| Rose Garden Project A major project for this spring's vacation has been the installation of a rose garden on the north side of the back yard. On Wednesday April 22nd, a co-worker of mine brought his truck over and we removed the grass from the area. Over the next few days, Cheryl and I dug the channel for the underground sprinkler line and added two sprinkler heads to service the area. Earlier this spring we had ordered three rose bushes: a red, a white and a blue. We planted the rose bushes down the center of the garden and along the back we planted nine Holly Sky Pencils. They grow to ten feet, but stay only one foot wide. They are an evergreen plant that will help hide the fence and provide a nice background for the flowers. After stocking up from Home Depot, we put down alternating layers of garden soil, rose garden soil, top soil and bark. To add seasonal changing color, we installed potted plants along the front edge that can be rotated as needed. Bedroom Painting As we continue with the bedroom redo, we moved all the furniture in the bedroom so we could paint. All four walls were painted a light, dusty blue. This color is also in the planned bed spread. The painting itself took a couple of days as we rotated the furniture. The room also needed several days to air and get rid of the paint smell. We hope to be able to sleep there again this weekend. Special Errands and Activities Both of us had eye and dentist appointments scheduled along with getting my car's maintenance done. We also spent quite a bit of time shopping at the garden centers. We had some extra time on the way to Cheryl's dentist so we stopped at the Bellevue Arboretum to check out the flowers. It was really nice and they have made many improvements in their landscaping features. While Cheryl and I share the same office at home, we both have our own computers. After a trip to Fry's for a VGA cable, we now can share a second monitor that is also a digital TV on the desk. Very handy for showing something on the screen. We had dinner at several of our favorite restaurants. Most of our evenings we spent together with a popcorn bowl and a movie. Pick Scheduled on the last day of vacation was my pick for summer work. I moved up in seniority real well this time and was able to pick work that had overtime built into each workday. I maintained Wednesdays and Thursdays off so will work both holidays. It was a very good pick and will make for a busy summer. Click here to see the garden pictures. Click here to see the bedroom painting pictures. Click here to see the Bellevue Arboretum pictures. Click here to see the extra monitor pictures. |