Does this picture ring a bell?
You might think you recognize it from last year just after I broke my knee.
If so, this is actually the photo your enviable elephant memory is conjuring:
…which means all that sh… uh, shovel-ready stuff in the first photo is for THIS year’s backyard landscaping adventure.
Before we move forward, maybe I should bring you up to date…(I should’ve done that last summer, but sitting at a computer desk with a broken knee was flipping uncomfortable…and I’ve been playing catch-up and making excuses ever since).
SO WHAT DID “WE” DO WITH ALL THAT MATERIAL FROM LAST YEAR?
Well, first…because I was stuck sitting on my… aspirations, Mr. D&D needed help!
We were forced to recruit from the in-house personnel pool. Boy, were they excited! “Sure, Pop…hand me a shovel! I can’t wait to get started! Maybe we can help Mom dust and clean toilets if we finish early.”
Somewhat reluctantly, they joined Mr D&D and helped install drainage to our springtime swamp area…which is just below the two-tier wall we built in 2016.
After adding stone and drain pipe to what was a runoff drainage ditch, they topped it off with stone screenings and turned the two-tier wall area into a little “secret pathway”. Mr. then trimmed it out with a short stone wall border.
Next, the family crew planted nine trees: three each of Chestnuts, Princeton Golds and Crimson Kings.
Chestnuts are a sentimental favorite for us. Mr.’s late uncle gave us a seedling he planted from a chestnut. It was over 16′ feet tall when we moved and we were sad to leave it behind.
The Princeton Golds and Crimson Kings are both Maple trees and are each beautiful on their own. But when paired together against a sea of “regular” green, they create a stunning contrast of color. We have them in several places and they are showstoppers.
The “boys” learned a lot and really did help their dad while I was sidelined. I was pretty disappointed to be a spectator, because–for an upper middle-ager–I take great pride in being a yard beast. But, even though they weren’t thrilled to help, I know the boys were proud to be part of the finished product….well, ONE was 🙂
I thought we were done for the season.
Then, sometime in August, we had a surprise visitor.
Maybe he was looking to teach Jack a second lesson.
“Flower” kept returning every night…digging and digging under the collapsing, builder-installed retaining wall that we had long-ago nicknamed “the pit of despair.” (Still the focal point of a very long escrow stand-off).
His nightly prolonged visits started to trigger post-traumatic stress in Mr. D&D from our dating years. A family of skunks had taken up residence under his parents’ front steps, and coming home each night was fraught with olfactory peril.
I never saw a checkbook open so fast! Within a week, he contracted to have a new retaining wall installed. No DIY project this time! Boom! Done.
Our guest seemed to take the hint.
PHEW! (After Jack’s exposure, I can promise you that “phew” is a very expensive, but worthwhile alternative to “pee-yew!”)
But wait, there’s more.
For several years, we’ve been waiting (and waaiiiitinggg) for the guy who helped us with the chess garden to come back and help us extend the sidewalk to the back of the yard.
A sidewalk? What idiots would put a sidewalk in their backyard?
These idiots:
In addition to a few other good reasons….every morning we love to “walk the yard” but most days we can’t get very far because it’s a swamp back there. I suppose we could walk around the nearby court instead, but I can’t very well do THAT in my pajamas pants and sweatshirt… (The Queen Of The Neighborhood would have a petition in my mailbox before lunchtime.)
As long as the checkbook was out and exposed to oxygen, we finally contacted another concrete guy, and, last September the sidewalk was well underway.
Once we decided where the path would lay, we asked the contractor to repurpose those boulders from the collapsed retaining wall as a border. That turned out to be a great addition to the plan!
We had several lovely autumn mornings sitting under the huge black poplar tree until the weather finally turned too cold to enjoy the frequent walks that start, end, and amend our Fitbit step counts.
With “infrastructure” in place…the spring weather returned this year along with our backyard walks. During each, we bicker about revisit what we might plant and whether groundcover might make it all easier to maintain.
And then we went to the nursery and Mr. saw these:
and it was like:
Mr.: “Hey, Em. How ’bout you don’t have to make dinner for four days…all you have to do is give up your remaining spinal function?”
Me: “Sure, why not?”
As always, we don’t have a clear plan before we dive in to this year’s adventure, but it’s fun (if you can use the word “grueling” to describe your idea of fun) to play in the yard.
Buffalo winters are notorious, but our summers are secretly spectacular. Because we aren’t currently big travel people, the yard has become where we vacation, with some new project each year.
SO…now you’re up to speed on last year’s landscape adventures and are ready to see what we do with this year’s stone and dirt haul!
I bet you can hardly wait, haha!
One thing is for sure: NO BROKEN BONES ALLOWED!
SaveSave
Mr.: “Hey, Em. How ’bout you don’t have to make dinner for four days…all you have to do is give up your remaining spinal function?”
Me: “Sure, why not?”
*****
THISSSSSSSSS~~~~~~~~~~~~~!!!!!!!! AND THE PICTURE ABOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*****
Oh.My.
EXACTLY. What.I.Needed.This.Morning.
My teenage daughter. Caught me ROFLaughing ~~~!
“Mom…? Are you okay….?!”
Oh, don’t worry, “It’s Tiger King Head Lady…!!!” I have not lost my mind. “SOOOO Funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
How does this feel, Tiger King Head Lady? And now, Paving Stone Head Meme Creator Awash In Humorous Content Lady….?
The bummer, all through my happy trails-a-readin’ I think, “THIS section – oh, I’ll comment on this for SURE… because, wow! so interesting!!”
Only to find in the next paragraph a tasty morsel designed to shove aside all previous thought in place of new stuff —- which I will SURELY resurrect for the comment section —-
THINK AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Because now ~~~
there’s a picture…paving stones for a head (!!!#$%^&&$!!!) and I’m ***LOL*** in my living room…and shoot, well, I guess I’m just throwing it all in a blender and plopping it down, you deserve better but, hey.
If you had ANY idea how much I needed this today. Thanks. Thanks again. You-The-Woman, Em.
Still trailing after links and ever-so-happily meandering ~
CiM
I am currently removing 53,000 staples from my daughter’s floor, but your comment makes me smile from ear to ear. Should I set up a Venmo account to keep it coming? 😘
How does it feel? Like balm to a burn. Today was a terrible, horrible, no good day.
That you enjoyed my post, that I have earned an hilarious nickname, and have, somehow, brightened your day…and how you’ve shared that with me has pulled MY day completely out of the, ahem, “terlet,” and gave me a happy.
If YOU had any idea how much I needed this today, Cathy the comment fairy….
All I can say is “thanks!
😘
(I hope you receive these comment responses, because you sure earn them!)
Oh, Em! I’m truly sorry about your terrible, horrible, no good day! 🙁
I truly am. And I feel like a lousy reader/commenter. I haven’t said anything yet about your recent post – where you talked about the pain of changes going on in your family right now. Instead I’ve been rattling on about paving stones and pizzas.
I hear you on the overload. Some of our overloads are the same – what’s going on in the world right now. Some are different. My birds are a bit younger, by a few years, than some of yours. My middle son is graduating from high school, but he isn’t going far away just yet. My oldest son is in college but he’s here, nearby. My daughter’s here, at home, still in the nest for now.
Even though my reading at DADH is only measured in months (up to now) – I see you. I feel how much you care for your family. They’re first in your heart and it shows. I imagine what you’re feeling and it cuts deep.
I’m sorry for the things that hurt you. I’m sorry the world is as tangled up as it is – and I know some of the ways it unravels every one of us. That’s on top of our own pains, our personal struggles.
Your blog is a true happy place for me. A good place, peaceful place. That’s whether you’re in the mood to laugh – or you’re not.
I’m sorry you had such a yuck day. But I’m glad you told me. I said before that you’re all right with me. You are. Both the fun and the “not” fun. It’s all okay. I’m not glad when the sad things happen, but hearing about them makes me like you more, not less.
Every warm thought coming your way tonight ~
Cathy
Em, this post was so much fun to read and I am adequately inspired…to do absolutely nothing in my yard…but I will certainly dream about being as handy as you are! Such gorgeous landscaping. I would love to do such things. But alas, I am neither handy at such things nor is my husband. And someday when the children stop raping the checkbook, maybe I can have such a beautiful blissful place right in my own yard. But for now I will just enjoy my summer front porch sitting. Like Buffalo, Watertown has brutal winters but gorgeous summers that I will spend enjoying outdoors before the lake effect hits us once again!
Shelbee
http://www.shelbeeontheedge.com
“raping the checkbook”…hahaha. Hence the reason we are finally able to do some of the things we’re doing now. We’re still doing the bulk of the hulk ourselves to save some moolah…and I greatly understand that rock hauling or being covered in dirt is not everyone’s idea of fun.
We visited your fair town last summer on our NY whirlwind trip (Syracuse to Saratoga Springs to Lakes George and Placid, to Thousand Islands and back home). Really pretty area!
Oh, this project is going to be such a great addition to your lovely yard. So glad you are able to put the former retaining wall rocks to good use. Hope Flower has found a new home, far, far away from your own. The new retaining wall is very attractive and polished looking, and hopefully reads ‘stay out’ to all foul-smelling, black and white furry creatures.
Please be careful as you and Mr. D&D dive into all of that dirt and flagstone/rock. No broken bones!!! Hope you will keep us updated with your progress through regular posts. XO
Hello, Leslie!
Regular posts? That’s only for successful bloggers!
Thank you for your encouragement. We’re having a lot of “fun” enjoying the yard. It’s almost silly that we have an inside…we should live in a tent in the backyard.
Then again, it helps to have an inside when you live just outside of Buffalo. ☃️
How lovely! You have done an amazing job and it’s beautiful! Kudos!!!♥
Hi, Frani!
Thanks for your nice words and for letting me know you were here! I’m looking forward to planting and seeing it completed (well, at least this phase. 😀
Your backyard looks like a park! So pretty! We have a sloped area next to the garage that needs to be addressed this year. It is filled with rocks which, in our wetlands, means a snake hangout. I want to make a wood retaining wall so there are no slithery surprises hiding out. First I have to remove all those rocks which is a slow process for the middle aged lady with a bad back!
Hi, Pam! Thanks for your nice words. We definitely consider it our hobby…although Mr. considers each project a sprint and I think of them as a marathon…opposites, sigh.
Your retaining wall will be really pretty…but I get you about the snakes…I don’t think any of the ones in our area are poisonous, but I do get startled by them on occasion. The last one I saw was pinkish and blended in with the branches where I was putting Christmas lights. THAT was a surprise! They do still startle me, but they don’t bother me like they used to… I mean, I’m not going to name and adopt them, but I’ve stopped running around the yard screaming and flailing my arms. Now, mice/voles? Whole other deal!!! Let the flailing begin.
Good luck with the rock moving! I think I’d approach it like eating an elephant…one bite at a time (not that we eat elephants). And keep the Acetaminophen/Ibuprofen handy (bless you, spell check).
You not only have a gift with fabulous decor for the inside and outside, you have a gift of storytelling too!! You also have SO much initiative and do it yourselfness. Although I was impressed that you hired out the retaining wall and sidewalk. That’s totally up our alley—easy, peasy and no broken bones!!!
And those “idiots”?? That’s how we like to enjoy our days…..feet up and smiling!! LOL!!!
XOXO
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
Love it!
Hello, Bonnie! Welcome and thanks for commenting. Short and sweet is A-okay with me 🙂 Very nice to know you were here!
Hey, Jodie! You’re so nice 🙂 My biggest gift is apparently procrastination… But the house is coming along well enough for us….just isn’t as much as a priority once the beautiful weather hits. As for outside…I do it for the Blue Moon/ShockTop breaks.
We both agreed the retaining wall was beyond what we consider fun or within our skill set. I have to admit, I would love to try some small concrete work, but clearly you have to let some things go….
I can’t imagine you have much time for putting your feet up, but you and Rob do seem to always be smiling!!