House Update #1

Oh boy, SOOO many things to update. I made a comment the other night when talking to my mom about a blog and she quickly reminded me that it has been quite a while since I had posted. It was nothing that I didn't know already, but I have been staying so busy lately, sitting down and trying to start to play catch up has seemed a little daunting. Ironically, I have been making mental notes, like "that would make a great post to share", but then nothing happens.

So, let's start at the very beginning, beginning is a very good place to start. (You should be singing along to Do-Re-Mi at this point! Haha, who doesn't love the Sound of Music)

Okay, so beginning...basically once spring broke out here in the Burgh, the great outdoors around my house consumed my time. My parents came out at the end of April and we used my Dad's truck to get 2 loads of dirt and another load of mushroom manure for my flower bed out front. Nothing would grow out there so I was hoping so new rich soil may help change that.

My mom and I dug out daffodil and tulip bulbs while my Dad carted down different loads of dirt. It actually didn't take too long, but it was quite a bit of dirt to haul. We bought it at a nursery across the river that is a family owned 3 generation business. The mixture was a combination of topsoil, sand, and mushroom manure. It was the sand that added the weight. Here's an idea of what we were doing.

Seriously big flower bed...

This one shows a little better how deep the flower bed was.

Takes more dirt than you would have thought to fill.

Once the dirt was completed in the flower bed, it was time to fertilize the garden, remember the soil test? We turned the garden over by hand. Well all three of us did, but then my Mom and I left my Dad to finish as we replanted the daffodils and tulip bulbs. One advantage of having a few years and several seasons at the house, I now know that when it rains, the entire flower bed doesn't get wet because of the roof overhang. I planted accordingly this year!

Normally, this would have been a different post, but for the sake of time, I'm adding it all together. Every year, the Oakmont Garden Club has a Flower Sale on Mother's Day weekend. I usually buy my plants here instead of big retail chains. For some reason this year, I was very disappointed. The prices seemed much higher, 3 plants for $11, and the selection from their gardens were not that great. I could only find 1 sedum plant. 

I left the Oakmont Flower Sale and went to Lowes. While I'm not normally happy to do that, it worked well for me this year. My sister told me how you should check the "dead plant" section. This is where plants are greatly reduced in price due to almost dying or perennials that are out of season and will no longer bloom. I found columbine plants for $1 each. I bought 8 of them to plant among my sedum and I also found a severely neglected pink hydrangea for $5. My first spring in the house I spent $60 on 2 hydrangeas and they both died. I have been hesitant to buy any more, but I love hydrangeas. So for $5, I thought I could give it a shot in my new soil.

As you can see, he is pretty droopy. I took to caring for him like you would a small baby. Not going to lie, after spending time with my niece, nursing this plant back to health felt like I had a newborn living with me! I constantly checked on it and watered it several times today. 

Here is what he looks like today! See all the new growth on him. I'm in love! Haha

The rest of the flower bed contains flowers I bought or extras from my my Mom, sister, or grandmother. I'm quite excited because it seems to FINALLY beginning to look like a flowerbed.

Now, for the 3 squirrels I caught in this flowerbed this morning, and they know they were caught, their feast has now ended. I thought some leaves appeared to have been chewed on, but I wasn't certain. This morning I caught them red handed and they way they ran confirmed their guilt. So, let's see how you like red pepper flakes my friends!  HaHaHa (insert evil laugh!)