in the backyard.

these were actually taken right before i started messing with my macro lens, but not much has changed... thought i would share a few things from our backyard, which is currently in a state of chaos. a friend helped me with a front and backyard plan, and now i just have to follow-through with it. i think the hardest part is getting it ready to actually plant things...

a few weekends ago, i purchased 11 japanese boxwood bushes, and yet i still need 9 more. before we can even plant these, we still have to cleanup the side of our house, where we removed two large cedar bushes, a chain-link fence, and a million trumpet vines. there is some english ivy that is trying to take over, and it also needs to go away before we can till and then plant. so until then, i will be keeping these watered...

this is the edge of a wooden "bench" we rescued from the alley. at least, it wasn't a bench until i put a few cinder blocks under it. i have intentions of painting it the most ridiculous shade of yellow (well, canary) but can't seem to get over how pretty the chipping white wood really is. i know, however, that it will just keep getting more dilapidated until it falls apart unless i do something to protect it...

these are some pretty bachelor's buttons i got at a nursery earlier this summer. i love the bright purple... and i'm keeping the seeds so that i can spread them around next year and have more to enjoy.

this is a hunk of one of those cedar bushes we cut down. i love the roughness the blade of the saw made, and the different colors of the rings. i wonder what happened to cause those rings in the middle to be so dark?

i hope you all had a wonderful weekend. i got a few books done, went to a beautiful wedding, painted in the downstairs bath, and worked a little in the yard. still never seems like enough time though... i keep thinking i need to take a little 'staycation' so that i can get more done!

oh... and happy birthday dad! i'm sorry we can't be there to celebrate, but soon!