The weather was mild last week - well above 0 degrees - and the snow started melting.... and .................... the gardens started to peak out.
My initial reaction was ' GARDENS! YAY!!' ........ then the snow melted some more... and I got more than a bird's eye view of them......... and I felt (feel) sick. We were told we have raspberry and blueberry bushes.. and a pear tree. (who knows where) BUT there's also a whole lot of nicely laid out gardens - or they were nicely laid out way back when. What we have now is overgrown choked flower beds of questionable plants. I have identified a rhododendron bush in the backyard.........
but as for the rest of it??? There might be a wild rose bush and maybe a 'real' rose bush.
The grass hasn't been taken care of - and the driveway has been abused - cars and snow clearing has torn up what grass was between the actual driveway and the end of our property.
There are 2 major lakes in the yard.......
and there are dead leaves.... tree branches.... dead flower stalks and garbage strewn over the entire yard - back and front.
My OCD is kicking in big time........ I want it all cleaned up and fixed yesterday! AND because I am ME - I am worried how we're gonna work on the gardens/grass all summer while we are at the campsite for the summer........
AND then I can't help but think here at the house we have everything we have in the country....... everything we didn't have at the old place - yards and gardens and peace and quiet - parks and splash pads for the lil one and KIDS! AND we now have a barbecue !! which we couldn't have at the old place. We even had our first barbecue of the season on the weekend........
I can't help but think how much it costs to maintain two properties - almost 5,000$ a summer for the country place!!! OHHHHHHHH the things we could do with that $5,000! BUT then we'd miss seeing eldest daughter and SIL every weekend....... But then I think about the stress of packing everything up and moving it to the country - and the stress of getting the groceries and laundry and messages run one day a week...
Right now I'm gonna try and focus on one thing - the gardens/yards.
We have some challenges to face this spring and summer - and some tough decisions to talk over ..........
Hi Morningstar,
ReplyDeleteI hear you on the OCD, mine would be running on overtime too. Pros and cons of having the space, gardens and yay for BBQ's. Chunk it down, one job/area at a time.
Hugs
Roz
yes I know - job by job :) and Sir Steve keeps telling me that I'm not alone - we'll work together and maybe even press the lil one into service :)
DeleteThat's a big question about your summer plans. But getting away from home can be important. I think that once you've gone through a season and the garden/yard is yours you'll feel a lot better about it. Now it looks like someone else's mess. It will look tons better once you get ahold of it.
ReplyDeleteThe thing is PK...... if we give up the country spot - we'll have money to go on a vacation - see different things/places - stay in a hotel - eat in restaurants.... and that has it's own appeal
DeleteGet the garden cleared and see what you have got and what you need. It sounds like it might be a good idea to try and keep everything as low maintenance as possible, if you cannot get back from the campsite that often.
ReplyDeletePrefectdt
the one thing we're thinking of putting in is a rain garden - have you heard of them Prefectdt - we hadn't. BUT we have this lake in a couple of spots and I did some research on how to handle it... and read about rain gardens.
DeleteRain garden? That's new to me. It is research time.
ReplyDeletePrefectdt
Gardens always look terrible when the snow recedes, and you have a lot of surprises! We have a "lake" every year as our backyard is lower than the neighbours. But they have a sump pump that burps out water every 5 minutes.
ReplyDeleteOne thing at a time. Maybe this year give up the campsite and enjoy your new outdoor space.
Hugs,
Hermione
yeah - we've pretty much made up our minds to have one last summer in the country and sell up at the end of the season..... this house has everything we need to enjoy the summer.... no need to run to the country..... and we'd have some extra money to actually take a holiday every summer to different cities... that would be very nice!
Delete