where to begin~

The pace was very steady AND very busy leading into the holidays.

Things did settle down in January and February, but sort of accelerated soon after that, and then took off like a runaway train.

12, even 14 hour days became the norm, and I was just trying to hang in there.  Posting projects got pushed off the loooong lists—in favor of sleep. You know?  SOMEthing had to give.

When I found a couple short, surprise lulls~ trying to edit what pictures I DID have and gather my thoughts to write something felt daunting.

And I was exhausted.  So I passed.

Part of that exhaustion came from tough, early morning workouts AND cutting carbs.  CARBS.

* I’ll have to share some of my bragging rights on the workout progress soon!

But the sheer  –physicality–  of the tree damage-repair-moving plants-clean up of this big property was -d r a i n i n g.  There were  m a n y  “zombie” days.

OMGosh the changes without the tree and its shade!

The project scope grew exponentially and I wore a LOT of hats!  Landscape designer, landscaper, crew foreman, laborer, the buyer & deliveryman–and the watergirl so no one fainted on me from dehydration in the heat and humidity.

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The tough, laborious work continues, but is not so all-consuming anymore. And I’m back to tell you all about it!

The landscape changes, a bench, a dresser, the antique mall(s), a kid’s cubby, the pergola porch swing, new grapevines and trellis—

and a vacation!

Catherine

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What’s goin’ on~

We usually have the landscapers come deal with the Spring and Fall clean ups.

Their 3-man crew can knock out the Fall job in about 3½ hours—but the Spring clean up takes the same crew about 6½ hours of tedious work.  It’s a bit expensive…but worth it.

We decided this year to try to save some money because it’s going to cost sO much to deal with the tree.  So we’re trying to do the Spring clean up ourselves—with a little help.  We’re almost finished—YaY!  Clearly, we’re not as gOOd as the professional 3-man crew—c’est la vie.

*The Lilacs were sadly very short-lived this year, but the Irises are gor-OR-geous and make me think of Van Gogh!  And now the Peonies are just about to p♥p!

This is just one area of Irises!

My “little” great nephew LUV’d his rocker. (he’s camera-shy)

You can see by size it won’t last him very long.  But he really wanted it.

I also went to see the dance recitals of two nieces….

Now that Summer finally seems to be here -albeit a bit cOOl- I had a hankering for hard-boiled eggs and egg salad!

*Who says you can ONLY have colored eggs at Easter!?!  I color the eggs all year in beautiful colors!

And it’s summer— time for grilled veggies outside!  Don’t they look sO pretty?!  I love to keep a wide variety cut and at the ready to grill, drizzled with olive oil!

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I’ve been playing around with a fun chalk board for myself—but I’m stuck.  And I think I need some more tiles.

Only the upper left down and across is set—everything else is in the works.

I’ve been having fun watching a series on The History channel called The History of Slang!  Fun-funny-interesting!  Ever wonder about some of the weirdest sayings and where they come from-??

Lastly—I got in a 1st bicycle ride—8 miles!  Unfortunately my bike needed big repairs from sitting so long in storage, and I just got it back this morning.  *It’s gonna take a while to get used to the seat again.

Catherine

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