, so I'll have to narrow it down. Who knew I'd get so excited about flowers!!??

BIG non-planting related news: MOM FINISHES RADIATION TOMORROW!!! Hurrah!!  She's been looking forward to this for several weeks now. So glad her skin will be able to start getting back to normal soon! Mom, you have really been an inspiration to me and a great example of strength and courage. So glad you are my mom!

We are supposed to run 11 miles this weekend...eek. We had an easy run of 4 miles last weekend. I never thought I'd be able to run 8.5, and I did that, so I guess I can do 11 too. We'll see...! The half marathon is only 45 days away!!

I posted this picture on Facebook the other day, but for those who didn't see it, apparently Gabby doesn't appreciate my couponing hobby...

:(

I wish she'd chewed up a coupon that I wasn't planning to use! Oh well. I should have know better than to leave them where she could get to them. The only place to keep anything safe from her is the kitchen counter these days...

I guess that's about all that's going on with us right now. We're just enjoying the warmer weather and being outside on the weekends. Travis is dreaming about getting a grill sometime in the next few months, so we're both looking forward to that. "By the time college football season starts" is his goal for buying one. Of course things have to be measured around football in this house...hah!

Hope you're having a wonderful Wednesday! :)

Dirt Diggin'

I am still recovering from the weekend.

 Travis and I REALLY worked hard on Saturday and Sunday, and the muscles in my back and legs are telling me about it. I feel like most weekends we are pretty productive (although sometimes without a lot to show for it), but last weekend we took it to the extreme.

We spent literally all day on Saturday trying to get our flower beds ready for planting. We were outside before 8 AM shoveling dirt into a wheelbarrow and dumping it in the backyard. Around 9 AM, we took a break and headed to Across the Pond for some soil conditioner to mix into the dirt in our flower beds. Since the dirt in our flower beds was mostly red clay, we felt like mixing soil conditioner in them would help shrubs and flowers grow better. They sell this stuff by the scoop, and it is a BIG scoop. So, we brought that home and kept working...digging out red clay to make room for the soil conditioner.

Around mid-day, Travis decided that we needed to totally reroute the drainage pipe that goes through the left flower bed. It was originally buried right in the middle of the bed....so it would be in the way of planting stuff eventually. If you are a loyal blog reader (which makes you probably one of 5!), you might remember that we patched that drainage pipe 2 weekends ago because several parts of it had holes. Well, that was a complete waste of time. We ended up replacing a really long section of the pipe AGAIN (after finding MORE holes) and moving it to the very front of the bed right along the sidewalk so it won't be in the way when we're ready to plant stuff. I may or may not have gotten very mad at some point in there that we wasted our time 2 weeks ago, but as usual, Travis wanted to "do the job right" and I gave in and admitted in the end that it was a good idea. BUT, we're both in agreement that we never want to touch that drainage pipe again, so if we have more problems with it, we're just calling in a professional! :)

Finally around 6 PM, after moving who knows how many wheelbarrows of dirt to the backyard and filling in the flower beds with soil conditioner, we were finally finished. (Although, it took Travis another hour to get everything cleaned up and put away). I was SO sore!! My arms and back aren't used to shoveling dirt, so they really got a workout!

Sadly, at the end of the day on Saturday, no one could even tell we'd done any work! I'm sure our neighbors are wondering how many times those crazy kids are going to dig in their flower beds with nothing to show for it! :) One of these days, we'll have stuff planted...and if it doesn't rain, maybe it will be this coming weekend!

As if Saturday wasn't enough to wear us out, Sunday afternoon we went out for a long run. We were actually supposed to run on Saturday, but as you can see, we ran out of time. So, between church services on Sunday, we went running. We were supposed to run 9.5 miles, but we both ended up getting lost and only running about 8.5 miles. Oh well. At one point, I looked down at my watch and I'd been running for 55 minutes, and it seemed like about 20 minutes, so I guess that's a good sign! About halfway through the run, my right foot started hurting on top, so I'm hoping it's nothing serious. It's still hurting a little bit today, so we'll see how it does on my 30 minute run this afternoon. Can't believe the half marathon is next month!

Friday was a difficult day with the bad weather and tornadoes coming through the area. We both had to work, so that made it worse because we weren't home, and we weren't together. Just about every patient in pre-op had their TVs on watching the weather, and I just had this terrible feeling in my stomach all morning. It brought back really bad memories from last year. At one point, someone told me that a tornado touched down about a mile or two from our house, and that was enough to send me nearly into a panic. Travis ended up leaving work early just to go home and check on everything. He wasn't able to concentrate on work anyway. I think I'll always view tornadoes differently after last year, but I'm hoping with time they won't just make me completely panic like on Friday. I felt like I couldn't even focus on what I needed to do at work because I was so worried. Luckily, we had no damage this time, and no one we know was hurt or had any damage at their house either. That's something to be thankful for!

Mom is going to be finishing radiation sooner than she originally thought. They are cutting back on the number of treatments because she is having SO much itching and soreness. Her last treatment is next Thursday, the 15th. Hang in there, Mom! You can do it! :)
 
It's crazy that March is here, and spring is pretty much here as well. Daylight Savings Time is Sunday, which means it will be staying light longer at night! Hooray for that! I'm looking forward to warmer weather, running in shorts and a T-shirt, pretty flowers blooming in our yard, Fripp Island (which will be here before too long!), and lots of sunshine. Springtime makes me smile!!!