backyard before

ok... most everyone knows i moved from michigan, to kansas and back to michigan all within the last year. each time selling a home, and buying a new one... what a huge hassle.

i should give a little history.. i've moved about 8 billion times since i've been born.. so moving itself isn't new to me. but some moves have definitely been better than others. i almost always find cool and interesting things about the new places i live.. but no matter how many times i move, michigan and south carolina seem like my two homes. i went to high school and college in michigan. i was born in south carolina, and for every summer i can remember i've visited there.. my parents have retired there.

the last 3 moves went like this. we lived in michigan for a few years.. bought a house that was nice with a huge yard and garden. before living in that house, i had never really had a chance to work on a garden and get it the way i wanted it .. before we moved again. that garden was gorgeous. i had an apple tree, several lilac bushes and created a large shade perennial garden as well as a vegetable garden.

we moved to kansas..... flat.. desolate... empty. but.... i decided that since i got so much enjoyment from my garden in michigan that i would make that a priority in my new house in kansas. so after the home was finished being built.. i hired a landscape architect to help me design a nice garden and yard... and a lot of time and expense went into making the yard an oasis in the middle of the prairie. if i would have stayed in kansas like originally planned, i have no doubt that i would have enjoyed that garden.

now... jump to the present... down sized our home..., and our garden. also bought an older neglected home... with a sorely neglected garden. :( when we decided to buy this home the yard was already dormant for the winter.. so i had no idea what, if anything was alive out there.

now its spring... everyones grass in this neighborhood was turning green... not ours :| everyones spring flowers blooming... not ours. everyones sprinklers starting up... mine needs repair. even the shrubs and trees in this yard look like they have lived a hard life.

there is a swimming pool here... it is in need to total renovations.. but there just isn't money for that this year.. luckily i know it does work.. even if it isn't beautiful.... someone will come out and take the cover off and fill it in the next few weeks.


There is good news in all of this....... its like having a clean slate to start with. there is very little planted on our little plot of land. even the grass needs to be reseeded. so, its like i'm starting from square 1.

the pictures here show just what kind of shape out garden is in... these will be the before images... later in the summer after i've got some things planted and there is life back there.. i'll show the after images.

also.. there is a picture of my dinner from last night :P over the last 6 months.... i've totally changed the way i eat. i now eat mostly fruits and vegetables. last night was a typical meal for us. i grilled skinless chicken with fajita spices, peppers and onions.. and then also grilled a bunch of asparagus after putting a little lemon juice and some oil on them. the kids put all the veggies and meat into tortillas with a bit of cheese... i think just about everything tastes better when its cooked on a grill. :)
this picture is of all the seeds we planted about a month ago... these are summer annual flowers.. everything from sunflowers to morning glories. i also have some beautiful azalea bushes that i'll plant as soon as the danger of frost is over.

you can see.. even though the backyard is pretty sorry looking now.. i still love it :) i would rather cook out there than in a kitchen anyday.. and i'll make sure that my outside kitchen looks like paradise before this summer is over ;)