To step into our shed was to be ankle-deep in compost and carcasses (rat and lizard). Â To retrieve an item from within its depths, I had to grip the door jam with one hand, Â lean forward precariously while keeping both feet outside the “death zone”, grab the item and shake it vigorously to dislodge any […]
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Hidden in our yard, far away behind the shed, is my Corner of Shame: But the truth is even more tragic when you realize that  it used to look like this: I know, I know. (And apologies to my Dad, who was in the trenches with me, digging out mulberry stumps for days.) After I moved […]
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Hello blog. Â It’s been a while. Â I just popped in to share something seasonal from the garden. Â The kids actually discovered this. Last year I put in a stevia plant with high hopes of harvesting and drying the leaves in case the zombie apocalypse leaves us without sugar. Â Of course I have not accomplished that […]
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A mystery plant for your bloom day this month. Â (No, I’m not a garden blogger, I just pretend to be on the 15th of each month… if I remember… or have time…) Â What the heck is this? Â No, not the Henry Deulberg sage in front. Â Not the desert willow in back. Â Not the purple coneflowers […]
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I’m sorry, this is a long, long post. Â But it’s the culmination of almost two years of planning and work. Â And more work. Â And lots of work after that. Â So you WILL scroll to the end. Â Besides, this is the best part. Behold, the big reveal: I know it looks like a lovely lush lawn […]
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A couple weeks ago I did the final 50-billion calculations (yes, Dad, you were right, I am using math in real life) necessary to order the crushed granite. Â It was delivered on a Thursday, whereupon Violet and Graham immediately claimed the mountain… …in the name of Kitty-tania. I spent Friday doing the final clearing and […]
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Is this becoming a gardening blog? Â Am I going to have to start learning the botanical names for plants? Well, considering how terrible my Spanish is, for now I’ll just have a minor garden-geek-out and report on The Planting. David Verity cuphea (Rob’s request), lamb’s ear (texture-crazy Violet’s request) and calylophus. Coral honeysuckle vine, Mexican […]
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I know, I know, I’m supposed to be posting progress on To-Do Tuesdays, and it is now Wednesday. Â My only excuse is that I got sucked into the nursery yesterday, hunting down plants. Â Because…. …the beds are ready. We literally moved a ton of limestone this weekend. Â And fitting the pieces together was like a […]
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Surprisingly, when I tell most people that we’re getting rid of our lawn, I am met with confusion and what seems like vague anger. Â I think that many of us have been raised with this idea that children need lawns and a the large expanse of green is somehow tied to our American Dream and […]
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“Let’s just rent it for 4 hours. Â We’ll totally be done by then,” I said to Rob at the Home Depot tool counter. Why do I always say things like that? Â Why do I believe it? This is how Rob felt about my scheme after the first 4 hours. I didn’t blame him. And then […]
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