ArE YoU ReAdY FoR ThE BiG ReVeaL?....PiCtuRe HeAvY..BuT WorTh It..;)

BEFORE

Good SunDay Morning!!!!! I have been itching to show you what I have been up to this week..and let me tell you I have been busy!!!..but it was sooo worth it..As you will recall this is how the yard looked above on wednesday..I still had this portion left to pull out..had hubby help me with this last little bit..(he came home from work..so I let him help)...

and this is where we left off on wednesday night..weed cover in place...tomorrow we/I bark...

and Bark I did..on Thursday I barked in 3 yards in 5-1/2 hours time..one load only took 1 hour..I was on a roll..I finished this portion..and then did the back yard..on friday I got another 2 loads of bark and finished up the front yard and some more of the back..still have 1/2 a load left in the truck..this week I pull out the grass behind that picket fence and then lay down the rest...or we are putting pavers down..we have to hash that out I suppose...but either way the grass is gone..then we lay down thick black plastic on the grass behind the garage and kill it and then put gravel down..so this is after I barked all day on thursday..I started moving in the items to decorate..I was so wanting to finish it up..but was totally toast by the time I got done..

I was out shopping on wednesday and picked up some plates to decorate up the fence....that little one with the kids is my favorite..;)

more floral plates..:) love them..

my mom's old cat eye glasses and some earrings I picked up years ago at a TS for a costume...

The Big Reveal: the view from my kitchen window...

Meet the girls..yesterday I went to the TS and found their clothes and also to the Dollar Tree for their shorts and hats, gloves and scarves..I even got a grab bag of stray plastic flowers to glue on their hats.;) A View from the dining room window when we are eating at night..my next door neighbor said its "like another room"..so we are dining with these 3 giddy gals..:)

be sure to click on the photos to enlarge so you can see the details on all of these gals..they each have on boxer shorts..(hey they are modest scarecrows)..lol..I pinned them onto their shirts..the middle one is my favorite..she has on a house dress..

I love how the fence looks now..I moved a lot of stuff from around the yard to decorate this area up..it was fun moving the stuff around..do you see the chickens out there? they look like they are out pecking and looking for bugs..

here is the backyard garden all freshly barked..see that little patch of grass in the lower right of the photo...it will be gone this week..

I barked this area by the "catsintration camp"...oh it looks so much better...

and this area needed it as well..I still have a bit to do back there...

do you see Silly Millie? she is just beside the door there...

a view from the back yard...those 3 gals get along well..they love to TS and go to lunch...(they told me this)..

another view to the front...don'tcha just love that house dress? it has cherries on it..

the front yard all finished..

I love this one..a little bit of everything now..

my original scarecrow..have had him for 11 years now and the shirt done rotted off of this one..so last night I put on a hat and glued flowers around the brim and put on a scarf..might have to find another shirt..will put that on my list..

views from the road..hubby is going to finish a little cobblestone walk way leading into the new area so it all looks cohesive...right now it looks like the walkway just ended...

from the road..

do you see the glasses and earrings..;)

This is me and the middle gal..(I am one satisfied customer)...:)

a view from my craftroom window this morning..we got rained on last night..(wasn't in the forecast)..but it settles down all the lumps and bumps in the bark..and it all looks so good after it rains...

that is our pathetic garden this year Carmen..not much there..still trying to get the tomatoes to put out some tomatoes..we have beautiful plants with flowers.but no tomatoes..we do have potatoes though..

well that is what I have been up to this week..I hope you all enjoyed a walk through my garden..I have certainly enjoyed getting it done..but I am also glad it is done..I can check that off my list..

I got a wonderful package in the mail on friday from Karen of Barely there primitive bear..oh she hit the nail on the head..I will be sharing hers and Tamera's goodies that both of these great gals gave me...Tomorrow I go to the kidney doctor to get my blood results of monday..to see how my kidneys are doing..keep me in your prayers that my kidneys are doing well..I have to go in every 6 months for this test...(due to the polycystic kidney disease I have)..and hopefully he will notice my weight loss.after that I have some errands and I am hitting our Goodwill for anything I can find to add to the yard..including a shirt for the naked scarecrow...Tuesday I am going to try and mow the lawn and work on that portion in the yard..and wednesday..this kid is getting her roots done..I am 4 weeks over due for a cut and color..can't wait..will share if she does a good job..this will be her first time doing my color..keep your fingers crossed..lol..

This just in..( I just weighed in)..I have lost 43.5 pounds..only 38.5 to go...I am down to the next set of numbers now..I feel the best I have ever felt..the aches and pains are diminishing..which is so nice..it no longer hurts to go up and down the stairs..my hips aren't hurting as much in bed now..so it is all good/great..I hope you all enjoyed your tour..and I hope you all have a great sunday..;) thanks for stopping by and always saying hi..I LOVE getting your comments and reading them..:)

WhAtCha WorKinG On WeDnEsDaY....

Good Morning everyone!!!..well I am progressively picking away at that side yard...I am hoping to finish up with it today..this is where it started a week ago...

This was Saturday....

This was last night..I only have that little bit to put in a wheelbarrow and haul out of here..then tomorrow if all goes right with the world..I will be barking..I am heading out today to get the black mess stuff to lay down when Hubby gets home tonight..and then tomorrow I bark..and then best of all decorate..I can't wait to get this done..that little back portion behind the fence is next..just to hard to mow..so it is coming out as well..pretty soon..I will take after photos to share..:)

Monday after my blood draw, it was raining..so we decided to do some shopping..we went to our new Trader Joes..and we LOVE THAT STORE!!!..I picked up these 2 lavender plants for 7.99 each..and the rudebeka ones for 6.99 each..I love them..betcha can't guess where they will be going..in the new area that I am tearing out..I have so many ideas swirling around in my head as to how I want to decorate...

and I also picked up these 2 huge basil plants there for 2.99 each..I would have paid alot more money at the local nursery or even walmart for that matter..in the middle you can see our little puny ones we have been nursing for 3 months now..they are small..we got some mozzerella Di Buffala and tomatoes there and made caprese salads when we got home..oh it was sooo good..even their tomatoes tasted better..you could smell them a mile away..it was like living in Italy all over again..so if you have a Trader Joes in your Area..you must go...we are sold on it..

Yesterday amongst the cleaning and mopping..I did a bit of tweaking..I put the penny rug here on the counter..

and washed up my 2.00 table cloth and put it on the table..;)

I got these 3 cute stacking baskets from Tammy in a swap I did with her..I still need to get hers out to her..hopefully the first of next week..I thought they were little tiny ones for putting on dolls..I was so surprised to see how big they were..so I put them by the wood stove..

Had to share Tucker and Lucy playing with each other..he just loves his little sissy..they play so well together..our Sillie Millie is having major issues with her and is peeing any where and everywhere..not sure why she is so bent..as she plays with her...any suggestions..we have never had this problem before and we are at our wits end with the peeing thing..I am tired of cleaning it up and don't want my home smelling like pee...so any help would be greatly appreciated...

I was at my computer on monday and Lucy decided to hop behind me and rest her front legs on my back..she was puuurrrfeeecccttlly content there the little stinker..

On to other things..does anyone have Comcast? if so..you can get your bill lowered for 1 year, then it goes up a bit the second year and so forth..my little sister told me to call them..as our bill for one month with internet is 165.00..that is just too much in my opinion..we were thinking of going with direct TV as they have a smokin deal right now..so I called comcast to let them know if they couldn't lower my bill I was moving on..they lowered it by 65.00 a month and we are getting showtime free for 6 months..we may still go with Direct TV down the road..(but we hate being locked into a 2 yr contract)..but they worked with us..so if you are wanting to lower your bill give this a shot..they don't want to lose you as a customer..

Well that is it for me today..gotta get my butt in gear to go shopping..

Our weather is a bit over cast today..which is great for working..take care and I hope your day is a beautiful one where ever you are.:)

PiOneEr DAy..GreAt FoOd, GooD FriEnDs...

Good Monday Morning everyone!!! we are experiencing thunderstorms this morning..Really cloudy and dark today..might not get much done in the yard..unless it clears up..Today though I have to get blood drawn (every 6 months) for my kidneys to see where my renal panels..then hopefully get back to nicer weather so I can continue to rip out the side portion of the yard..I worked on it for about 1-1/2 hours on saturday..but it was just to stinkin hot..but I got alot of it ripped out..hoping to put bark down the end of this week..can't wait..I am already decorating it in my head and for fall too..(isn't that just like a woman)..we are always thinking ahead..lol Well on saturday was our pioneer day..I picked up my girlfriends two boys and we headed out..they had it all set up and the food was cooking when we got there..good thing..cause I was starved..I had bits of everything..even dessert..but only tastes..

they had a pool, trampoline, horseshoes, and horseback riding for everyone..

these are some of the photos of the horse drawn ride that I went on 3 times..its my favorite...one of the horses coming to greet us..

love this part of the area..I truly long to be in the country with all the farms, barns and pastures..truly picturesque..

This arabian named Lucky kept coming up each time we trotted by...beautiful horse..

you can see the water..great views these folks have..

we never got down to the light house as the horses were going to be in a wedding the next day and Al didn't want to tire the horses and it was a hot day..and thats a big wagon they have/had to pull..

Lucky again..he wanted to be with us.

Here is Poncho in the front and Lefty (he is on the right)..they are 14 year old Percheron horses..not related..(I asked all the questions)..:)

there they go for a walk around the block..

SundaeLee taking a break from being a new mommy to ride a horse..

this is where the two draft horses live..This is Al's place..beautiful..;)

I had SundaeLee take my photo so you knew that I was actually here..it was so relaxing listening to the clip clop of the horses hooves and the nice breeze and talking with everyone..the best part of the day.;)

coming back home..love this home of our friends Bob and Mikki..beautiful gardens..(this is Al's Son's home)..and where the festivities were at..the 2 dogs walked with us every time...one even came on board for the last ride..

I took a dump cake for my thing and when I came home and put the dish in the sink to soak..I left the basket on the table..and Little miss sunny E Buns got comfy...

Then it was Poe-Poe's turn..she looks like she is smiling..they love getting in baskets..she melts me with that smile..

Well I am off to get ready and start my day..I hope you all have a great monday..