My newest hobby....

I am calling this a hobby but the first weekend of yard work at the new house really felt more like hard labor. I have never spread mulch in my entire life and seriously I couldn't believe how hard it was. The yard is pretty big so it took almost an entire day of hauling and spreading but now that we are done I am so proud of our freaking hard work. I even feel extra Ohio-Gardenery with a touch of my first case of poison oak (which i thought only existed in the woods but somehow it managed to find a secret location in my very neighborhoody yard). Pat got it way worse than me but it still sucked. Anyways, the good news is that we are done and our once overgrown yard is now looking so pretty. My favorite part might be these topiaries that we planted by the front door....hopefully sometime soon I will have the inside up to par so I can show you some of the interior favorites

we planted all of these new Hastas off to the right and pulled out a ton of prickly ugly plants.

and this little stretch in the front makes me so mad. Every leaf that falls on the new dark mulch gets a very dirty look from me.

In the back of the house we have 2 hydrangeas that are just about to bloom. They have the prettiest pale pink flowers on them now. I can't wait to make a big old Martha Stewart bouquet.

And this is the new patio furniture. We have only eaten out there a couple of times now, but i am looking forward to the next few months where we can take full advantage.

I thought the hard part was over but I am amazed at how quickly everything we shaped up has grown. I guess I see how having a house makes people spend all of their time at Home Depot. With Pat gone for 3 weeks this baby is 100% my job. I am going to brave this again tomorrow night after work (ha ha what has my life come too).