So, number nine has actually been revised from it's original format. Number nine used to be "plant a garden at my new house." I was so excited. Part of the reason I wanted a house was so I could plant my own garden. But that was before I arrived at my house at the end of May and discovered what a disaster my yard was. You know those creepy old-looking houses in movies that are overgrown with weeds and look like they haven't been mowed since 1999? Ok, that's maybe a slight exaggeration of my yard, but you get the idea. The mowing was taken care of pretty quickly, but the rest of the yard got seriously neglected because a) I was too busy with the rest of the house, b) it was too damn hot to be outside and c) it was too damn hot to be outside. I think I asked Ria if I could change #9 around mid-July. She was fine with it and I was excited to get started. But then a month went by and I'd done nothing. About 3 days before my friends arrived, I decided the yard need to look mildly presentable. Before I went outside armed with a trash bag, my iPod, and my ridiculously cute gardening gloves, I decided to take some "before" pictures, so we could track my progress together.
Weed village next to my front steps!
More weeds in front of my house.
Weeds, weeds, weeds...
Dying hostas in the backyard
Deck weeds.
I bet you're tired of weed photos...
But there's one more.
Determined to transform my yard in one afternoon and brag about it to everyone I knew, I decided to start with the sketchy front yard. I was outside for almost an hour in the hot sun and filled a 35 gallon garbage bag...but I barely made a dent. I quickly discovered about 5 baby trees growing right next to the house that I was unable to remove on my own. (Although I did try...insert hilarious montage of me sweating and growling as I try my darndest to pull a tree out of the ground.) I was able to clear around the one tree that was actually supposed to be there, so I called it a day. That was about two weeks ago.
Today, my parents came down for the afternoon, with my grandparents who came to see the house for the first time. It was a really fun time and Grandma and Grandpa loved the house. After they left, my dad came outside to help me in the yard. He cut down the baby trees and then we worked on weeding. After about an hour, he left and I kept going. Yes folks, I weeded for about two and a half hours, filled 4 garbage bags, and still have some work to do. But I was sweaty, my ass hurt from the awkward squatting position I'd adopted for most of the afternoon, and I had a tramatic encounter with a large spider, so...I called it a day. Although I still have a ton of work to do, it's looking SO much better.
Thanks Emily and Rachel for my kitty planter!
So, I've made a dent. But, Rome wasn't built in a day, and since my yard is obviously going to be more fabulous than Rome, it will take some serious time. But as always, I promise to keep you updated on all the weed-pulling and future landscaping endeavors.
: )
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