Project completed (almost)

My husband and I finally completed the last leg of the flagstone pathway in the side yard this weekend.  He's been busy with a project of his own for the last month but, with that behind him, I was finally able to get his help picking up and laying the additional stone.  To be honest, he did most of the work with the stone.  That rock is heavy!  (And I apparently could use some weight training.)

Stone before "we" dug it into place

When the stone was laid, I began filling in the empty spaces on either side.  Here's what went in this weekend:

• 2 flats of Thymus serpyllum (minus thyme)
• 3 Sisyrinchium bellum 'Rocky Point' (dwarf blue-eyed grass)
• 2 6-packs of Koelaria glauca "Coolio' (blue hair grass)
• Another 6-pack of Papaver nudicaule 'Champagne Bubbles' (Iceland poppy)
• 3 Osteospermum ecklonis '3D Silver'
• 1 6-pack of Armeria maritima 'Nifty Thrifty' (a variegated thrift)

Most of the plants went into the area on the right side of the path.

The new plants, with the exception of the Iceland poppies, were added to the plants installed during an earlier planting frenzy

There are still a few holes to fill here and there on either side of the new path but I probably won't get to that for another week or more.  My hope is that, by spring, the area will look much fuller.

Newly planted area photographed from the front lawn

Photo from the side yard patio

Photo from the backyard lawn

So what so preoccupied my husband that he didn't have time to help with the stone pathway?  He was preparing his beloved electric car for transport to a new owner, our nephew in Washington state.  Those who know my husband also know how important this car was to him.  It was a gas-powered Mazda RX-7, originally owned by my father-in-law, which my husband converted to an all-electric vehicle a little over 20 years ago, doing all the work himself.  The conversion involved, among other things, installation of a new electric engine and 18 batteries.  He replaced all 18 batteries before sending it off to our nephew by truck.  It arrived in Washington this weekend and should be in the hands of its new owner today.  We hope he'll enjoy it as much as my husband did.

The electric car's last ride in California, on its way to the transport truck