Free At Last!

Shhhh..... don't tell the winter warden, 

but I've broken out !

I feel like the shackles of winter have finally been lifted.  Seeing some green..any green caused great joy in the inner spirit of this lady! 

First things first...lots of debris to be removed including the grasses and oak leaves that came down through the winter.

My hubby decided to try his shop-vac to vacuum out the tangled leaves and it worked quite well!  It's an usual approach but he was quite happy with how well it worked!

I was raking everything off the beds to get ahead of the plants that are starting to sprout up. Those oak leaves are tough...and they like to wait until winter before they drop so we always have them to clean up! 

Eventually he got the back pack leaf blower out and cleaned up all the bird seed leaves and dirt that seemed to have migrated all over the walkway and patio.

We've got rain coming Monday/Tuesday 

so we are rushing to get a few details 

out of the way.

The crocus have been popping up.  

This is out front.  The tulips and daffodils 

are coming out fast.  

These crocus were a part of an old garden that I removed years ago.  They just keep popping back up in random areas.  

This year they seemed quite strong.

We'll be cleaning out the leaves and dead plant material soon.  I'm just afraid to step in the wrong area!

My assignment today is to trim back the vine on this arbor .  It doesn't look like much but with the warmer temps it will be greening up real fast.

I hope you are enjoying some spring like weather too!

Here's a toe tapper for you to listen to!

It's a good day!

Thanks for visiting!!

Liz

Being Nostalgic

Good Sunday morning!  

I'm a bit sad that this is our last linky party 

with My Little Home and Garden's  

Sunlit Sunday

 series for this year, but Karen promises to bring it back 

for another series next year.  

I've picked up some new friends and followers and I appreciate that!

Today just happens to be my birthday and I'm feeling a bit nostalgic.  So I decided to give you a walk through my garden over the many years it was created.

I found this shot my sister took of me in 1991.  (I had a crazy perm back then) 

This was the yard and part of the garage.  I had white marble stones encasing the base of this fountain that was given to me that year for Mother's Day.  

I had planted dusty miller and coleus in a ring around it.

This was the year we moved in (1989). The home was built in 1976 and had some very outdated looks as well as a bunch of problems we didn't anticipate.  As you can see the back yard was all grass and there were a few shade trees that we've since lost.  We've remodeled every inch of this place including a new sidewalk and an entirely new deck with a better railing and design.

Near the garage we had a bulldozer come through and open a path because the dirt had been pushed right up next to the siding on the garage and it caused it to rot at the bottom.  We hired a contractor who built a retaining wall.

This is the wall in it's infancy, 1999

In 2000 we went full speed ahead and installed our own flagstone patio with a small pond.  We had an above ground pool that we removed and since the area had been leveled out for it, it was a natural beginning point for the project. 

  A layer of stones were added and compacted, then 

a thick bed of sand was installed.

   With the temperature fluctuations and deep level of freezing we have you have to make sure the drainage is good so it doesn't cause things to heave up.

This was 2001 the 2nd year with the new patio.  This all happened because I became inspired after watching HGTV on Saturday mornings- and I am lucky my 

husband is a great help. 

The front of our home is near a busy road so the backyard is our retreat.

We kept the path to the patio all grass for several years, but it was a bit of work to keep mowed, so we finally put in a flagstone path.

After several years we demolished the pond and expanded the area with more flagstone, stone walls and a new water fountain.  It's much easier to maintain than the pond was.  

I'm always changing things.  Some plants died off due to some things like voles and some I moved because I didn't like how they were looking in the spot I put them.  These days there are no large projects or changes planned.  I just have fun with it and you might call it my play yard.  

  

Late summer shots capturing some "sunlit" moments!

This was April 25, 2012...things do change quickly!

I'm already dreaming of things to do this year 

and I can't wait to dig the earth and smell the dirt again!

I hope you enjoyed my nostalgic walk through the garden and how it came to be.  

Cheers to spring and summer!  

Let's all dig in!!