9 days from May 20th to May 27th (5 business days, 4 weekend days).
Completed:
Yard: My yard is a shoddy mess, mainly because it is a steep slope along front and right of the house (thankfully sloping away from the house, so no flooding) and it was/is painfully boring with lawn with dandelions and who know what else. I had a vague idea what I wanted to do with the slope, but needed loads of designing, planning (esp. finances), and finally execution.
This year has been declared the "Year of the Yard".
- Researched, called/emailed, interviewed, discussed, got estimates from landscapers. Finally, selected one landscaper and detailed plan, and measurements for breaking the slope into terraces with small retaining walls. As we designed and planned, I needed to research what stone, block? what color should the retaining wall should be. That lead to endless research into the designing retaining walls, sturctural stability, drainage system, and of course actually seeing the blocks and stones, pavers and coping stone at countless sites online and couple of them in the neighborhood towns. I don't think I have settled on this one yet, but I have a fair idea what I want.
- Researched endlessly (and I mean endlessly) online (a sample of the sites = Greenwood Nursery, Autumn Ridge Nursery, Wolf Creek Gardens, Moonshine Designs Nursery, Michigan bulbs, so on and on and on) and driving to nearby nurseries (Wilson Farms, Lexington Gardens, Mahoneys, Lowes, Home Depot and any other nursery I could find) for the trees, shrubs, flowering, non-flowering bushes. Researching for plantings meant literally walking or driving around town, taking pictures of plants/trees that I liked, asking neighbors and knocking on doors asking people what that plant was (that was weird! but what the heck!), asking strangers, getting back home, downloading, printing them and then researching them for seasonality, when to plant?, what soil?, how does it look like in summer and winter?, are there other varieties of the same genus?, where are they available?, how much does it cost? etc etc etc etc........ whew! I now have a set of plants/trees/shrubs that I have totally fallen in love with. So, the plan (subject to changes), for spring have Pink Flowering Dogwood, mid-end spring Lilacs (Lavender, Pink and White) and colorful Azaleas (Red, Orange, White, Fuchsia), end spring Deep Pink and White Rhododendrons, late spring through summer Pink and Red Myrtles, White Buddleias and possible colorful Gladiolas, fall have Pink dogwood display burgundy leaves. All along the season, spot the yard with Golden Euonymus, Rosy Glow/Burgundy Barberry, Salvias, Lavender, and the list goes on. Along with the flowering frenzy, I wanted to make couple of vegetable beds mostly with Tomatoes and some herbs.
- During my running around (rather driving) I picked up (it was so irresistible) bunch of herbs and planters for indoor planting. I am now a proud mum of a few indoor pots with Lavender (Munsted, Hidcote, Provence, English.... you think I am partial to Lavenders?), Thyme, French Tarragon, Chocolate Mint, Sweet Basil, Rosemary and a few succulents whose name I did not catch.
Along with yard work the other things that I managed to do are:
- Cleaned the garage (swept, washed and got rid of cobwebs), moved the packing boxes to the attic, trashed un-used stuff (thankfully this was the recycling week, so I could dispose of stuff), organized the yard and hardscape supplies.
- Cleaned the attic and organized boxes in attic for storage.
- Cleaned deck, and some part of the yard.... most of it is still shoddy, wacky mess which will get done sometime soon (hopefully this summer!)
- Porch work took a life on its own, I got down to design storage space with shelves or book cases and endlessly researched in local places and online for specific shelf constructions and/or book cases. Most designs, concepts died a natural death, as either they were too expensive or plain dorky or just not feasible or simply I got tired. Three good things happened for the porch, though, I finished staining the french doors (needs final finish), researched and got great deal on curtain rod brackets and rods and got a fantastic deal for curtain lining material. This was big for me as I had bought absolutely gorgeous silk materials for curtains, but the silly linning took 6 months to get. Now another project can get completed - curtains.
- Knitting could not be left behind. I completed two itty-bitty baby sweaters and one narrow scarf.
Perhaps the biggest achievement was I organized my To Do list... Funny, but true, now I have a little better system to track work done, work to be done and work that maybe a good idea to test out.
Not done:
There are so many things that I have not started or not done as yet. But this week was a great start. I did not get to relax, don't remember having wine (apart from one night where I was invited to a dinner party), I am exhausted from the vacation and need a vacation from the vacation. But knowing me, if I do have a vacation, I am going to be running around again. So, it was a great break for me to get organized and have a clear vision of what I want to do in the next few weeks, months, and perhaps years.
psssst..... I am sure everyone would like to see before and after pictures of my yard....... stay tuned.... I will keep all updated....