All Fired Up

One of the benefits of lack o' sun is that working in the yard isn't too bad. Today started out gray and cool (In your best Gomer Pyle now, "surprise, surprise, surprise") and it was looking like it would be one of those ho hum days. You know the kind where you just kind of meander around and get nothing done. Well, I decided the back patio needed some attention.

We have a two level patio off the back and it was currently serving as a junk catch all. After looking at the some of the recent garden tours on the web, I got a little inspired. It started out as me and Ben and through the power of guilt, I mean asking nicely, Joji and Sam chipped in as well. I'm such a better worker when there are more people around. When it is just me I tend to stare a lot and think about everything that should be done.

One of the things that has been bugging me was this little corner of patio. We have a retaining wall that just kind of stops. Had I know we were actually going to do something about it today I would have taken the "before" shot. We, and by that I mean Joji, dug out around the lower patio and we continued the wall all the way around to meet up with the upper patio. I think my favorite part of the project was when Ben got out the level and kept things from being "close enough". You gotta love a guy with a level. So here is my new wall and I must say it make the patio look a thousand percent better. It actually has the "outdoor room" vibe now. As cheesy as it sounds it's true. I love it!! I am a firm believer that the little things make the biggest difference (at least for me anyway)

So with the patio all ship shape we decided to dine el fresco and fire up the chiminea for making some s'mores. The kids have been dying to do this for months and since the sun did eventually decide to come out the weather was perfect. I think this will become a weekend ritual for us.
Another fun thing today was that I cut some peonies from the back yard to bring inside. I've never done this before because in the years past my peonies have only had one bloom per plant. This year there are actually a couple per bush and I snipped some beauts. When I brought them inside I had no idea that they smelled so good. The big blushy pink ones are my official favorite. I don't know what they are, but I plan to find out and get more. (I think I bought them at the grocery store a couple of years back) Anyway,they smell AMAZING!! The white ones aren't too bad either. I can't wait until my plants are super big and bushy so I can have lots of blooms to cut. Now if only my dahlias would hurry up and get going. I have forgotten what I planted last year so I'm dying to see what comes up.
Hope you all had a relaxing weekend :0)