“Lindsay, flowers need water or they will die..”

…says my husband after I couldn’t figure out why my newly potted pansies were on the verge of death just one day in their new home. I mean sure, that’s common sense – all living things need water in order to survive. I guess I’ve just always had this notion that plants were self-sufficient; that once you plant them outside Mother Nature does her job and they flourish and everyone is happy. I suppose my dead daffodils will tell you my thought process is WRONG. (Blame it on 10 years of apartment living!) So, I am on a mission to become one with nature…or at least our yard. Well, maybe “one with nature” is a strong statement. Let me rephrase - my mission is to become more aware of my outdoor surroundings. (I don’t think I’ll ever become one with bugs and snakes, which of course I think are lurking around every corner.)*

So what was my first step in this mission? I bought myself a watering can, of course.

Well, the first one I bought was a poor excuse for a watering can, but I thought the color was pretty. Jay ended up surprising me with this fine green, sturdy watering can the next day.

No longer dying of thirst, my pansies are thriving – CHECK! (I desperately tried to water those daffodils, but there was no reviving them. They are as a dead as a doornail. Oh well, maybe next year.)

Now let’s take a look around the rest of our yard. I’ll also take this opportunity to provide updates on a few outdoor projects that we’ve begun.  This is the front of the house (might recognize it from our logo at the top of the page). We live on a bit of a hill, so that incline you notice is real and not just the result of a poor photographer.  Eventually we will need to trim down the bushes, they are getting a bit overgrown. I would love to make some other changes like add a little color to the front, but quite honestly, I'm not even sure where to begin. Heck, I could barely keep those pansies alive!

Over to the left is my favorite thing about our property...our gorgeous birch tree! Since this is our first month in the house, every time I look outside I see a new surprise blossoming. Check out those pretty pink plants. Not sure what they are, but I love 'em!

Let's keep going to the left to the left (sorry, couldn't resist a little Beyonce reference). This is the side of our yard. (The first picture is looking from the front to the back. The second is a view from the back yard looking to the front.) Check out that cute little lilac tree that just started to blossom. I've always wanted a lilac tree so you can imagine my surprise when what I thought what was a dead plant sprouted into a pretty purple blossom. I'm no expert gardener, but I'm sure it needs some pruning. Add pruning shears to my list of things to buy!

Off to the back yard we go. The owners before us built this pretty little blue stone patio. (Don't mind the dead weeds in the cracks. Josh's home project this weekend was to spray the weed killer.) 

Let's mosey on back now. This is a view from the wayyyyy back. 

It pretty much gives you a clear shot of everything...including those HOLES. Now let me just say that if there is uneven ground, a dip, a hole, or even the slightest change in level ground, my husband will find  stumble into it. Next thing you know he'll roll his ankle and be on bed rest for a week. Let's just say, he "found" the 2 ft deep hole... and a few others for that matter.  As a result, one of Jay's most recent projects was filling those dangerous holes to prevent another injury. Four bags of soil and two bags of top soil later, the holes were filled. He topped each hole with grass seed and off he went watering them (with our new hose and sprinkler might I add) till his heart's content.

Quick fact about our house. We learned many things about our house and its previous owners at the closing. One of the most interesting things we learned was that immediately after moving in (9 years ago), the previous homeowners filled in the brand new pool and the surrounding cement patio. Although I'm happy we don't have the expensive of a pool at this time, I'm sure I'll be cursing them when that 90+ degree heat starts to filter in. Oh well, let's break out the slip -n- slide!

*(I know, I know it's been a while! Life got in the way of blogging, but don't worry, I'm backkkk and ready to update on what we've been up to.)