Gluttons for Punishment? No way!

Last weekend we were able to make some good progress on a few projects. 

We finally had some grass growing!!!

It was just brand new baby grass last weekend, but we keep giving it TLC, 

and are very hopeful about having some grass by Summer! :-D

It did rain on Saturday, but the temperature was beautiful

and (in our minds) it was only a light drizzle.

Please note the lovely flooding that occurred:

We like to call it a rain garden.

Plus, the sun came out after we were finished 

and we were able to take a nice stroll around the neighborhood 

with a completely healthy Pippa!

Sunday on the other hand.... was sunny, but COLD!  

I might have been able to take the cold, but not the wind.  

It was too miserable for me to do much outside.  

So instead, we picked up our Pergola frame wood, 

cut our Garden Box pieces, and finished the 

last few touches to the Kitchen China Hutch!

While in the middle of our patio project, a nice neighbor pulled up along us, 

rolled down his window, and told us we "sure are gluttons for punishment!"  haha

Even though it was raining when he said that,

and we were shoveling a cubic yard of gravel into wheel burrow loads 

to spread out as a base to our patio... 

it didn't strike us as punishment at all!

All finished with the gravel.. next up, posts and sand!

Although some of our tasks might be difficult, 

they seem far from punishment! :) 

At the end of the day, our hard work is so rewarding that

 it feels pretty darn good to revel in our progress! 

One day soon, we'll be able to take more weekends off 

and enjoy everything we've been working so hard on! :)

Pippa's First Cone Head

Our poor Pippa pup had her first, second, and third trip to the hospital this week. 

Earlier this week we brought her in after noticing her peeing excessively on our walks.
It turned out to not be anything TOO serious, a UTI, which apparently is common in dogs,
but she was still experiencing some discomfort and concerning symptoms on Friday.
Since she was not drinking or eating,
she was prescribed a half day Saturday and all day today in the pet medical center getting an IV.

Now we need to wait for her shaved cuffs to grow her pretty fur back.

We were very happy that she appears to be doing better now and she was the cutest and clumsiest pup in a cone we'd ever seen.  We are very biased.  

We couldn't help but smile when she hobbled down the road battling with the cone and bandage. 

March Project Madness

We have been working on a number of projects over the last few weekends.  

Most of the projects have been outside ones, but I am really close to finishing a couple inside ones too!

So far March has been spent planning out our vegetable garden, prepping our front garden bed, rearranging our current landscaping, relentlessly attempting to plant grass,
and preparing our new patio and pergola area. 

We have spent A LOT of time getting a portion of our back yard, just over 2,000 sq feet, re-tilled, fertilized, seeded, and covered with hay. Since then it has been nothing but watering and praying everyday. We really hope we don't have 5 more months of baked clay, or mud, depending on the weather!

Another finished project was relocating the horribly invasive Monkey Grass growing without purpose in our front garden to the length of our fence.  Once it gets established, it should dress up the side yard and help prevent any erosion.  Right now the surrounding fescue grass is so long that the Monkey Grass barely stands out, but some mulch will help define the space... it's on the to-do list. 

We did get about 1.5 cubic yards of mulch last weekend, but instead of along our fence, it was utilized in two other much needed areas: the front garden bed and around our trees.  Now these spaces look fresh and neat.  We get so much shade in this North facing garden, that I couldn't help but get some beautiful Hostas to brighten up the area.  I don't really know why, but I LOVE Hostas.  I think they remind me of New York and New England landscaping.  Maybe it is a way to bring a bit of that to my new home here in the South. The "Patriot" variety is a real favorite with the lovely contrasting white edges and vivid green leaves.

This weekend was spent leveling approximately 180 sq feet of lawn around
our current (10x8 ft) cement patio and laying the first inch of gravel.  

We still have 2 more inches of gravel to lay, another 1 inch of sand,
 and then will begin creating our paver patio.  

After the next 2 inches of gravel we will take a break from the patio for a couple weekends and begin constructing our pergola.  We have priced out our materials and created our building design...
most importantly we have written to our HOA to get approval.  

(Fingers crossed for approval so that we don't have to build it despite a rejection! haha)

Next weekend our goals are to:
1.) Set our corner pergola posts

2.) Build our cedar garden boxes

3.) Form our tomato cages made from cattle fence panels

4.) Erect our garden trellis for climbing squash, beans,etc.

5) Complete the refinishing of my China Hutch (already so close)