plans, plants and a busy weekend

It’s been a busy week here in the nerdy nest and it’s already Friday again! I think we’re still recovering from last weekend. We got a lot of little jobs done and spent some time with friends and family last weekend for which I’m glad.. because this  weekend is going to be a doozy.

That’s right… a doozy.

But back to last weekend… after seeing so many beautiful transformations in the blogland where folks have really amped up the curb appeal with pretty flowers and a fresh summer look

I love this crisp red, white, and blue combo at Centsational Girl

I was in a tizzy. I had to do something for the front door. It wasn’t horrible.. but it certainly didn’t seem all too welcoming.

For the longest time I had quite the lovely little apartment patio garden, if I do say so myself. I really enjoyed it, if for no other reason than being able to prove that if I tried I might be able to channel a tiny bit of my grandmother’s phenomenal green thumb.

My grandmother on my Dad’s side, lovingly known in the family as Mama, was a dynamo in many ways. But when it came to keeping and growing a garden she was unstoppable. She couldn’t kill a plant if she tried. I remember having fresh tomatoes at Christmas. She even had some plant, I can’t remember what it was, that would only bloom late at night. I remember seeing her so excited when it would bloom, and when she was happy it spread like wildfire through the family. You could feel her joy and warmth from a mile away.

I loved her spider lilies lining the driveway, and all the lush plants that seemed to pour out of every pot, basket, and window. It was one of her passions, and plants filled every available space that wasn’t already covered with photos of her family and friends or something she recently cooked for whoever was dropping by for dinner. She made a mean chicken & dumplings, dressing to die for, and the best butter yellow cake with chocolate frosting and pecans that you can imagine.

She was a strong independent woman who would do anything for her family and I can only hope to be half the woman she was.

That includes my challenge to try and keep my few little plants alive. It’s been almost a year since my last patio plant died .. and I finally decided to try again. I desperately wanted to take my handful of abandoned terra cotta pots (that we even hauled from the old apartment to our new house back in December) from their shadowy home in the corner of the garage and fill them with a couple of cheap favorites from the Home Depot.

So, I threw a mini-tantrum, scrounged up some cash, and off we went. I had no idea what I wanted, or where to find it. I walked in laps around the garden center and I finally decided on a few vinca, some caladiums, and one of my favorites, begonias.

While the Man cut the grass and ate the weeds (Finished weedeating? Used the weedeater? Weedate?) I shoveled anthills, kill some stray weeds, washed down and swept the entryway, and got to potting. After I arranged the pots for about 13 times, I settled on this:

Add in an old wreath from the attic, a few pretty plants, and a freshly cleaned doormat and we have a little bit more curb appeal than before. At least the front door is a bit more welcoming and a little less blah.

We also finished the touchups on the wall color in the kitchen. It’s a good thing too since Uncle Contractor will be coming Monday to install the tile!! That is, if the tile arrives on time.

So this weekend will be filled with prepping the floors for the new tile work—peeling up a few layers of old linoleum, cutting it into controllable pieces and scraping any glue or sticky mess that remains. This also means that we will be moving the last few appliances that have held on strong to their kitchen location like the refrigerator and my weekend buddies—the washer and dryer.

Who knows, I might even try to paint the nook the washer and dryer live in (so I don’t have to worry about potentially messing up our lovely new floors) while they are vacationing out in the garage.

I don’t want to be too ambitious though.

Me, too ambitious... never.