More photos of Josephine

I wanted to post better night time pictures of Josephine. The first couple are not my favorites but here they are anyway.



The following pictures are more like actually being there.

I know Aunt Josie would love this.

I am quite proud of her.

Some random photos of the day

This Hyacinth is prettier than it was last year but it still has a way to go. It smells wonderful.

These are going to be pink Hyacinths when they bloom. My republican friend gave me these a couple of years ago. You know who you are.

My dad gave me these lanterns yesterday. He gave me two of them. I love them. Can't wait to see them with a candle in them. Someone wanted me to paint them, but I like things to be weathered. It makes them more interesting.

I cut this Forsythia back hard last year. I was worried she wouldn't bloom. No worries now.

At a glance you might be thinking, wtf. Well, if you look closely you will see the grass starting to emerge. I have been worried sick that the grass wouldn't get going by the time of the party. Now I need to research how long I should wait before I mow fresh grass.

Cleaning out the ponds, again.

I had mention yesterday that I fixed the Bamboo fence. Well here it is. It might not look like much of a fence, but it keeps the neighborhood dogs from doing their business in my flower bed.


Today was pond cleaning day. As you can see they were filled with leaves and muck.


Its hard to see in the photo but the bottom 3/4ths of this pond is nothing but leaves.

The bog garden is packed down with leaves.

Here is the upper pond and reflection garden. Most of the leaves are gone. I did not do a supreme job but I have my reasons.

The love pond looks really dirty, but it has been cleaned and just needs to settle. It was a very windy day and I could not keep all the leaves out of the pond. Imagine this photo without the wet vac.

Here it is now. No leaves and no wet vac.

The bog garden is free from the leaf buildup.

Here is why I did not do a marvelous job cleaning the ponds this year. I usually pump all the water out, clean out the ponds, then refill them. I went and bought some new attachments to get the pump going, but it turns out the pump was broken. That is why I had to use a wet vac for part of the project. That did not work out well either, and ended up dumping the water out with a 5 gallon bucket. Ugh. I knew it was going to be a hard day but this was ridiculous.

The side bar is built

I created a things to do list to ensure that everything is completed by Honey's graduation. The list is quite extensive, and sometimes overwhelming. All I can do is take it one day at a time, and have faith that it will all get completed. I am very optimistic about having it all finished. If yesterday and today are any indication, it will be done ahead of schedule. With that being said, I finished everything on my list for yesterday and today, so I got a jump start on Thursday's list. I skipped Wednesday because I am cleaning out the ponds that day, and it is an all day job. The biggest thing on the list for Thursday, was to build a side table for the bar. I needed something to hold the blenders, so they are not taking up space at the bar. I also wanted something to hide the extra cooler and trash can.

I was getting quite low on materials. I built this table with landscape timbers, the last couple of deck boards, and the extra spindles. I realize this is really not a table but what else would you call it? It is wide enough to sit the blenders on, and high enough to use the blenders while your standing. I am tall, and do not want to be hunched over trying to make drinks. If memory serves me correctly, I made a plethora of Lava Flows last time. I want things to run smoothly and this little table will ensure that happens.

I plan on painting this trash can to make it a little easier on the eyes. I also need to clean up this cooler that spent the winter outside. Its amazing how filthy something can get, just by sitting out in the elements. You really won't see the trash can or cooler unless your behind the bar. By the way, for any of my friends looking at this blog, I am taking Bar shift volunteers. lol

Things are turning green

Here are a couple photos of the front yard. The grass is really starting to come into its own.

The shrubs and trees I planted last fall might not look like much at the moment, but they are alive and well. I am looking forward to see if the Kwanzan flowering cherry tree blooms this year.

In the container at the bottom of the photo, is bursting with Delphinium plants from last season.

It does not come out in the photos but the trees are starting to fill out with buds.

Some of the smaller projects of the day

I put leaf mulch around more of the flower beds. I started this bed last year from starts and transplants that I received Dad. It is mostly filled with Lilies but there are a few Cone flowers and one Black eyed Susan.

I mulched the Memory garden. I am hoping to keep the deer out of the yard this year, hence the windmill.

This will look much better when the wood mulch is covering the weed fabric.

I got the screens up on the gazebo today. I was worried that they were going to cause me problems. They didn't.

I painted these two planter boxes. I have had these on the front porch for years. They have been numerous colors but I like this color the best.

My cousin Chrissy painted this concrete planter for me today. Now all that I need to do, is decide what to grow in it.

This years greenhouse

I moved all the seedlings to the greenhouse yesterday. I up potted quite a few plants that needed some attention. All of the seedlings made it through the night quite well. The temperature stayed about 55 degrees through the night.


Yes it is quite a mess and needs dealt with.

These are the Hyacinth Beans that Dad gave me last fall. I have never grown these before, but so far they have been very successful. Hell, I did not even think that the seeds would germinate. When I was given the seed pods, they were not dried. The information I found about Hyacinth Bean seeds, led me to believe that the pods needed to dry completely on the vine for the seeds to be viable.


On the top shelf I have Balsam Impatiens. I grew them for the first time last year and they were beautiful. I knew I was going to grow them again. Here they are, and they are doing better this year than last. I can't wait to see them bloom.

Doggie patio

I put almost 2 tons of gravel down today. I hope this keeps the mud in the back yard, instead of the family room floor.

Scooter does not like the new area. He does however, love to sit on the top step. It gives him a better view of the neighborhood.

The bench looks much better on this side of the fence.

Josephine by solar light

I hooked up the solar lights today. It was so difficult. I had to drill through the brick, and it did not want to be drilled through. I actually caught the drill bit on fire by the fourth hole. Not working was not an option, it was going to work and it did. As for the photos below, not so much. I will work on my night time photography skills, I promise. lol


I hope you get the feel for the setting, even with bad photography. She is quite spooky at night, which Aunt Josie would love.

This photo I used the flash. You can see the solar lights attached to the brick. I also have another solar light behind the fountain lighting up what will be the Bamboo.

The clean up of the dog side of the fence

It was a good day today. I cleaned up the dog side of the fence. There was a lot more to do than I realized. I started the day by taking down the section of fence that was once around the Den of Mischief. I then moved part of the fence to help hide the compost bins. You can see it in the photo below.

I used a bunch of scrap 4 x 4's. I drilled holes and ran rebar through the post. I put the post down to hold back the pea gravel I am putting down Monday.

I used stones from an old flower bed to make this retaining wall. I love a free project. The dogs were constantly digging and piling up dirt in front of the gate. It was impossible to get the gate open all the way to get the mower through. I should have done this a long time ago. Just for the record, I did not put these containers here to beautify the wall. lol I am hoping it helps keep the dogs from walking/climbing on the wall. I did not mortar the wall, it is just dry stacked.

I put down some leaf mulch to keep down the mud. Besides I have plenty of leaf mulch.

My favorite things so far

A few of my favorite things in our new playground. Of course I love Josephine being visible from the entire yard.

This is the view that Josephine sees.

I found the issue with the fountain and it was a quick fix. Yeah, I don't get to say that very often.
It might be simple but I adore this bench.