Yard Fun

This morning I did a little spring cleaning followed by some good deeds -- I joined my Paws friends at H&R Block for an afternoon of animal rescue fun. I got to hang out with some fun ladies and a couple of great dogs, Landers and Jewell. Both of them are great dogs and their rescue stories are amazing. If I could take one or both of them home and not be a crazy dog lady, I would.

After a stop at the grocery store, I came home for some fun work in the yard. I had intended to put together a couple of bags of leaves. I got three bags done and was going to rake some more before doing some mulching and planting in the flower beds. The neighbor kids (yes, the thuggy ones) asked if they could have my leaves for their camping bonfire. Being the nice neighbor that I am, I said sure... and then they wanted the pile of sticks too... so I donated to the cause. Well, I let them know that they could have all of the leaves that they wanted -- and they wound up taking several more bags worth -- AND they did the bagging. Win-win! So I guess I ought to stop complaining about them --- but I won't stop whining about their little dogg.

Wallpaper Free is the Way to Be

I've been a busy bee around the house. as my last post and blurry picture alluded to, I rented a steamer and de-wallpapered both bathrooms. The guest bathroom is going to be interesting since there are maroon stripes of paint under the wallpaper -- presumably to match the wallpaper in case the seams didn't quite match. Plus the bathtub is goldenrod. We are currently accepting suggestions for the color palette in here. My bathroom was a lot easier. There were actually TWO layers of wallpaper to deal with, however the original floral wallpaper, circa 1979, was so loose that once the edges came up the entire sheet would pull off without much, if any, damage to the wall. There were only a few spots i really had to work the paper off.

721 is essentially wallpaperless now! This excites me to no end! Now I'm in the repair walls and re-paint phase. To quote Robert Earl Keen, the road goes on forever and the party never ends. That is about how I feel about home ownership. I may complain about it, I am forever mid project, and I know there are 50 more projects on the horizon -- but i love every moment of it, especially the satisfaction of seeing the fruits of my labors.

In other home improvement news, I was able to get the bushes at the end of the driveway removed yesterday. One of the guys I work with has been scouring warren county for brush for a work project. He came by and picked up the last limb from the snowstorm. I let him peruse the yard for anything else he might want. I mentioned that I was willing to part with those bushes. One truck, one chain, and three shovels later, we had success! The taproot on one of those things was giant! There is no way I ever could have removed it by myself.

All in all, a successful Saturday. Who knows what Sunday will bring?

Time for me to go do some wall repair prior to priming/painting. Maybe if I'm lucky I'll squeeze in a bike ride. Thank you daylight savings time :)

Some break that was

I've spent a good portion of my weekend either painting the kitchen/laundry room and lying on the couch to recouperate from the ick that has been passing around. During my break from painting this afternoon I tackled the aftermath of the great 2010 Vicksburg snowstorm. I got all of the limb-age to the curb except the giant main portion of the limb that took out the shed. It was too large for me to drag to the curb.

After yardwork we took a walk around the lake. It looked like everyone else was doing the yardwork thing too. Not that it is a competition that I WANT to win, but I think I had the largest pile at the curb...

Back to painting....

Thanksgiving Project

I limited my shopping to the depot that is for the home today. It was probably a smart idea! I didn't drop money on crap i don't need. I did buy some mulch for the Thanksgiving Project.

Thanksgiving Project, you say, what is this project of which you keep name dropping. It started off with trimming the jasmine and getting things into fall order... It turned into pulling down all of the jasmine off of the trellis aroud the garage. From there I took out the morning glories atop the other trellis. We painted the trellises white. I trimmed back the rosebush on the far side of the garage. While attacking that bed I took out a 10 gallons worth of monkey grass -- anyone need any? -- from the edge of the bed. It was gross!!! I put a new border on the bed and did some lasagna gardening. We put out a layer of newspaper and covered it with a layer of mulched leaves from the yard. I covered the leaves with more cypress mulch. The leafy layer should decompose over the winter, giving us some great soil for planting in the spring. I have to say, I think it looks pretty nice. The project has also included placing pine straw around the oak out front and clearing up as many leaves as possible -- thats a never ending job. seriously.

A more recent before...

Anyone need monkey grass?

To lasagne garden, put out a layer of newspaper directly over the garden area - no need to remove existing plant growth, and wet it down.

The "finished" product. It needs a little more Paint on the upper trellis, but its getting there!

The JGs did a great job. They've spent the last several days in the front yard while I've worked. They've really taken to the wireless fence out front. 95% of the time they just wander and sniff and sit in the sun. When neighbor dogs come into theyard they are known to play together. However, they know exactly where that fence is! They don't go near it anymore, which makes off of us happy campers. Unfortunately, Madison seems to think that we were going on a trip rather than heading up yardwork central. oops.

Lumberjack Sarah

I spent the afternoon working on the yard (again). The lawn finally got mowed after two weeks of work travel and a week of rain. I also took the tree limbs to the side of the road to get some use of my county tax dollars. Then I got motivated to tear down the tree that is overgrowing on the side of the house. I also pulled out a bunch of dead growth from around the AC and in the canna lillies. The side of the house looks amazing compared to the before (which i didn't take a picture of). For proof, look at the pile of limb-age at the side of the road!!! I hope to finish this chore so I can put a butterfly bush and some other goodies over on the side of the house. That is the area that gets full afternoon sun. Might as well use it!!

Aren't you jealous of my afternoon, not! Actually it as a great afternoon -- if the inside of the house can't look pretty at least the outside can be non-hideous.

Trees, Sesame Street Style

One tree limb in the yard
ha ha ha
Two tree limbs in the yard
ha ha ha

Lots of storms. Lots to clean up. Please let it stop raining for a couple of weeks. Please.

This post was brought to you by the Sesame Street Count.

Cha-Cha-Changes

This afternoon, circa 3 PM

This evening, circa 6 PM

Notice anything different? I have disliked that shrubbery since i bought the house. It has been pruned down. Next step, removing that huge nasty clump of roots. I am happy to say that I've dealt with these shrubs and the holly out front before hitting my two year anniversary -- both of them were lowlights of the landscaping from day 1. Yay!!!

It's called mulch people

Its been a LONG and fun afternoon Chez Sarah. This morning was raining.. and beautiful. Eventually mr. sunshine decided to come out and celebrate the fact that it wasn't 90 degrees. Thus, the JGs and I decided to head out to work on the yard, our permanent past time lately.

Yesterday while Miss Morgan played with the JGs on another play date I did some planting, primarily potting of some goodies I bought from the nursery (I skipped the depot in favor of the locally owned nursery where they have tons more options. We've got some impatiens in baskets on the front porch as well as some trailing petunias. Out back I've got a gerbra daisy (my favorites!) and some hot pink geraniums in pots. that was fun and successful.

The rain from last night and this morning made for good conditions for weeding. So I went at it. I pulled out the holly from the bed in the front yard. seriously -- who puts holly in a bed in Mississippi? Holly is for Christmas, not for the summer in Mississippi. I've wanted to get rid of that stuff since the day I moved in. Now, just under two years later it is gone. Let me tell you, it was a bit of work -- apparently holly has large roots. I got 95% of the roots out, so hopefully we'll just have a few to pull next year, and the won't be huge and large. now ther are some big holes in the ground cover. I guess I need to fill them up :)

I pulled out the rest of the weeds and leaves that were filling up that bed. I also cleaned up some of the perennials that are starting to come back. Next thing I knew I was pulling out the monkey grass that had been spreading in that bed. Suddenly a brilliant idea hit me. Next thing I knew I was pulling monkey grass from out front to transplant out back around the patio. I'm hoping it will hold up to the puppy wear and tear out there. This project is started.. but there is lots more monkey grass to pull from that bed and lots more patio to keep edging. I think this ought to be a sucessful project in the long run. Fingers crossed.

Meanwhile as a part of the transplanting process the brilliant ideas just kept comming. The previous owners had some 'interesting' ideas on gardening. When we closed they let me know that before I had looked at the hosue they had planted some stuff out in front of the house in the beds under the trees. Last summer there was nothing but weeds there. Imagine that. Well, last summer and all this year I've been collecting yard debris and mulching around the trees with leaves, sticks, and pine needles. This summer a couple of hasta magically popped up. It's called mulch people. If you put it out there the plants will come up... unlike if you just put the plants out there in the clayey soil and let it be. So... brilliant idea number two... take the three hasta that were out back where I want to put the monkey grass and split them and put them under the tree. So... i weeded the bed and transplanted the hastas. hopefully we'll get a 75% sucess rate and they'll start going to town. Maybe in a couple of years the ground will be nicely covered.

Throughout this prcoess the JGs hung out in the yard. We are making process. Daisy Dogg ran around and sniffed in the beds and explored around the house while staying within her boundaries. Eventually Ms. Madison came out. For the longest time she sat on the couch and came to stick her head out when Daisy gave her the cue that something was going on outside. Eventually she came out and took up her spot in front of the door. She actually laid out and looked comfy for quite a while rather than just sitting there looking like she wanted me to let her back in. They did a great job!! I'm really proud of my girls. We had lots of people walk by, and several dogs. They just did their barky bark thing but didn't head off to hit the road. They might take a few steps, but when I callled their names they stopped. I'm really happy to see this progress.

In the middle of the afternoon my friend Seth was walkiing around the lake with his adoreable daughters and his dog. We stopped to talk for a few minutes. First I have to compliment Daisy for comming up... getting zapped when she didn't listen to me... but just backing up 10 ft away instead of running to the door. You could tell she really wanted to play with Lumbda. Also.. I have to thank Seth... He was complimenting me on the yard and garden and telling me you could really tell I had been putting a lot of work into it. I have to say that was great! I know what I've been doing so I can tell the difference. However, i didn't know if anyone could tell that there were changes being made - from the grass growing and the clover being mowed to cleaning up the beds to putting out hanging baskets.

So for all my complaints, I really do enjoy working in the yard. I just don't enjoy it in July/August when its 100+ degrees Now the dogs are passed out and snoring. Big Time Snoring. I guess it was an exciting weekend.

Vegatation Obliteration

Yesterday I killed a tree. It was quite fun actually! Tons of work, but quite fun! There was this tree on the side of the house. It started off nice enough. Then things got crazy. In fact it went from being a little tree on the side of the house to a huge pain in the ace. It started growing, and suddenly there were branches closing in on the wiring going into the house. So, I made a call for action and got rid of it. Check it out! There is no better way to feel like you have accomplished something than to get rid of a huge blight on your property.

The dogs had a great weekend! They were exhausted after a long weekend of playing with Astro. They were sitting on the couch, passed out. They wouldn't budge, even for a picture.

I tried a new recipe this week - Balsamic Chicken from the South Beach Diet. It was pretty good - and will make for a good lunch with some greenery this week. It makes for a pretty good "basic" chicken to use in other recipes. I imagine it would work well in a pasta salad too. While I had my apron on, quite literaly, i fired up the grill for a "puppy mamma" mosters day dinner. I grilled up some high quality NY Strip Steaks and summer squash. It was totally yummy, especially the squash.

6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

1 1/2 tsp fresh rosemary leaves or 1/2 tsp dried

2 cloves garlic minced

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbl extra-virgin olive oil

4-6 tbl white wine or water

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1. Rinse chicken and pat dry. Combine rosemary garlic, pepper, and salt in a small bowl and mix well. lace chicken in a large bowl. drizzle with the oil, rub with the spice mixture, cover and refridgerate over night.
2. Preheat oven to 450F. Spray a heavy roasting pan or iron skilet with cooking spray. Place chicken in pan and bake 10minutes. Turn the chicken over. Bake 10 minues or until fully cooked. If the pan is dry stir in white wine/water into pan to loosen the drippings. Drizzle the vinegar over the chicken.
3. Transfer the chicken to the pan. Stir the liquid and drizzle over the chicken.

A Really Rad Rash

Poison Oak is such fun! I had never had the pleasure before. I had also never really known what it looked like. I can't believe I am just now getting it - my yard is totally INFESTED. I don't know how I am just now showing reactions. I took a bottle of Roundup to the yard this afternoon, but it is definitely going to require more treatment. I knew I should have bought the big bottle. Wish me luck. If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears. If I can't get rid of it the dogs won't be allowed in the princess pad, and how horrible is that?

Busy little Bees

It has been a fun time in Vicksburg lately! This weekend was happening! Saturday afternoon was an exciting time. I spent the afternoon working my booty off in the back yard. After several weekends of work I finally got the fenced in portion of the back yard cleaned of leaves. The crazy thing - there was more grass under there than i thought! While there is plent of mud, there is some real green stuff out there too. The girls had a ball with me in the yard. They didn't even need to play with me, they were just happy to roll around in the dirt and lie in the sun.

Saturday evening I moseied over to Jackson, and hit the PetSmart for a crapload of food. The spoiled babies got new toys too. I hit the Borders while I was over that direcion. We enjoyed a delicious dinner over at Keifer's. Keifer's is a fantabulous place over in Jackson. They have great food - all sorts of greek/midle eastern foods. The hummus was absolutely to die for, and the gyros are pretty tasty too. The cottage fries are crazy huge! The atmosphere there is great - they have this awesome patio, and sometimes they have live music.

Sunday was yet another productiv day. I finally hit the paint wagon again. Over the course of the long afternoon I was able to paint the ceiling in the living room. I even started on part of the trim. It will definitely look nice when it is done!

This afternoon I had to cut out of work a little early to take Ms. M. to the vet. She has a nasty rash on her belly. When it itches she starts scratching it and it gets really infcted if I'm not careful. It is pretty bad right now. Hopefully it will get better soon. She has a bunch of drugs to try to get her straight. In honor of our productive weekend we took a walk around the lake this afternoon. If I don't walk them fairly often, they start to act like they have never been outdoors before.

My Favorite Time of Year

It is mid February, so start guesing why it is my favorite time of year....

Yesterday was a fun time in the city. We had a gorgeous day. I feel bad hearing about all my mid-westerners with -22 degree windchills and 50 mph winds, but we had a gorgeous day. I spent the afternoon working in the yard. I moved the remainder of the woodpile out to the shed for storage until next winter (Don't worry - I kept a little for the next few weeks when it gets cold again). I then proceeded to spend the next few hours raking leaves and trying to get the back yard in order. It is slowly getting there.

Why is it my favorite time of year you ask? It has nothing to do with cold weather or holidays. It is time for the Westminter Kennel Club Dog Show. One of my memories from childhood is watching the Westminster Show every year. It was alway shown on PBS, and we got to see all sorts of dogs doing their thing... I remember seeing about a million different dogs, always being cute and funny. I was in love with the English Sheepdog with the fifteen million hairs and the stuck up poodles. They are adoreable, and now that i'm a real adult I can't imagine dealing with all of that hair! Today I came home and my cousin Christina sent me a little IM asking me if I was watching the show. I totally forgot it was on tonight. So, we watched part of the show. It brought back lots of memories, both of childhood and last year. Last year we had a huge snowstorm. it was aboslutely insane. I nearly wrecked my car several times driving to my 8AM class. Then, the chancellor cancelled classses in the middle of that class. I went home and we had a fun couple of snow days. This was during the Westminster Kennel Club show last year. We spent our days watching re-runs on USA. Daisy Dogg really enjoyed it. She actually watched it! it. We particularly enjoye that the springer spaniel won. We'll see who wins tomorrow night.