Side garden landscaping - cont.

This area really didn't look so bad when we first moved in.  But then, the creeping bellflowers and hostas and lilies of the valleys went crazy and everything was so overgrown! So here's a recap of what was done a few weeks ago: 

https://cindyontour.blogspot.com/2024/04/

The plants that were put in the ground last year have not shown any flower buds yet, so hopefully there will eventually be some color back here. In the meantime, I'm hoping to get a vegetable garden on the upper tier.  Bobby said it will be his "salad bar".  Ha!

Instead of 1 raised bed, maybe we'll do 2?

I have my work cut out for me pulling out all these creeping bellflowers and lilies.  Sheesh!

If anything, I'm discovering some more rocks buried in the dirt.  Thankfully just rocks and nothing like another animal carcass - like the one I found in the side yard in our previous home in CA.  That scared the crap out of me!!

Leveling these raised beds is going to be tricky, but it's done by nightfall.  Yay!

But wait, by morning I realized that I totally forgot something.  Where is the outdoor sink going to go??  Urgh!!!

Well, looks like we're down to just 1 raised bed and the sink will go against the brick wall.  This will give us just enough space anyway to wash our feet when we get back to the lake.  It's working out! Although now I have to re-level this one other side.  I never make it easy for myself, do I?!

Add some deck tiles and TADA!  Perfect!!

Getting the hose up on the hanger on the other hand... OMG, not so perfect!  It twisted on itself so many times that it probably took me a good 5-10 minutes just to get it all untangled and hung on the hose hanger properly:

And oh, outdoor sink now also comes with an outdoor faucet AND shower spray.  This is actually one that's used for doggy washes.  He he!

So glad this spot is done! These lilies are so pretty and look so harmless!

... until they are overgrown and end up like this!

I'm sure there will be more to pull out before next season.  I'll have to figure out when to do so, so it doesn't reseed itself!

My poor yoga frog will also need some TLC.  I left it out during this harsh winter and it has some cracks:

Thankfully, these cracks can be fixed with a tube of concrete and some outdoor paint.  Oh wait, what color did I pick? Oh, you mean the same blue as the front door should be perfect?  Yup, you're right! :-P

And I have the perfect spot for Mr Yoga Frog - on a rock right in front of the creeping hydrangeas:

And now, the side garden is complete! By the way, I did end up trimming about half of the creeping hydrangea off.  It was looking rather limp.  Hope to someday see some flowers on it.  Fingers crossed!

Oh,I did discover a couple of days ago that the first step at the bottom of the stairs here needs some concrete repair.  I can totally see the rebar. This outdoor work is never ending!!

Wood chopping

We are back to wood chopping again!  Well, at least just the boys :-)

There's a lot of big logs from the the year before last!  It was from the leaning tree out front:

Video:

Look at all that ant damage!  So yeah, ants... not termites thankfully:

This entire pile is suppose to get chopped up but nope, looks like it's not happening today:

We bought a used log holder and I guess eventually, all the logs will be organized nicely in this back area - ready for next winter:

I guess keyword is EVENTUALLY.  Like, eventually I will hang that full length mirror in our bedroom closet.  Or, eventually we will go through and empty out every single moving box in this house and garage.  Ha! :-D

Shoe organization

The foyer by the front door has always been quite of a mess, with shoes all over.  Look at this!

It's funny how there's only 4 of us but there seems to be so many different pairs of shoes for all the different occasions and weather. See what I mean?!

Well, the weather has been quite crazy.  Cold then hot then cold again. And then wet. Okay, perhaps it is a first world problem owning so many pairs of shoes :-P

I was also trying to improve the Feng Shui of the house, which means no more shoes directly facing the front door.  That meant moving one of the entryway hall trees away (it's actually in the guest room now) and I managed to find a (used) little wooden cabinet online:

I think it actually works!  I was a bit concerned about all the different materials and colors - wood vs metal and black vs brown.  The tricky part was actually trying to find baskets that would fit underneath that cabinet.  I managed to finally find some cheapy plastic ones that I won't have to worry too much about getting filthy.  Yay!

I actually had to clean up the basement anyway because I was finally hosting a neighborhood Youth Committee meeting.  You can't quite see it, but there's these little bug by the windy sill I finally had to sweep up.  I thought someone else named Bobby was supposed to do it, but... nope!

Ewwww....!

Thankfully, they were all dead.  Found out that they are boxelder bugs and don't cause any harm to humans and to the house.  Can you imagine if it did??!!

They do like warm spots and I think putting mulch right to the exterior wall of the house was probably a bad idea.  I did try and pull that mulch away from the house and put gravel instead.  So hopefully that will help!

And talking about liking warm spots as well, these little plants are just loving it when I open up the blinds.  They actually have a grow light turned on directly above them but the natural light wins all the time!

Thankfully I was able to (mostly) sort out the mess in the foyer and basement to host.  The other committee members thought the basement was cozy.  Hopefully this summer, we can sort everything out once and for all!!

Update on Graham's Invisalign

Both boys started using Invisalign at the end of December 2022.  So about 1.5 years later, Graham is down to his last set of weekly retainers (although not exactly sure how many more months?) but then he will be all done!  Well, done as in he still needs nightly retainers, but at least not like the ones now that he has to use all the time.

The scanning technology still amazes me after all these trips to their orthodontist:

The dental assistant sticks this electronic wand into their mouth and just moves it around.  And you can see on the computer screen what has been scanned.  Truly amazing! Especially after seeing Graham go through dental molds.  Yuck!  So glad those braces didn't work out when we were trying to get it done right before leaving/moving from CA for IL.  Things happen for a reason and this is definitely a good one!!

I don't think Graham likes this part - where he has to use this device to push back his lips.  Ha ha!

By the way, here is the video of Graham's progress from Day 1.  Amazing!!

Definitely money well spent.  These boys are so lucky!!

Charlie's Spring band recital

I don't hear Charlie practice at home but he seems to be doing quite well in band. At one point earlier in the school year, Charlie mentioned that he didn't want to be in band anymore.  Thankfully I haven't heard any of those complains anymore.  I think it was because he had to do a practice log every week and he was constantly overdue on them! He hasn't needed to do anymore recently (or so he says), so maybe that's why he hasn't been complaining.

During the concert, the band director mentioned about all the previous trips that the band entourage has taken. They are going to Disneyland this year.  I believe two years ago, they even played in London! Oh, and they were also in the Rose Parade one year.  Hopefully these exciting trips will at least keep Charlie motivated!

It was a bit tricky to spot Charlie as he was blocked by another clarinet player.  But I thought the 6th Grade band sounded pretty good!

Family we-fie :-)

I believe the school band trips happen in 8th Grade so he has 2 more years to get there.  Well, technically, school is ending in 2.5 more weeks! Or I think the boys said - in just over 3 more Friday.  Ha!

Haven't really figured out what to do with them yet.  I'm thinking some golf, back to some archery, maybe pickle ball, and as much as they hate it... most definitely sorting out the house once and for all!!!

Journey as a "muralist"

After the most recent mural project in the master bedroom, I'm starting to think that perhaps there's an opportunity here ~ to help others enjoy some sort of mural in their space. I was trying to think back on how I even began on this journey.  If I'm not mistaken, it all started when I really loved a set of drapes that I wanted for the bedroom of our first-born son.  But it was rather expensive!  So what else could I do, in order to still capture that theme depicted on the drapes?  Yup, a mural!  

I really didn't think of it as a mural then.  It was just a cute painting that I wanted to get on the wall. And of course, I was able to add some more playfulness with a monkey :-)

Here's the link to the completed wall: Wall art in baby room

It obviously did not end there.  Our half bathroom needed some sprucing up - it needed a little bit of whimsical and color, so to speak. And so I had some fun with leaves and an owl and made it 3-dimensional with some birdhouses:

Here is how it progressed: Powder room mural

My projects eventually did get a bit larger.  At our next house, I was not very fond of our retaining wall along the front of our property.  It was quite an eye-sore and so I thought, why not create some sort of art piece/mural. There were a handful of Monarch butterflies that would visit our garden and so when I found a tile that had a flower pattern, I thought it would be fun to incorporate that. 

Here's the link for more photos: Wall art projects

I think what also brought me joy while working on this artwork was that random neighbors that were driving up and down along our street would stop and complement on it.  It obviously made me very proud and happy that someone else was also able to enjoy it too.

Not long after tackling the front wall, I decided to work on another outdoor brick wall. This one also involved using tiles - a whole lot more! Here's part of the "before" wall with some sketches and the beginning or some paint work.

And, here's the "after":

Tiles were used to create part of the sun.  And each ray had some sort of personal meaning - from arrows (we learned archery recently) to waves (we lived near the ocean).  Even the mountain in the backdrop is the outline of the mountain from my homestate in Sabah, Malaysia.

As for the bird, it was from a story in my son's English textbook (while learning from home during Covid).  It was almost a challenge from him and I think I pulled it off pretty well! 

I named this piece "Rising" - here are some more photos: "Rising" mural

And by the way, almost all of these projects were painted with leftover paint that was laying around in the garage.  I try and work with what I have to limit expenses.  Or purchase items at a discount.  It doesn't need to cost much to change the mood/ambiance of a space, but obviously some time, patience, and passion for art does help :-)

Last but not least, here's the tallest mural of them all that I've completed recently. My inspiration was from a mural I saw at the Mall of America earlier this year.  As I was trying to change up the "energy" of the master bedroom of yet another new home. I decided this would be a good piece to do since our bedroom ceiling has such great height.  And this allowed the ability to draw and paint these flowers in such a large scale:

Here's the story and more photos of painting this mural: Master Bedroom mural

The fact that the mural just blends into this wall is absolutely comforting and relaxing. I would love to share this joy in creating this same feeling for others. Let's see where this takes us!

Flowers

Here are some photos of a few flowers that are currently blooming around us. So pretty! So let's start:

Tulips:

There were a small bunch in the front yard that were gnawed off by some animal.  I'm guessing deer? But I didn't think they would get so close to the front door!  I have seen some bright red tulips while driving around - I really like how those look in a garden.  So we'll see for next year :-)

Who knew there were yellow magnolias?!  

I do love the pink one and most definitely the white ones.  Maybe at some point we will get one for our yard, but we already have sooooo many trees and shrubs!  Including these purple lilacs.  Oh man, you can smell these when you walk by the plants.  Smell so good!

I'm so glad I have this App on my phone that can identify flowers and plants.  This one is the Virginia Bluebell.  So cute!

Forget-me-nots.  For some reason, I thought these flowers would be bigger, but they are actually quite tiny:

Even the pine cones are growing on the blue spruce:

Random mushroom at the end of a stick?!  Yeah, we have been getting a lot of rain and I guess this stick stayed moist enough for something to grow on it.  Ha!

I have so many Lily of the Valley and hostas that I've packed them for some neighbors:

The one Japanese Yew seems to be doing well.  You can see the new growth that's a lighter green:

I can't say the same for the other Yew - I don't know why this other one is dying. Noooo...!!

And oh, I though this type of lavender was a perennial.  But I just noticed this same plant in the store and it was labeled Annual.  I guess I was wrong to think that it was going to grow back.  Looks like I've killed another lavender plant!  Booohooo!!

And oh, also found these leaves folded in on the hydrangeas:

It seems that these little moth caterpillars called Leaftiers wrapped themselves in these leaves before they morph into moths. It happened like overnight because I walked out into the garden and there were dozen of leaves that were wrapped in each plant! Ewww...!!

Bob the Cactus seems to be doing very well indoors.  He seems to like this one spot in the dining room, so I guess I'll just keep in there for now.

Look at all his little babies! The new babies are all leaning towards the sunny window though - so funny. It's always so tricky to move him because he is getting quite heavy in that little pot and all his little thorns are so fine that it gets really tricky when I rub myself even a tiny bit on him!

More updates to follow on all the garden/yard work :-)