I've got a number of projects to tackle in the garden but focusing my attention has been a problem of late.
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| This is the area I featured in an earlier Tell-the-Truth-Tuesday post. Since then, I've pulled out some of the succulents, moved the smaller Yucca 'Blue Boy', and added low-growing Festuca glauca. I was going to reorient the half-buried blue pot and plant some new succulents - but meh. I'm tempted to remove all the succulents except the Agave colorata but the green Aeonium haworthii matches plants growing in another bed a foot away...Deliberations continue. |
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| I need more space for dahlias in my cutting garden so I decided to pull all the herbs that dominated this raised planter. Easier said than done. I dug out the African Blue Basil with relative ease but the oregano and garlic chives aren't going without a fight. |
I won't even discuss the work in process to cut back the dead ivy and honeysuckle on the back slope. So why am I having such trouble getting anything done? Blustery winds made it difficult to do anything outside for a couple of days now but that's a temporary impediment. The same is true of a new plant delivery.
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| A mail order delivery I'd largely forgotten about arrived last night |
The newly delivered plants need to go into the ground. I haven't planted those I picked up at a local Spring plant sale yet either. So what's really diverting my attention? Here are some clues:
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| One of my rain barrels has been moved and tucked "out of the way" into a corner of the garden |
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| "Unobtrusive" conduit has been installed to provide power to the area on the other side of the fence |
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| And this messy area is the future site of a "temporary" kitchen |
Our remodel, which will involve gutting our kitchen, pushing out a wall, installing a new HVAC system, new flooring, and an earthquake retrofit, among other things, is expected to kick off late next month. Maybe. We've had a long series of delays of one kind and another already. Today we learned that we need to bring in an environmental remediation team to remove asbestos. Fun.
All material © 2012-2019 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
Agh! The prospect of house remodeling makes me shudder with horror. Our kitchen and master bath could do with some updating, but I'm happy to just plod along with them as is. I often have trouble focusing in the spring when I have too many projects all going on at once. It helps me to consider what the worst consequences of things not being done will be, and then I do the most urgent. Good luck on your remodel!
ReplyDeleteA friend has told me (twice!) that it would be better to shop for a new house than go through a remodel. I'm beginning to believe she may be right. We began serious discussions of this remodel - and dialogue with the city on the requirements to obtain a permit to proceed - last July.
DeleteI don't have a remodel project looming but I still have focus issues in spring. There is so damn much to do !
ReplyDeleteI don't have any projects on the scale of those we faced a few years ago but perhaps therein lies the problem, Kathy. Tweaking an existing bed requires more thought than digging everything up and planting from scratch.
DeleteYou have my sympathy, I can’t imagine what the coming months are going to be like for you...
ReplyDeleteWe'll be living in less than half our house. My husband reminds me that we've lived in small spaces before (a long, long time ago). I'm most worried about my cat, my husband's ability cook what he needs to eat (unlike me he's got serious dietary restrictions), and any collateral damage that could befall my garden.
DeleteOnce during our renovations Chocolat shot out of the house, vanished into the street. Round and round yelling for him ... till the builders told us the cat came straight back into the garden.
DeleteWill Pipig keep her catio in the tiny house?
Her catio, which attaches to the living room, won't be directly impacted but it'll be close to the construction activity at times. I plan to lock her in there when people are coming and going to avoid the kind of thing that happened with your Chocolat. I'm not sure how comfortable she'll be when it get noisy, though. My vet's recommended a "nutraceutical" that will help her stay calm, which I'm going to try adding to her food.
DeleteOy - when it comes to renovations, the miracle is if they are on time and there are no surprises. I actually don't think I've ever heard of such a thing!
ReplyDeleteAnd I've had similar issues removing both oregano and chives so now they are each in a self-contained section of the bed which will be much easier to deal with should I ever want to relocate them.
My regular refrain with the contractor is that I don't want to be living in a construction zone when Christmas arrives but, as the start date continues to slip, I think that prospect is becoming more likely (despite his reassurances).
DeleteAs to the oregano and chives, our heavy winter rains had the unfortunate result of entrenching their hold on that bed. I'm going to be doing a lot of digging...
Oh Wow! such beautiful landscape in the first pic are those all succulents hardy in your environment ...Geometrical arrangement of succulents brings so much of color in the garden for the upcoming drought days in our region .
ReplyDeleteHave a great week ahead
Succulents are a big part of my garden, Arun. As drought becomes an issue all over the world, I suspect we'll see them pop up in more and more places.
DeleteAsbestos out and earthquake retrofit!
ReplyDeleteStay safe. Will be a relief when those two are ticked off.
I look forward to everything being ticked off! I added the earthquake retrofit to the plan myself after reading an article on what Californians should be doing as protection against "the big one" everyone says is coming.
DeleteI shudder to think of you living through the renovations. I had little kids the last time we did a renovation and I think I may still have a bit of PTSD. ;) The good news is you'll get through it and everything will be shiny-new!
ReplyDeleteThat's what my local friends keep telling me but the road's certainly been bumpy already!
DeleteThe garden looks lovely and a box full of goodies waiting - how fun. Not so fun the renovation work - eek. I'll hope for things to go smoothly and quickly.
ReplyDeleteIf early indications are evidence, I think the remodel is going to be a bumpy ride, Kim!
DeleteOh, a remodeling project! Both exciting and scary. Upheaval and change can try the patience. I love watching construction, so I will look forward to seeing your progress.
ReplyDeleteI'd be happier to watch it from a distance myself, cindy ;)
DeleteSo much is happening around your house. Asbestos remediation removal???? Weird. I thought they didn't use asbestos in houses for many years. It is such a difficult job. I hope you don't really have asbestos in your house.
ReplyDeleteOur house was built in 1951, when asbestos was still in use for heating and cooling systems. The inspector identified 4 spots (out of 14 he tested as potential sources). They pose no immediate threat but, if the remodel works touches them, which is likely in 2 cases, it has to be professionally removed. We thought it best just to remove all 4 sources rather than possibly have to deal with the issue again in the future. The work will be done at the start of demolition.
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