NewlyWoodwards

Mulch updates

May 21, 2013 24 Comments

Ryan and I truly hate to mulch. But yet, every year, we forget how much we hate it and add more areas to mulch.

I cannot tell you why we do this. Actually, I can. It’s because we hate mowing, too. Not yard work fans up in here.

This year, I insisted upon mulching everything the week before Henry’s party. Because clearly people care if the mulch looks good when they come to a one-year-old’s party.

Well, let’s just say that mulching this year was a nightmare. We thought we could get away with 30 bags of mulch. 72 bags of mulch later, we were done. And both of us were pretty sore and irritated.

But the yard looks nice. And I think the front looks pretty inviting.

Ooh, and there’s my fancy new rain barrel. This was my birthday gift from Ryan and it’s so stinkin’ pretty.

If we could ever get grass to grow, the side yard would look pretty awesome, too.

My plan was to also paint the back porch after laying mulch. Yeah. Let’s just say that wasn’t going to happen. So, we’ll just have to live with this ugliness for a little while longer.

The biggest change to the yard was adding a mulched sitting area where the vegetable garden was in the past. This area always looked terrible and it didn’t get enough sun to do well. So, since we don’t have the space for a deck, I thought this would be a great area to relax and wind down.

Because the fence is ugly and we’re so close to the house next door, we planted native grasses (that we got from Craigslist) and black-eyed Susans (from my in-laws’ yard). Once they get bigger, it’ll provide a little more privacy. The grasses are already taking off.

I also added these two Adirondack chairs (received from my in-laws). You guys, these chairs are the most comfortable in the world. Someday, I may sand and repaint them. Until then, they are still comfortable.

We did not intend to get black mulch. It looks okay now, but it will look terrible in about a month and trees start dropping more junk off them. But, bah. By the time we realized it was black, we were not taking it back.
Outdoor updates01

I also wouldn’t use black mulch again because the dye on the mulch MAY get on your dogs’ paws. Which would mean that said dogs would come into your house and get the black dye all over the sofa. Hypothetically.

So that’s our mulching adventure. And by adventure, I mean, not so much of an adventure. Or a really terrible adventure.

But it worked out in the end.

Have you been working your yard lately?

51 weeks

May 20, 2013 10 Comments

Our little man is almost a year old. I’m sure I’ll write more about this at some point, but suffice it to say that this year went by in a hurry. Just like everyone said it would when I didn’t believe them. Because sometimes the minutes and the days seemed long. But, those people were right.

Ryan and I were on a date on Saturday night and he asked me how crazy it was that a year ago, we were oblivious to the fact that we would be parents in a week. And now we’re getting ready for his big party on Saturday.

All this to say that I may be a little scarce this week as we get ready to entertain and host some very special guests. And celebrate a pretty fantastic year. But until then, my little guy in his second-to-late picture of the year.