Hallson Gardens

It has been 7 1/2 months since we finally moved into our new place. I have lost track of all that we have done (but the roof no longer leaks!) in the house but am well aware of what still needs to happen. This week we are settling on a house color. The other houses in the neighborhood are "safe" (read boring) colors. We'll be shaking things up a bit as we both loved this one house we saw elsewhere that was plum with eggshell trim. What we are shooting for is plum with burgundy undertones. The first paint is too burgundy and is a bright rose in the full sun. The second one is too purple and is violet in the sun. Fortunately our sunny days don't come as frequently. I don't want to be known as the neon house

When I look outside it feels like I have made no progress at all. Once I think about all of the burn piles, yard waste runs and chipper loads and look at all the empty pots sitting around I might have actually done a thing or two. The good news is that DH is so close to having the new greenhouse finished. Just think of what fun I'll have with a 10' x 20'!

I still have to cut the deadwood out of the big oak tree, shape up the pink dogwood and thin it out, figure out if the pine tree in the front yard is salvageable, eliminate lawn and build tree and shrub borders, one along the street and one as a buffer in front of the house. There will be a wide walkway wrapping around from front to back and I want to reduce the wide open feeling.

Sometimes I overwhelm myself thinking about all of the physical labor I have ahead of me. Oh, well. It is one good way to manage the middle-aged spread!

Since everyone else has posted hosta lists, I might as well add mine.

Hosta venusta
Warwick Delight
Lemon Bells

I'm sure Doublemom would love to add to this list when I am ready, but for right now it'll do. I still have about 20 hellebores to get in the ground and another 30 to pick up from the person who has been babysitting them for me for about 4 years. Hellebore babies, anyone?

At last I have all the trees I brought with me in the ground and most of the shrubs are finally happy. The ornamental grasses present a problem, however. Just how many varieties of miscanthus does one small yard hold?

When I finally get to clean up the oak tree I'll be very happy as I plan on climbing it to do so. A lot less precarious than doing it off of a ladder, let me tell you!

This week we'll be finishing the greenhouse and finish painting over the turquoise in the great room. At the moment we've painted smaller areas where things had to go so it is very much patchwork. The turquoise ceiling is just too much!

Got the greenhouse all closed in yesterday and got to put the shade cloth on it this morning. Next comes the benches. It changes the way the back yard feels big time! When I sit on the lounge chair in the shade back by the evergreen grove, I can't be seen at all by anyone driving by. Better yet, at this time of year anyone glancing toward the back yard really can't see the greenhouse! If I have to live in a neighborhood, as much privacy as I can get in my yard, the better!

Today I am going to try my best to get some of the most stressed plants in the ground. Since the bigger things are now planted, I think I will start with the 2" and 4" pots and work my way up to the 2 gallon. I'm getting very tired of emergency watering the pots and of filling the yard cart with water so I can deep soak things I thought were well watered.

First cyclamen coum is blooming!!

Okay, so I didn't get as many plants in the ground as I had set out to do. You know how it goes. Start out in one direction which leads to another which leads to another and so on.

I did get one remote planting area well watered. This is an area that does the out of sight out of mind thing and I have some of my choicest trees there. Got another tree planted in the front yard. light pruned my way around the yard (which means more chipping) did the guilt abolishment thing on some cyclamen corms, planted two of the enormous blueberries that I had brought with me, got the last two soaking whiile I figure out where to put them. After lunch I tackled that darn turquoise ceiling in that darn turquoise room. Yup, I was beat. A shower really felt good, dinner and bed. I don't like eating right before I turn in but some days are just like that. Maybe if I didn't fall asleep at 8:30pm!

I think I need a playday. Time for another hike.

So, why is it that some people figure if you aren't earning a paycheck you aren't working? When we moved here we decided to take time away from jobs to do the work that needed to be done. Granted, the savings is dwindling, but if I were working I'd have to pay people a whole lot more than I was earning to do the things that I was capable of doing and it wouldn't be done to my satisfaction. Not working? I put in more hours in the day than the nine to fivers do!!

Whew. Once in a while a girl just has to vent, you know?

Which direction should I go next? Since the popcorn came off of the ceilings (my arms were sore for days!) I have bare sheetrock that needs to be primered. Walls need to be scrubbed and painted. I could recontour the front yard where the main walkway is going or finish cutting out and chipping up the weed treees that are now pushing 15', or I could do some more planting or I could dig out the turf inside the greenhouse so I can start laying the floor. Weeds are getting the upper hand. Surprise. Laundry? The last three loads are still sitting on the couch!
After the root canal I had yesterday afternoon I didn't feel much like putting it away.

Oh, bugger. I guess I'll just go with the flow and see where I end up!

Today was spent "teaching" my cousin how to prune some of her larger trees and shrubs for shape. Teaching is in parentheses because when I agreed to do this that was what we had discussed. When I got there, she had a doctor's appointment in the morning and an opthamologist appointment in the afternoon. Guess how much time she spent learning? Guess how much time I spent pruning??
Grrrr..........My sister, niece and cousin all expect me to do their work for them. Well, the train has left the track. I'll teach but I will no longer do. Heaven knows I don't have extra hours in my day right now! If they weren't relatives I could charge them a good amount of money for doing this, but since I will know them the rest of my/their lives I'll roll with it. At least my neice is now offering to help me paint in exchange for pruning, and I made sure she understood that it was a training session. I DO NOT WANT IT TO BE MY PERMANENT CHORE!!!!

Sound grumpy, don't I?

Tomorrow is primer day. More primer in the turquoise room, primer in the living room (YAY!) and dining room. SOON, I will have happy rooms!

Yesterday was a steady push on big projects for both DH and I. The turquoise room (24' x24') is now completely primed, walls and ceiling both, and ready for paint. While I was attending to that, DH was removing a picture window, removing the wall and getting it ready for the new french door to be installed. Between the two of us it is now fully installed! We got the kind with the blinds inside the glass as this is the room the dogs spend the most time in. Long day. I started painting at 7 am and we finished the door at 9 pm.

Today is a kickback day, although the dogs and I went to Preacher's Slough and hiked for three miles. Okay, three miles for me and at least twice that for them as they kept running ahead and running back to check on me. At least they'll have no problem sleeping while we are at a birthday party.

Tomorrow I'll put the color coat on the turquoise room while DH prepares to install yet another french door. The fun never ends. One more french door after that then the house has all new windows and exterior doors. More painting after that.........

Oh, I suppose I had best think about watering the plants, huh?

Finally I am done painting in the turquoise room. It is now a very soft pale yellow and with the second new door in the room looks and feels completely different. I no longer feel like I'm living in a hovel. For now we'll have to live with the really bad vinyl flooring, but the plan is to put down laminate flooring. I can't wait!

I really thought I would get a chance to catch up on things yesterday with DH being gone for the day but I had forgotten just how much time errand running can take up. Should have been simple. Hardware store, Home Depot, grocery store. Nope. Hardware store, grocery store, Home Depot, grocery store and back to the hardware store to get what I meant to get in the first place! Get home, unload car, put groceries away, start dinner (slow cooking soup) pull out the dry clothes, start another wash, mow a little, pick up turf that was dug out for the greenhouse, throw it into the rootball crater where the tree blew down, fall into the same crater (thank goodness I could grab something) play with the dogs a little, mow a little more. How did it get to be so late?? Kitchen is a disaster and the next load of laundry is dry. Fold that on the couch with the four loads from the day before. OOOPS. DH is home. Sit down to visit with him and fall asleep before dinner.
.........and he thinks I have it easy. No way could he keep up this pace.

Today should be a bit more straight forward. Plant two mature blueberry bushes, mow the front yard, put away the clean laundry, primer the living room...........what's for dinner this time?

I still don't have those last two blueberries planted! I'd best get them in before I rot them out. Part of my procrastination is that these babies are HUGE and weigh a ton and I don't know where to put them and the soil is so hard to dig in.....................whine, whine, whine.

FINALLY!! Those darn blueberries are finally planted! I had been thinking "fruits and vegetables" and couldn't find the right spot for them but as soon as I started thinking "edible landscaping" i found them homes and got them planted. The soil wasn't even that hard to dig in, not like other areas of the yard. It was , however, quite deficient in organic matter so those blueberries got a whole wheelbarrow load of my best compost. Thousands of earthworms are now happily feasting around their roots. If that doesn't help them grow, nothing will.

The living room is now painted! Yahoo!! No more of someone else's soot, grime, holes in the wall, etc. I wonder just how many years accumulation it was. The dining room is next but I've had it with painting for a while. maybe I'll practice being a lady of leisure. Lady. Leisure. I didn't even know that you could use those two words in the same sentence. My leisure day is already filling up. Vacuum and get the living room furniture back in its place, clean the kitchen (a constant chore) freeze the beef barley soup for future consumption, grocery shopping and starting to remove the sod from the greenhouse.

It sure felt like a fall morning. Cool, crisp, clear skies and dew on the grass. This will be one of those days where it starts at 40 degrees and ends up at 75 degrees. Maybe that is what is feeding the urge to get the freezer stocked up for winter. I've got a good start on it but lots of room yet to fill.

The pups and I did ButtBuster Hill (see weight loss forum) this morning and I realized that while I've been walking, it has been too much flat walking. I couldn't make it up the hill without stopping. A definite backslide. I need to be sure I do that every other day or so. How am I going to be able to handle the trails in the Olympic Mountains this fall if I don't get those muscles ready? Heaven knows there are not that many flat spots in a mountain range.

I've been thinking about Christmas gifts a lot lately. I've already done a bit of crocheting, found a Pendleton Wool throw my mom will like, plan on giving nice candles to some people. This year I will have to be even more vigilant on watching my spending and get creative in my thinking. I love stores like Ross, Big Lots and TJMaxx. It makes it much more affordable to give nice gifts.

Better get my day going before I talk myself into reading all day!

Just got back from a great walk with the dogs up ButtBuster Hill. It rained yesterday but today is sunny so the grasses are still wet. The dogs are drenched and there isn't a dry spot on me from the knees down. I always knew that being so tall would come in handy! Great morning!

The trees are starting to get fall color already. Don't they know that it is still July? I would expect the vine maples to be turning as they are always the first to start in mid-August, but they weren't the only ones. Mountain ash, crabapple, cascara, cherry, deciduous azaleas. They are all starting! Fall is my favorite season so I'm not that disappointed by it.

Today we'll be removing the last of the old sliding doors and installing a new french door in its place. Thankfully I am not involved every step of the way so I'll be able to get the chicken stock skimmed and in the freezer, the meats split up and repackaged, the peanut butter/choc chip cookies baked and hopefully get the kitchen cleaned up.

Blueberries are starting to ripen. YUM!!

Just got back from spending 5 days at Mom's house. She recently had a hip replacement and is doing well, but her husband went out of town for a week so my sis and I took turns spending time with her. Why is it you never sleep as well elsewhere as you do at home?? I missed DH, I missed the pups and I am so glad to be back.

No magic elf did my jobs for me but at least I had a bit of a break and no longer feel quite so buried. We leave for West Virginia in a couple of weeks (Hi, MommaTina!) so I don't want to get into any of the big outside projects yet. Maybe I'll focus on getting the bedroom painted and then shifting the attention to getting ready to go. Get the suitcase out, start getting clothes ready, deep clean the house, make sure there is food in the freezer for our return. I suppose I could wash all of the puppy nose prints off of the windows. Maybe that should wait until after I drop them off at the boarding kennel.

I like this kennel I'm taking them to. Big paddocks on 5 wooded acres so the dogs can socialize and play with other dogs. Lots of hands-on attention. They are going there for Doggie Day Care tomorrow so it won't be a new place to them when we leave them for 18 days. I don't like being gone from them that long, or being gone from home that long, but it isn't forever and we could use the R&R after the major push we've put ourselves through in the last year.

I'm excited that fall will be here officially when we get back. It is my favorite season and Christmas will be on its heels. My 50th birthday falls in between them, and that I could probably forget about. Maybe I should celebrate it by hiking with my good friend Daniel. I would love that. Birthday cake at the top of a mountain pass, providing there isn't an early snowfall.

Enough of being a lazy bum today. The dishes await.

DH and I went to the Garden of MU today, DH to help run wire for a hot tub, me to oogle and google over what he has been up to in the plant department. Seems like every time I go they have yet another new garden bed in. Mike (Garden of MU) probably sees everything yet to be done where I look at what it used to be compared to what it is becoming! GREAT JOB, Mike and Daniel!!

I walked around the yard a bit tonight planning the winter projects. I WILL get the dogwood and pine tree shaped up, the plum tree and Yellow Transparent apple tree removed. Sounds easier than it is. It is amazing the amount of debris that something like that will generate. I love doing the work. Too bad I don't have anyone to clean up after me. I learned a long time ago that I need to allow two or three hours at the end of the day to clean up the messes I make when I'm in full-fledged landscape renovation mode. Hey, maybe instead of having someone to clean up after me I can have dinner catered! Is pizza being delivered considered a catered meal?? As long as I am dreaming, how about someone else to clean the bathrooms??!!

Yesterday was a flop in the baking department. I made oatmeal raisin cookies and forgot the baking powder. Made a raspberry pie and discovered that my oven is way under temperature. Instead of baking the pie for an hour, it took at least an hour and a half! I love to bake and am very good at it............usually. Not yesterday.

Wow. That was a trip down memory lane! The sad news is that there is still so much to do but the good news is that so much has been done since the last time i posted.

Right now I am getting ready for heuchera growing which means cleaning out the greenhouse of all the extra stuff that tends to gravitate in. Also good news is that there is a lot less plant material that had to come in for the winter. I can actually see the floor this year!

Last spring I went into the ravine and found a trillium that was head and shoulders above the rest . Where all the others were a foot or so, this one was easily three feet with leaves over a foot across. I tagged it , lifted it this fall and transplanted it. It is coming up now and I am eager to see if it will be as huge in a different situation.