KathieB Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 Heidi, what a beautiful flagstone patio floor. The painter won't be here today after all. He has to take his sick kid to the doctor. I think I'll head downstairs and work on the elves' wall this morning. When Lloyd gets up, I'll have him help me get down the Pierce box so I can get the stuff for Holly. He stacked the house kits up high. No way I can get them down without help. Later it will be nice outside, so I can get some grass cut and maybe start on the display area for the statue in the back yard. That's the plan, but since I've been mostly following my nose the past few days, it's hard to say if any or all of it will happen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kellee Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 Count me in.!!! I have alot of decluttering that needs to be done.!! and I really need someone that will "cheer" me on.!!! Seriously, I have stuff we will never use and I just cant let it go.. I dont know why I just cant.!! So PLEASE count me in.!! Kellee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 Hmmmm.... Now if we do decide on buying a new house it means I have to get this one looking un-cluttered in order to make it attractive to others, right?!? Eeeeeek!!! Big time eeeeek as it is looking a true mess right now since we have had people in here working on installing fiber optic cables and yada, yada, yada (see not my thing LOL) which has meant that allll things in the storage areas have been taken out from their comfy places so right now I have things EVERYWHERE and that is sooo not fun! I do hope we will be able to start to get thing back in their place over the weekend as I hate this mess and in doing so I will definitley be ruthless in getting rid of things I haven't seen or used in the 8 years or so we lived here! We are allready halfway there with the garden, dug the flower beds, planted a few new flowers, and put in grass in the areas we wanted (still have some digging left to do to preapre the new grass beds) but all in all we are almost done there... Hugs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynette Smith Posted April 23, 2009 Author Share Posted April 23, 2009 I just love your backyard Heidi! I feel like a kid and want to go explore what is up those stairs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeninky Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Lynette you are making me tired!! lol :lol: I am in with you all and I will have pictures that should not be shown to the general public... People's mouths will drop to the floor and I will hear screams and people running from their computers... I have a building just for my junk errrr craft supplies and I have a small walk space to the chair and this is a 10 x 30 building with heat and air and a computer and a tv and a stereo... I had started cleaning and then got the Spring Fling and put the cleaning on hold... Sigh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynette Smith Posted April 23, 2009 Author Share Posted April 23, 2009 There's a reason I posted a picture of what actually went out the door. :lol: Any before pictures won't be shown till there's a good after shot - it's too embarassing! When I get an area looking good then I'll post a picture. I didn't get nearly as much done today as I wished, but I did discover that the guy next door does minis and spent time talking minis with him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidiiiii Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I just love your backyard Heidi! I feel like a kid and want to go explore what is up those stairs! Well then, here you go. There are a couple more shots of the entire top area. We (meaning me) have never really done anything up there. There are lots of trees so I have been planting shade lovers every year. That back wall has always been like that. I can just imagine how much it would cost to fix. So much area and it just sits there. One day I will do something with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynette Smith Posted April 23, 2009 Author Share Posted April 23, 2009 Ooh! I'd put in a rock garden! I'd tried to upload some of my flower seeds packs for you, but they always jam up the cd rom drive! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 That back wall has always been like that. I can just imagine how much it would cost to fix. So much area and it just sits there. One day I will do something with it. Egads, Heidi ... don't mess with it! It's beautiful with the moss and lichen on it and crying out to be made into a living wall. Lots of plants don't need a lot of soil for roots and will grow their roots back behind the wall. Stuff some dirt and small plants into crevices and enjoy living wallpaper. :lol: This is a picture of the living wall at Powell Gardens near Kansas City. It's one of our favorite features there. At some times of the year it has many more blossoms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
champagne Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I agree Heidi, I love the wall with all the moss. I wouldn't touch it, it looks great. I love your backyard as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynette Smith Posted April 23, 2009 Author Share Posted April 23, 2009 I don't suggest manipulating things. Just cast some seeds around, if it takes, then its the right effect. I love the area for its untamed quality, but then I'm into the style of garden where everything is left like its been growing untended for ages - which is just as well! I deplore formal gardens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bree1978 Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 THANK goodness I'm not the only one! I feel so embarrassed half the time people come over (and that is A LOT)! I have to declutter SEVERAL times a year because I keep everything and never know where to put it...Any object gets thrown in a cupboard, drawer, or closet not to be seen again until I declutter that area. I find stuff and think THAT IS WHERE THAT WAS AT! I know that I can live with a lot less stuff....I just hate throwing things away I know I will it want later...but I do DO it. Not to mention I have two younger kids that throw things around and don't put them away either. Always circling the house trying to put things in their proper place. And I love the look of minimalism, I just have such a hard time actually carrying out the practice....sigh. I think our 1100 sq ft ranch is small (the layout is like a mobile home) I can't even fathom only having 900 sq ft! Also I filled my FIL's empty room with things...things I haven't went back for in THREE years.....I sometimes hope that he threw it all out...but am too afraid to ask. I put them there because we were trying to sell this house and I couldn't part with them but had to get them out of prospective buyers eyes. I've painted my house three times in 9 years just so I will have to declutter everything. As you can see by this long post, that this is a long time battle I have been having with myself! Oddly enough, the day you wrote this post...I was beginning my spring declutter/ neatening of cupboards. I got one full upper cabinet in the kitchen, one lower, and most of my computer desk. I felt very proud. Next up will be my bedroom, gulp the worst room in my house....also the smallest at only about 80 sq. feet (yah you read that right)...I can hop in bed and get to my dresser but forget about finding anything in there or my closet! And under my bed, let's not talk about that until I get under there. And as for the THREE junk drawers in the kitchen....what to do what to do.....I need more organization, that is all there is to it. Sooooooo, I'm right there with you and feel your pain. I really don't mind cleaning, I just hate de cluttering but do it because I would HATE myself if I didn't. As for the yard, I'm really super good with that. All that room! Wide open spaces! Plus, I like to pull weeds. Those I have NO problems throwing away! lol! I"m going to try to upload videos to YouTube of last years of that....I'll post if I get it. S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynette Smith Posted April 23, 2009 Author Share Posted April 23, 2009 I spent a couple of hours outside in the front flowerbed. I have a huge chestnut tree and all the chestnuts which got missed last fall are sprouting ! Some have sunk a taproot 8" deep already, so I went through as thoroughly as I could to pull them all out. I'll make repeat visits over the next few days to see if I can find more. Somebody told me chestnuts wouldn't grow unless you have another chestnut to cross pollinate - I don't believe them anymore! I pulled out other weed trees, don't know the name of one (propeller like seeds) and elm. Did I mention I have about 23 trees on my lot. I'm not accepting volunteers at this time. I pulled out feverfew and dandelions. There's still so much to do, and that's only one flowerbed - and the best! It was very nice out, the birds were singing and the fruit trees are in bloom along with one of my shrubs. I think I could handle more time outside weeding. Much of this was supposed to be done yesterday, actually every day. I took the gardenia out from the washroom and hung it outside in its usual place. The tomato plant may be next. Now I'm turning my attentions to the inside. I'm going to go put cup holders up all over the kitchen. My 1941 kitchen has very little cupboard space so I decorate in kitchenalia. I got a decorative metal grate from Hobby Lobby and suspended it from the ceiling and have pots, pans, and other things hanging from S-hooks. I have a piece of molding to go up on one wall, to increase area where I can put hooks, but a piece needs shaving off to make it fit flush, so I'll see if my neighbor can help me with that when he gets home in a couple of hours. My house is another 1100 square foot house. The bathroom is awful. You can't stand in front of the sink unless you climb in the tub! The toilet occupies all the space between! I finally analyzed the area outside the bathroom and discovered the bathroom used to be twice the size, but when the furnace could no longer go into the crawl space underneath, they chopped it off, built the furnace into a spot which will need to be demolished upon replacement and moved the bedroom doors! Well, back to work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfie Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I have a disease. I cannot throw anything away! And if I do, the black hole spits it back at me! HELP! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 I haven't gotten down to the shelves by the craft area yet, but I have pulled a lot of dead paper out of my filing cabinet and had a couple of lovely blazes in the chiminea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidiiiii Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 I am still working on the outside. I will get to the inside when we have a yucky day out. The propeller things are the bane of my spring existence. They are from Maple trees..I think. I am constantly picking picking picking away at those things. Ugh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmgervais Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 I am still working on the outside. I will get to the inside when we have a yucky day out. The propeller things are the bane of my spring existence. They are from Maple trees..I think. I am constantly picking picking picking away at those things. Ugh! Yup, maple trees are the culprit (the propellers split in two and each side sprouts)! We have one tree, and I have those things sprouting in the front flower bed around the tree. Every day I find more and yank them out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidiiiii Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 You have to get the whole thing. You cannot just weed wack them down. That is what stinks about them. There are THOUSANDS out there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynette Smith Posted April 25, 2009 Author Share Posted April 25, 2009 Did a load of dishes and laundry. A lady wanting fabric for baby clothes on Freecycle is going to come sometime, so stuff out the door! Maybe after some Provigil and caffeine I'll feel alive enough to make some inroads! :yikes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidiiiii Posted April 25, 2009 Share Posted April 25, 2009 Maybe after some Provigil and caffeine I'll feel alive enough to make some inroads! :yikes: Oh yeah..Dexedrine and Caffeine..Lovely when I need it. I threw away a bunch of junk that was in the yard. I also tossed alot of stuff out of the medicine cabinets. Old hair stuff no one uses anymore, old lotions and potions. I just tossed away. Very liberating. Now it is like a tomb in those spaces..You can hear an echo. You ever notice you hold onto stuff because it fills a space..like the old hair gels. I think the only reason it was in there was to make the place not look so empty. I have a big roll of fabric my friend gave me. Upholstery fabric. I have to use a small portion to reupholster my big foot stool. The rest will go on freecycle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cricket Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 We got started on the yard! YAY! First I took the chainsaw and took out a bunch of low dead branches off a pine tree... It's now a perfect place for our German Shepherd to hang out. (For those who remember when I lost Shadow, the little guy in my avatar.. we finally did decided to get another dog :yikes: ) Also, two HUGE ..ummm...bushes? Trees? Bushtrees? They used to be hedge bushes, 30 years ago, but were overgrown to the second story. Anyway, they came down today, and the house looks NEKKID! But now, since they were growing in front of my bay windows there's so much MORE sunlight in here now! I've cleaned out one flower bed and discovered I have tulips growing. I didn't think of it until we were almost done with the "bushtrees", I should have taken a before pic! Oh well, there's still a LOT of work to be done, but it feels GREAT to have a good start! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 Jeni, that reminds me ... I ought to take photos of our yard as it is now. In a week the fencing guys will be here to take out the steep post and hogwire fencing and put in a privacy fence in back and a picket fence in front. Then I can really get along with my grand landscaping plans. Some of the plants/bushes/trees along the fence line are going to suffer. I need to move some peonies, which I understand could be touchy as they don't like to be moved. I think I'm going to have to pot them for the duration (up to a month), as their final resting place is going to be beside the picket fence and I don't think they'd like the trauma of having to be dug up twice. The fence guy will use the bucket on his Bobcat to relocate a small lilac bush for me. It has to move as it's right in the path of the equipment they'll need to move into the back yard. Yesterday I gave the screened porch a deep cleaning. That felt like yard work and housework, so can I have two stars on my chart?? And got eight bags of topsoil and three bags of peat moss to mix for the planter beds. Last fall I bought a dozen small mums on sale and put them in the planter bed for the winter. It appeared that all but one of them had died, but when I went to take them out so I could add the soil, I discovered all but one of them with tiny green leaves just breaking the surface of the ground. So the soil and peat moss will just sit there for a while until the plants get big enough to transplant and the fence men are out of Dodge. The picket fence will be straight pickets, but the gate will be concave. One 8-foot section of fence will be screwed into place so it can be removed should we need to get a vehicle into the yard. The only entrance when they're done will be the 4-foot gate in front. There's no reason to have a gate anywhere else. I'm really excited about this. I love gardening and just haven't gotten much into it since we moved here 3.5 years ago. Now it's going to bloom! :yikes: Has anyone got witch hazel bushes? The local arboretum touts them as great for color. The photos I've found look good but I don't think I know anyone with an actual bush in the ground. We're going to the arboretum next week, so I can check them out in person, just curious as to whether they are fast growing, difficult to keep under control, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidiiiii Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 Kathie, I have never seen a witch hazel bush. I just looked it up and I think it is lovely looking. Especially the fringe. I am going to declutter the art cabinet. It is stocked full of stuff and it needs to be cleaned out. Sort thru, toss anything that is really garbage, and put back orderly. The order will not last but at least I will have the memory! LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherry Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 We're out in the yard again today. Everytime we go to Lowe's, we come home with more plants! so I set them out and have flower fertilizer to spread, grass fertilizer, tree fertilizer-and round up! Everything out there will either get fertilized or killed, today! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merry Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 I've done the clean-sweep thing 3 times now! My problem is that I have too many projects going on at once, and I do not have time to clean house. 3 years ago I began my first clean-sweep. Since then I have scrapped off every popcorn ceiling in the house and painted every ceiling in the house. I have repainted every room including all of the woodwork! I am now beginning to take off all the kitchen cabinets, sand them, and paint them. I'm also recoloring my big hand hooked rug using magic makers! (It looks pretty good.) In the meantime I'm trying to work on my dollhouse and the weeds outside. I find myself picking up lint that looks like smoke and saving it for something. I don't know. It could happen. <_< Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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