A Little Lovin' for the Yard

Hi all! Just a quick post about our yard.  The patio project is humming along, but still not quite finished.  They did the lawn repair work last week....

Pretty cool that they spray it on with a hose! Now we are sprinkling and watering like crazy to get the grass to grow.

There are a few details that need finishing up, some involve staining so we need a stretch of dry weather to come our way.  Forecast for tomorrow: Rain!  Drats!

Yesterday Mr. Bluebird, Sweet Daughter, and myself worked on odds & ends in the yard.  Here are some of the fruits of our labor:

 

Planted some zinnias in our new retaining wall/planting area.  We will eventually plant permanent shrubbery, but are going to spend the summer thinking about what ultimately will go there, so in the meantime some pretty annuals will perk it up. Can't wait until they fill in.

 

This is such an awesome picture.  I love the vibrant pops of color you get with zinnias - and they take alot of abuse and weather conditions.

I potted up a few plants.  I found these great outdoor woven baskets with plastic liners at Home Goods a couple of weeks back...love them! You can see a snippet of one of our slate topped serving bars.

Sweet daughter spotted this fun plant at our local garden center and we simply had to bring it home.  It really does smell like buttered popcorn and grows up to eight feet tall!! Fun!

Pretty shot of one of my purple clematis...this particular plant has NEVER bloomed in five years, but this year it is one happy camper and is producing beautiful blooms!

I gave our mini chimnea a spray paint coat of "aubergine" yesterday - now I am awaiting a super chunky, outdoor flameless candle to put inside.  We have used it to burn real wood at times, but it's new home next to the wooden arbor isn't really conducive to fire! So a candle on a timer will really fit the bill and look so cozy every night, not just when we decide to light a fire.  Besides, since the chimnea is so small we spend alot of time tending the fire.  We have a large firepit elsewhere in the yard, so we can get our pyro fix that way! Lol!

A cute pot and bowl combo - still need to officially pot it up, I just plunked the nursery container in because I was anxious to see what it looked like. 

Here I am sealing the slate tiles we are using in our two outdoor serving bars.  I just love how the sealer brings out the beautiful color of these tiles. I also am crazy for the texture of the slate and all the variation - perfect for an outdoor setting.

Well, that's it from my corner of the world today. Friday was the start of my summer off, so my head is swirling with all the projects and activities I want to cram into the next 87 days! I am especially looking forward to having our patio project complete so I can start adding "the jewelry" and making it our own.  I will be sure to share the journey with you!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Jane

Linking to:

Metamorphosis Monday
Make it Pretty Monday