Knitting? Nope, Yard Work

My blog has taken a shift toward home improvement, instead of knitting, because that's what's been occupying me lately. And as is typical for me, I think I may be overdoing it a bit. I worked steadily all weekend and today I raced home to do it again. Consequently, I'm sore and overtired. But things are looking better around our previously neglected little cottage. Want to see? Sure you do!

I power washed an old plastic chair, then spray painted it purple. It's not done because we had a little rain shower and I had to put it in the garage before I finished. The chair isn't comfortable, but I think it will look cute on our front porch, with the yellow siding behind it.

Next, I spray painted a section of our rusty gate. The color matches perfectly, not too silver or fake looking. Because it looks so good, I'm going back to Home Depot to buy at least ten more cans. Although it will be pricey, it's cheaper than replacing the fence, and it will definitely be an improvement over the rust (see the left section). I don't even care about the fence part, just the support poles.

Lastly, this is a before picture of the area in back that is kind of a dead zone.

And this is the after photo. Instead of trying to grow grass there, I planted hostas and daylilies and used river rocks. Because the hose and air conditioner drain are in this area, it's usually damp and/muddy, so I think the rocks will help control it. After looking at this photo, I see that I need to move one of the hostas, so that's on my to-do list for tomorrow.

I also cut a LOT of dead wood from our huge rosemary plants; the snow we had this past winter damaged them and it became clear that large sections had died, giving the front flower bed a really neglected look.

I worked until it got dark and even though I accomplished quite a lot, I still have so much to do! But that's the way it is with yard work, isn't it?

Oh, and one last thing; I must have had an episode of temporary insanity, because I ordered this from Alicia Paulson! I've never done this type of project, I don't have grandchildren, and I still have a little knit squirrel kit from Brooklyn General sitting untouched in my craft room, but it was so adorable looking, I just had to have it. I'll keep you posted on her progress.

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