Greg and I do not, I repeat…DO NOT…like landscaping.  However, we find it necessary to spend one horrible weekend each year reinforcing our self-awareness.  Or lack thereof?  One hot, sweaty, dirt-covered weekend.  We set aside money, telling ourselves it’s WAY too much.  And yet every damn year, we discover it’s half as much. We’d love to have a nice yard, but not so much we’re willing to spend the money or the sweat-equity to get there.  We seem to experience just enough success to try again.  Mother Nature is like a wicked drug dealer, stringing us along, through droughts and grubs.

2 yards of planters dirt, 3 yards of mulch, 4 knock out roses, 3 carpet roses, 2 hydrangea bushes, 10 lavender plants, 3 bell peppers, 6 heirloom tomatoes, 2 thymes, 2 rosemarys, 1 basil, 3 bright yellow probably won’t survive the winter somethings, and finally 2 hanging white who-knows-what and how I hope they survive the summer…and we’re calling it quits and sleeping hard.  Near death, really.

As if this crazy attempt at creating a pleasant back yard wasn’t enough, we decided to address the question plaguing us for a few years: is it time to re-stain the play set? Greg bought a can of stain, and I took some swipes to create a comparison.

UM?  Yeah.  Think we answered that question.  I guess we’ll call the pain of the last few days our “starter” weekend.  Please Lord, give me thick, fragrant hedges of lavender and roses, a drought-free summer, and a disease-free yard. Amen.