Housekeeping....

The family room has looked like this for over 3 years (we've lived here for almost 4 years). Pathetic. Yes. I know. It's the kittie's room. Nothing more, nothing less. It was a dark and depressing place with faux wood paneling when we arrived and it took 2 coats of primer and three coats of paint to get here. And that's where I stopped. Why? Who knows. Exhaustion probably. The floor still has to be done (I've primed it twice or three times...lost count) but I'm at a loss. The whole house has hardwood floors, except this room, so I thought I'd paint it. The holes still have to be drilled through the bookcases to hide the lamp cords and the ornate mirror I painted still has to be hung above the fireplace. Oh, and then there's the furniture issue. Haven't decided yet. Still looking. The current chair is only for the kitties. They abuse the crap out of it. It will need a make over if it expects to continue on this planet. But I'll get to that too. As you know, it would cost less to just buy a new one! I will admit, I like the fact the room went from dated 50's-60's to cottage. I even painted the fireplace! Change the whole complection of the room. Oh, that's Mickey, our Maine Coon kittie looking at the fireplace. Books...don't even get me started. We have hundreds and hundreds and hundreds. Also, the walls are a soft butter yellow and the trim, bookcases and fireplace, pure white. I love how the colors play against one another.

Our hedge is dying. More on that later. So is our Forsythia. When we bought the house my mother-in-law told me the Forsythia was in the wrong place and needed to be trimmed back. It was gorgeous and I didn't agree, but listened. Over the past year I started to trim and the Forsythia reacted predictably. She started to die. It has been horrible to watch her decline. I only took out a few branches, but she couldn't bare the trauma. She's down to a few branches and this spring will mark the end of her life. I'll let her bloom and then I will remove her. I made a horrible mistake and will always regret it. I know my plants and I also know what's best for them. I need to listen to my instinct.

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The doors had just been primed. When we bought the house they were a dark brown and not very attractive. We like white, so if they look a bit wacky, that's why. It's just the first coat of primer over brown. They're now a high gloss white and absolutely beautiful. Took one coat of primer and three coats of paint, but worth every brush stroke! Oh, and now you know I'm at 5025 and that I like decorative flags. That's our Autumn/late Winter/Early Spring flag with a squirrel on it :).

This is a photo from last year, and yes, the grass needs to be mowed, but it grows so fast here we can't keep up. Mow once a week and it looks like this by the end. This is my little frog pond before I cleaned it. It was lovely, and then it wasn't. Cleaning changed everything. It killed all the water plants and the frog went hop-skippidy-jump to the front yard! I thought I'd done everything right, but apparently not. One year later and it still hasn't recovered. I'm going to the nursery in the next few weeks to buy more plants and make amends. Hopefully that will work.
The rose garden last year. I'm late pruning everything. I started last week while I was sick, but only pruned about 25 or so. I still have about 150 to go! That doesn't include the perennials and shrubs and the general yard clean up. I have a lot on my plate. Will have to blog less.
If I ever get that Queen Elizabeth out of the container it will be a miracle. The path you see was supposed to be planted last year, but I didn't get to it. The huge rose in the foreground is Apricot Nector or something like that. It's huge. Probably 5 ft x 5 ft after only one year in the ground. It's a producer too. An amazing rose bush.

This area on the north side of the house was all pea gravel until I planted last spring. Everything grew like crazy. The metal shed will be gone within the year and replaced with something more beautiful. It was here when we bought the house and we needed the storage, so it stayed. And yes...the green you see in the pea gravel...weeds. What's new!

Our Hawthorn hedge is dying. Last year was the last beautiful year. I'm not sure what to do. Replace the parts that are dying at $20 per plant or tear out the whole thing and redesign the front entry. Without the Forsythia and the hedge everything will feel different. Rob doesn't want it to change. I'm not sure I do either.

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I'd planned to include additional information about blogs that might interests you, but that will be for another post. I'm off to the park and my ferals. I hope you all have a beautiful day.

XO Suzanne