what's up in the alley

There's an awkward area of our yard that's about six feet wide and borders the neighbors' property . . . where, in defiance of -- I don't know -- a million local building codes, they've built an addition about a foot away from the property line. It was there before we moved in, it'll be there after we leave. Unless the branches of our nut tree fall and crush it. I'd kinda love to see what kind of insurance claim would attempt to be filed on something like that.

Anyway, I digress. This awkward area of our yard is something I've ignored since moving in several years ago because: a) I'm an expert at avoiding things that drive me bananas; b) it's a very narrow area; and c) we had to break into our house through the fireplace one Fourth of July, and the alley has been full of rubble.

(That's a funny story; it starts with an unusable sixties-era fireplace separating from the foundation {Ha ha! Funny already, right?}. The plot thickens when we lock ourselves out of the house on a holiday weekend, then, to regain entry, bust through the decades-old brick and mortar with a sledge to the shock and awe of the house cats. Finally, in the conclusion, your intrepid hero and heroine patch up the wall and, eventually, re-side the entire house, but leave a pile of urbanite, pea gravel, concrete blocks and river stones in the alley. For a couple of years.)

It's a major unfinished project to just have laying around, and I started to finally tackle it because my kiddo is getting older and more exploratory, and I don't really want to leave him to the mercy of (possible) rubble-dwelling black widows and (possible) rusted nails from our roof replacement.

Here's a sneak peek, then, of some of the projects going on in the alley. My goal is to use mostly recycled materials and stuff we have on hand to beautify the alley and make it safer to traverse. This trellis, for example, is something I built using some cedar garden stakes from an estate sale (25 for $5!) and a busted extension ladder.

The raised beds are built of fireplace rubble ("urbanite") and filled with dirt from another spot in the yard, mulch from the city's Free Wood Chips pile, and plants from the local garden center's end-of season sale plant rack. I searched out shade-happy vining plants to help fill in that trellis.

And I made these planters out of a couple of old buckets and some split garden hoses.

There's a lot of work to do here still, but I'm feeling good that progress is happening. It was a scary, weedy, rubble-y mess that was in desperate need of attention . . . and now it's getting a little. I'll definitely be back with updates and details as this project progresses as it's far from finished; I have so many ideas! So much to do before the weather turns! So much stuff for my kiddo to get into while I'm slaving away in the alley! What about you? Are you trying to make something out of nothing this summer, too?

Thanks for reading.

p.s. Hey! You can make these images larger just by clicking on them, but you probably already knew that, clever you.

out in the yard

We've been planting up a bunch of succulents in a collection of random planters out back. I like their drought tolerance, although the no-rain season here in the Northwest always comes kinda late. When it hits, I always lose plants, especially when I plant in planters. Hopefully, planting these guys will cure that problem.

The grass is a little long here; I photographed this area before the first mow of the season (I don't like to mow when the grass is wet because it dulls the blade more quickly and clogs the underside of the mower). Also, a lot of the grass isn't grass anymore; we seeded a bunch of clover and, as happens every year, the dandelions just volunteer.

You can spy a little of our next planting project in this one; the little nursery pots in the background are seeded with grey stripe sunflower seeds and rouge vif d'etampes pumpkins (the Cinderella-looking ones found here).

And, because we've had a spate of decent weather lately, we actually got out and resumed our siding project on the studio walls. I doubt you'll remember this entry from 2008, when we did the cedar shingles at the peak. Yeah, so the studio's just been sitting there in all its tar-papered glory, looking more and more stupid as we've sided and painted the house, and put in the patio, and built the garden beds . . .  I'm super-excited to have gotten this side, plus the entire back and most of the other side done in one weekend. Since this time, we've also finished more than half of the front. Just a little more work to do, and it'll finally match the house and the shed! I'm pretty happy to be able to get this crossed off our list. It's been a long time coming.

Again, the lawn hadn't been mowed yet, and the raised beds hadn't been weeded, but I'm going to wait to show you those updates when I show you more of this in a couple of days . . . 

Because by some luck, I built the whole thing in a couple of afternoons in the backyard, just in time for the spring Pinterest Challenge over at Young House Love and Bower Power. And I'm looking forward to sharing it with you.

This spring is a strange one. Outside, so many things are just beginning, springing to new life. Yesterday, though, a friend and adviser passed away suddenly. It feels out of sync, and unreal in such a green season. He's already so missed from this world.

Thanks for reading.