What have you been up to you say?

Well as usual I have been simultaneously very busy any yet haven't gotten nearly as much done as you would think one could get done in 1/3 of a year. That's right. Four months to the day. However, despite the fact that I am sure you were looking forward to one of my novella size meanderings over the many things I have done over the months but I have decided to disappoint you. I am going to stick to 3/4 of the story of installing a sod lawn. Yes, I just said 3/4 of the story. :)

Step 1 & 2: You have to work harder than you have ever imagined for days on end to prep your site. They say it is the most important part and so I gave it my all. This was our last shot since we have tried seed three times to no avail. I still ,even months later, remember how much physical pain I was in during the process. I can honestly say that I have never worked harder in my life. Needless to say, after upwards of 30 hours of hard labor we were ready for sod- which is why it counts as part 1 and 2.

So you caught me. I am terrible at taking pictures of a process. This is almost ready. The easy part was spreading a couple inches of good soil on top of this terrible soil we have. I think you get the point anyway. Plain old dirt that has been flatted and rid of rocks, massive tree roots and don't forget the 18 wheelbarrows of clay that I carted out from one area and completely replaced. That was really fun.

Yup, that's more dirt. Just what you wanted to see. :)

And don't forget that this very same thing was being done in the front yard too.

You caught me again. I am not good at pictures of processes I tell you. None of these are actually true before pictures but they tell the story nonetheless.

There you go, there's that pretty soil that cost lots of money and was ever so conveniently delivered to my little driveway. Why yes I did plan out that pretty design, thank you for noticing. And no I wasn't thinking at the time how hard this pretty little set up would make installing sod. Squares and rectangles are much easier. Don't bother wasting your money on a fancy sod cutter, trust me, a serrated steak knife works perfectly. :)

I am really bummed that I didn't get any pictures of the sod on pallets or the delivery. :( Or any pictures of actual working for that matter. Since I was solo during most of the process and I don't like taking pictures of myself it just wasn't in the cards I guess. (Just so you know David did the roto-tilling (which didn't eliminate several hours of my own handy pick work since our soil sucks as previously mentioned) and helped me install part of the front and we tag-teamed the back (thank god!) I am sure he would want you to know.)  I do remember thinking that sod is a lot heavier than I thought. It really shouldn't have surprised me since it has about an inch of wet soil attached to the bottom of the grass but really I learned a lot through the process.

The ultimate best thing about sod is that after only a days work you have an instant gratification yard with a beautiful lawn!

IT'S SO GREEN AND FLUFFY!!!

OOOOOOOH, AHHHHHHHH!!! BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!

THE TRANSFORMATION IS COMPLETE! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!

Okay, maybe it's not that exciting for you but it was for me. :) Oh yeah, that was part 3. You don't get part 4 because it is still a work in progress.

Beth's Turf Grass 101 (things you NEED to know):

1. It is a lot of work to put in sod.
2. It is A LOT of work to put in sod.
3. It is...haha, just kidding. :)
4. Make sure you count your rolls and are sure what grass is on which pallet if you are doing more than one kind of grass (we are not going to talk about part 5 which is when I found out that I put the shade mix in our full sun front yard).
5. Whatever clothes you wear will be permanently stained brown from the mud. You will be so muddy that it will hurt because the mud will dry and crack on your skin several times over seemingly ripping your skin underneath. Also, on the plus side, your skin will be slightly browner for a day or so despite washing. :)
5b. Parts of your grass will die without reason no matter what you try to do. It's okay to cry. I mean I didn't, definitely not, but you can if you need to.  
6. Enough about that, dogs are terrible creatures that will try to thwart your grass growing efforts. They like to dig up the mesh holding it together and shit all over it. Then when they do that and you pick it up it will regularly rip out enough grass to cause grass pattern baldness.
7. I will let you know how the rose canes/grass patching work out and then maybe you will get to see current pictures which will complete the odyssey we have begun and will complete your training on what not to do when planting millions of little grass babies.
8. Don't have carpet installed on the same day. Try to focus. One thing at a time I say!

Aren't you glad I only told you one story. :)

For my Mom...

Not because today is Mother's Day.
Because a Mom as great as mine deserves to be appreciated every day.
Because my Mom is my best friend.
Because my Mom is always there for me whether I need a shoulder to cry on, advise on love and life, to share my successes and dreams or a partner in crime for my newest adventure.
Because there are a lot of people in this world that don't get along with their moms or know their moms or those that have lost a mom.
Because my Mom has taught me about all the good things in life: unconditional love, perseverance, determination, honesty and kindness.
Because my Mom has instilled in me the very basic appreciation for life every day and that among the ugly things in this world that we have no control there are a million beautiful things that can be seen and appreciated each and every day.
Because my Mom knows that being angry and begrudging is no way to live a life.
Because we both love the earth and there is nothing more therapeutic than getting your hands in the dirt.
Because we both love Peonies!

Because I don't think I could ever really tell my Mom how much I love her.
Because I cannot ever imagine not talking to my Mom every day.
Because one day I hope to be half the mom she has been to me.
Because when I grow up I want to be just like my Mom. :)

Ringing in the New Year

That's right, I am just ringing in the New Year here in my blogosphere. I have been very busy. Very, very busy. Ya'll ready for this!!!

I visited New York again for work and I still never tire of some of my favorite sights.

Rockefeller Center and it's mostly uncoordinated skaters.



Perhaps one of my absolute favorite places in all of New York: St Patrick's Cathedral. I am constantly in awe of its beauty and the very plain fact that it simply doesn't fit in amongst the high rises and city life. Although I am not catholic, or even religious, I can't help but love this building in all its ornate old world glory. I always envision what it must have looked like to the people of New York when it was finally completed in 1879. I can imagine the horse drawn carriages filled with real gentlemen and ladies dressed in their finest along with the common and poor residents who were equally welcomed inside the grand doors of the Cathedral. Am I crazy to romanticise the time when petticoats, corsets and feathery hats were the norm? I have to admit that the feathery hats are really what gets me...oh yeah, and riding side saddle of course. :) 

Now that I have been thoroughly sidetracked :).

I also refinished my first piece of furniture. Our very old, missing one drawer, falling apart old dresser just wasn't cutting it anymore. And for once in my life I remembered to actually take a complete before picture. The dresser was not ugly by any means and was actually originally from Pier 1 Imports which means that someone paid good money for it. Good thing for me, I only had to pay $60 for it.

And thanks to David making me promise to finish this project COMPLETELY as a term of purchase, it actually was completed in one weekend. Ta-da!



And the best thing is that all the drawers are there, they all have handles and they all have sturdy bottoms that aren't falling out.

I have gotten books...several books. My favorite of which is my Western Gardens Book aka the Western Gardens Bible.

With the help of my dad and mom (what would I do without them) I also installed the lattice on my back porch for some much needed privacy. And we replaced my very broken down shed door. By broken down I mean that it was no longer even attached to the door jam and required me to lift it out of the way to go in and out of the shed.

I painted my fireplace...mostly. I want to state first off that I am adamantly against painting brick and think it is a crime. However, mine was already painted poop brown and after staring at it for the last 5 years, yes I said 5 years, I decided enough was enough. I realize now that I didn't actually take an after picture but you can see partially what it looked like before and I will do a full update on it once I finish the inside as well.

And although I cannot take credit for this project, we have also started to remodel our bedroom. By remodel I mean paint, re-carpet and some general sprucing up. I am responsible for the incredible color though. :) Again I failed at taking any before pictures, not that you wanted to see my 50 year old matted down stinky brown carpet.

There has been lots of growing around here too. Spring is here and you know what that means!

Flowers! Alyssum compacta...sorry, I don't even know the common name and no it's not the same as the common sweet Alyssum.

My very confused Lemon tree that always has lemons and flowers...all the time!



My b-e-a-utiful Salvia which has had at least a couple of flowers on it all winter. I must admit that I didn't really like or appreciate Salvia much in my earlier gardening years. I don't think I disliked them because they were bad plants, I simply thought them too commonplace and no longer interesting. I have obviously changed my tune since half of my front planter bed is full of some variety of Salvia. There's a Salvia for everybody!

Oh my love of Toad Lily's. I promise I don't love all plants but these guys definitely make it to my top ten.

This unidentified tree in my backyard. Yes I said unidentified. I thought I had it figured out but now I am not so sure but it smells great this time of year especially in the evenings when it has been warm outside.

It's just not Spring without some Violas offering a little bit of sunshine on those drizzly spring days. 

And last but not least, this weekend was my friends 25th birthday extravaganza! Although by this time in the night I had consumed my fair share of drinks and it was the worst picture I took all night, it's the only one I have of the two of us. :) (That's right, I have like 4 good pictures of myself and they were taken in the same night and my eyes aren't glowing in any of them!)

OMG a people picture on my blog, this is indeed a rare occasion! OMG again, I almost forgot the most important pictures of all!!!! Nothing says spring like the beautiful maple leaves emerging in all of their orange glory! :)

Since I can't choose just one you get to see all 3 pictures.

I had almost 20 so you should be thankful that I only liked a few.

Wow, I story tell like I talk: fast and furious. Like I said, I have been very very busy indeed. Hopefully you enjoyed the pictures since I really didn't have much to say. Happy New Year everyone (by everyone I mean my mom and sisters)! Haha!