NumberNineteen

Seriously, All I Want Is Some Grass on My Lawn

This summer was a killer for our lawn, which was pathetic to start with.  What started out as patchy is now entirely weeds. I don't mean some clover mixed in with grass.  I mean, there isn't any grass, only this weird, spreading weed.

It suddenly came to my attention this past weekend that if we are going to re-seed the lawn, we have to do it NOW, before the heavy frosts come. We are not gardening folks, but the lawn is pathetic & we need a fix, quick. But, what to do with these weeds?  I decided that we needed to remove them by digging them up. Then, we could get a load of topsoil, some seed, water it & be done with the thing.  Just needed to get rid of those weeds first. I decided to dig up the weeds with a shovel.  The entire yard.  Seemed like a simple plan. 2 days of shoveling & one quarter of the yard later, I decided to go to our friendly local hardware store to see if I could find a better method than the shovel.

As I asked the saleslady for advice on a tool, she looked at me in horror & cried that I shouldn't be removing the weeds at all. No indeed.  I need to be creating a foundation.  According to her, a foundation requires a ph test, whatever stuff is necessary to correct the ph, two kinds of topsoil, grass seed, fertilizer, and proper mowing.  She suggested that I contact our local extension service, take some classes from them & get that ph test right away. Growing a lawn is serious business indeed. I meekly left the store with a ph test & a hoe (just in case I decided to go at the weeds after all).

I got home and promptly broke the ph testing tool.  Not on purpose, of course.  Things are just continuing on the same path this project has been on so far...leading me straight to banging my head against the wall. 

I'm sure that hardware lady is right.  I'm sure a lawn like that photo above (from a gardening website, incidentally.  doesn't resemble my lawn in the least) does take all of the effort that she laid out & more.  But all I want is just a little grass.  Just a little.  No more bare brown dirt.  No more unidentifyable weeds.  Just enough so that neighborhood kids won't snicker & laugh as they pass our house. 

My Picnic Basket

I was recently thinking about how my picnic basket is one of my favorite possessions.  Glenn gave it to me on the one year anniversary of our first date & it has since been part of so many wonderful times & good memories.

(image from Eddie from Ohio website)

She has come with us to numerous warm starlit night concerts at Wolf Trap National Park.

Been with us as we've enjoyed many-a glass of wine at our favorite local afternoon escape from life.

(photo from the National Park Service website)

And came along for hikes in the National Park that happens to practically be in our backyard.

It will come along with us this fall when we go picking pumpkins in the country and then will have to rest for the season. Or...writing this, I'm inspired to suggest a fall hike & picnic...I wonder if I can talk Glenn into it?

 

5th Birthday!

This past week was Hope's 5th birthday!  5 years old is a big birthday...definitely not a pre-schooler or a toddler anymore. 

Her actual birthday was in the middle of the week, so we celebrated with cupcakes after dinner.

Her big celebration was on Saturday, a pink princess party at our house.  It's a real pity that I didn't truly capture the color in the dining room in that first photo.  It was glowing pink.  Hope loved it.  The cake was carefully chosen from cakes at every.single.grocery.store.in.the.area. We looked at them all, I assure you.  As a take home favor, I decorated tiara shaped cookies.  In addition, the girls were each given a tiara upon her arrival.

Ah, in this photo you can see the pink glow. The girls each decorated her own fairy princess wand, colored princess coloring pages, and played "Pin the Tiara on the Princess". 

After eating cake, we took the sugared-up girls outside to chase around balloons.  It was a last minute idea of Glenn's & it was brilliant.  They were out there for at least 15 minutes, tossing the balloons in the air over & over.

Little girls must see the birthday girl's gifts up close & personal.

One of Hope's friends stayed a bit later than the others & they tried on her new princess costumes.  They were too, too stinkin cute!

After this was over, Hope crawled up on the sofa beside me, put her head in my lap & fell asleep.  I'd say that birthday number 5 was a success.

Master Bath Project Started

Remember this?  I had no problems posting that grainy photo last year, because the worse the photo, the less than you can see the condition of the room.  Sneaky of me, huh? 

Now that Hope is in school, I'm tackling this room.  First, the wallpaper must come down.  And, I'll be darned if this wallpaper isn't the most difficult to remove that I've ever encountered.  Almost every room in our house was wallpapered when we moved in, so I know something about wallpaper removal. Four hours of work & here is where I am:

The back wall, as shown in the mirror over the sink.  If you look really closely, you see small brown dots all over the wall, where the glue will.not.come.off.  I started out with just a steamer, but that wasn't doing the trick, so I'm now bringing in the chemicals. Yes indeed, the big guns.

All so that it will one day look like this:

(image from Country Living or Country Home, I'm not sure)

Or, close enough. I'll keep you updated.

My Baby Started Kindergarten!

Can you believe it?  My baby started kindergarten today!  When I started this blog, she couldn't even walk. 

She was totally nervous the past few days, but woke up an hour early this morning, ready to go!  She got dressed in her special first day of school outfit (I'm thinking that allowing her to wear pink socks with pink shoes was a fashion don't) & we ate Jen Kershner's killer back to school chocolate chip muffins for breakfast.

A few quick pics with mom & dad...

...and then it was off to the bus stop.  I was so, so proud of how she got on the bus without an ounce of fear, just so excited.

Here she is, lined up with her class, admiring her new lunch box.

After school, she declared that "riding the bus is really fun!" and that school was fun.  I'm a happy mommy.

The End of Summer

It's the official end of summer today & I have to say that makes me very happy.  It wasn't the best summer ever & I'm glad to be moving on, especially to my favorite time of year, fall. 

However, we celebrated the best of summer tonight with a meal made entirely from farmer's market ingredients...the best tomatoes, fresh basil, artisan bread and corn on the cob.  Hope really wanted to be in the picture, as you can tell.

Believe it or not, tomorrow is Hope's first day of kindergarten.  She is really nervous about it & has told us several times that she has decided that she isn't going to go, after all.  I know that she will settle right in, once she is there.

They allow parents of kindergartners to meet their kid's buses at school and walk them inside on the first day, so I'll have lots of pictures to share.