Yard Work

Everyone has been posting such lovely pictures of their yards. Our yard is definitely a work in progress. It was well on it's way to being a great yard several years ago when we made the decision to add the guesthouse for my mom. Well there went the front and backyard. We had the driveway ripped out, removed trees and the front yard leveled. Since then it's been one project after another. Seth has been very helpful with the front yard and besides needing a tree it's well on it's way to looking great. We moved thebench/trellis seat to the back yard after the wind damaged it last fall. I just couldn't bear to part with it. It's in shabby shape, but I don't think the morning glory vines in the backyard will mind.

Not sure what these little beauties are but they're pretty. Seth tends to pick the seed packets by his likes and dislikes.

I've never had any luck with daisies but Seth has some great ones growing in the front yard.

This is Seth's hollyhock forest as I like to call it. These were all seeds that my aunt gave me years ago before she passed away. We even have an awesome "black" hollyhock. It's really very dark purple. We save the seeds every year for the next year, but mostly they self seed.

Hollyhocks up close and personal.

This was taken earlier in the spring and it's the front yard. I think this was March.
This is the yard last spring, 2007. It was looking okay. What you can't see is the ground in the yard is not level and all the Bermuda in the flower beds. The bobcat the contractor used just wrecked havoc back here. Hubby and father-in-law are spraying roundup on the Bermuda and then will begin the tedious process of hand leveling it. The yard is too small to accommodate any kind of equipment now.
Last of the built in brick flower beds. I had to remove the last rosebush because of disease. We had all new cement poured when we did the guesthouse.
This flowerbed creates an "L" around the back of the house.
Oh please don't look closely at this patio. It needs a lot of work.
I love the little tiny tunia plant.
Here's what is left of the bench.
Of course we have morning glories growing here at Morning Glory Cottage.
This is what we started with. Yuck!
Now. We pulled out the cannas and hope to eventually put in a raised bed in the corner.
Before.
After.
Behind the chairs.
This is the guesthouse. Seth put in the window flower box just recently for me. You can see the grape on the ground. It needs a new arbor. The old supports rotted away. Hopefully this will begin to look better soon. It looks a little bit better than what we started with 8 years ago. At least there's no broken glass and some greenery. But that's another story for another post. Have a great weekend everyone!

Remembering Mom

When my mother passed away in January we knew we couldn't spread her ashes at the meadow due to the snow. So we waited until the meadow was full of wildflowers. She would have loved it. She never got a chance to see the meadow in person because of the elevation and her breathing conditions. So this past weekend we went to the meadow.
This meadow has belonged in my husband's family for a long time, since the early 1900's. It was purchased with the intent of grazing livestock namely sheep.
My uncle and his wife came up for the day and my best friend Kelly and her husband. It was a beautiful day. Seth got up early and took the pictures you'll see of the meadow. That's right the sun is just starting to shine into the meadow at 6:54 a.m. according to the camera. The beautiful purple flowers are called shooting stars. Mom loved the color purple and this was so very appropriate for her. We love and miss her a lot. Here's to you Mom.
This is a California Buckeye, native to California. We see a lot of these on our way up the mountain. They're gorgeous in full bloom.
Wild sweet peas just blooming away. We don't have these at the cabin, but they make the trip up just awesome.
The meadow at 6:54 a.m.
Shooting stars. You can see they just cover the meadow in the above photo.
Tina and Marissa in the meadow.
Hope everyone out there is staying cool and enjoying summer to the fullest.

Pirates of Parody

I want to take a moment and tell you all about the last production the drama club did. Seth and Tina have really enjoyed their time with the drama club and it's a great group of kids. Andrew, one of the members, wrote the play and even starred in it as the lead character. Seth played Will Turnover and Tina had three parts to keep up with. It certainly keeps them busy, but they have a lot of fun with it. The play was a parody of the Pirates of the Caribbean. It was so funny. You really should have seen it. For amatuer actors/actresses they do a wonderful job.

Seth and Andrew (aka Jack Chickadee) battle it out with bread sticks.

Swearing to help each other.

Tina as a pirate (biggest part)

Tina as a village baker (smallest part and no speaking piece here)

Tina as Rosie

This is why I haven't had time to blog. The closer production date gets, the busier it gets. Combine that with end of school year and you have pandemonium. Did I forget to mention that I also cooked the staff end of year breakfast and did my mother-in-law's retirement party the next day? So you could say that May was extremely busy. The last two weeks all I've done is work in the yard and try to decompress. It's been wonderful and I couldn't have asked for better weather. I hope to get other projects done this summer also. Like my shabby chic shower curtain and finally fixing up the guest house. Also hope to blog regularly. I'm off to get caught up in blogland. Tomorrow we're going to the beach for the day. These are pictures from last year, but we'll be at the same place. Have a great day!