Yard work

I went there and decorated for fall today. I'm the first on the block but I'm hoping I started a trend. It was A LOT OF WORK and I was sick Friday and Saturday so I over-did it a little, but the pay off is well worth it. I love the way a shower feels after a day of sweat and dirt.

First I repainted the curb address. This was my first time ever doing that and I played it pretty safe. Next time I'm doing something a little nicer with nicer stencils.

Before, here since we moved in, umm yeah...


and after:



Then we started on the yard, and when I say we, I mean Ms. Thang for 10 minutes in, and then me all the rest of the way. IT WAS SEVERELY NEGLECTED and I am still showing you the befores. I'm keeping it real people.

From grass bed...


(isn't she happy?)


...to flower bed


Why do my "flowers" look dead you ask? Well because I tried to split them and I have black thumbs so I killed them, that's why. They probably need prayers.

Here is the corner before (again don't let the fact that she is in multiple pictures fool you. These are the BEFORE pictures, and she was there for only a few minutes of the before, but every pulled weed helps!)


And after (I think this may be the first picture of my red putt putt bench)


What's that? You'd like a close up of that little princess? Well, since you twisted my arm...

She's living in dresses these days. Such a girly-girl just like her sister. Ms. Thang did her hair to go with the dress-up clothes, and Honey actually did her nails the other night while I got mine done by Ms. Thang (For $5! Total deal, she went all-out!)

*about the bench, I got it on Craigslist for $15 or less..can't remember now, but the guy had an entire garage FULL of them in all kinds of colors. They were mix-and-match, but he helped me find all red pieces with little prompting even though we had to pull a few benches apart to get the right boards. Nice guy! The sides are heavy duty plastic and the boards slide in and out. I plan to spray the sides with plastic paint, and get new boards, but for now, the red is where it's at. :)

One more shot of the front door:


It was hard, but I feel so accomplished. I know it lacks actual flowers/greenery, and although I am able to do a lot of things, agriculture is not on that list. As a matter of fact, I think there is a better word for it than agriculture but I can't even come up with THAT!
Laughing? Think you're so smart do ya? Then what is this fungus on my shrub?


(seriously, what IS that?)

Anyway, I took a shower and we ended up going to the Meteor Crater.

What? You were expecting a giant hole? Us too! lol It's been filled with sediment over the past 20,000 some-odd years. I was surprised at the number of (and variety) of tourists.
We had never been, and went when the museum part was closed, but we were still able to follow the trail around the "big hole" (in the pic you are seeing the outer "lip" of it on the horizon) and read all the signs about what we were supposed to be looking at. I'd like to say it sucked (Honey's idea) but we had a pretty good time! Great exercise, educational, fun silly songs and road trip snacks...it was memorable. :)

So, ya gonna take the plunge and decorated for fall?