2014 Patio At Awesome Central Configuration

Yes. I rearrange the exterior of the house almost as often as I rearrange the inside. Here is a picture of last years patio.

The home that we purchased in 2011 was previously owned by a small tiling company owner, who had purchased several slabs of slate, and a lot of red brick pavers. I found all of these in the woods just sat our property line, and I brought them all over to the area I wanted to dub the patio.

I wanted a free-flowing, eclectic look is both square slates, curves using the pavers, and broken pieces of the slate as well. I was looking for an imperfect organic look, and we did a GREAT job with what we had. We bought some top soil and sand to level the slates and pavers, and viola, we had a very cute patio. 

But it was small. See how the one chair is positioned off the stones and 1/4 in the dirt by the stairs? It was uneven, so the coffee table is way too far away from the seating. The roots from the (Bartlett or Bradford?) pear would NOT cooperate with my vision. And you can't see it in this shot, but the drainage (lack there of) behind the love seat gave us a "natural water feature" about 6'x8' and about 6" deep in the middle. Would have been fantastic had I dug down. Lined it. And created a small pond there, but not exactly what I wanted with 2 kids under 6 and 2 dogs over 180 pounds combined.

Mr Saucy's birthday is in November, and we had friends over for a BBQ and an evening around the fire pit. Due to the number of people we were expecting, and the chillier than expected temps, we moved the chimnea to the center of the slate, and used a second layer of landscaping bricks to make the original base for the chimnea into a fire pit. It worked well, but we ended up having to move chairs into the grass to get everyone "around" the pit.

At one point earlier this spring, we had friends over, and I was mentioning that I was going the bring up all the stones and start over again to increase the outdoor living area. One of my more brilliant besties said, "Why don't you just add to what you've got? As we were again trying to cram chilly adults around 1/4 of a circle, she mentioned it would be nice to have more seating "around" the fire. 

DUH.

So, I went to Facebook to the local yard sale groups and posted at I was looking for any patio stones that anyone wanted to get rid of. I didn't care the color, shape, condition... I was just going to add to the eclectic organic shapes that I already had started. I received a note from a woman who was going to redo her landscaping and had several landscaping bricks I could have. AWESOME!! Mr Saucy and I headed over there and picked them up.

So, stage 1 of this years patio began to take shape.

Looking good! But as you can see, the furniture is half on and half off. We're using a few random pavers to give support to the chairs so they don't sink into the mud. I gave up trying to go around the tree with the pavers. That damn tree shoots mini-trunks up from it's roots, and displaces the stones.

Then, the amazing landscaping fairy sent me another message to tell me she had a whole second load of landscaping stones for me, if I still needed any. HOLY AWESOME NEWS, Batman! WhooHoo!

The second load was even bigger than the first, and I honestly wondered if I could get them home in my Pilot. It was VERY VERY low on the suspension. But, we made it, and I unloaded the stones into the driveway, porch, and a few loads to the back yard. Then Mr Saucy, and Saucy Neighbor took all the rest of them to the back for me.

Here is the patio as it sits right now! The morning sun is very pretty coming in through the trees. I'm thinking of putting gravel in and around some of the edges to fill in some areas. 

Next project is weeding the flower beds up front, mulching, and getting the lawn plush, beautiful, weed and bug free.

Stay hungry, get dirty, and make your spaces beautiful.

2014 Spring Garden

This years garden is almost complete, and it's much bigger than last year. Bigger meaning more variety and more plants. Plus, I went with some fancy things. Here's this years layout...

In one box we have:

Lemon Boy Tomatoes.                        Mr. Stripy Tomatoes.                       Sun Gold Cherry Tomatoes.

(Big yellow).                                         (Striped Heirloom).                          (Yellow Cherry Tomatoes)

Beets.                                                 Carrots.                                           Husky Cherry Red

From seeds.                                        From seeds.                                    (Red Cherry Tomatoes)

Scallions.                                            Radish.                                            Scallion

(Same plant from last year!                  From seeds.                                    (Same plants from last year)

In the next box, we have:

Cucumbers.                                        Lavender.                                           Green Beans

                                              

Pablano Peppers.                                Purple Bell Peppers.                           Jalapeños 

Chives.                                                Marigold.                                             Marigold

(Same plant I've had for 8 years).         (In companion planting, marigolds keep away a lot of bugs)

In the 3rd box, we have:

Zucchini.                                              Marigold.                                       Butternut Squash

                                                                                                                 (From seed)

Butter Crunch Lettuce.                         Marigold.                                      Green Salad Bowl Lettuce

(From seed).                                                                                              (From seed)

Spinach.                                               Ruby Lettuce.                               Black Seed Simpson Lettuce

(From seed).                                         (From seed).                                  (From seed)

All of the seeds I put directly into the garden from the packet. I did not start any indoors, and this is a first for me. Pretty much everything listed is either a new variety for us this year, a new technique, and/or a new plant entirely.

I also bought strawberries this year. They are in a pot on the deck with the herbs. The only herbs left in the garden are the chives and the lavender. As soon as the cukes and beans are done producing, I'm bringing in the lavender. It might winter alright, but I'll bring her in this year regardless. I'll do that with my rosemary too, if I don't manage to kill it this year.

All of the seeds were purchased, none were harvested from grocery store produce.

I want to get sweet potatoes growing up front. I bought a blueberry bush this year, not knowing that they needed a companion to propagate, so I'll have to return to Lowes for a second one. And I also bought a grape vine this year. I think I'd like to plant it next to the garage and let it grow up, then over a small pergola type awning that I'll talk Mr Saucy into building for me.

Another exciting addition is a wisteria plant for the deck and pergola. My Lord, I love those flowers, and I'm really hoping it grows and covers the pergola with a multitude of cascading purple flowers. I don't think it will grow that fast this year, so I bough 3 climbing vines that I want to plant in pots at the 4 corners of the pergola. I bought seeds for Moon Flower, Morning Glory, and Cardinal Climber, which is new to me. I think the 3 will grow happily together in big enough pots, but we'll see.

I also went all over the place with my super weed and grass killer. Squirted the pair miter of the house, the fence line, and the whole shade side of the fenced area so we can start over with that patch. 

Mulch was also purchased, and I'll put that around after the weed killer has done some work. I may need to give some weeds in the flower beds another squirt, so I'm waiting to lay the mulch until I know I've zapped them all.

The good ole "Weed & Feed" needs to go down too. I'd like to get on out and get that done today, but need to check all the weather forecasts to see if it's a good time. Also need to get the bug spray down too. Get the grubs out of the soil to get the moles out. Plus, the bug spray gets tics and fleas, and with 2 huge dogs, a roaming Pigmy Puma, 2 kids, and a Mommy who all like being in the yard and garden, any reduction of biting critters is a bonus.

Stay hungry, get dirty, grow as much of your own foods as you can.