MARIETTE'S BACK TO BASICS

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

{Extending Retainer Wall & Lawn}

In my previous post I already gave you an indication about the changes that husband Pieter was going to make.
At the end of that post, where Pieter dug up the Huge Indian Hawthorn and More, I promised to show you how it looks now.
First of all, here you see a clear view of the Magnolia Grandiflora 'Namnetensis Flore Pleno' being freed up!

On October 7, at 7:00 AM a truck delivered the concrete blocks that Pieter would need for extending the retainer wall.
Here you see very clearly the dirty part on the driveway, to the right of husband Pieter, where the Indian Hawthorn and the old Rosemary had been.
We regained quite a bit from our driveway; about one meter or over one yard!

Pieter also had dug up all the rattlesnake weeds and planned on extending the lawn.
So a big truck did deliver 2 mᵌ of topsoil on October 16.

That huge truck had problems backing up on the driveway but never mind, Pieter managed to scoop up all the topsoil.

This is where it got filled in... Behind the retainer wall, for extending the lawn.

Almost done and next grass seed was sown.

October 31, already grass has grown here! Some bare spots where we removed the big Black Gum tree on November 5, 2014.
It takes years for patching up such spots but with patience that will happen!
Do you like this extension of our lawn?
Next I will show you the finished retainer wall extension.

Related link:
{Digging up Huge Indian Hawthorn and More...} | previous post by me
{Black Gum Nyssa Sylvatica Cut Down} | previous post by me

Sunday, November 1, 2015

{SWEET Gifts from Celia at High Heeled Life}

SWEET Gifts from dear Celia M. High Heeled Life & Resilientista, a Blogger Friend I very much admire!

We did have brunch with her and with Susan from Ava Grace's Closet, while visiting Toronto, Canada in June.

Look what sweet Celia sent us home with:

Pure Maple Syrup; Orangic Wildflower Honey from her lovely state of Ontario, Canada.

Also 8 Syrup Wafers... So sorry that my husband Pieter had eaten some of them before I even could take this photo!

We ALWAYS do use Pure Maple Syrup with our waffles and/or pancakes.

That's what I did again today, see photos below...

The remainder of those 8 delicious Syrup Wafers.

YES, I got to taste one; when it comes to sweets, husband Pieter will win!

Such delicious Pure Organic Ontario Wildflower honey!

Guess when my husband will ever reincarnate, he will be a 'Honey Bear'

Yes, I baked plenty of Multigrain Waffles, using the Multigrain Mix for Pancakes from Trader Joe's

We got fresh raspberries and blue berries from Costco in Jacksonville, FL.

Yummy looking out on our balcony in the sunshine!

Generously drizzled with delicious Maple Syrup...

Still lots of Waffle Hearts left over for indulging many more times in Celia's Pure Maple Syrup and fond memories!
Freezing them and reheating in the Toaster...

THANK you ever so much SWEET Celia for so many SWEET Gifts that keep on giving!!!

Please do visit this very special lady as only yesterday she went through the very tragic anniversary of her accident in 2006.

Related links:
{Brunch in Toronto with Blogger Friends I Admire} | previous post by me
Meet Celia M. | How High Heeled Life came to be: About Sunday, October 29 in 2006...

Managing Change with Celia M. | YouTube video Excerpt from Celia M. Speaking at BIST (Brain Injury Society of Toronto) - Oct. 28, 2013

Friday, October 30, 2015

{Digging up Huge Indian Hawthorn and More...}

Little shrubs can grow into HUGE monsters... and often, after some 15+ years we find out that they were planted in the wrong spot!

So we decided to dig up our Huge Indian Hawthorn or Rhaphiolepis umbellate.

In Dutch this is: Indiase meidoorn.

In German: Weißdolden.

In my previous post (link you find below) you saw me with my short hair standing in front of this HUGE Indian Hawthorn.

A nice evergreen shrub that blooms in the spring but it was growing inside our precious Fragrant Magnolia Grandiflora 'Namnetensis Flore Pleno', again you can find the link below.

On a damp and cloudy day, husband Pieter started the mega-task.

Together with also digging up the azaleas and prostrate gardenias that succumbed to the rattlesnake weeds, growing behind this retainer wall.

Spooky boy was always at his side!

Here you can see the Magnolia branches inside the HUGE shrub... They had to be rescued!

Even the drain pipe from the previous water project had to come out....

Supervisor Spooky is right there.

A pile of dug up underground stems from rattlesnake weed with its tubers is to the left and front.

Branches from the Indian Hawthorn in the back.

This is the pesky weed!
Called here in the south rattlesnake weed or Florida betony (Stachys floridana) just click the hyperlinks.
Also seen in the above picture are the other nasty weeds with taproot we got everywhere, the Chamberbitter (Phyllanthus urinaria)...