Local Beautification Project Complete After Seven Years

That sounds nice and official, doesn't it?


See, we have lived in our house for seven years now and have never really done anything with our front yard other than let the HOA people plant a tree in it.

We have talked about putting in a flower bed several times but just never got around to it. It didn't really bother me much, but Secret Agent Man hated our boring front yard. So this year we finally bit the proverbial bullet and got it done.

We started by digging out the area we thought we wanted to put it - right in front of our porch.

This was easier said then done (although, what isn't, right?) The grass had seven long years to root, plus the ground is mostly clay instead of dirt. Fun fun fun!
Not.

We had a pallet of landscaping bricks dropped off in front of the house and started hauling them over one at a time to place around out dug out area. We leveled and dug, leveled and dug. Then we discovered we were going to have to dig out the end more because, as you can see, there is a wee bit of a slant. We stopped where we were and started in again the next day because, frankly, I was tired of playing in the dirt.
But after much trial and error we finally figured it out.

(Secret Agent Man maintaining his secret identity)

I was so proud when we got that done, and it actually looks half-way professional! Maybe we should quit our jobs and become landscapers?
Or not.

Anyway, we had to wait a couple days after that because it rained and rained and rained... And just when we thought we were going to have to build an ark next, it stopped for a couple hours, so we ran to a local nursery and bought a bunch of plants. Of course it rained all the rest of the day, but the next day we were able to get out and plant stuff.

All in all, I think it turned out quite nice. I'm sure we overcrowded the bed, but so what? We can deal with it as it spreads. What a project though! I have new respect for people who do this stuff on a daily basis.

Next up - the light post area at the curb! Yee haw!

So, what have you all been up to?

Speaking of...

...Wednesday...

What? I'm sure someone was. Somewhere...




So, as we have established, it is Wednesday. Today I should have a mondo-sized coffee next to me because it is insanely busy (I mean, I only get to type about 2 or 3 words here before I have to answer the phone again. Sheesh!). In fact, I could use some booze in my coffee, that would help a lot, I'm sure. But I have no coffee left, and I have no booze. How sad.

Oh lighten up. I'm just joking.
Sort of.

Speaking of coffee... I think we have a coffee stand for every 10 persons in this town. They are everywhere. 15 years ago we had maybe three latte stands. They multiply. Like rabbits. Or weasels. (Starbucks is a weasel, in my opinion. No offense, but I am not a fan...) Anyway, a couple years ago I read in the paper that we had something like 256 coffee stands in our county. Which pretty much means in this city, although there actually are a few in outlying areas. I'm sure there are at least another 100 now. It's crazy.

Speaking of stands...I used to pick my coffee stands by proximity. To where I lived, where I worked, that kind of thing. There was an awesome one near where 911 used to be housed (the Public Safety Building morgue basement (used to be the morgue, once upon a time. Cheerful? Not.) I went there primarily because their coffee was okay, but their chai tea was fantastic! They made their own - none of that boxed Oregon Chai crap (sorry, but again, not a fan). Then the owners sold the place and it no longer had that fabulous chai tea. There was much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth but they finally told me if I didn't stop doing that they were going to call the police, so I quit. And quit going there.

Then our office moved (thank goodness, because now we have windows! Although, we are near the rendering plant now, so it often stinks to high heaven out there.) There is a coffee stand kitty-corner-ish from there, and I started going there just because it was so close. And they had pretty good coffee. But then the girl who used to work mornings left and the owner took over and for some reason she wasn't open half the time in the morning. So I stopped going there, too.

But then I "found" this place.



It is 5 minutes from my house so I can actually have coffee to drink on the way to work! Which is great. And the coffee is great, and reasonable priced. But now I'm sad. Yes, sad.
And not just because I am at work without booze.
No, today I am sad because my favorite coffee girl is leaving.

This is A--. (Names have been shortened to protect the silly.)


She is almost always here when I come through for my "usual". I haven't had to tell her what I drink for the better part of a year (I am such a creature of habit...although she has, from time to time made special, interesting and tasty suggestions for me!) But A-- is leaving to move onward and upward in the world. She has taken a job that hopefully will parlay into a good career for her.
But I will miss her. And her sunny smile. (And her lattes!)
I am lucky, however, that the other girls there are nice as well and also excellent latte makers!

But speaking of A's last day...to wish her well I made her one of my funky, chunky necklaces:


This is a really cool glass pendant that I got at Wonders of the World downtown. I have no idea how they do it, but it looks like flames on the back, which is fun.


Speaking of fun (not)...Secret Agent Man and I are working on putting in a big flower bed out front. I don't think I'm going to quit my day job to work in landscaping, but it is kind of sucky hard painful rewarding. I am taking pictures, hopefully I can post the finished work soon.
The best part of that will be that we are done! Yea!

So...what are you speaking of on your hump day?