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There was so much ivy growing at the fence, there is about a five inch gap between the walk in front and the fence, I pulled most of it out, it will certainly come back

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Embarrassing but this is what this has become! OH is not out here like he used to be, well, he just mows, but that’s a lot and plenty exercise for him, but I am going to work on it as best I can

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That old bench has got to go. We were going to repair it but not sure now? It’s so hard to clean down and under in there. And the brick to the right there of the grass i’m killing has come apart bc before i bought this place they new water lines to city were replaced in the back yard and i imagine that’s where it was. Anywho just sitting and talking :)

Lol implementation not implantation! Kind of ironic I miss typed with that one?

You have a lot of work to do..pavers, bricks require work..I have weeds between them also and need to clean soon..I was going to do some things today, but I only managed to dig out a few chrysanthemums and replant some..the heat and humidity are too much and it feels like someone is squeezing my head because of it. Hopefully I manage to finish tonight. Calling all kind of apartments to see if they have anything for two months did not help either..they say one thing on their site and then something else on the phone. Some do not even answer..they want to text them..

Tomorrow the little one has an appointment for wisdom teeth..hopefully they can remove them soon, so she is home for at least a week before going for the internship..She has a cold, but should be ok. She's had it for a while, but pushed through because she had exams and the trip to Santa Barbara..now that she can relax, so the congestion is no longer ignoring her:) Good thing I just bought a large jar of honey:)

Oh good honey. It really helped me with my congestion. I really had too much though and may have caused some bathroom problems but only slightly. Ok, so she’ll be home for dental work and relax 😌 that’s good at least plan A. Well what about apartments? So frustrating. I’m sorry that’s been such an issue. Yes, online then calling and finding out different. Crazy just an act of congress to make something happen. Does she have an alternative vs an apartment? Is she the only one interning there from her school at this time? Wow, I had known she was doing that but had actually forgotten when. I imagine that did not help your head one bit. Remember you stating the barometric pressure could or may cause head aches for you last year. With the humidity it is usually high? I think? You may be onto something? Well, I do know you had planned on working on the chrysanthemums so you made your set goal. That’s more than most would get completed. ✔️. I do have a lot. It’s almost impossible to sweep with the weeds between the bricks. I lean with the broom, bend and pull, then sweep. I clean this not frequently but when I can. The patio really looks good if I can get past this time of year. The outskirts are my nemesis this year. It’s been touch and go. Spent too much time decorating and petting kitties lol. One of the girls I want to name Cheri, but still cannot tell two of the fluffy ones apart. And maybe one of the males Wilson. I’ve been trying to take notes. One of the short haired has to be a boy, he gets in my lap and just bites my knee. I had to give him a little spanking this morning lol. They pulled my sweat shirt jacket from the dining chair to sleep in. What do ya do? I’ll just wash it. I’ve been cleaning a lot last couple weeks, like more than I ever had to stay on top of the flea problem and put out our flea traps under a few spots, so far nothing in them, so I may have started soon enough to coral them. It can become very bad if you get fleas in the house especially if we don’t like or use conventional chemical treatments. And we comb them all every day and bath a few :).

Today I wanted to use the loppers on some low limbs and bushes, but I may not get to that today, that will just have to wait. I’m waiting on my little shelf for our glass cabinet but have not seen delivery yet. Tracking said today.

Printesa, where is the little one going for her internship?

Alice, wow! I am too old to do all that yard work! OH is finding he can’t do what he wants to do any more. For example, we had our yard helpers lay down pine straw this spring . Now weeds are growing under it. He thinks I should go pull the weeds. I told him go buy Roundup and call our helpers.🙄

Gls I’m getting to that stage and really in my mind I want to try to get this yard just in better shape that we don’t have these things to deal with. Not sure if that will ever be? Like plant things that don’t need much care but will slow the weeds from coming but I guess i could just leave it all but what a mess. Like where I put my two gardenias. Favorites and that area was all barren with all weeds. Every year I’de pull pull pull. Last year I stuck st. Augustine sprigs/ runners there from the front yard and it all took off to cover in just grass. Looks a ton better and not so much work but yea I know! I just said yesterday if we could find a kid that was pretty good just to come by every week maybe once or twice and help would be great! It’s hard for me and OH really hates doing anything out here anyway :(. Not his cup of tea :(. It’s good I proofread a little bit before I posted bc I had typed “just ignite it” lol, maybe it was reading my mind!

Well I have to say the basket started painting many moons ago now has it’s purpose 💗 it’s for the end of our bed on that black velvet chest cover but hasn’t made it there yet :).

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Ok we are in storm country again, lightning and thunder but I did get some sweeping done out back on the patio and got a picture of the one bed I did get in order, well enough for me last year for my cinnamon ferns, and I have two little ones coming up lol. I tell ya all this work will have an outcome! Not sure how good of an outcome but I am hopeful!

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I placed those red pavers there bc that is the side of our garage and the water run off makes a gully down the middle. It’s working pretty good so far to just splash it instead of washing out all the soil down and out on the end. My little shelf was delivered today so I shall play with that! Then work tomorrow. I get frantic around here on my little time at home only bc I know I’ll run out of time 😞 and lots I want to get done especially outside. Our heat wave is upon us I feel!

looks nice!

Who is that with the white feet?

Lol that is Karma! She is about 17 (?) now 💗

Thank you Happy, just simple beds really is all I need. I filled that with compost and really didn’t have many weeds in there. Looking for an all year round perennial for the two beds I cleared today with the elephant ears. The elephant ears were the mammoth but really they didn’t go that big, maybe this year. They always look so droopy in the heat, then I think I water them too much? Ugh!

Perfect basket for the kitty:)) They seem to find the best place like baskets, sweaters, boxes:))

I went back outside and pulled out all the mums that I needed to pull out..I will have to move whatever I can somewhere else..whatever makes it, makes it and what doesn't, it goes:) I cleaned most of the area I had in mind and I am happy with that. Tomorrow we are supposed to get rain

The little one is doing an internship starting on June 2nd and ends on August 1st. It in VA, just outside DC. There are other people interning...one girl who was going to share with her an apartment decided to rent through an airb an apartment that is shared by several people. If there were just girls, then sure, but there are also guys and the little one is not comfortable with that (we are not either). She found a girl who is subletting her apartment for that period. We will drive there Saturday morning to see it and make sure it's all good..so there goes Saturday:)..it's 2.5 hrs drive each way

Oh that’s quite a drive but really important. I would feel the same way of the co-ed arrangement and I’m glad your daughter does too bc I guess she would insist in their teen ways! Hopefully the place is alright! It probably will be for that period of time. I don’t know where the Santa Barbara area came in but I may have been confused. Wow! She’ll be a bit closer to home for a bit, nice!!! 💗 well you prevailed on the mums, lol. Good feeling to get some things done. Headache subside a bit, i’m hoping? Or did you just endure? We have been under tornado watches all evening may still be, not warning. But the big storms are passed. Yes, the kitties find all kinds of spots. Last week Karma slept behind the washing machine? I was a bit worried that she fell back there, but it was easy for her to get out bc it’s pretty far away from the wall, so I put her in the guest room when she came out and she seems to be very happy so far? Zoom stayed out during the storm, would not come in. I cannot make them if I cannot find them so I imagine he found a safe spot. There’s all kinds of places out there.

I got my shelf arranged a little bit, may move some things around. I’ll get a picture in the morning. I do not go in until 11:00 so I have some good morning time tomorrow :).

Alice you've really been working hard weeding your yard. That's a lot to handle. But you have made great progress. It's coming along. Good you are getting ahead of it before the real heat of Summer comes. I can tell you any plant that grows year after year is my friend. Those geraniums I have are the best. They are about 2 ft. high now and chuck full of flowers. I have a 36 in H urn in the center of them. Good thing I raised up the urn 2 ft. so you can see it with all those geraniums. I'll have to remember to snap a photo and show you guys. I wish they were perennials everywhere they are so pretty. The soil they are in is so good. After all my years of adding gypsum to it, that clay soil is now so loose I can literally cultivate about 10-12 inches in that dirt easily. For such a cheap product, It's done a great job breaking down the clay and there is good drainage. You might think about adding some to your planters before you put in your new plants. It may also neutralize the salt you used to kill the weeds.

Good morning, I’ll put gypsum on my list for sure! I can break these soils up and work it in to the beds with the elephant ears too???

The little shelf gave a bit of depth in the cabinet for our stuff. Still working on it.

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Looks good! It helps with grouping all of those. You are advancing well there

I was outside a bit to finish cleaning in the front flower beds, planted most of the mums that I dug out, sprayed the roses with some insecticide soap..it;s not sunny so it's ok. It will rain later, but that's ok..it has some time to kill some bugs. Once the rains stop this week, I will have to spray with Bt because it looks like those sawflies and bud worms are doing damage to the rose leaves

Sorry for confusing you with Santa Barbara. She went two weeks ago there for an event..it was a very long flight back from there to her school so having a cold, being tired, didn't help..no idea how she made it through that and then exams..

I hope the storm was not too bad there. I saw that in one of the Carolinas was a very strong storm that caused flooding and damages...

Take it easy there with work and everything you do...those kitties need you:)

They do love their baskets. She claims my laundry basket after I fold towers!

Nora, I just love how kitties find every basket or box or cushion they like:)

Of course ptsd Moozie is the exception to the rule. 🤪The only thing she will occasionally get into is a bureau drawer if I leave it open or a paper bag. No baskets. No boxes. Other than may be very briefly for about five seconds. I bought her a really nice cosy little cat basket and nothing doing.

I heard there’s some bad tornadoes in parts of the USA Midwest. Hopefully nobody here has been affected. I’m using slices of wood in my garden for pavers. Tamarack which resists rot.

Alice, I saw this and it reminded me of your yard..might give you some ideas

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The shelf is working great for $20 bucks, it can be expanded or squeezed in for a smaller size.

Thank you Printesa! It does look like what my yard could be 💗, too bad our paver paths have cement in between them. I’ve always loved the look of the grass growing in between or a low floral ground cover, then you can just mow there keeping it short and healthy. Got home, kissed everyone on the top of the head, had dinner and now to relax a bit. I did go around with the little hand vac where the kittens have been sleeping and clean up some for them. Work was work. I did take 2 gallons of 7 year old paint in and put it in the shaker for the garage. It’s still good, so that’s a good thing. I will wonder out to the back yard and look at the plants and check what little I have to see how they are doing. Hope you had a nice day! The weather has been crazy and the sun is out now but we were in more storms earlier.

Received the sheet set I ordered. We shall see, washing them tonight. I just got the ivory.

. Package is pretty!

Good morning garden gurus 💗 I ordered the asters that spread with stalons. Any advice to send my way? I may put them in big pots vs the ground? Trying to discover before I receive :)

Alice, i’ve never had a problem with aster spreading in any serious way, but then I live in the frozen north.

We have no issues here with asters. I have some wild ones in the back and they did not spread like crazy to not be able to contain them. I would plant them in the garden. Even if they were to spread, they are usually easy to pull..their roots are not that strong

I’m glad you both have not had problems, thank you ☺️ so I didn’t pick something that is totally uncommon. Would ya’ll say they are just a ho hum kind of bush? I’m guessing they are brown and pretty much bare i the winter? Sounds like I will have a late bloomer and my quince starts right up before spring. I’m trying to stagger some things around here for blooming times. If they get like the picture shows I could use them behind something maybe?

I was looking and after I get more of this cleaned up maybe in front of the old rock fountain then other plants and a path of stones in this old pond area? I guess I could let them go there!

. Houzz is being persnickety on posting photos

Surrounding my middle strip of magenta geraniums, I have borders of black slate. After much debate I think I am going for Blue Moneysworth ground cover that has tiny purple flowers, if available, and Creeping Jenny spilling over the Urn edge. in the urn Purple and White Agapanthas.