The Garden In August

Over at Satisfying Retirement, Bob an has a great discussion going on about the time we start our days and how that may differ from our working years. I am not quite as much a night owl as I used to be. That's partly because I have something to help now with sleep and pain, and partly because I live with others who rise at different times-and I seem to still have my "mom brain".  That's the one that wakes you up the minute your kid's breathing changes or teenager comes in the door at night? So these days, I'm getting up closer to 8am in terms of waking-but still allowing myself to remain in bed to read, do stretches in the morning or whatever it takes until I am fully "there".

This house has a three-tiered yard. The first, smaller yard, is that area that has the patio and pergola and plenty of green grass, which I often photograph. The second level is short, kind of in between and bricked along the edges ( see photo with house). The lower level is HUGE. When we first moved into this house in the fall of 2013, the bottom left (from the backyard) was entirely covered in small rock pieces. The right half of said level was covered with age old mulch, three layers of weed barrier and rocks, and the play structure from hell (which I gave away to the first person who could get here). There were also no plants and nothing alone the lower fence which faces the neighbors (our pergola and top area gives us plenty of privacy,surrounded by grape arbors and large trees. You can't even see the pergola area from the lower levels).

Because our move was in the fall, not much was done about the yard. Since then we have had two previous springs and summers, and now we are finishing the third. While there is no perfect time to photograph the garden, and I am not the best photographer to say the least, I did wander down and take some photos of the garden in it's current state.

Since move in, three layers of weed barrier have been cut, piles of rocks have been thrown aside (its time to get all the rocks hauled off), trees big and small have been planted including one that will eventually have a radius of eight feet. Flowers and plants abound, features and yard art added as well. Chairs have been placed, some for use, and a bench that is mainly for looks has been placed in the garden.  

None of this work has been done by me. Mainly I have admired, shared some input as to coloring and placing and watched from afar while the other two people have worked magic.  A few weeks ago my sister said something along the lines of "this is the last year I'm doing all this work". To which I simply said "Ha". After all, the first thing she does upon returning from her job (she works in the garden field these days, so she may never leave it) is to change her clothes, grab a drink and head for her paradise. Something I don't see changing-at least not too soon.  As long as that bending and reaching doesn't bother her too much.

*****While the pictures from above were obviously taken in the morning shade, I needed help down the steep incline, so the pictures taken at the same level were done in the midday son-hence some drooping, since we're at 90 some degrees here****

And a little Texas armadillo there!

While this picture is off center, the rocky side is equally as large as the mulched and flowered side.

A large, colorful armadillo here............

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Our neighbor's vine's trailed over our yard, and she said that they were "ours". Hoping for pumpkins rather than squash, personally!!

Still working on covering this fence portion and yes, that's the raised vegetable bed section

A little dark, but a better view of our "rocky" section

Occasionally a real creature appears amongst the flowers.  Meet Tasha, the french bulldog Chihuahua mix

And lo, another, much larger dog among the leaves. For now the bench is mainly decorative until we pull up the barrier and the rocks go-but I'm working on a bench cover and pillows!

The second "tier" was obviously done more for grading than beauty. We're considering what to do with it, meanwhile the canines run back and forth!

Eventually these trees will cover the fence area-and that baby tree in the foreground by the metal dog?  That will be eight feet around, eventually covering all the flowers in shade.