Weekend Work on the Garden Wall

This story actually happened over 7 years ago, I was getting little to no exercise.  That's right.  Unless you count blogging, checking my email, visiting internet friends, shopping and playing games on-line exercising...like this little cartoon [by the way, click on the photo to enlarge it] I found...LOL!!  Then, I was thrust into doing everything around the house - inside and out - myself.  That was ALOT to someone not getting much physical exercise...believe you me!!  I've lost 65# and kept it off...and feel pretty darn good.  Then in February, during a particularly windy night [gusts up to 65mph] blew down my garden wall and the REAL work and exercise began.  It will continue on forquite a while longer.  There is alot more to do.  I had one woman stop by my house, when she saw me out and asked what I was doing - what happened to my hydrangeas and when I told her...she asked "Don't you have a husband to do all of that?  I just laughed and said, "NO!" and turned and walked back to the wall and got back to work!

Here are 3 photos from the work I did on Saturday - April 16th.  Since then, I've either been busy with other things [Grooming & Bathing all 3 Pups], [taking things to Goodwill] or [cooking some good meals].  Oh...trying to stay out of the sun isn't easy either - medication I take says avoid sunlight, so on warm days that are sunny, I can't work out there - cool and sunny days are GREAT - can wear a long sleeve shirt and my big hat!  Now it's time to run between raindrops...with alot of rain forecast for my area.  So, who knows when I'll post more photos of the wall.

Quick Fire Hydrangeas Planted and Mulched and Looking Good

Good Morning Everyone!  Hope you're having a wonderful week.  As I promised, here are the pictures of my Garden full of Hydrangeas!  

A reminder of the preparations...big holes in which to plant each beauty.

My ShihTzu, Teddy Loves to Watch out the Door,

You'll see Him in almost Every Picture. 

These Hydrangeas can be in full sun or partial sun.

Hydrangeas are easy to grow.

They don't take alot of effort to grow.  I may prune off something here or there, but that's about it.

Right now I am watering every day...but next year...I won't have to water as often.  I don't use any special things to make them grow...bloom or look beautiful.

I can just sit back and look at them.  Oh and I can take cuttings for a vase in the house.

I love how they instantly created curb appeal.

There's something so unique about EVERY variety of Hydrangeas.  They are only alike in how beautiful they are...but yet so different in style, size and color.

Thanks for popping in, please leave a comment for me before you go.  And have a wonderful day!

Getting Started Planting Hydrangeas

I can't believe it's been a week since I posted!  I've been so busy doing things and going places and of course getting ready for my Quick Fire Hydrangeas to be planted.  When I lived in Michigan, I had several different kinds of hydrangeas and fell in love with all of them and their beautiful blooms and colors.  I moved back home to Wisconsin in 2018 and finally...I have Hydrangeas again!  They make me so happy and they add a beautiful "Curb Appeal" to our home.

I went to the local Nursery and with the help of an expert found just the right Hydrangeas.  I bought and paid for them and had them delivered...for only $30.  They would never have fit into my car...a Taurus.  A few days later they arrived and by the end of the day they were planted.  My next post will show how they look today.

Have a great week everyone!

 

I'm Back!! But Can't Show Pictures! Geek Guys What Happened?

After all the work I did to my Blog after deciding I wanted to start blogging again...I accidentally Logged Out...and couldn't find or remember my Google Password.  That meant for the last 2+ days I couldn't post...see if I had received any comments or work on a new post!  That was definitely hard to do. 

 Tomorrow is Church and some work in the garden afterward.  Monday and Tuesday and probably even Wednesday Dave and I will be preparing for plants we purchased at the nursery today.  They're going to be delivered her on Tuesday morning.

When I lived in Michigan (from 2005 through half of 2018) I had an awesome 900sf enclosed patio and about 30 Hydrangea plants around it.  

I moved back to the Milwaukee area in 2018 and finally I'm getting some Hydrangeas here.

I just discovered that I have almost NO pictures in my files!  Or the Cloud!  I went to have some things tweaked by the Geek Guys today and now I don't know why my pictures (tons of them) are gone.  Back to the Geek Guys tomorrow!

So, I can't show you pictures of my new Hydrangeas or anything else.  I hope they can be found!

Wish me luck!!

Phew...

I've been one busy lady here.  Since I work alone on my Courtyard Garden Wall, I don't have anyone to take a picture of me working.  And to take a "selfie" - well, you'd never be able to see more than my face and my BIG hat!  So, a wheelbarrow filled with dirt and a shovel will be it today.  When it's not too cold or too rainy, I have been outside [and that hasn't been much].  But I have gotten some things done.  The "Puppy Pen" I built

in the Garage, is not there any longer.  After 2 weeks of trying to get the Pups to "go" out there...they absolutely REFUSE to.  They stand there and look at me...wondering "why does mommy want us to "go" out here?  We always go in the Puppy Pen outside."   So, I dismantled it and moved 70 blocks and caps to the drive-way...put out my FREE sign and within the hour...they were all gone!  Yippee!!

Then I thought I would use the wheelbarrow to move dirt to the Wall Garden in the front.  That didn't go too well.  My knee [which has had 7 surgeries] hurt almost immediately...and then my back and shoulders got too sore to do anything else.  Just 2 wheelbarrows full of dirt made it there.  I had to quit.  

I ended up having 3 back to back rainy days to try to recover.  While I did, I tried out different shoes to find some that were more sturdy than others...and I ended up with a tie-on pair of sneakers.  I also practiced the motion of digging the dirt up from the fallen wall...turning and throwing it into the wheelbarrow, filling it up...rolling it to the wall and taking the dirt, turning and throwing it into the wall.  It was both the action of digging the dirt from against the wall and turning that created the problems.  I've dislocated both shoulders a few times over the years so shoveling into a firm wall of dirt didn't feel too good.  But I found a way around that.  

So the next time I tackled the dirt, I went on the other side of the wall and used to shovel to loosen the dirt from the wall.  It worked!  Looser dirt, less pressure to shoulders.  I also found a good way to stand that kept my right knee more stable...preventing it from turning too much with every shovelful.  Remembering that I had only been able to do 2 wheelbarrowsful of dirt the last time...I figured I would set a goal of doing 5...then stopping for the day.

When I was finished with the 5th wheelbarrowful of dirt...I felt fine and continued.  I wound up doing 15 that day!  No pictures to show...because it doesn't look like much was done.  But, believe me, having that front section filled with dirt...is BIG to me!!

 Then more rain came...and stayed.  So, I've been busy inside the house.  

More on that and Jury Duty, another day.

I am joining TOHOT today...stop by and see who else is.

123 Concrete Blocks Later

This past weekend, I was once again, very busy working on my fallen Garden wall.  Between Saturday and Sunday, I moved 123 Concrete Blocks/Caps, which each weigh approximately 45#.  That's about 5289 pounds of concrete blocks!!  I carefully put 2 at a time, into my wheelbarrow and walked 140 large steps pushing the wheelbarrow...to the Garage, where I decided to build a

Pen for my Pups, so I don't need a gate to keep them in it, while we sit out there!

Before I began working, this is how my yard looked, many stacks of blocks and caps - and even pieces of blocks.  I couldn't stand it anymore!  Luckily the weather cooperated and it was cool and semi-sunny.

This is how the yard looks now, with all of the blocks moved.

This is the new Pen I built in the garage.  When I dig out and move the remaining blocks from the wall, I will be expanding this...to the expansion crack you see - it will take up 1/4 of the garage...and be big enough to put a lounge chair in there for me!!  Particularly nice, since I had to get rid of my patio swing, it just fell apart over the winter...and I wouldn't have been able to use it without alot of repairs.  I kept the seat cushions for the Pups in their Pen and also kept the canopy from the swing, which I can hang from 2 hooks I put in in the garage door opening, to shield us from the western sun.

Now...I have several more steps to work on, to finish the wall - build the new connection from the side wall to the inside wall in the corners [front and back], remove all of the dirt from the 60 foot wall, straighten the inside 50 foot wall and moving alot of those blocks to do that and remove several in the middle of that wall to install a gate, so I can go out that way to pick tomatoes and whatever else I plant in the back of the wall garden, without having to walk all the way around!!

If you've missed any of my Garden 2016 posts - especially since the wall fell down, you can ready them HERE.

Oh...and Jury Duty is coming up soon!

Then, I will be having some work done on my house by professionals after that.  Busy, busy.

Thanks for stopping by...have a lovely day! 

Joining Thoughts of Home on Thursday [TOHOT] Here.  Please stop by and see what others are up to!!

Re-Building My 2016 Garden Wall

 After 2 1/2 hours outside, I was done today.  The new medicine I've been taking, has really fatigued me.  I hate taking medication!  But, I did make progress.  Click on that photo over there to the left and you'll see it enlarged...and you'll be able to read the caption on it...or scroll down to see it larger already!  I managed to lift and move a TON - that's 2000 pounds of those concrete blocks today and dig up the 4 huge Hostas...

Those Hosta Plants were awful...the bases measure approx 30" across. I can turn them over in the holes...but can't lift them. HELP!! :D  

If you've missed the posts I've done about the Garden and why I am having to do all of this work, you can read about it Here.

Tomorrow I need to be remove the blocks where you see their holes [2 layers] and level them and then re-build the wall. Don't you just LOVE the overhead photos from my Sitting Room window?

New 2016 Garden Wall - Drawn Plans

 In February 2016, with very high winds - over 65mph, the outside wall of my courtyard garden fell.  It was ONLY the wind that did this.  There was no rain.

Besides the damage visible here...in order to bring the wall back to "normal", alot more of the wall had to be dismantled...because it was leaning and not safe.

I then went into "Find a New Normal" mode and decided to make the Wall Garden different than it was before.  I knew, either re-building the entire wall back to the way it had been OR doing something different would be time consuming and quite an undertaking.

Each one of the Concrete Blocks and Concrete Caps weighs approximately 45#...heavier when they are wet.  And I would be doing the repairs myself.

The photos below show what the wall garden looked like in my Plans at the end of Last summer...with newer, smaller plantings in it.  [Remember I had all of the Hydrangeas removed in fall 2015]

  

Two separate "clips" of the Plan.  Above: the back of the garden...Below:  the front of the garden.

The red lines indicate the sections of the wall that I had to remove in order to repair or re-design.  The outside wall is nearly 70' long and the garden is nearly 20' wide.,,and the wall was 3 blocks and 1 cap tall.  That was alot of concrete blocks to move! 

The next two photos show my new and revised plan for the Garden, which I just recently did on my computer. 

Above...back of garden.

Below...front of garden.

So far...

 -The back wall of the garden has been raised 1 full course of blocks.

-The entire left side and front walls in the very front of the Garden have been re-laid and leveled. [3 courses high plus the cap]

-All Most of the concrete blocks that were removed from the wall all stacked on the empty lot next door.

Next steps...

-This side of my house, porch [will be stained too] and patio floor needs to be powerwashed to remove mold and mildew and before I have that done, I have to put mulch or plastic where there is dirt without any plantings, so it doesn't splash back up on the house during the cleaning or subsequent rains.

 -I have to tear down and replace and level the short sidewall and inside wall of the front section of the garden, where the plants are.

-I will be removing all of the dirt from the entire long side wall of the garden...a single wall will remain, with a gate.

-Then I will tackle the remaining single wall...making sure that it is both level and straight, which means removing some of the blocks entirely and rebuilding...I'm sure.

-I need to dig out the Hostas that are along side the garage [not shown here] and remove some dirt there, lay down black plastic and cover the area with pea gravel.  It's so hard to have things grow there because of the high water table and the fact that there is seldom any sunlight there. 

As you can tell from the steps I've described, that I will be very busy every nice day, getting things taken care of outside.  And this year I decided to purchase a lawn mower and cut my grass myself.  WOW!  Something else I'll have to be doing - thank goodness, I have a relatively small lot.

I guess, I will be saying... 

"there just just aren't enough hours in the day to take care of everything that needs to be taken care of".

 I also hope to be saying...

"I've lost MORE weight"

Wish me well...and if I'm missing from action on my blog or Facebook, you'll know where I am.

I'm joining the Link Party Thoughts of Home on Thursday at:

Laura at Décor To Adore

Stacey from Poofing the Pillows

Jemma from At Home With Jemma 
Laura at White Spray Paint

How the Garden Wall Was 2014...and Is in 2016

This is how my Courtyard Wall Garden looked in 2014...all abloom!  Things have certainly changed since 2014.  The Wall Garden doesn't look like this anymore.  If you haven't been following the posts about my Garden, I'm going to share some photos and updates with you, that will bring you up to speed.   I had hoped to have a bit more done with it by now, but the warm and nice

weather we had...has changed to cool and rainy.

A Two-tiered Garden across the front...Gardens down both sides of the Courtyard too.

This is how my Courtyard Garden looked in 2015.

After the events of early April, I decided I no longer wanted to hide behind all of the flowers during the summer.  The plants were well over 3 feet tall...and the wall was another 30" tall...so no one could see in and I couldn't see out!  So I hired the guys who cut my grass to dig all of the Hydrangeas out of the wall.

I also had a two-tiered wall in the back...the back being 1 course of block shorter, just like in the front.  The walls are approximately 30" high. 

This is the Pup's Do-Do Pen...right under the porch light, nice and secure for when they need to go out at night.

I remember the winds of mid February...they blew down the outside of my concrete block wall and tilted alot more of it!  This one incident made me decide to make additional changed to my Courtyard Garden Wall.  

The Garden Wall measures 19' wide in the rear [smaller across the front, because of the Gate and Hydrangeas against the house] by 67' long.  Almost the entire outside 67' long wall had to be taken down, because of the wind damage done to it.  Some of the 12' wide front wall had to be removed as well, because of damage.

So, today, I stacked a 3rd layer of concrete blocks and then end caps along the back wall.  I added some support blocks along the side, to prevent the dirt from falling down anymore.  I also added blocks to the inside of the front wall...as it was tilting and dirt was falling down.

In the rear wall, I have some blocks that are out-of-kilter for now.  Those will hopefully be adjusted when I'm working on the side and inside walls.

This is how my wall was built...except it all has 3 tiers of block and then end caps.  It's lined and has dirt for planting in it.

But, today...what did I do while I worked for 2 hours out there - in the wind and clouds and cool temperatures?   I moved a bit over 3,000 pounds [ 1 1/2 Tons] of concrete block and caps.  I weeded the entire dirt wall of the garden...then trimmed my over-grown roses in the backyard garden...and put Weed Prentative on the Dirt, so new weeds won't germinate in it.  Since I plan to remove the dirt from MOST of the outside wall and give it away...it will help, not having tons of weeds sprouting all over it.  I also moved the concrete edgers that were around my tree in front and around the hostas...another 1000 pounds of concrete blocks.    

Next on the agenda?

1. Dig out the Hostas [4 of them], which are too overgrown and HUGE.
2. Put a third layer of concrete blocks and then caps on the front wall of the Garden.
3. Do some shopping for a wheelbarrow, shovel, tarp and leveling sand.
4. Remove some dirt from the wall and shovel into the front and back Garden Walls, that have been raised.
5. Building a raised garden where the Hostas were removed, filling it with dirt and planting something much more manageble in it. 
6. Remove the remaining dirt and deposit it on top of the tarp that will be in my driveway, and then advertise Free Dirt.
7. Work on the inside long wall of the Garden, making sure it's straight and adding a gate in it.
8. Straighten up the front and rear walls and eliminate any gaps or pushed out areas.
9. Plant things in the front and rear gardens that remain.  

Now...I'm off to Lowe's and Kroger to do my shopping.  Then I plan to paint my Bathroom Skylight...and finally make my dinner - Salmon and Broccoli.  It should be interesting...with the weight loss I experienced in 2015, what I will be able to lose this summer.

[this all may or may not be finished in 2016] 

I'm joining the Link Party Thoughts of Home on Thursday at:

Laura at Décor To Adore

Stacey from Poofing the Pillows

Jemma from At Home With Jemma 
Laura at White Spray Paint

Plans for the New 2016 Garden Wall

Saturday morning I posted Here about what I was FORCED to do, rather than what I WANTED to do.  About 50 feet of the outside longest wall of my garden courtyard wall fell down,  It was about 40" high.  I had concrete blocks spilled all over the place - and dirt and gravel was everywhere!  It was difficult to untangle the lower course of the wall - all the blocks were "locked" together, but, my neighbor, who volunteered to help me  
 and I got the blocks all picked up and stacked.

We didn't have any rain yesterday or lastnight.  We didn't even have rain the previous couple of days.   The wall was pushed down by wind gusts of up to 72mph.  I've lived in this house 11 years and I kid you not, when you come up the driveway and around to the sidewalk that takes you to my front door, it's like a wind tunnel.  The stronger the wind...the more damage I've had to plants in my garden.  

One year, before the courtyard garden, when it was planted on the ground, I had alot of Cosmos.  They were slightly larger plants when I put them in the ground...and they were "full", as opposed to lean and lanky.  And, I figured they'd fill in quite nicely.  

Well, about a week to ten days later, we had some rain and then it got very windy.  And I do mean windy!  So, coming around the end of my house, it was just awful.  When the wind died down, the cosmos were all leaning waaaaaay over.  I tried to press them back into the soil, but no matter how many times I did that, I had leaning Cosmos that entire season and the next.  They looked ridiculous.  

That's the kind of wind that blew down my wall.  After looking at the damage for a while, both my neighbor and I knew that the wall had fallen in one fell swoop, just because of the way the blocks were laying on the ground.  And the soil was knocked down and blown over the top of the blocks. 

These are just SOME of the blocks and caps we stacked today.

   

I still have alot more work to do to get things in shape.  My garden plans that I developed last summer/fall, have all changed now.  I do not plan to rebuild the garden wall...but rather dismantle it and get rid of the dirt and the wall that goes around the outside of the planter section.  I will keep the inside block wall, but it will be moved after I level my pavers along the edge of the patio.  The blocks will sit on top of the newly leveled pavers.  I know, it's alot of work...and alot of weight.

Today alone, my neighbor and I moved about a ton and a half of concrete blocks and caps.  There are probably another ton of them to move, but they won't be moved until I get rid of some of the dirt.  I'll be listing the blocks and dirt anywhere I can...FREE - You Move!

This Wasn't In My Plans for Today!

 Just this past Thursday, I posted about the Garden - Where My Pups Run Free on the TOHOT link party, so when things went from good to bad during our High Wind yesterday, I thought....This WAS NOT in my plans for last Saturday - Antique Shopping was.  I haven't been in an Antique Shop in years!  And, those of  you who have known me for any length of time, know it was one of my favorite things to do!  I used to buy...
things for my home and then others to sell in my Etsy and E-Bay shops.  

But, alas... 

Antique shopping will have to wait...for another time.

Something much more urgent came up, or should I say came DOWN during the night.  That's right...a large section of my courtyard wall, came DOWN. That's the wall I shared last week at Jemma's Link Party.   All the concrete blocks fell over...and it's a huge mess.  I have to see if I can fix it.  It's going to take alot of muscle to get this back into shape.  First of all the blocks each weigh 43# and when wet, as they are now...they weigh more.  Alot of the blocks are muddy, because they hold the soil in the wall for my garden.  Ughhhh.

There have to be at least 100 [I didn't count them all] blocks that fell down.  It's not just a matter of picking them up and putting them down...as you'll see, when you look at all of the photos.

This is the outside wall....at least half of it has fallen down.  The falling blocks stopped about 2 feet from the gas meter on the lot next door.

First, I have to make room for me to walk and work where the blocks are now.  I also have to shore up a section that is threatening to fall over.  There is an electric and a gas meter near it...and I wouldn't want that wall to fall on those!

But, if you look, you can see that the bottom row of blocks twisted and are nearly on their sides...so that means I have to pull them all out and then make sure there is gravel or sand beneath them before I can stack them.  And there is garden dirt that fell, that will have to be shoveled back on top.

Oh, boy...what a job!

At least it will be around 60-65° outside today!

Here's the inside wall, in front of my remaining hydrangeas...that I built a week ago.

While I was surveying the damage, the Pups were at play...so I snapped a few...

left to right:  Rosie, Jasper [the butt] and Angel

And off they went, while Jasper shook his head.

Now...I'm off too!

Here's my latest link to:

--- UPDATE ON THE WALL ---

I'm joining the Link Party Thoughts of Home on Thursday at:

Laura at Décor To Adore

Stacey from Poofing the Pillows

Jemma from At Home With Jemma

Laura at White Spray Paint