The Backyard: 7/17/16

Did you hear that giant sigh of relief?  We participated in our neighborhood open garden tour again this year.  It was this past weekend.  I opened both days.  I'm exhausted.  And completely overwhelmed by all the socializing.  Hence, the sigh of relief that it's Monday.

I ended the whole shebang Sunday evening by going out back and taking a dozen photos of The Cat.  Which led to yard pics, even though I told myself I wasn't going to add to the pile.

I am doing this post a wee bit different than usual, though.  No closeups, only pulled back shots.

It let me off the hook of renaming every photo.  Ha!
Plus, instead of listening to me babble a zillion plant ID's, you can just scroll.

Our old man kitty has had some major respiratory stuff goin' on for months.
It's been a chronic thing, on and off, for several years.
The vet, of course, wanted to do x-rays, scans, blah, blah, blah.
She said she's pretty sure he has a cancerous tumor behind his eye.
This cat has beat more than his fair share of odds, so we put him on antibiotics over the long fourth of July weekend and he's back up and runnin' again.
After months of pretty much just sleeping, he spent the whole garden tour weekend socializing.
He ended the day with a nap.

Seriously, best cat ever.

In other news, the last patch of lawn on the lot is gone.

I've spent months going back and forth over what to do with it.

The majority of it was bare dirt because of the dog pee, and my attempts at seeding and sodding were useless.

So, we bit the bullet and tore it all out the weekend before the open garden.

The Dad went and got a load of crushed quarter ten and we put that down where the lawn was.

So.  Much.  Better.

We also hauled in enough to skim coat the paths and fire pit area, where the pea gravel was, so everything would match.

It's actually pretty amazing how much bigger and more open it makes that space feel.

The fire pit area feels bigger now, too.

Now, I'll just wander around.

Heading over toward the south side.

 

Someone, who was supposed to be in bed, was peeking out the window.

Turnin' around and heading back into the yard.

Goin' down the wine bottle path.

The deck.

Okay, maybe one closeup.

This is the first Dahlia to bloom.

The flowers are gigantic again this year.

Looking back toward the path.

Toward the new gravel area.

The patio dining area.

The Dad said his most asked question of the weekend was if he really uses the grill.

Yes, we ALWAYS use the grill.

I'm pretty excited about this Bleeding Heart vine.

It's so dang cute!

And last, looking back toward the deck.

So there ya go, an online version of the open garden tour.

Well, the backyard anyway.

Now that I'm done obsessively working in the yard to get ready, maybe I can finally get back into the swing of posting regularly.

Maybe.

It is summer, after all.