Progress on the To-Do’s & Boredom Buster Bags

You kind of get two posts in one today, in the effort to hold myself accountable for my To-Do List.   It was growing fangs (my To Do List, that is) over the weekend and all I wanted to do was sit on my back deck with a stack of magazines and enjoy the breezes.  But I battled through and with the help of My Teens we got quite a bit done.  Progress!!

We spent a good bit of time taming the ivy that was taking over the front beds and providing safe haven for all sorts of creatures.  Yuk!  But it had to be done.  Remember this?

Well here is that bed now…

We still need to cut back the boxwoods a bit, but it’s ten times better now and I’m liking my low rose bushes.

Then there was this…

And after much digging and revamping of the urn we now have this…

Much better, no?

And I did add two freshly planted containers on my top steps…

Just keeping it real, folks!!  I haven’t decided what to do with those empty planters yet.  I usually have ferns in them, but I am thinking a cool topiary like this one KariAnne did might be a nice change…

But that’s not officially been added to the To-Do List.  Just thinking… :).

Because the weather was so great, we moved into the backyard and transplanted some hostas that were crowding my forsythia, hammered down nails popping up on the deck, and got my pots ship shape and freshly planted back there as well.

What I didn’t get to:

• Rearranging the front porch furniture and accessories.
• Addressing my front door hardware (did you weigh in?  Paint or polish?)
• Trimming up the boxwoods.
• Mulching the beds in front.

We’ve gotten super lucky and it’s rained every night since we planted everything!  Woo hoo!  For once, perfect timing.

When I was nicely exhausted and sore and a tad sunburned, I moved inside to put together my year-end gifts for the Little Ones at preschool.

I call them Boredom Buster Bags.

And they’re put together with an awful lot of loving care.

What goes in ’em?  Activity pads, crayons, stencils, bubbles, magnifying glasses, a mini photo album ($1 each at WalMart) with a selection of snapshots from our year together, their journals that they worked in once a week all year, a new book from Scholastic Book Clubs, and their diploma.  Just little things that can be dug out and enjoyed when the dog days of summer set in.

It was a busy weekend, what with the thrifting thrown in there, too.  But I did manage to snip a little love from my backyard to enjoy on my kitchen island.

We’re in the midst of our last week of school, and ready for the long holiday weekend.  How about you??