Sunday, April 28, 2013

SOLD!!!

Well, almost........
We were very excited last week to get an offer on the old house. It wasn't QUITE what we were wanting, but, after a bit of negotiating, it was closer.....
THEN, on friday of this week, we got a second, full price, backup offer! Where were YOU three months ago!?! So, now we have 2, and we're feeling like we're in a pretty good position to be done here. The first inspection will be tomorrow, fingers crossed, and the next step is appraisal. Then we just wait for the paperwork to be prepared to close. Those are 2 big steps, and we'll be holding our breath until it's all done.

I've been over there weeding (dividing plants), and cleaning up the yard a bit. Almost done except the evil fennel, which will probably get chopped out today.

On the new house front......
I've been working on an idea for a zen garden in the bamboo.....

 
I have a little concrete bench to put there and also some shade plants I've rescued..... I think it would be cool with a little wind chime too. I'm going to finish cleaning it up, and put the bench there soon.
 
The landscapers have been delayed (made lame excuses), and now won't be here until may 14th. ARGH!!! The hard part is keeping everything in pots alive until they finish. There's a rapidly growing collection out there. (it IS plant sale season), and I don't want to lose it. I'd fire them, but at this point, it'd be extremely difficult to find anyone else, they'd probably be on a later schedule, and it's hard to be mean when someone tells you they had a death in the family...(there were more excuses that were lame, that one I believe) So, we're not so patiently waiting!
 
The garden is doing great.....



 
 

 
Those little green sprouts are carrots, beets, spinach, and a whole mess of lettuce and greens. Today, we're going to plant our apple and asian pear tree and also the blueberries you see there. In the garbage cans, the potatoes are about 10" tall. The warm weather this week made everything take off.
 
Next week, more old house news, another plant sale, and who knows WHAT else.
onward!
 

Sunday, April 14, 2013

ok, right now, it's HAILING!!!

The last couple of weeks have been kinda slow around here garden-wise. Right now, it's hailing pea sized chunks, and about as wet as it can get withought having to build a boat.
We did get a few things done in between storms, though.....The greenhouse is complete, shelves and all and I planted some hanging baskets this morning, before the hail.

We also finished the beds in the garden and planted some starts.....(they're out there getting pounded to death right now)
The seeds are planted too, and there's already some little sweet peas poking out of the ground.
The next step with the garden will be to trellis the raspberries, put in the supports for the espeliered trees and plant them. (if the weather ever cooperates)

I've not heard anything from the landscapers, in spite of emailing and calling them last week. Doesn't inspire a bunch of confidence.....They're SUPPOSED to start either tomorrow (not likely), or next monday. You'd thing they'd at least let me know??  It WOULD be nice.......

In house news, we've had a lot of lookers, but no takers on the other house. Seems everyone who comes to look realizes that it's OLD. REALLY?? It was built in 1959, HOT NEWS FLASH, it's old.

We're also realizing some issues with the deck on the new house. Seems "the boys" didn't gap the boards when they built it. See that credit card stuck in it? Not supposed to happen. You should be able to stick a 8 penny nail in the gap there. What this does is cause the deck to hold water. Around here, that's a problem. The boards rot sooner and right now, they're a lovely shade of slime green, and slippery as as all getout.
We've contacted the contractor (opening a can of worms, I'm sure). but they're out of business, so I'm not even sure they'll email back.
We'll  probably have to fix it ourselves, which will mean removing ALL of the boards and repositioning them. It's a HUGE deck.....

On a happy note, spring is sprung, and the plant sale season officially starts next weekend.
Now I just need a place to plant them!

Monday, April 1, 2013

Take that! Damned deer~!

The weather has finally turned here. It's been 60+ degrees or so, and that makes for some fine yardworking time.
On thursday, my buddy, George, delivered 8 yards of cedar chips for the garden paths.
I worked on them friday, shovel and wheelbarrow, and covered all of the path area, with some to spare.


Over the weekend, we put up the deer fence. It's almost done, with the exception of the gates. I think this'll work.......

Those critters can jump 6 feet straight up, and will eat ANYTHING. Even things they're not supposed to like. They especially like human food, and can devistate a garden in no time. Hopefully, this will work, and they'll go eat someone else's........

Next up.....We have a bunch of little things to finish next weekend. The gates here, the shelves in the greenhouse, tops on the boxes, and the strawberry tower.

One thing at a time......
Countdown to landscapers........15 days (maybe)