A Big Mulch Porject

We got really lucky when we bought our house, in the fact that all the front landscaping and been professionally done.  Unfortunately, not all of it had been kept up.  The first summer we lived here, I spent a lot of my time outside pulling weeds, laying landscape fabric, and putting mulch (purchased in bags from Menards) all around.  Then the next summer, I spent zero time on the landscaping since I was pregnant and had other things to accomplish.  This summer, we kicked it into high gear and both of us spent a lot of time outside working!

We had a goal to fix all the landscaping just in the front of the house.  For a couple weeks, I would spend a couple hours each day outside working on pulling up the landscaping fabric I laid a few summers ago (weeds were poking through and we deemed it a lost cause), pulling weeds, and trimming all the bushes.  On the weekends, Steve would work outside with me and he would cut and prep all the edges for the mulch.  We had most of the area ready for mulch by the July 4th weekend.  We took advantage of that 3 day weekend and had a huge truck load of mulch delivered from Resource Recycling the Thursday before (we got a discount for advertising for them on Facebook!).  We were able to spread the mulch quickly in that same evening.  Only, we didn't even make a slight dent in the mulch pile! We quickly changed our goals and busted our butts to get a ton done that weekend!

We ended up getting the entire front landscaping done, as well as the landscaping that rounded around the side of our house.  I'm pretty sure that area hasn't been touched in 5+ years.  Steve cut out about a foot of grass along the edge while I spent my time weeding.  After a section was all weeded and edged, he'd lay Preen down and then mulch.  There were a couple of bush/trees that drive Steve crazy.  They were overgrown and hide the house.  He wants to just tear them out, but I compromised with trimming them way down.  This project wasn't even on our to-do list, but after a quick decision and an hour of work.  That area looks tons better!

So what about Bean?  Well, she is an absolute trooper!  She is pretty adaptable to going with the flow.  On the days where I'd work out in the yard during all the prep work, I'd take her jumper outside. She'd play in it for awhile.  Then I'd put her down for a nap and continue working while she slept.  On the weekends when Steve and I were both out in the yard.  I'd work along with him during her naps.  When she was awake, I would have her play on a blanket in the yard for a little bit.  But the blanket play wasn't the best solution.  She liked to pull at the grass and swallow/choke on it. So usually one of us was playing with her while the other was working.  A couple of times while we were outside, the neighbor's grandkids would come and play with her on the blanket.  They all loved it!

So usually I'm fairly good about doing before and after photos, but I didn't get many before photos.

(Bean hanging out on the blanket playing.  The first couple of times we had her outside, she wouldn't go off the blanket.  She didn't like the feel of grass so we didn't have to worry.  But then she got adventurous and would not only go off the blanket, but would eat the grass!  Or at least try.  She had one attempt that resulted in a huge gagging fit that nearly put Steve over the edge.)

(Before photo of the mulch freshly dumped!)

(Here's a good in action shot.  You can see Steve's edging and my weeding!  Notice all the weeds in the back corner?  The entire landscaping from this edge all the way around the house was just covered in hundreds of weeds.)

(Close up of the weeds.  We also tore out a bush that wasn't doing much since it didn't get good sunlight.)

(Debating on whether or not we should tackle these bushes. There are three of them that hide the side room on our house.  We've tried to trim them in the past, but haven't had much luck.  We decided to really cut them back, just wasn't sure how to get it done.)

(Steve started with using the loppers, but wasn't having much success.  He went to set up our little chainsaw while I took over the loppers.  He was able to cut through the thicker branches with the chainsaw while I continued trimming one branch at a time. )

(The finished product.  We wanted to trim them down even more, but then they just wouldn't been heaps of sticks.  So we decided to leave some leaves on, even it it looks strange.  Ha.  Notice how half is mulched and half is awaiting mulch.  Steve also had to finish the edging along the side on the right.)

(After doing all the landscaping on the front and right side of the house, and even putting some in the back.  We decided we were done with the project for this year.  We were burnt out from all the work.  We probably spent about 3 weekends and two solid weeks on this project.  I could've gotten it done quicker without Bean, but we still exceeded our goals! Our neighbor took the rest of the mulch off our hands.

(We still have a few things here and there to work on - like weeds popping up in the patio sidewalk.)

(When we worked on the landscaping a few summers ago, we only got the landscaping done just to the right of the blue door.  We never got to in front of the window, or around the side of the house.  Our original goal was just to get done to the front living room window.)

(This opens up the house so much!)

(We got the mulch all done along the side.  If we were overachievers, we would have continued in the back around the patio with the grill, but that didn't happen.  I guess there's next year?)

Highly Anticipated

Back in the middle of May, Steve and I noticed these weird plants poking up out of the ground in random locations in the backyard.  We weren't sure what they were (I thought they were weeds and was going to pull them up), but we decided to wait it out (or maybe just too lazy to do something about it).  Finally, some pods started to form and after some research online, we discovered they were lilies.

Since before memorial day, we've been pampering them with lots of water and checking their growth.  We (Steve more-so) have been highly anticipating the day that they would bloom.  Lo & behold, they finally bloomed over the weekend!  In fact, the first one popped upon the morning of my LASIK surgery.  That afternoon, there was a terrible storm and we were afraid we'd lost them, but they are good and strong and are continuing to bloom into big lilies.

(This picture is actually a bonus picture.  I was really taking a picture of the mulching job and new pavers in the back of the house -- more on that in another post-- but you can see the lilies on the left.  They are located to the right of the garage as you pass through the brick wall into the backyard.  The bushes on the right of the picture are on the backside of the house.  We just began mulching the backyard and laid the pavers to keep the mulch form falling onto the sidewalk -- we are mulching pros!)

(On the morning of my LASIK surgery, I happened to spot that one of the pods had finally opened up!)

(After a crazy storm that knocked down some big limbs -- more on that in another post, ha!-- the first lily was opened more and they were doing great!)

(The blooms are bigger than your hand!  We are thoroughly enjoying seeing them through our side kitchen window.  All the anticipation finally paid off!)

(The next pictures were taken today, so you are all up to speed on our lilies.)

(Now that they've bloomed, they've become top heavy.  We will be purchasing some stakes to help support the lilies! But for now, our bags of mulch are doing a great job.)

(Next on our anticipation list is my tomatoes!  On a Menard's trip, I got a hanging tomato plant as a bonus item --Thanks Steve!!  I'm a little skeptical of how it will work out, but we'll see soon enough!  The hardest part was finding a location that it could hang without squirrels being able to get to it.  For now, it's hanging on our arch in the backyard, but it's not permanent (as you can't walk under the arch now). Before purchasing a better stand, we wanted to make sure the plant produces.)

(There's 2 green tomatoes in the center that I can't wait to turn red!  There are several blooms on the plant, too, so I anticipate a lot more tomatoes!)

Outside

I haven't had time to keep up with the blog the past few weeks because we've been soaking up the beautiful warm weather outside.  Who wants to stay inside on their computer when the sun is shining outside?

Our main priority outside has been working on the landscaping.  We have been very fortunate that one of the previous owners had the yard professionally landscaped.  However, more recent owners did not upkeep the landscaping.  If there was once mulch, we don't see any signs of it.

We decided that the best way to battle the weeds threatening to takeover the plants is to lay down weed fabric and mulch over it.  We decided which areas were most important and are doing small sections at a time.  So far we have two main areas in front of the house completed (using 3 rolls of fabric and 24 bags of mulch).  We know it will take us all summer to get all of it done, but we're working on it.

Most people don't put their lawn as a priority (especially the first summer they're in their house).  However, our neighborhood has several old houses with very extravagant lawns.  We feel in order to fit in, we have to have a semi-decent yard.  Since moving in, we've done little things around the yard that have made positive differences.

(These are the two areas in front of the house that have been weeded, fabric-ed, and mulched.)

(I should have take the pictures sooner when all the roses had bloomed.  You will just have to look at the previous post about Gabbie to see the roses in bloom.  Also, the bush in the left of the picture is need need of much help.  I have no idea what it is, and it once was full of leaves and beautiful, most have died and there are weird seed pods in the middle.  Any advice on caring for this plant is appreciated!)

(View of the sidewalk between the landscaped areas.  One of our lights along the path bit the dust.  The rod broke and it no longer stood upright.  Me tripping on it while pruning the trees may have been the culprit. . . )

(Here's an updated picture of the yard.  No more dandelions!!  Now we just have to kill the clover and wild violets and it will be perfect.)

(Here is the patio area in the backyard.  I spent one day cleaning it up, trimming the bushes, and reattaching the roses to the arch.)

For Memorial Day, Steve and I headed went to Colorado to visit his family.  While in Colorado, we got to spend lots of time with his family, visit some friends, and enjoy the beautiful Colorado weather and scenery.  We went on a couple of different hikes -- one nearby his parents' house and the other up in the mountains.  We also got to go to a Colorado Rockies baseball game (which was the first baseball game I have ever been to).  We had awesome seats thanks to Steve's dad!  It just so happened that we were in town the same time as Steve's best friend growing up (whose name is also Steve) was in town, too.  We got to meet up with him and his wife for a delightful breakfast.  It was so good to see them!

Now that we're back home, we're back to our various projects.  Steve is back to work and has to be in Cincinnati a few days this week, leaving me to tend to the house alone.  Yesterday, I tackled fixing our grill.  Our grill is only two years old but looked a little worse for wear.  We got it when we moved to TN (thanks mom!) and we didn't take the best care of it.  We had a little porch off the back of the house that we just stuck it under, even in the winter (which I was told it didn't get cold or snow in TN, so I didn't think about winterizing it).  After being outside constantly for over 1.5 years, the grill had accumulated some rust.

We decided that a grill should be a lifelong investment (especially since we grill out 2-3 times a week in the summer) so we bought a grill cover and are taking much better care of it this year.  So back to yesterday -- I sanded, washed, and dried the grill really well in prepartion to paint it.  I covered up the areas I didn't want painted and I used a high-heat spray paint from Rustoleum.  Our grill is back to looking brand new (okay, maybe more like a year old) and protected under its cover.

(Here's the grill after I sanded, washed, and covered up the parts not to be painted.  The lighting doesn't show how rusty the grill looked, but don't worry -- I got some closeups.)

(Here's the rust on the front panel of the grill.)

(Here's the gross left side table.)

(This is after I've painted and removed all the coverings!  I was truly amazed at the paint.  I was afraid you'd be able to tell it was spray painted, but it covered so well!)

(No more rust on the front panel!  Woohooooooo!)

(This is the right side table top.  It was hard to keep the lettering around the nob without it looking bizarre, but it is what it is.  You can see it's original state surrounded by the new paint around the know and on the warning table on the panel top.)

(The grill is now nicely tucked under it's cover.  Hopefully, I won't have to repaint the grill again.  I also had to get a new propane tank for the first time in 2 years.  So we literally have a new grill to use this summer!  I'm already planning grilling out steaks sometime this weekend. Visitors are welcome - ha ha!)

Spring Cleaning -- Outside!

Since we just moved into our house (I think it still counts after 5 months to say you still just moved), the inside of our house doesn't need any spring cleaning (except for those areas that haven't been cleaned yet from moving. . . ); however, our yard and exterior of the house are in dire need of some attention.  Steve and I have both been busy working on various outside projects.

Steve has a few outside projects that will probably be an all-summer deal.  First off, he has been intently researching via books and internet about slate roofs.  He found a place in Columbus, OH that carries slate tile that we will be visiting in the next few weeks in order to buy some tile to repair the garage.  He has purchased several slate tools and is anxiously awaiting the new tile in order to fix the roof.  I am not a fan of this whole idea.  I'm okay with him fixing the garage since it isn't that tall; however, there are some tiles on the house (3 stories up!) that need to be fixed that Steve wants to do.  by himself.  on a ladder.  I am not a fan.

Since that's not something he can do until he gets the tile, he has switched gears to his 2nd project, which involves repairing some of the downspouts, creating correct draining grade around the foundation, and fixing some gutters.  We went to Menards (Steve's new-found favorite place) and bought some new downspouts that will be used throughout his project.  Most of the spouts just need some added joints at the bottoms, and of course angling spouts for proper drainage.  The most intense part of the project involves wrapping a downspout around a window in order to make the water flow away from the foundation (which we know is a big issue buy the condition of the basement walls and water that we find on the floor).  I don't understand most of this endeavor (like the "how" it will be executed.  Talk to Steve for more information).

(A lot of the gutters are in bad shape.  Steve hopes to be able to bend it back himself and not have to replace the gutters.)

(In the backyard, there is some sort of clay tile drainage system.  We have no idea of the system is clear and working properly or if it's all clogged and causing more trouble.  We are just leaving that as is; although, Steve is going to fix the downspouts to connect to the system properly.)

(In one corner of the house, the connection between the gutter and downspout is nonexistent.  That piece just sways in the wind.  Steve tried to reconnect it once, but it wouldn't stay.  He has purchased a new joint and will properly connect it.)

Originally, there were downspout pieces buried underneath the landscaping in one corner of the house, but the downspouts weren't connected.  Steve dug those up and has come up with a new plan.  He is going to shorten the downspout (pictured) and will create an angle with a joint connector and lay another downspout off of the angle which will take the water away from the house and put into the yard.  We'll do before and after pictures of this process when that project gets executed.)

(Another thing that needs to be done, besides fix the gutter, is to clean all the gutters.  Especially now that all the helicopter seeds -which I detest and will talk about later -- have fallen.)

His 3rd project involves parching up the mortar in between all the bricks. Awhile back, he had bought some mortar and tools and was going to do it the old fashioned way, but on a whim (and again a trip to Menards) he found mortar in a tub that goes on easier.  He did a little area, but the color doesn't match at all.  The mortar in the tube (and from the bag) are grey tones, whereas our house has a beige mortar.  After some quick research, he has discovered that houses pre-WWII were made with a lime-sand-cement mix; whereas post WWII, they dropped the lime & sand.  So, now he's back to square one on that project and has to decide the next course of action.

Lastly, Steve now has a lifelong project of yard work.  He is definitely missing the yard work from TN (we mowed maybe 1x per month in summer because the grass was bizarre and mostly weeds).  Our yard is the saddest yard on the block.  It is full of dandelions and has obviously not been taken care of.  Steve has had several people stop and ask if he needs help (for $$ of course).  Steve hasn't decided yet that that is the necessary route.  After some research (have I mentioned how great Steve is at researching stuff before executing?), he decided to buy some weed killer/lawn fertilizer pellets and a lawn spreader.  He has done one application so far and we are awaiting the results in the next week or so.  His mowing record for this year is already up to 2.

(Our dandelion graveyard or our front yard)

My work has been focused on the landscaping and plants.  Last week, I spent 2 exhausting days outside weeding in the main area of the landscaping.  I filled up 3 lawn bags full with all the weeds I pulled.  I can't believe how many weeds there were, it was very deceiving how the landscaping looked and what was thrown away.  I also moved a flowering bush to a different location ( I think I may have killed it in the process, but the verdict is still out on it), planted the azalea tree Steve's parents bought us, and replanted the window boxes.  I still have a couple more sections in the front landscaping and the entire back to do, but I'm waiting on the wind to die down and the temperature to go back up to continue in that endeavor.

Landscaping Before Weeding:

(Those are rose bushes surrounding some sort of tree that starts the path from the driveway to the front door.)

(Here you can see the weeds on the left, the right side has been weeded (which is why you can see dirt under the bushes).  I think that was bag #1 on the right.)

After the weeding:

(Yay!!  Weeds are gone! )

(Here is a closeup of that tree and rosebushes from the "before" picture.  You will have to disregard all the *expletive* helicopter seeds everywhere.  We will eventually cover the dirt with landscaping fabric (already purchased) and then cover with mulch.  We are waiting on all the stupid helicopter seeds to fall before completing the landscaping.)

(Yay for clean landscaping!!  I still have to do all the weeding on the right side of the sidewalk.)

(I was afraid the flower box would look so puny-- which it does -- compared to the window.  However, once those little flowers start growing, some are supposed to be between 2 - 3 ft tall!  Ha ha, we'll see how they hold up in window boxes.)

(We have 2 window boxes, one on the big fancy glass window in the front and the other under the kitchen window on the side.  Steve and I are not flower experts (although I pretend to be) we didn't know what species of plants would grow well together or hold up well in the flower box.  All I knew was to get plants according to the sunlight specifications.  We'll see how we did in a few months. . .)

(Closeup of the flowers.  I have already forgotten the flower names.  I'm horrible at flowers.  I think the blue one on the left is either a peony or pansy (it was one of those).  The purple ones I know are snap dragons.  There is also a green one all the way to the left that was a mixed variety and we have no idea what color it will be (it may also have been a snapdragon).  I really don't know.  We just chose what looked neat according to the sunlight specifications.  

(So, as a kid I LOVED the helicopter seeds.  I would toss them in the air and run around as they fell.  They brought so much joy in my life.  Now as an adult, I HATE them with a PASSION.  These STUPID seeds are everywhere!!  We have 3 big trees on our property that are dropping them.  They drop on our roof, in our backyard, in our front yard, all over the driveway -- everywhere!  They manage to fly in when you walk in or out of the house, they stick on our shoes and go throughout the house.  I found one on my bedside table (which I was convinced Steve had placed there, but he said no) and one under a candle in our x-fireplace in our bedroom.  I HATE them.  I can't wait for them to finish falling!  I tried to sweep some up, but they stick to the pathway pavers and just flutter around from the wind.  Ugh.  I have a date with our leaf blower as soon as the last one falls.  Then someone has a date with cleaning them out of our gutters but I think we're gonna hire someone for that.)

(No that is not a random branch stuck in our yard, it's a tree!!  Steve volunteered through work to help prepare some trees to be donated and planted around Lima.  Because of helping with the project, he was given one.  We are the new owners of a tulip poplar tree (because we need another tree in our yard).  It'll be interesting to see how fast it grows.)

(Close up of our baby tree.)