Autumn Sweet

Autumn

"Once more the liberal year laughs out

O'er richer stores than gems or gold:

Once more with harvest song and shout

Is nature's boldest triumph told."

- John Greenleaf Whittier

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it,

and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth 

seeking the successive autumns."

- George Eliot

"There is a harmony

In autumn, and a lustre in its sky,

Which through the summer is not heard or seen,

As if it could not be, as if it had not been!"

- Percy Bysshe Shelley

 

"Listen! the wind is rising,

and the air is wild with leaves,

We have had our summer evenings,

now for October eves!"

- Humbert Wolfe

Enjoy!

Deck addition-dining

We are in the process of adding-on to the deck.

We wanted more space to sit, eat, grill and visit and

decided the area under the family room windows

would be a perfect expansion area

After much hard work

planning, digging and nailing,

we have a new outdoor dining space, 

and a sitting and visiting space.

The hand-rails still need to be cut and attached

to the new section and a new coat of stain and sealer added. 

I'm also thinking about putting window boxes

under the 3 windows and a storage box

for cushions and pillows.

More photos to come soon!

I've started taking some classes at

the community college, volunteering for

Hospice and I am registered for

the Spring semester so things

are moving in the right direction

for a career change.

Terminal Turf!

The continuing saga of the backyard rejuvenation.

The goal: reduce the grass footprint, lay sod and

have a full, lush, green yard in September.

For those of you just tuning in...

this has been the condition of our backyard

every September for the past 5 years.

We've added a flower bed...

8 camelia bushes along the side fence

and a new contour to tame the slope

I spruced up the shed with some new bushes

while I was at it

Still on the agenda; enlarging the deck, trimming

branches, adding sod...

Aerate, seed, fertilize, water...repeat

Repeat, repeat, repeat or as my Spanish teacher used to say..."repetir, repetir, repetir."

First we must contend with this sun-blotting,
water-devouring monster 

which of course I loved when we looked at

the house for purchase.

Then we have the, toward the house and to the right, slope/drainage issue in which one good rain washes

away any hope of rooting grass survival.

(I can't help but picture little stalks of grass holding on
for dear life as a deluge of water spills over them

like the raging rapids of a river)

So our backyard looks like this

every September.

We've set out to reduce the grass footprint

in the backyard with the idea of laying sod.

I've added a new bed to the center yard

incorporating this tree.

Added benefit: something pretty to look at.

There is more to show and tell in the ongoing

backyard saga but I've run out of time for now.

Talk to you again soon!