Stalled Improvement

I haven't been working on the deck much since the last post, except to start scraping the roof support timbers. Apparently when they decided to paint those (the previous owners), they only painting the sides and bottom, not the top. Because of this, the pain is peeling in sheets from the sides, as water was able to get between the paint and wood. This makes it easier to scrape as it's peeling in sheets, but it's still not an easy job. I'm 1/3rd of the way done, working on a ladder and having to go up and down every time I've scraped all I can reach has made it tedious work.

I've been getting my flower beds settled in with perennials, trying to kill off and invasive plant that was put in on purpose by the previous owner, one which I do not like and it grows amazingly fast! I dug up the root ball from the original planting, a secondary root ball thanks to spreading, and have been cutting and poisoning sprigs everywhere else. My pretty blue balloon flower has been moved to the back of the bed, and seems to be alive despite this. It grows about 3 feet tall, so the middle of the bed was not the right spot. There I put in a Foam Flower. The beautiful hybrid columbine was moved back, and is now between a bleeding heart and another hybrid columbine (and also still looking healthy despite the move). I also planted a peach melba coral bell in the shady corner of that bed, to add some color. This whole bed still needs some work, I think, but it's getting there!

Last weekend we had a garage sale (along with the rest of the neighborhood I live in) which went as most garage sales seem to. We (my parents and I) sold a little, packed up a lot, and made a little money. I did find an outdoor extension cord reel with cord on it and a garden hose reel at neighbors' sales, both items I needed for my house. We were also entertained watching my neighbor haul more and more stuff out of the house and shed for their sale. They pretty much had an estate sale, and the house is for sale too. If you're interested, it's a cozy 3 bedroom, 2 bath house with an entry hall, mudroom/laundry room, dining room, breakfast nook and a moderately sized kitchen. Cute house, with a nice covered deck on the front big enough for a table and chairs :) Comment or e-mail and I will see about getting more info!

Since then my surgery has been scheduled (gallbladder must come out), so I have been busy trying to get the house mostly cleaned and sorted, and getting some of the bigger/heavier projects done. This also means I have two weeks to finish scraping those timbers, and hopefully get them repainted in the railing color (Behr Porch & Floor, Shaded Hammock PPF-11, if you're interested)