An Assortment of Greenery

 

A few weeks ago we headed out to Fontana to check out a nursery we had heard was going out of business. We figured we could get some great deals there! We did get some awesome deals and were excited to learn that they were not going out of business. Check out Mercado’s Nursery in Fontana if you live in So. Cal! Each plant cost between $5 and $25. We were told that we scored an awesome deal on our bushes and trees (about 1/2 the cost compared to other nurseries!)

Below are Japanese Privets, a purple potato tree, crepe myrtle, lily of the nile, some sort of ‘garlic’ plant which has pretty purple flowers, bougainvillea, hibiscus, oleander, and some yellow bushes. We were pumped and began to plan out where the plants would go. For about a week or so the plants did have a hiatus on our patio. 

It makes SUCH a difference to have even a bit of color in our backyard!

 

Desert to a Work in Progress!

 

Our backyard has basically been a desert since May. Everything was dead except for the weeds. Some of the weeds reached 5 feet tall! I wish I had some pictures of those weeds. It was overwhelming and depressing to look at dead, brown, everything. This fall we decided that it was time to get working.

First we enlisted the help of a landscaper friend who happens to own a bobcat! We knew we needed to get rid of the dead grass and weeds and turn the ground but the work was daunting. This friend, Mark, got to work with his bobcat and brought in a few loads of good topsoil to mix in.

Second, we needed to decide where we wanted grass so that we could install the proper sprinkler system. Our yard is huge for a CA yard and Mike didn’t want to mow all day. We decided to mulch about half and plant grass in about half. The back half of the yard, which you can’t really see unless you walk around the house is mulch and the part you can see from the patio will be grass.

Once we figured out where we wanted the grass Mike and Mark planned out a sprinkler system. Another wonderful feature of the bobcat is that it trenches saving hours of back breaking work. Once we had trenches Mike laid out the pvc pipe and connected it to the water. I really have no idea how that all worked. I just know one day we didn’t have water to the backyard and the next day we did!

   

Kitchen Paint

I figured that this week would be a great time for some updates. I am off work and am motivated!

As we were deciding to paint our kitchen I kept coming back to the color green. To me, green can feel warm and comforting or springy and cheerful. Now, I didn’t want to go bright green because that’s just too much. In our garage we had a left over can of paint from re-doing the bathroom in our previous house. We decided to give it a shot and we loved it!

I love my kitchen!