What I’ve been up to lately…

Yard work

Speaking of the nicer weather. We have been doing a lot of yard work in the warmer temps because we were so sick of not being able to grow grass in our tiny yard. We’ve lived in this house for 26 years and failed every single year. Even if we managed to somewhat succeed by the time late summer rolled around with a drought, we were done again.

So by the end of last summer, we decided to take out the grass in spring and add pea gravel. We had also considered turf, but that is way too expensive.

Just look at this hot mess! This is not how I like my yard to look.

Many plants aren’t doing that well either after another harsh winter. Adding all that mulch is always so much work, too. I bought about 75 bags of mulch at Lowe’s.

Before starting the big project of removing the grass, I pressure-washed the paver patio, which is always satisfying. But it creates so much dirt and mud, which is why this needed to get done first.

During the process of adding fresh sand to the pavers, I decided to add polymeric sand to the stairs leading out from the patio doors. Regular sand tends to wash out through the cracks. Unfortunately, the ivory sand ended up being the wrong color and looked awful! I panicked a bit! So I scraped the top layer off, bought another expensive small bag in camel brown. It looked much better. Now I wish I had done the entire patio. I might still do it in sections while the new play sand is loose.

Here you can see how much better the camel brown looks. I just wish it wouldn’t make the pavers so hazy. I’m hoping that’ll go away yet.

Let’s talk about the other side of the patio, where we have a leaning wall with the dying bamboo. So far, we have not been able to fix it, even though we tried our hardest. I think we might just have to live with it unless it falls over.

Since we were already making a mess of everything, we decided to tackle the drainage issue too, which is probably what caused the wall to lean in the first place.

To remove the grass, we wanted to rent a sod cutter, but then my husband just decided to do it by hand since we didn’t have all that much grass and mostly dirt.

We had a very important supervisor overseeing the whole operation. Frank has come such a long way, and we love him so much. He used to be so scared of just seeing us looking at him through the window. Now he comes running when he hears our voices, wags his tail like a dog, and rolls over on his back to get some belly rubs. He also loves sleeping in bed with either my son or me. I wish he could tell us his life’s story because I can feel that he has been through so much.

All the rock walls had to be redone to make sure the weed barrier fabric went behind the walls so the dirt can’t wash onto the new gravel. Laying that fabric smoothly was another challenge for me. So far, only half of the yard is done. But at least we get to walk on fabric instead of mud.

While my husband was working on some of the walls with the heavier rocks, I installed some new hard-wired path lights. We only had plastic hardwired lights, and they were falling apart. You can see one of them in the photo above, under the lilac bush. Frank’s girlfriend is sitting on the landscaping fabric. The cats love it.

Frank’s girlfriend is Pixie (that was the name I gave her), though my husband insists on calling her Pretty, and honestly, that name has stuck with most people, too. She’s still mostly feral and refuses to come inside, no matter what, even during the brutal cold this winter. I’ve seen her come close to Frank’s cat door and look through the window. She has her heated outdoor houses scattered around the yard, and apparently, that suits her just fine. She does love watching us from a distance, though, and she has clearly chosen my husband as her favorite, which he absolutely loves, since all the other cats have firmly chosen me.
(She looks a lot like Jeff, and more about him later!)

But back to the gravel…

We want to add half-inch Maryland pea gravel, which was almost out of stock, so I took a photo of the 3/4 Maryland river gravel, which has the same color.

We will also add gravel pavers under the pea gravel in areas of heavy foot traffic to keep the stone in place and prevent shifting.

I know this was a lot of rambling and odd, messy photos, but that sums up this project, which is a bit overwhelming and not great for my back. I certainly don’t have money for more physical therapy.

Cats

Around Thanksgiving, I found a home for Jeff. His name is Yuri now. I talked about him in detail in my last post. I was so, so happy because he is now living with a friend of mine and has an amazing home. He is such a special cat.

Maya is hanging in there. I can’t believe she is still alive two years after her small-cell lymphoma diagnosis. She is skinny and feels frail, but remains her bossy self who follows me around all day. She hates it when I’m in the bedroom with Frank and will scratch at the door like a maniac.

Walter is still on Prozac because he is such a nervous mess. Unfortunately, I don’t see it helping him much. He is still ripping out his fur and attacking Willy whenever he can.

Willy is doing well, but is getting tortured by Walter. He’ll growl at him the minute he spots Walter.

Speaking of all the kitties, I bought supplies to make them a macrame teepee and a macrame tent. You might say, “Hey, those two are the same,” but I say nope. I hope my plans will work out. Fingers crossed. Here are two teepee examples. I think I’ll make mine less intricate so it’s easier to make.

These cats have morphed into my babies more than ever now that my kids are adults. I’m definitely not complaining.

Speaking of my kids…

Tschüß,