But, I am not complaining. In fact, I LOVE the down and dirty hard work that always comes with this time of year. When it is still chilly outside, the overgrowth and weeds don't bother me near as much as they do when I fling open windows and enjoy the beautiful, crisp, humid less air.
And so out I went. I will admit that I have not blogged about too much else that took place on my "Christmas gift certificate cash-in day" because I have been semi-consumed with indoors, but BIG changes also happened outdoors.
I have had a large pergola/potting area for many years on the south side of our pool. It was a family project when it went up oh so many years ago and I loved it. It was a large structure divided in half. The front half faced the pool and had 3 sides of ledges. I used this for potted flowers and garden decor until we were entertaining. Then, it became many feet of serving area and was the decorating area for many a party.
The back half faced the yard and I used it to store all of my potting supplies. I had a water source added and I enjoyed working in it for years.
But, even weather treated wood will eventually show its age and that has been happening to the pergola recently. As things began disintegrating, I kind of changed the way the area was used. I pulled out shelves, "walls", decorative trim, etc. Lately, it has simply housed 2 Adirondack chairs and a table facing the yard and sagging, moldy surfaces towards the pool.
And so, when we were looking for projects that might be too much for me to handle on my own, tearing this down came up in conversation. My initial thoughts had been to rebuild, but when I looked at it with my "new eyes", I realized that it should just come down...and down it came. It was a big project but it really opened up the yard. Wish I had taken pictures but there were just too many other things going on that day that demanded my attention.
And so I found myself looking at this area and knowing that I had to do something. I had put down the brick patio area when it was first built and since it was still in good shape, we left it. The original plan was to just move some seating over but I was feeling the need for a serving area - especially with Easter right around the corner. I did lots of my weeding and cutting back but just kept going back to this area. Since I had also wanted to do a bit of furniture moving on the other patio, I decided to bring over the OLD wrought iron table. Once that was there, I didn't like the bricks...any way, no sense taking you on my long, sad process, but I finally decide to try adding an edge to the patio. I used some old bricks I had left over from another project, dug them down and turned them on their sides and now it looks like it was meant to be a self contained patio. I am still so not in love with this area. I think my eye still misses the large impact of the pergola. I am beginning to toy with ideas of what I might do next. Definitely going to be perusing some Pinterest pins this afternoon. Looks like it will be a long journey but I will get there.
This is the only picture I could my hands on quickly to give you a hint at what this space used to look like. And, here it is now:
This is just a pitiful sight! After some thought, I think I am going to dig out a large part of this area in a kind of free-form design coming from the pool deck and hooking up with the brick patio on the far side. Then, I am thinking of a flower and greenery garden-high in the middle and down to low around the edges so it can be viewed from wherever anyone is standing in the yard or on the deck. I headed to Lowes and after much sticker shock, I am realizing how expensive this will be. Possibly not if I wasn't into instant gratification, but the thought of planting tiny little things and waiting a few years for them to get where I want them just doesn't appeal to me. So, I am going to do a bit more thinking, see what I can "shop" from my own yard and then just start - remember, I am one of those measure once, cut twice kind of gals so I am anticipating lots of shoveling before this is done but that is just how I "roll"-ha ha.
A bit of inspiration - if I were to live long enough - and probably NOT in Florida but at least I can have my dream!
Here is the tiniest start for new beginnings - 7 new perennials waiting to find a home. And this is just ONE of the new projects I am starting!! Stay tuned!
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