Time for the almost biannual post!

Yeah, I know, it's been a long time. Last summer went by in a whirl. We were busy, busy bees and have the pics to prove it. But first, I FINALLY got some shots of the wisteria in bloom last Spring. A couple of years ago, I got lazy about trimming it at the end of the winter, and got way more blooms on it the next year. Now I don't hack away after October. Pay no attention to the date on the pictures-new camera-you know how that goes...













So on to the big project last summer: The Driveway.

The goal is to make it pretty enough to discourage Tim from piling crap there. I started at everyone's favorite place, BBG , and traced the picket fence posts in the Children's Garden. Tim used them to design and build a fence just past the side door.

The gate helps to obscure the mess beyond, but fails to conceal it. Plus there's some mess in front of the gate, too, including a nice dutch door (behind the bench) the merits of which we're having a *ahem* healthy debate over.
Me: Yay. Visions of Mr. Ed sticking his head in to borrow a cup of sugar.
Tim: Needs significant security upgrades. Don't even ask for the details. It's not pretty.





K, so Tim's got this grand plan involving brickpaving and I want, duh, more room for plants, so the next phase involves removing all that concrete.

Well, the concrete was removed from the ground beyond the fence. What to do with all that concrete?
Pile it up on the other side of the fence, of course! We've been trying to evaporate it by posting on craig's list several times with the most interesting response from a production team that was pondering using it as an extra in a dream sequence from that TV show with Brooke Shields. Only in NY. Could I make that up? Turn around time ended up too short, so there went my concrete's chance for fame. Some guy took some for fill, but I'm afraid there's a dumpster in my future in the Spring.

Remember the grand plan? See up a couple of paragraphs to review. That was another craig's list adventure, because you should know by now we don't pay for anything we can get for free. We found a couple out on the island ditching some bricks. We drive up to a neat, older home on a lovely street. Lawn is perfect. Backyard has a spotless barbecue, a table & chairs, and precisely stacked next to the EMPTY garage is over 300 clean bricks. "Thank you so much for taking this eyesore off our hands" she said with gratitude. Eyesore? I beg to differ. I got an eyesore for ya, toots (see above).

Say all you want about minivans, but hey, we got all the bricks home in one trip.
Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures of the bricks in place, but it looks nice. I got a nice bed for some hosta & ferns (very shady) in, and a nice oakleaf hydrangea (gets a little peek of sun down at the end) that will hopefully grow to block the view beyond. The bench by the side door has been replaced by a nicer one from Avenue P. It's currently forest green, but I'm thinking it may have to be granny smith green. Tim finagled still more bricks from our neighbor Fred that will be the next brick project: Removing (relatively speaking) more concrete and bricking by the side door.

Before Photos!

As promised, before photos! I found these up in the attic. First, looking at the pond-to-be from where the deck will be. Some people just can't get enough of chain link fence.



This is the first version of the pond taken in 1999. We used a plastic liner that eventually deteriorated and got holes in it. We replaced the liner with a molded plastic pond-it's smaller than the original. Notice the red maple on the left. Tim found it in a pot next to a garbage pail on Clinton Street and brought it home for a second chance at life. The rocks came from train yards up in the Bronx. Apparently the Bronx is pretty rocky cause there was no shortage of 'em.



I took this pic from the dining room window, but now I think the above shot was from the second floor. Oh well. You can see the red maple has grown considerably. Tim's trying some bonsai techniques (see the ropes?) to train the branches a little more horizontal. He also cut back the red twig dogwood that's smashed against the bamboo fence yesterday. According to my handy BBG guide to Shrubs :"Shrubs such as red-twig dogwood, which are grown primarily for the decorative effect of young stems in winter, should be pruned hard in early spring to produce as many new shoots as possible"
Well, yesterday was technically still Spring (by the way, Happy Summer to you!) so we at least got the season right. Have to wait till winter to see our young stems' decorative effect!

Tune in next time for a found deity!