Working all the live long day...

I have been spending a lot of time working to improve the flower beds in the back yard. Nothing has been done with them since we initially moved in 4 years ago and it was time. Many plants have died, the mulch was gone... you get the picture.

But, the stormy weather makes it difficult to work in the clay soil, so it has been very slow going.



I managed to get one side of the stairs planted with new gardenia and evergreens, and get the weed barrier put down. Now it needs mulch brought around from the driveway.



I even planted an Eastern Redbud tree to give some height to the area. The other side took even longer to get planted, but it too is done. Now it needs weed barrier and (*sigh*) more mulch.



I planted a crabapple tree outside of the fence (technically in the front side yard) to kinda match the redbud tree. This one can handle full sun that the redbud can't.



I have also been planting the seedlings I grew into the raised beds and behind the orchard, but I need to take some pictures of that! The weather is too cloudy for decent photos.

Mostly, though, I have been feeling like someone stapled one foot to the ground and I am running in circles. The weather report dictates what gets done and in what order. So I have many projects in the works and none completed. The violent storms keep right on coming and either undo what's been done or cause me to re-prioritize the list.

Courtney came done last weekend and helped me clean up storm damage on the only nice day. Of course, we were working so no pictures, but here is one of her in front of one of the uprooted trees.



Last night brought another major storm with 85 mph winds. We had to sleep in the shelter for over an hour last night. Cheryl asked to see pictures of our storm hangout, so here there are.

Shelter bolted into the garage.

The backrest folds up to make an upper bunk held by chains. I have some blankets and dog leashes on the wall, a radio and some closet lights on the bench.



Behind the door (and hard to photograph) is a bed for the dogs, an oscillating fan (it gets hot and muggy with upset doggies) and some supplies in case the worse happens.



After sleeping in the shelter until about 1 AM and being blown out of bed my the endless weather warnings all night, I struggled out of bed this morning to a phone call from my neighbor. He wanted to let me know that my driveway was blocked by another fallen tree. *Sigh*



How come only the good living trees fall over?? Can't the dead ones come down so I don't have to pay someone to remove them??



So while drinking my morning coffee, I was also chopping off limbs so I can get the car out of the gate!

Pile of limbs on the other side of the drive.

I'm free!

I placed a call to the tree man and he will come out this afternoon and give me a quote to clean up the rest of this tree, plus the downed cedars in the spring house and some standing dead trees that will eventually fall onto buildings.

And we have another storm coming tonight!