Landscaping on a zero dollar budget

There's a place at our house where no grass will grow. In 10 years of trying we can initially get it to grow in the Spring but by late May it's drying up and withering and by July the ground where it was becomes as hard as cement. Unfortunately it happens to be right at the most utilized entrance to the house, under a couple of huge (really huge) trees. I blame it on the thirsty, shady trees. It's a little embarassing and dry and desolate so we're trying a new approach, the no cost, high labor, throw in some heavy equipment, manpower and lots of time approach and we'll see if we can have better luck.

I spent the better part of my day digging up, dividing and transplanting liriope (fancy word for monkey grass). It has to be one of the most prolific ground covers out there and the perfect solution for us. It's free, it doesn't need babysitting, it grows in the shade, it's green, it'll fill in so no weeds will grow and did I mention it's free?

I love the part in dividing plants where I get to cut them apart with a serrated kitchen knife. I feel like a kid breaking the rules, oh yeah, I'm wild and crazy like that. Someone grab her! She's got the cutlery in the garden again!

Funny thing too, this stuff gets so dense and thick you can hardly tell the spot where I dug it up.

Enter Kevin, making things so much easier with the heavy artillery, and enhancing my view at the same time. I'm a lucky girl.

Even his old boots are my favorite. Look at the toes, we've had to take them in so many times for repairs, they've even replaced the toes on these.

And last but not least, the beginnings of the chicken coop. Look closely and you'll see John helping him push the auger down. A real mom-cringing moment. Watch your fingers!

Finally the layout and an example of one of the perks of being married to a builder. I bet we'll have the most level, square and true chicken coop in the county. Not that I'm trying to one-up anybody, I'm just sayin' the boy's a bit of a perfectionist which is fine by me, 'cause I'm not, well, unless it comes to knitting in which case I'm a total spaz, gotta rip it out if there's one mistake, but this post isn't about knitting (like most of them, ahem) so we'll talk about that later.

Oh and one more thing, I think my favorite part of the day was when we walked in church this morning and a friend said, "I've got 16 eggs I'm going hatch for you if you want 'em and you can have the hen that laid 'em too." He's 77 this friend, he and his dear, sweet wife. I like having 77 year old friends. Life is full of good things if you stop and look at it.

Here comes the sun

What a difference a day can make, that and a little sunshine, 60 degree weather and green grass popping up everywhere. I had the overwhelming urge to plant things and spruce up the sorely neglected porches on the front and side of the house. I also decided my kitchen was seriously lacking green plants and so this little pot of thyme is now by my sink and some basil stares right at you as you walk in. It will eventually move outside but for now I'm keeping it in so I can snort up a huge whiff of its fragrance as soon as I walk in the house. You know, if they made candles that smelled like basil I'd buy 'em. Gotta be one of the best smells on earth (I know I've said that before and I'm sure I will again before this whole gig is up).

So that obsessive planting frenzy led into the menu I planned for the night. With "fresh" and "spring" and "light" on the brain I decided to throw together some pasta, olive oil, basil, salt, pepper, tomatoes, spinach and topped it all off with some fresh mozerella and bread. You now know another of my bad habits, that is, I never or hardly ever can follow any sort of recipe. I cook every bit the same way I knit--without instructions unless they're ones I made up somewhere along the way. It's gotta be some sort of control thing. We can delve into that later.

Kevin was trying to decide when to fit in a bit of fishing and this afternoon won out, as soon as I told him we were having a vegetarian dinner. I believe "I'm going to Wawa" is what he muttered under his breath. I swear, I never thought I'd be married to a man addicted to gas station food, but he is. Life has its way of laughing at you from time to time, but in the end everyone got what they wanted, the kids and I loved it!

Hopefully this spring cleaning energy will last until tomorrow when I'm plannning a purge of the junk that tends to gather on any available surface in the house. I'm one of the worst offenders, constantly setting things down with the intention of dealing with them "later". I won't even GO into the metaphor on life that suggests. I may even clean a window or two. Imagine!