Since starting the latest DIY project I have learned to use my time as wisely as possible.  I have roughly 3 hours a day to quickly change into junky clothes, get my work gear together and then try to make something happen before I hear the baby alarm go off upstairs.  The 3 hours is usually broken up into about 1.5 hours in the morning and 1.5 hours in the afternoon.  My changing, working and then cleaning up stunt takes place twice a day and is quite exhausting.  One day last week the Little Guy and I had a different type of playdate.  I gave up my time with the paint brushes and he left the crib behind so that we could meet up with his Little Buddy and another new mom friend.  The four of us headed out to a local attraction called The Maymont.  It is a lovely old home (at least that’s what I gather from the photos on their site) and grounds with gardens and a small zoo.  On this day we did not tour the mansion, instead we walked through the Children’s Farm and down to the Japanese Garden.  This part of the park required a rambling walk down a fairly steep hillside and then once you were good and tired, a walk back up.  Ugh! 

Me and the Little Guy enjoying some shade in the Japanese Garden

It was quite hot on this day, but thankfully the humidity was down a bit.  We were able to see goats, rabbits, sheep, deer, hawks, owls, vultures, a bobcat and my favorite, the bears!  I do believe I may have enjoyed it more than the Little Guy since he seemed enthralled, not with the animals and surroundings, but with his stroller.  He got to ride in the regular, upright, facing forward seat of his stroller rather than being clicked into the top portion which faces me while keeping him in his car seat.  I cannot even remember how many times I pointed out a sweet animal only to look over and see him chewing on his harness or grabbing at the awning.  If I had known that’s all it took to keep him happy I probably would have put him front facing much sooner and parked the stroller in the family room while I tried to get housework done. 

Oh well, I will have to tuck that trick away for another time, right?

Kitsch Krafts

…now that we have a big booming thunderstorm going on outside.  With the Dining Room DIY Project still consuming all of my time I have completely neglected all of the outside world except the vegetable bed and the potted plants on the back deck.  We transplanted several shrubs and a tree to better spots and I fully intended to soak them down religiously until they seemed good and rooted.  Well, I’m not sure if it’s the late hour grogginess or guilt, but I will confess here and now that I have been a total slacker on the watering job.  It’s harder to ignore the large pots on the deck and, of course, the food bed. 

(Good Old Miss Roxy, watching over the veggies.)

(Well, sort of.)

When those plants start to shrivel up you notice it right away and then you start to think about how much it cost to put it all together.  You know how tight I am with cash, so usually that thought gets me out to the hose fast.  Yesterday we had a record high of 102 degrees in the Richmond, VA area.  It was literally hard to breath when you walked outside.  In the evening, around 6:30 pm, when the sun is on the other side of the house and the deck is usually prime for relaxing, you could still feel the heat coming up from the boards.  It felt like if you stood there to long the bottom of your flip flops would melt and stick in place.  The Little Guy and I lasted about 6 minutes on the chaise before we succumbed to the thick humidity and had soaked through our clothes.  We decided that just looking at the lovely potted flowers through the windows was more our speed on this day.

After surveying our property a couple of hours later, The Mister and I realized that our yard was one hot day away from spontaneous combustion and we needed to get the hoses and sprinklers out stat.  So, that was my task this morning.  Rather than running from the nursery after laying the Little Guy down for his morning nap, donning junky paint clothes and rushing down to the dining room to finish up the window trim paint, I went outside to begin putting together the waterworks.  It’s days like today that make me wish we had irrigation.  After carefully positioning a sprinkler out front, with a splitter and hose to a tree we recently transplanted, I was ready to check one of my main tasks off my list.  That was until I started the flow and discovered a gaping hole in the main hose.  Water gushed every where but the areas we needed it and I had to pull up the old hose and wind a new one down the side yard in it’s place.  A simple task, you may say.  Well, it took about 45 minutes.  I may have mentioned this a couple of times already, a-hem, but I only have the Little Guys nap time to do these sort of projects and this one small part ate up nearly all of that time.  Anywho, after rigging up several sprinklers around the yard, MacGyver-style, I was in business.  I spent the rest of the morning watering and repositioning until the whole yard and all endangered plants were soaked through and around mid-afternoon I was feeling pretty good about what I had accomplished, even though I never even set foot in the dreaded dining room at all.

It wasn’t until a trip to Lowe’s and subsequently to Home Depot to purchase the rest of the Dining Room DIY Project window treatments that I noticed some dark clouds in the sky.  By the time we wrapped up our shopping the Little Guy and I were racing to load up the car before the hurricane hit.  (At least that’s what the high winds made it feel like.)  The best part was that we did not encounter rain until we were almost home (insert demoralizing snicker here) and pulled in to the garage just as the serious part of the downpour hit.  It has been raining quite steadily since and I have a feeling it will continue through the night.  So glad I watered the lawn today.

Kitsch Krafts

(PS-While out and about in the yard I discovered a shrub in the side yard that we were coaxing along was hacked down to a nub.  I guess it wasn’t part of the neighbor’s aesthetic.  Unfortunately it also was not part of their property.  Wah-Wah…the Side Yard Saga continues!)

I know, I’m a day late and a dollar short.  Oh well.  We had a good time celebrating our first Father’s Day over here at the Kitsch casa and I just wanted to send the love out into the blogosphere.  I miss my dad tons and would tell everyone to take advantage of the time you have.  You never know when it’s going to end.

Here are some classic shots of me with my dad:

I am just under a year old in this pic and I have no idea what we are dressed up for.  It may have been my parents anniversary.

I had to include this one because it’s so classic 70’s that it cracks me up.  Look at that hat my dad is sporting!

Yes, to my mother’s dismay, he was a total jokester too.

Oh well, it call comes out in the wash…or bath, right?

Kitsch Krafts

It’s happening fast!  I cannot believe it is already the middle of June!  I feel like May whizzed by before I could even flip my calendar over from April.  We have had a couple of visits from the grandparents and between those, and the yard and house projects, things have just been in high gear.  I must reflect back on one thing and that is Mother’s Day.  I now have a new appreciation for this holiday and will say it’s better than all the rest combined.  The Mister got the Little Guy in the morning so I could sleep in (Sleep = the greatest gift on Earth!) and then my boys made me breakfast in bed.  Later, they took me out for a nice brunch with some friends.  All in all it was a low key, but very lovely day.

(Here I am with my Guys!)

That afternoon we also ran to the home improvement store and bought the plants for this little patch out back:

(Here is a shot of our sad old flower bed on the back side of the house.  More on this yard project later!)

Shortly after working on our soon to be veggie garden I started the DIY project in the dining room and you all know the rest.  That room is still sucking away at my time, but looks to be finished up soon.  I just wish I was moving through June with a neat and clean home instead of the DIY disaster zone we currently live in.  Soon, soon I keep telling myself.  I am sure as soon as the dining room is finished I will want to jump on something else, but I am still going to keep my eye on the prize.

I hope all the mothers out there had a lovely day too and all you DIY’ers (inside and out) are having fun in the sun!

Kitsch Krafts

After several encounters with the neighbors I finally had an open opportunity to mention that we did not appreciate the piles of yard waste that they raked up onto our property.  It seemed like I was never going to get a chance to say anything without bringing it into the conversation from left field, and of course I did not want to create undo tension between us all.  Based on some of the comments and private emails I received regarding the last post (found here) I wanted to be sure to state that we are not fighting with our neighbors.  Most of the tension and issues we are experiencing are being internalized by me and The Mister.  The reason for our agony and for my reaching out via this blog is that we DON’T want to fight with our neighbors.  So, after receiving advice from many of you and discussing it with the Hubbs, we decided we needed to be direct, but wanted to avoid going over to bring up the issue.  We figured with how often we see them the opportunity would present itself to discuss the issue at hand. 

Well, after many, many encounters I finally got a chance to mention the “piles” yesterday afternoon.  By the way, the two piles have since turned into four, and more rocks have been piled up in the same location behind a large tree (out of their view, but fully in our view) that I had already cleaned up earlier this spring.  The funny thing is that once the Missus next door brought the conversation around to that particular area and I jumped in with my comment about how ‘we had noticed some piles of yard waste left out our property"’ she immediately (before I could barely finish my sentence) stated that they had not been able to get them yet due to their garbage being to full, but that they were working on it.  I was happy to have gotten through that conversation quickly, unscathed and with making myself clear on what we expected with the yard upkeep on both sides.  The only thing that bugged me about her comment is that they own two extra large bins big enough to hold several bodies (which is why I left all comments to myself) that are picked up each week…so, her reasoning was just silly.  Anyhow, the deed has been done.  Now, on to the next issue.  Yes, she brought up something else when we were talking yesterday, which I learned was the main reason for her visit over the fence.  They have found more trees in our yard that they think need to be cut down.  UGH!  I  have decided to call the county to use their free tree service.  They will send out local volunteers with Master Gardner/Arborist certifications to come and help you determine if a tree is well, sick or ready for the chopping block.  I have a hard time trusting my neighbors on this issue since they came over last fall and stated that they “hate” oak trees.  My whole yard is full of oaks and the trees they keep telling me need to go have all been oaks…some of which look fine.  So, we will just have to see what the experts say.  (She also offered to send her husband over with the chainsaw to take care of them for us.  How nice.)

On another note, completely outside of the gardening issues, our neighbors offered up a bunch of info to the Census lady last week.  Apparently, our completed census form was not received and a rep was sent out to our home.  The rep came by when we were not there, so she took it upon herself to go to the neighbors for information and well, they gladly obliged.  In this day and age I am shocked that I have to tell someone that you don’t give out personal information to anyone that comes to your door.  Certainly not personal information that is not yours to give, along with the best time to catch us at home.  Why not just give them the key and tell them which rooms have the TV and computers?  So, on to conversation number two. 

Will it ever end?

Kitsch Krafts

Okay, I am actually having a lovely Monday, but my neighbors are making me completely crazy.  If you are attached to me through Facebook you have already heard a bit about my woes involving our neighbors on one side.  Let me start by saying that they happen to be the nicest people on the planet and they keep their yard meticulously manicured.  Unfortunately, that latter part is what causes all the crazy.  They are a retired couple and their hobby is their yard.  According to them the previous owner never got around to taking care of things in the area between the yards before they could get to it, so they have always maintained the natural space between the properties.  From what we can see no normal human being (okay, make that regular working Joe) could get out to the yard fast enough to beat them to any of the work that needs to be done.  An example of what we have experienced would be, before all the leaves can even hit the ground they are out there to rake everything up in the natural space, shred it, spread it and keep it looking like an office park. 

Part of what made us fall in love with our home was that the yard is full of trees and has (like most of the homes in the neighborhood) a natural buffer between each home.  One side of our property looks like woods, with nice thick trees and leaves on the ground, while the other side has every twig and leaf picked clean and any tree that is not up to par with the neighbor’s standards quickly sawed right down to a nub.  I know I sound like a big whiner that should be thrilled with living by such diligent, tidy neighbors that basically keep up one side of my yard for me.  Well, I’m here to tell ya’ that living next door to retired gardeners has now made it to my list of “Things I will never live by” because during the summer and fall last year there was a constant sound of lawn equipment emanating from their yard.  The space between our homes looked like a video rolling a little two fast with the two of them running around busy beaver style trying to rake up every last leaf and get it through the shredder at record speed.  If it weren’t for the annoying sounds that radiate from their yard starting around 9:00 am and going until about 6:00 pm or later, the scene would be pretty hysterical.  The other issue is that the area between our yards is mostly ours.  Only a narrow strip of that space is actually their property.  Now that we are coming in to spring and early summer The Mister and I are starting to plan for a little yard revamp and are having a tough time figuring out what to do about the folks next door.  We are at the point of wanting to plant a thick hedge or add a fence right down the property line to keep them over on their side, but we think both would look weird in a space that is supposed to be just woods and not manicured at all.  Ideally we would like to see the middle section left alone with the leaves left to naturally compost in the middle.  Then  along the sides near our driveway we would like to keep up mulched beds with small flowering shrubs and seasonal bulbs and flowers.  The photo below shows an area that, although it needs some work, is exactly what we would like to see all the way around this buffer between our yards.

(The front edge of the natural space between our homes.  We would like more of this look all the way around,with a natural look in the middle.)

I have mentioned this to the neighbors twice and they insist they don’t want the leaves…they have allergies (this makes no sense to me at all).  They also have mentioned other plantings that we should  do since apparently what we have in mind is not up to their standards.  So, here we are wanting to fix up our little dream home and feeling sick about the idea of upsetting the people we have to live next to for God knows how long!?!  We know we need to speak up and take back our land…ha!…but we just don’t know how.  The reason I am writing this today is not just to vent, but to ask for some advice.  If any of you have a gentle way that we can get through this problem, some simple words of wisdom, or planting tricks to help us out we would really appreciate it.  The Mister and I are just starting to crumble and while we don’t want to give in to living with part of our yard being commandeered by another we are afraid that speaking up with only make things really terrible.  Please, please leave a comment and let us know how you would handle our situation.

Some other things you may need to know before making a judgment call:

-They mow their lawn 2 to 3 times a week during the summer

-Rather than sweeping their walkways and drive they crank up the old two-stroke motor blower and spend FOREVER blowing the dirt and debris away

-They recently cut down several (what appeared to be perfectly healthy) trees in their yard, claiming they were dying

-They mentioned to us that they hate oak trees (our entire yard is one big oak grove)

-When they blow the leaves up in the natural space between our yards they come all the way over to the middle of our front yard and blow everything off one side of our yard and into the middle of the side yard before shredding

-All the other neighbors we have encountered roll their eyes when mentioning these particular neighbors

-Even the guy that helps us mow our lawn (we don’t own a mower, just all other lawn tools) mentioned they are fanatical about their lawn (he maintains the lawn on the other side and behind our neighbors)

-When asking our lawn guy about buying mulch for that area even he suggested just covering the area around the edges, while leaving the middle natural (he was surprised to learn that the property was almost entirely ours since they are always in that area doing something to it)

-While their yard is gorgeous and full of specimen plants it looks like it belongs in a brand new community with no trees rather than this long established neighborhood that takes pride in all the natural space that has been maintained over the years

Keeping these last few things in mind, I will now commence to begging for any advice at all.  Please, throw it at us!  Again, I don’t mean to sound like a big whiner I just want to keep a healthy and good relationship with my neighbors while also having the yard I envisioned to go with my home.

Feeling like a prisoner in my own yard,

Kitsch Krafts

PS-I decided I was going to say something about the latest transgression involving a couple piles of yard waste that they raked up from their side and pushed on to our side of the property (see below).

(Black circles indicate the piles.  The black line way in the background is the property line)

It has been sitting their a week and making our blood boil every time we see it.  I decided today was the day I was going to say something, so I went out to water some plants out front and try to talk to them.  Let this go on record as being the first time I have ever been in my yard in full view of the neighbors when they have not come right over and started up a conversation with me.  It was strange, but they must have been really busy.  So, I let it go.

the lawn guys leave a design in the grass.

Happy Weekend!

Kitsch Krafts