Apparently, home ownership is not just about the glamorous stuff like couches and curtains. You get to retain a level of ignorance about landscaping and yard maintenance when you rent apartments and townhouses. When the dog shits in the carport because the grass is too long in the yard, you're derelict on your homeowner duties.
When we bought the house, all the beds were covered in a red mulch. We have slowly but surely eliminated that unsightly and useless crap. Not-so-slowly, the weeds have started to take over the beds and the sides of the house, until one day you leave your back door after a night of hard rain and are greeted by sights like these.
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| This bed is to the left of my backdoor. That's my obese azalea that has two different color flowers. |
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| The is the area between the house and the carport where Bertha, the air conditioner lives with her mate, the Giant Elephant Ear. Those little pots are my seester's biology project and have since met their permanent home in the trash can. |
I'm not sure if you're aware that it's 114-degrees outside. Saturday morning we got up and hit the Home Depot for some weed mat and some rocks. (And a edger, because Tuesday is Corey Daniel's 33rd birthday and he wanted an edger. That's a different project.) Despite my fear of critters that live in dirt, I put on my gloves and weeded the azalea bed and leveled it with a dirt rake. Five bags of calico rocks and several cuts of weed mat later, we have this. I had a vision. I pursued it. I won.
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| Does anyone know how to trim an azalea? |
We have big plans for Bertha's habitat. I am really terrified of messing with that area too much because Bertha has been living and working happily right there for twenty-six years. I do not want her to get angry that I changed her room and stop working. Recently, Corey had to pull vines out that were growing in her, so I think we need to make some changes to get a couple more safe years out of her. We're going to put pavers down. Just take the little patio area and stretch it to the fence at my neighbor's property line. Won't take much stone. Won't take much time. We have to consider what to do with the Elephant Ear. And we're going to wait until it's cooler.
The second project we had on the list this weekend was the removal of the black metal fence. The back yard was accessorized with a black metal fence and gate that are ideal if you have dogs who need to be penned during the day. But Murphy does not stay outside, so the fence was unnecessary. Plus, the gate opened out near the carport, and Corey would white-knuckle it when I would swing into the carport. He's long been convinced I was going to hit the gate.
So Corey disassembled it, and now it's leaning against the neighbor's house waiting on trash pickup on Thursday. And after he broke out the birthday edger, the back of the house now looks more open. Not that any of the children who live in this house go into the back yard. "There's nothing to do out there."
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| Y'all know Murphy has that thing where he has to be in all the pictures. |
Speaking of Murphy, he's not so great a helper. He spent most of the day going in and out. His hair is too long for this heat. He does not care for machinery. But here's a picture of his ass and his face, which is something I bet you can't do adorably.
I should note that one section of the fence was harder than the rest to remove. It had been recently repaired and reinforced by our handyman after I backed into the fence with my car and knocked it off the post. That section took twice the effort to remove, and I almost did not remind him why, but honesty is our best policy. I am not the one who backed into the electric gate post and knocked the mirror off my car.
Removing the fence meant there were bolts sticking out of the concrete. I would say "giant" but probably only in this picture.
Out of safety concerns that the boys would go running into the backyard with excitement over the "nothing" there is to do back there and hurt themselves on those bolts, we had to add a power tool to our purchasing list this weekend. I allege 80/20 safety concern/tools make men feel tough behind the purchase of our very own grinder.
It turns out that soldiering supplies can be handy multi-purpose items, like these flame retardant gloves that keep one's hands protected from the sparks of stone cutting metal. And who needs to buy safety goggles when these patriotic sunglasses can protect the eye just as capably? I don't want to be one of those women who always asks people to tell her how cute her husband is, but ain't he darling?
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| Now that they've cooled, we have blunt, almost flush pegs where giant bolts used to be! |
May that stone grinder wheel rest in peace, though. Birthday Boy ground that sucker down to almost nothing.
Next weekend, the boys are back in Beaumont and we're taking a road trip to FORT POLK to buy a Men's Dress Uniform.
Go Corey. It's your birthday.
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