Saturday Yardwork

Yesterday, it was cool and overcast all day.  It was the perfect day to work in the yard.  Surprisingly, I really enjoy yard, but I'm sort of a fair-weather worker.  When it is cool outside, I don't mind it at all.  But, when the temperatures reach near the triple digits, you'll find me inside doing my "creative thing" in the comfort of A/C.   The past year or so, it has been especially nice to have someone to share the yard responsibilities with.

We started right after breakfast and worked our tails off, cleaning out the flowerbed near the back of the house.  Ron had begun it last weekend, but we were able to finish it up yesterday.

After cleaning it out and trimming back the rose bush (I love the tiny pink roses from this bush that came from my childhood home), we laid weed control fabric and a thick layer of bark.   After planting the viburnum, pink salvia and bleeding heart, we dug a small trench around the bed and lay the brick border that I've been planning for years.  In each of these beds, I chose plants that are known for attracting both hummingbirds and butterflies.  Hopefully, I'll be able to keep them alive long enough to find out if they really do!

We still need to fill in the spaces between the bricks with sand, but it already looks so much better.

The only rest we had was when we stopped for about an hour for a trip to Lowe's and to pick up lunch. I'm counting on the hard, manual labor to cancel out the calories in this yummy meal from Cane's.  I don't eat fried food often, but this tasted especially good yesterday!

Late in the afternoon, we tackled the small bed around the crepe myrtle tree.

Ron had already laid bark in that bed, but we were able to put down the brick border and plant some new plants.

In this bed, I planted a climbing Confederate Jasmine, red salvia and Delphinium.  I LOVE the delphinium---can't wait to pick some for a bouquet!

By yesterday evening, every muscle in my body was sore, but it was so nice to have things looking better outdoors.  And, it's a good thing we got the work done yesterday, because this is the kind of day it's been today:

Take a closer look at the boots--that's what happens when you put them on in the truck while it's pouring down rain.  ;-)

Vintage Vibe

I spent most of the day helping my friend, Vickie, of Young Blooms, get ready for a wedding. A mutual friend's oldest son got married this afternoon, so it was especially fun to be able to be a part of helping with the flowers. The wedding was held at Brown Chapel on Centenary campus, a beautiful location named after their relatives. Vickie had most of the arrangements ready when I arrived at her house this morning, so we loaded things up and headed to the chapel. The wedding had a bit of a vintage vibe and the color scheme was green, cream and gray. After we finished at the chapel, we went back to her house to wrap bouquets. Once again we loaded everything up and headed downtown to the Silver Lake Ballroom to get things ready for the reception. My job was to get the apple centerpieces assembled for the tables in the music room. The hardest part was the 100 trips back and forth to the kitchen to fill the small watering can with water to float tiny orchids around the apples. The arrangements in the buffet room were beautiful bouquets set upon tall pedestals in the center of each table. I didn't have time to get a photo of the tables, but here is a picture of them before in Vickie's shop. I arrived home with 12 minutes to change out of my jeans into wedding attire! I walked into the kitchen just as Veda and Gary drove into my driveway to pick me up. The wedding was a perfect reflection of Chris and Sarah's personalities. It was beautiful and elegant, yet fun at the same time. Chris is a music connoisseur (the classic LP variety), so the choice of ceremony music was unique and wonderful. The guest book was great, too---a bound set of LP envelopes with photos of the two of them in the center holes. I was able to snap an iPhone picture of one other fun element---the Groom's cake. Yep it really was layers of Southern Maid Donuts with ribbon tied around it. And believe me, it was a hit with the guests!