The Front Garden

Well, the roses in the front garden are starting to do their thing, and I have been spending more time just sitting, looking and smelling.

Yes, there are weeds. Yes, there are rose bushes that did not get pruned this year. And, yes, there are a few plants that need to be cut back. But, I tend to be more of a hands-off gardener, and I love letting plants 'do their thing'.

Abraham Darby

  

Charles Darwin

The Shepherdess

The Shepherdess

Crown Princess Margareta

Pierre de Ronsard

 


I am sharing this post with this month's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, run by Carol at May Dreams Garden. Stop by to see what is blooming in other gardens around the world!

Welcome, 2013!

Wow, 2013 already.  This is the year my eldest son becomes a teenager (and will most likely pass me in height!).  Lots of Spaniards are nervous about the new year because it started on Tuesday, and Tuesday and the number 13 in Spain is like Friday the 13th in the U.S.  And given our economic situation, I dare say that yes, we should be nervous.

 

2012 is over, but we will remember it as our first year living in our new home.  Unfortunately, I feel that we didn't get all that much done (or, at least, not all that I had hoped).  This was mainly determined by budget constraints, but, hey, what isn't?

 

Outdoors, our main project completed this year was the front wall and gates.  Yes, I finally bowed to Spanish tradition and we raised a wall high enough so only the tallest of NBA players could take a peek over it.  For some reason, here there is a big fear of people peeking in your yards and/or homes.  Must be because there is always someone trying to do it!

 

Here are the results:

Front door

Front gate

Front wall

 

The wall was built by our friend, Pedro, to my specifications (poor guy).  The stones for the wall were brought in by Pedro and his backhoe from another empty house lot where they had been dumped.   The little stone path to the door was made by my father-in-law, who used the smaller stones that Pedro had discarded.  My DH and I have found smaller river rocks on another vacant house lot that we are (slowly) filling in the front with. 

 

      All in all, I'd say it looks pretty good...

....until you open the door and ACH!  You see this:       





 

 

Front yard

 

Front yard (taken from porch) 

  

 



Ditches, electrical cables, discarded fencing, sand piles and buckets, OH! and let's not forget the weeds and my dead oak tree (wimper, sob).  So, you see, an 8-foot wall is a good thing.

 

Obviously, this yard represents my project for 2013, and I've made a New Year's resolution to work at least 15 min per day in this space.  I hope that one day these photos will be "before" photos and that the "after" photos will be a huge improvement! 

 

 

So, what's your New Year's resolution for 2013?