Busy Tuesdays and Other Things

Yesterday was a busy day. I didn't teach. Well, I didn't teach anyone but Aaron and Melina. But I had things to do all day.

Melina and I met with Mr. C, the kids' principal, for a nice chat in the morning. We then headed to the store to pick up a few things to round out dinner. We headed home, played some games, made some lunch and I talked to a representative from a company that fixes siding, porches, etc. By the time he had left (and Aaron had arrived home), the kids and I finished up lunch, and I put Melina to bed. Aaron was reading while the next appointment of the day stopped by: a landscape architect that had come over last week. He had finished his plan, and wanted to show it to me.

After he left, I started dinner, and cleaned up the place a bit. Melina got up from her nap just as the girls got home. I loaded all 4 kids into the car so that we could drop the girls off at piano. When we came home, Melina and Aaron watched a program while I made more progress on dinner. Then, I spoke with the next person in my lineup: another landscaper. I wanted to know what his opinion and estimate of the front of the house would be. At that point, we had time to kill before the girls needed to come home. What better time to make banana oatmeal cookies. Melina put the sprinkles on top of some of them. She did a great job.

By the time the end of the day came, I had picked the girls up, dropped some clothes off to a friend, finished making (and ate) dinner, did the dishes and straightened up the rest of the house, not to mention put the kids to bed (Tim helped a bit with that). I plopped my backend on the couch, and could barely stay awake. Can you blame me? Sometimes, it is easier to just go teach!

***
Speaking of landscapers: the plan the man brought? I love it! Right now, the front of the house is ratty, and just old and green. Don't get me wrong, I love green. But there is a thing as too much green. We don't have any color, and usually, to combat that, I put out impatiens. I really like those flowers, but they can only do so much.

The man suggested some flowering dogwood, which in the spring, would bloom pink. The cool thing, and something I didn't know, is how the dogwood behaves in the fall. The color of the leaves change and a lovely red berry shows up.


The landscaper also plans on putting some ladies mantle, which is a smaller perennial plant. I am not a botanist. He could pull one over on me even if he didn't try. He says that these plants have lovely yellowish-chartreuse flowers. I could live with that, and will believe him.

He also would suggest some form of geranium, the Bevans variety. I like the idea of purple flowers that he says will bloom.


The final flowering piece is called the Snow queen Hydrangea. I love hydrangeas. I am more familiar with the rounded flowering plants, but find the idea of a cone-shaped flower just as appealing.


We are considering this plan seriously. We have a couple of other repairs that need to get done around the house this year, but our shrubs truly are on their last leg over here. If nothing else, we'll pull them out this year, put some planters in for color, and go with this plan next year.

By the way, while I didn't share any pictures, Wikipedia has all of these plants there, so feel free to check them out.

Comments

Kelsey said…
Oh I would like to hear more about the meeting w/ Mr. C (if you'll share) and about the landscape plan. We need to address some issues in our yard as well but I think we're just starting with the fence this year.