The Garden Remodel - Done!

 The bark dust was delivered today so our project is finished - at least as finished as a garden project ever gets.  They delivered enough that we were able to extend the new bark to include the fire pit area.  I took out a no-longer-needed brick path on the left side over the weekend and changed the curve of the lawn to suit the area better. I like it a lot better this way and I'm sure the lawn-mower guys will, too.  8+)

 This is taken from the front of the garden, just inside the new fence and gate.  It looks SO much better with the landscape cloth covered.  I'm sure the neighbors were starting to wonder about all that ugly black stuff.  New bark smells SO good.

 My new little table and chairs moved back in to place.  I may re-think the location and move them from the back to the front of the raised bed.  There is a little spot up there where it is shady in the afternoon.  For now they are just sitting there waiting for me to take a break, like that ever actually happens - lol!

 A blank spot where roses were removed and will not be replaced until next spring so I moved in my old garden wagon.  After I took this photo I parked the two pots of herbs in the wagon and I think I will move the Farm Fresh sign to the side of it.

The garden from the back side.  The crops are coming along nicely.  I snacked on a fresh radish tonight - yum!
If any of you emailed me yesterday and did not get a reply it is because my email was broken for about 24 hours.  Technology is so awesome when it works!  Anyway, I don't know if the emails that didn't come through ever will so if you asked me anything important, please re-send the email.
Thanks, all, for tagging along on the garden remodel adventure!

Buttons and Herbs

Does this woman think about anything else you might wonder.  Well, of course I do!  Sometimes I think about junk and snacks and coffee and even beer. Oh, and then there is the big girl job, but that is a different story... I scored a new tin of buttons last week and these are my favorites.

A few glass buttons to add to my collection.

A few metal buttons.  I keep the uniform buttons in their own special category.

Lots of interesting plastics. Love that star and the two clear saucers with blue centers.

A few buckles in this lot.  The black diamond has already made it's way into a new inspiration kit for Etsy.

One card of button. The buttons aren't really anything too special but I love the card. Miss America Buttons!

I planted cilantro and chives in pots tonight. Clearly we are still working on laying down the landscape cloth around the new garden and no bark yet because getting the plants going is taking priority but we are making progress every day.  We are having an extended dry spell and the weather is warming up now so we even had to start watering this week. We are getting the planting done just in the nick of time!
Blogger seems to be having a belly ache tonight so I hope I can get this posted after about two hours of trying to get connected and load the pictures.

The Garden Remodel - Part 1

 I told you we are working on a garden remodel project and the first phase was completed today.  The new cross-fence is in!  We robbed 20 feet from the unused front side yard by moving the fence forward and putting in a gate so we have access to the front yard from this side.

 This is the "before" picture.  You can see why I didn't want to show it until we made some progress!  The old fence was bent from a snowball bush falling on it during a Winter snowstorm a couple of years ago.  The flower bed on the right side used to be filled with iris (my favorite flower) but I took them out because I couldn't keep it weeded.  The elderly neighbor next door doesn't keep up her yard and the weed seeds just showered into the bed all year long.

 All of these pictures are taken from the front yard, looking in to the back yard.  On the other side of the fence there is a rose garden that has seen better days.  We have already started taking out roses and planning how new ones will be positioned. This is the sod coming out before the fence went in.

 A patch we had to leave so the fence installers could see the locator's marks.  Soon to be gone now!

Stay tuned.  A raised bed for vegetables is coming, as well as replacing the tired roses that are coming out and a new "hedge" of blueberry plants in the old iris bed.
I cannot believe how big the space looks from the back yard.  It is like we got more real estate without moving.  Should have done this years ago.  I have to run back outside now.  My eyes aren't filled up yet!