We’re Planning A Patio

I’d say the operative word in the title of “We’re planning a patio” is “planning”. We’ve been planning it for a while. Ever since the driveway bricks from a neighbor found their way to our yard. You don’t want to know how long ago that was. Really, you don’t. So if you think our patio looks like the one in the picture, afraid not.

This project tends to get forgotten with higher priority projects taking, well, priority. Let’s see if my commitment to a blog update on June 15th of 2011 will give us the incentive to make progress by then. Please mark your calendars – I did. I gave myself an Outlook task dated June 10th. Knowing that you are going to make a calendar task for June 15th to check up on me should get us moving along.

So what makes this fit in the Work Less category? We have a lot of mulch in our yard, including paths and the area where the tables and chairs are. It’s work to remulch, and it’s work to weed. The work has got to stop!

Wondering what our bricks really look like? Here ya go…

Ergo, the project lives!

Come back and put me to the progress test.

P.S. Don’t tell Mike. Let me break it to him gently.

This article is the start of something bigger – a series on our patio project. See Oh No, The Patio and Oh No, No Patio. There will be more.

Music Stand

The question is …
Why did Mike put a music stand in our backyard? Continue reading Music Stand

Welcome To My Garden…I’m So Excited To Show It To You!

It isn’t often that I sit back (yes, me, sit) to enjoy the beautiful garden that Mike and I love. I did that for 10 minutes today when I sat outside (yes, actually sat) to eat my breakfast. So now its your turn to sit (yes, you, sit) to enjoy the moment.

It isn’t necessary to be eating chocolate, but it does enhance the experience.

You have my permission to go get some as long as you promise to come right back.

The yard is quite large by Chicagoland standards. A half-acre in the city would not happen for us, but a half acre in the ‘burbs. Absolutely.  We started out with a yard smaller than that before I knew that I was gardening obsessed. It wasn’t my fault. Really. My husband Mike, and his Mom, Ardie, took me to the Flower and Garden Show at Navy Pier. Its been all up-hill, down-hill, and dirt-filled since then.

We bought a small house with a large lot, complete with a weed filled so-called grassy area.  No garden to speak of.  We fixed that.  Oh boy, did we fix that. We started an addition, which meant that Mike got to play with a back-hoe and the excavated dirt became a berm.  It took me a few years to claim it, but I did.  Now it is one of the low-maintenance areas in the yard.  We could use more of those.  If you could too, watch the Work Less tab to share our journey. 

 

I’d like to introduce you to our Dahlias.  This one is really as big and beautiful as it looks.  Want to learn more about growing these beauties?  That’s where Mike comes in. There will soon be entries by Mike (he doesn’t quite know that yet).  We’ve got about 100 Dahlias in our yard, blooming beautifully from August through mid-October.  It is truly a labor of love for him. 

We also have hummingbirds, a lovely couple.  Today they were doing acrobatics in the pine trees as well as feeding at the feeder.    My son Kevin gets credit for the hummingbird picture, which is sooooo much better than my pictures.  To learn more about attracting hummingbirds to your yard, come back soon.  Hopefully by then I’ll have figured out how to link to Kevin’s photography website as well.

If you’d like us to speak for your group, we’d like that too. Because a gardener (you) can be grown!  I certainly was.  And now I am blooming where I have been planted…Carol

I Have Been Given This Plot To Tend

I have been given this plot to tend,
But it’s really His, from beginning to end.

Ideas running through my head.
They wake me as I lie in bed.

Where there would be weeds, a garden now grows,
From bursts of creativity, a gift He bestowed.

He provided the rocks, the soil, the plants, the thoughts.
Without His guidance, I could do naught.

Carol Cichorski

Pickles (Yes Pickles)

Compliments of Michele George

-enough fresh cucumbers or pickles to fill a 1 gallon container
-1 1/2 quarts of water (6 cups)
-1 cup white vinegar
-1/4 cup canning or kosher salt
-1/2 cup sugar

Wash & scrub cucumbers, cut lengthwise into spears.  Put cucumbers in a large crockery or non-metallic container.  (I used my large glass cooking pot with lid)

Boil & pour remaining ingredients over pickles.

Add 1 sliced medium onion & fresh dill (& garlic).

Cover & let stand at room temperature for 24 hours.

Place into smaller non-metallic containers.  Refrigerate.

(It takes more than a week for the flavors to mellow out and for the pickles to start to absorb the flavors-so try to be patient.)