Our Future Yard

Since the yard was possibly the biggest selling point when we bought our home, and we had tons of outdoor gatherings last summer, Jason and I decided to spend this spring making it really spectacular. I was going to wait until all the work was done to take pictures and post about it, but well I'm just too excited about what's in store so I figured I'd list some of the things we've done so far and plans for the next couple weeks. A couple weeks ago I planted a Bleeding Heart. Luckily our freak spring snow storms haven't done any real damage.

Plants that have been patiently waiting through this erratic weather to go next to the pond are:

A pink/orange Lily

Sweet Potato Vines(both colors)

Stone Crop

Snap Dragons

Labrador Violets

And New Guinea Impatiens

In addition to the pond, which I'll post a step-by-step about when it's done, we started planting our vegetable box. So far we've planted four types of tomatoes, jalapenos, and Crenshaw melons. I'm also planning on adding some watermelon, lettuce, and spinach.

I put a little box of Chocolate Mint and Peppermint on the brick pyramid that was there when we moved in. They smell SO yummy! I wish I could've found Spearmint too.

A slightly sad little Fuchsia.

Petunias in the pyramid. We also planted strawberries, basil, and Rock Cress here.

Items that are in the mail, or about to be, include:

50 Peacock Orchid/Lily bulbs

10 Ostrich Ferns.

10 Wild Ginger plants.

10 Trout Lilies.

10 Trillium plants.

25 Hosta Plants(2 different kinds).

And 100 Lily of the Valley Plants.

Plants I'm considering for the pond include:

Monkey Flower.

And Bloody Dock as well as several others.

* Note - not all photos were taken by me. Some are from garden stores/websites.

New Bird Bath

I brought home the bird bath basin that I posted about last time and it is perfect! It had a few cracks, but there were no others like it anywhere so Stone Garden filled the cracks and gave me a really good deal. I was so excited to put it in our yard! It matches even better than I thought it would.
I also started working on my pond. It's bigger than it looks in this picture. I can't wait to put the liner in and add plants.

More Spring flowers

A flowering tree in front of our home. The blossoms are almost gone. :(

Closeup

Ligularia

I just found a birdbath basin for this little stand that was left by the previous owners. I took this picture to show the folks at Stone Garden so they could match it and decided I almost liked it better like this.

Moonflower seeds growing in my kitchen. Can't wait to plant them along my fence.

Things We Missed Last Spring

Most of these were already gone by the time we bought our home last summer. Except for the squirrel, she has been talking to us for the last year. I just didn't have this funny bird feeder back then.

One of My Dad's Favorite Fish

As I've mentioned before, my dad's favorite fish was the seahorse. He also loved pipefish, a close relative to the seahorse. I bought him one once when he had his big saltwater aquarium in Park City and we'd sit for hours watching as it floated through the water snatching up little shrimp and such.

You can certainly tell I'm my father's daughter when walking through my home, but I haven't quite gotten to the point of setting up a saltwater aquarium and I miss the seahorses and pipefish. Well, the other day I was in Fish 4 You and I saw a handful of freshwater pipefish. I had to bring home a couple in honor of my dad. These are the best pictures I've been able to get so far.

I also couldn't resist this little doll. Another nod to salt water.

DEX Build-a-Bear/Shriners Hospital event

When the Salt Lake Community College chapter of Delta Epsilon Chi (DEX) gathered to discuss our annual service project, it was obvious this year needed to be special. With the economy in its recent state, everyone is asking for help. We wanted to do something different, something creative. We decided to team up with Build-a-Bear and Shriners Hospital for Children to do something for some of the less fortunate children in Salt Lake City. Shriners Hospital is such an amazing part of our community. December 5th at 5:30 p.m. we gathered at Fashion Place Mall to make bears together. The goal was to build stuffed animals for 75 children at Shriners Hospital. We killed that and made 174.

Matt, Barbie, and me

Tommie, Ryan, and me Shriners and DEX

Jason's Nieces

So often we donate our time and money, but do not get to see the end result. Having some of the kids from Shriners there that night and then delivering the bears to the hospital ourselves was amazing!

One of the Shriner's kids holding her snowmanShriners kids showing off their poniesDelivering Bears to the Hospital

Goodbye Little Condo

Even though Jason and I have a great new home, I was a little sad to let my downtown condo go. Mom and I went through for the last time to make sure we'd gotten everything out and take a few pictures. I filmed a nice video also, but for some stupid reason none of the videos on my camera will download to my computer. Duh!