Kidz.

....and my Mosie turned 2 last week. They grow up so fast (kidz and kittiez)...love them all.

The Great Outdoors: The Final Frontier (almost)

So much got done this weekend in my little slice of the urban outdoors! Just a few more plants to add here and there, grass seed to be sprinkled and some mulch to finish it off in the next few weeks. I am in awe of the cuteness that is now my little backyard:

I have a few more plans to finish things off as summer rolls on- stepping stones in between the raspberry beds, a hammock chair swinging between the maple trees, a new coat of colorful spray paint on my patio furniture, some giant letters (that spell PEACE) in the back of the flower bed leaning against the fence, and maybe a few twinkly lights strung from the house.

I am also beginning to learn a bit about the life of a gardener...don't water in the middle of the day (morning or evening is best), it's pretty easy to split a hosta (even though I just observed this time around, I feel confident that I could accomplish such a task when my hostas grow bigger some day), you should trim the leaves off the green leafy plants at the end of the season before the snow comes and they will totally grow back in the Spring (they really will- amazing!), and....gardening can be fun if you have kind friends to help you and teach you:)

The Great Outdoors...Part Deux

Warning: I will most likely be posting progress of the fancy makeover action that is occurring in my backyard for the next few weeks. A plant life play-by-play of sorts.

Also, I want to restate how blessed and thankful I am to have an amazing friend (with some pretty wicked talents in the ways of garden prep and planning) who is willing to devote so much time to this project. Just had to say that once more. Thanks Linz:)

She spent many minutes (I am sure) mapping out every square inch of soil, taking great care to create visual areas of interest with color, height and texture:

She (and her dear husband) picked up & delivered the supplies:

Selected a few plants (many more to come):

And marked the yard with pretty blue paint so the 'Call Before You Dig' dudes knew where to flag the yard...safety first:

Next up: Tilling the soil, laying the brick borders and prepping the beds! Who's excited?? This girl.

Random happenings...

I haven't got much to say this week but must persevere with some semblance of a weekly posting....because I am very much a type A kind of gal and incompleteness makes my mind and heart feel sad things.

So I will share a few life events of the past week:

1. I tried my hand at making some Chickpea Curry-

In my trial, I learned that mild curry paste is not as delicious as spicy curry paste. It was ok, but I will for sure try again and make it better.

2. My Sheepy Blankie (that I have had since I was like 7 and it's my favorite) got a hole in it...from oldness-

I plan to rescue it with some sort of patch. I am still in process as to how said patch will evolve and restore Sheepy to new life.

3. I made some baby doll toilets out of an oatmeal container, cardboard pieces and lots of white duct tape-

Why? You ask. Because we are focusing on all things bathroom with the Tods this week in preparation for major summertime toilet training fun. Trying to find creative ways to drive the point home....pee goes in the potty. Plus, pretend little cardboard toilets for dolls are funny.

4. I snuggled with Mosie-

It was enjoyable for the both of us. 

5. I headed out to Buffalo on Sunday for Mother's Day-

Really fun afternoon with family to celebrate the best mama in the land...sisters, a bro-in-law, daddio, sloppy joes on the patio, nieces and nephew running thru the sprinkler and loving it!

Side note #1: This photo proves nicely that I am indeed the tallest sister. I'm certain that the hill we are standing on plays no role in the trueness of this fact.

6. I bought Berkenstocks-

I wasn't sure if I was a Berkenstock kind of gal, but then my sister was wearing some and they were super cute. And I needed an alternative to summer flip flops. 

Side note #2: I really need to paint those toenails...maybe tomorrow. It's good to have goals.

The Great Outdoors

Ever since I purchased my home a few years back, I have had ideas and intentions to do something cute with the backyard area (I even probably blogged about it last year around this time). It's not too big and has some nice trees and such. And my neighbors, with whom I share a cute little fence that we chat over like in the movies, have the most wonderful secret garden of a yard that there is to see. I have had many strong feelings to reciprocate and give them something more pleasant to look at than the current view. There is only one problem....I do not love spending time with things such as garden tools, dirt, bugs, and plants.

For the past year, I have been trying to will myself to pretend my heart could tolerate the experience enough to get the landscaping job done. Well, now it's is spring and almost time for planting and I JUST can't do it. 

Thankfully I have a lovely friend 'L' who actually does enjoy all things garden. Like, for real...it makes her happy to dig in dirt and grow stuff...amazing! And to top it off, she was willing (and I think maybe even a little excited) when I asked her if I could hire out her talents to make my backyard dreams become reality.

She stopped by last week to take a look at the space, talk through some ideas and take some measurements. I'm very excited!

I leave all final gardener decisions and creative license to her expertise, but here are a few visuals to give you an idea of my soon-to-be Great Outdoors:

1) Lots of hostas, some day lilies, other amazing things that she will choose and a cute border of some brick-like materials yet to be determined. Oh, and I may have to do something in the grass growing department where those big patches of grass-less dirt currently reside.

2) A wildflower garden to help save the bumblebees and butterflies. I also plan to purchase some LARGE metal letters that spell 'Peace' and will lean them up against the wooden fence behind the flower bed...and that little tree stump to the left of the bricks will become (you guessed it) a painted peace sign. My own happy little hippy peace garden:)

3) Yummy rows of raspberries...with some space and stone pavers in between each row for easy berry picking access....next to my baby pear tree (it's a fruit extravaganza- or at least it will be someday when the pears are actually edible).

4) A hammock chair that swings between my 2 maple trees. You will have to use your imagination with this...as my chair drawing skills in the photo editing app are not as stellar as I hoped they would be. But trust me, it will 

be a cozy place to spend an afternoon.

I feel confident enough to keep all the plants alive with watering and occasional weed pulling once they have their place. But I am so thankful that the work of transforming the yard into something beautiful is now in the hands of someone who actually knows what they are doing! 

Once it's all said and done, I may even start liking being outside...maybe:)

P.S. I got a new electric lawnmower last weekend and it is SWEET....it increased my desire to mow my lawn by many percentage points. I am beginning to feel more and more like a responsible home owner with each passing day.