It's Fall - Inside and Out

 

It would appear the option for Legacy blogger is gone.  Glad I decided to just post pics.  

A Fall Morning

A summer with little or no rain and a fall with plenty of it.  Lots of clean-up still to do, but the mornings with the sun coming up are just lovely - even if it is overcast and a little foggy.

These are the views from the living room doorwall.

 The Kousa dogwood in the foreground on the right is just exquisite - if I can just keep the squirrels from ripping off the bark and tearing up the leaves.  Plus, it blocks the view of the boy's tree house.  BTW, I had to replace all the side-boards this year at a rather hefty cost because the squirrels had chewed all the tops.  Arrghhh!

The back corner that was re-landscaped last year.

Last Thursday marked my 44th year in my home.  A lot has changed both inside and out in that time.  Seems there is always something to do.

A Deck - 40 years later

1977 - the deck has been built and landscaped - see that rock layer?

1985 - everything is filling in and more grass has been removed

1987 - a dogwood is providing a nice vista

Fast forward to 2012 - the original yews are so tall you cannot see the deck

August 16, 2015 morning - I've had enough and decide the yews must go

August 16, 2016 evening - it takes all day to cut back one shrub

August 23, 2015 - two shrubs have all green branches removed

May 1, 2016 - time to remove the other two shrubs and cut everything to the ground

June 13, 2016 - the yews are gone and the re-planting begins.  That is still the original dogwood and mock orange from 1977.

July, 2016 - the deck is cleaned, the furniture is out and I am ready to relax.  HaHa.

The view from the deck

I still have work to do planting more flowers, but first I need to uncover all the egg rock that was originally laid down back in 1973.  Remember it from that first picture?  It's buried under 40+ years of dirt, leaves and decaying mulch.  Which goes a long way to explaining why I am not blogging.

Laboring on Labor Day.

This was the day to do a few tasks around my home.  Inside of course.  Last I checked it was 89 degrees outside.  And very humid.

When it comes to the traditional Labor Day, I am no longer a member of the paid work force in America.  I've been retired now for almost seven years.  I have never once thought I should have stayed in the work force.  I've mentioned that when offered a job in the near past, I turned it down.  No regrets about that at all.

Not that I do not have something or someone to keep me busy every day during the normal work week.  I still have my grandson five days a week and taking care of him is no idle task.  He is already heading into the 'terrible twos'.   He thinks my saying 'no' is a game.  Boy, does he have a lot to learn.  Being the 'day-care Granny' is not like being the 'once a week visiting Granny', so discipline is definitely on the menu.

This past week was too hot to do more than cut the lawn and move one of my garden plants. Hopefully, with a cool down predicted, I can finish the yard work before the fall clean-up starts.

So, back to the inside where I put down new wood thresholds in the family room, utility room, and kitchen.  This required two trips to buy the unstained wood (cause stores never have the inventory that is indicated online), staining, sanding, staining again, cutting and fitting into place.  While I may have saved some money on labor, I wonder if it was worth the time I spent other than to say it is done and is off the list of what I need my handyman to do this month.

With that done I decided to spot clean the carpets.  That job is a royal pain but I must admit that the areas I cleaned look as good as new.  There was no need to clean all the carpeting, besides with this heat and high humidity it is something I prefer to have done in the winter.

I also washed a few windows which is the most thankless and least rewarding task in the home universe.  It is going to rain and they will look awful again but I got tired of seeing the dirt when the sun shone in.  And didn't I wash all of them just a couple of months ago?  Yes, I do windows.

I did take a break in the afternoon to watch 'The Theory of Everything'.  While I enjoyed the movie, I found it heart-wrenching and difficult to watch.  Eddie Redmayne did a marvelous job in the role of Stephen Hawking.

I have also discovered a TV series that I had never heard of called Midsomer Murders.  The show has been on since 1997.  I never heard of it and have never heard anyone mention it.  I've only seen two episodes, but I intend to watch all of them.  (I think I will need to get snowed in this winter.)

So, I hoped you enjoyed your long holiday weekend.  I'll be back next Tuesday with the changing seasons in the garden.

More Then and Now

Someone commented yesterday about the front garden.  Got me thinking about how much has changed.  See for yourself.

All that grass is gone for the most part.  Unfortunately, so is my Yoshino Cherry in the center of the lawn, which got cut in two by an ice storm ages ago.  Now there is a sitting area and a path to the back garden.

Forty Years Later

The other day I posted a picture of my home from 40 years ago.  I went out this weekend and took a picture trying to line up the shot to show the same angle.  Here is the then and now.