The Cottage Around the Corner

It is officially the first day of spring. I am so excited!! I am tired of the cold. I am going to enjoy spring as much as I can, for here in Alabama it gets REALLY hot and humid during the summer. Then I will be praying for the coolness of fall....
So many gardening projects. When we bought our house, the only landscape there was were weeds. Lots and lots of weeds. Mostly weeds for grass (which when cut looks pretty good...). We recently cut down the last tree in the front yard. It was leaning towards our house and it was one of those nasty, messy sugar gum trees. When my Grandmother tripped and fell on one of the little fruit balls they drop, I knew it had to be done. I hate cutting trees down, but I do have a whole lot of almost free mulch for the yard now.
There is so much to do for the front of our house. When we replaced the windows, they pulled some of the red paint off the shutters. That needs to be touched up. And look at all the weeds (my current mulch). They will all be pulled and replaced with mulch from the giant pile of mulch in the front yard. And I get to do it all by myself!! Yeah me!! :) Lookee here:
You can see the peeled paint on the shutters. There is some green in the bed, but not near enough. I want to add blackeyed susans and purple coneflower. I have 2 roses over there. One is a red climbing rose. I have to add a trellis for it to climb. I want that to be something we all make. Trellises are way too expensive. I just don't see where they are worth it. Maybe after we move to our forever house... but this one is not it. I surely need boxwood and maybe azaleas. I just need color. I want it to look overflowing. I love to garden... but I am not too experienced at it yet. And I am a bit lazy. Not really lazy, but pressed for time.
See how sad my front porch is? It makes me sad. I want it colorful and happy. I want it to make people smile as they drive by or come for a visit. I am trying to use found objects and either cast-offs or garage sale items. The odds are it will get damaged since the overhang is so small. So, I really don't want to put a lot of money into it. It has potential.... it has potential.... if I keep telling myself that then it will be true. I love the power of positive thinking!! Now I have to start telling myself what a fabulous gardener I am!! :)
I planted a lot of those plants a couple years ago. They still aren't doing a whole lot. So what is a girl to do? Well, I am going to have to pull all of them out, add compost and soil to bring up the bed and then replant. My back aches just thinking about it. Happy thought: I don't have to buy mulch. There must always be a silver lining. Plus, I have 5 kids. The oldest 4 WILL HELP. With a big fat smile on their face. Hahahaha!! My Mama always said if you are gonna dream, dream big!! :)
I am getting tired just thinking about it. Well, I am a wee bit tired anyway. See, the baby loves me so very much, he wanted to smile at me in my arms all night. It was sweet... for the first three hours... I think he didn't feel good because he got some shots yesterday. Poor guy. Lucky me got him to bed at 0515 this morning. My girls woke me up at 0545. That is OK. The promise of going to TARGET and getting those birdie salt and pepper shakers is keeping me going. I can't promise what will happen after I pick them up though.... ;)
Have a fantabulous first day of spring!!!