The Landscaping Saga and Beyond

 

Home Sweet Home

It hasn't been long since my previous post, but I have memories to add to this journal, so here I am. The above photo is how our front yard looks today. The photo below is how it was yesterday:

removing the old lawn

On Wednesday, after waiting from 8am to 5:30 pm and in that time placing phone calls that automatically went into voice mail, our promised yard contract saw absolutely no progress. To say we were angry and frustrated would be an understatement. By days' end we were finally told the scheduling in the office had messed up (duh!) and they would be out the following day. We impressed on them that "sooner would be better than later" since one of us had a dental appointment in the afternoon.

Gary (in white shorts) speaks to the supervisor

To their credit, the very next morning shortly after 8am a literal army of trucks showed up all along and across the street from our house. I lost count how many vehicles there were, maybe 5. 

8 men working

Many men wearing matching chartreuse, company logo T-shirts jumped out and after a brief consultation with Gary, began tearing up the existing lawn (what remained after severe winter-kill, extreme drought conditions for months) in preparation for the new sod. 

our new lawn on the flatbed truck

With all the right equipment, tools, and obvious necessary skills this army of men "got to it!!" with determination to get the job done well and in a timely manner.They reminded me of ants working hard and fast to accomplish their goals.

I admit that in spite of my irritation at the delay and lack of communication the day before, I was impressed with how well the job was carried out. We watched the entire process within their view -- not leaving any opportunity for people to goof off. There was none of that.

the end result!

As you can see, they did a good job. As the men cleaned up the work area, Gary was instructed how to water the new lawn for the first 30 days as the roots grow down into the soil to take hold. 

Then today we went to our water company to let them know that in these continued drought conditions, we will be exceeding the current rule to water only once a week. They understood. Their computer system issues naughty notices when their meters tell them a homeowner is exceeding the requirements; but today we were told it's okay to ignore that if/when it comes. Keep our paperwork and all should be well. 

It was time for fun. Gary suggested we have lunch at Swampy's, a riverside grill about 20 minutes from our house. I'm not sure we've been there since last fall, and it is one of my fav places, so off we went.

We've had the burgers many times in the past, and they are good. I snapped this picture of the menu to prove to those not familiar with Florida cuisine that serving alligator is not at all unusual. What would be unusual was if Gary or I would order that. We don't dine on reptiles. (The very idea makes me want to upchuck!!)

looking south on the Rainbow River and
the Hwy 484 bridge

About 90 percent of the dining tables at Swampy's are open air (no walls), with a small indoor seating area. But a huge draw to this place are the water-front tables. It's also a good idea to show up before the crowds, which we did.

looking north on the Rainbow River 

Countless times on this blog I have written of my love for eating within view of water. While that was pretty hard to do in my former home state of Colorado, here in Florida it's an easy goal to attain.

kayak traffic on the river

We have been a part of the river traffic in the past. The first time was via a shared kayak and the second time in a canoe. Both adventures were new to me, experiences Gary has given me (along with zip-lines, a couple of airboat rides, and steering a 2-seat catamaran).

Us

I do not mean to belittle myself when I honestly state that in comparison to my former self who preferred to sit for hours hunched over needlework and was a fraidy-cat to try athletic amusements, with Gary I've enjoyed amazing adventures. 

(Apparently my theme song has become, "What I Did For Love.")

Our food came and we thoroughly enjoyed it. My friend Sheila commented that the servings at Swampy's are huge. Well, yes, they are generous, but this open-faced Philly sandwich is smaller when folded over. But with that said, we couldn't finish all of our French fries, and I forgot to eat my pickle.

After the long wait for the landscaping project to get started, then the furious activity to get it done, and concerns regarding the water company, it was so good to get that all behind us. 

Today's retreat to a quiet place was wonderful. We are thankful to have that work done and to now be able to enjoy the fruits of labor, eat well, and doze in our recliners.

Arise, my love,

my beautiful one,

and come away.

Song of Solomon 2:10

Until next time, grace and peace.

Barbara

Journaling on the Front Porch

Today's writing prompts were provided by Joyce with her Hodgepodge questions for June 3rd. Click on the link below if you want to link up with your blog.

http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/2026/05/hodgepodge-questions-volume-656.html

1.What's something you find extremely difficult that most people would say is simple?

I cannot snap my fingers. Never have been able to do it. When I needed to snap my fingers to get my small children's attention without speaking, I would wave my hands or pat the floor -- neither of which is anywhere as effective as snapping one's fingers.

2.  "And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow fast in movies I  had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer." 

~F. Scott Fitzgerald

Does the season of summer make you feel this way? Elaborate. 

Summer is not my favorite season, mostly due to the heat and bugs, so I don't relate to this piece by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I do remember the wondrous freedom I felt as a schoolgirl when summer vacation began.

3. Pickles. Love 'em or no thank you? What's your favorite type of pickle? What's something you eat that definitely needs a pickle added?

Yes, I like pickles, especially sweet ones. These are some of the best I've ever had: Fickle Pickles

4. Tis the season...do you know any June brides? Are there any weddings on your summer calendar? What's your favorite movie wedding? 

Right off hand, no, I don't know of any June brides nor am I aware of any summer weddings this year.

My favorite movie wedding? How about my favorite movies with a wedding in them? 

5. June 1st is/was National Say Something Nice Day...say something nice here. 

The kind comments left on my blog have encouraged me time and again over the years.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Sharing snapshots of current events around here, none of which is terribly exciting but definitely has helped us to fall asleep easily while watching TV! 😆 Posting in the order in which the pictures were taken (which is the order in which these thrilling activities happened):

Modeling my new wide-brimmed hat for the cute photographer (see his shadow). I'm pulling weeds and depositing them in an old bucket. 

Look closely to see the metal tool in my right hand. We have had a Black Racer snake patrolling our property for a couple of years. Said to be "the good kind," because he's not venomous and he eats mice, etc (geckos, too, I assume), neither Mr Snake nor I want to encounter each other. 

🙄 You may have seen on the TV news this past weekend Robert Kennedy Jr. (our current Secretary of Health and Human Services) at the Florida home of Dr. Mehmet Oz (our current Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) handling a couple of these Black Racer snakes as they were mating.  They bit him in self-defense, which is painful, but he was not especially concerned because they are not poisonous. 

HOWEVER, snake mouths carry bacteria. Treatment should be a thorough washing with warm soap and water, followed by application of an antibacterial ointment and a bandage. Then the wounds should be monitored for signs of infection. 

Anyway, I carry a defensive tool with me when I am outside pulling weeds, and sometimes I sing to myself -- both activities to inform the snake that I'm around with the hopes he'll slither away.  I promise you I'll not be purposefully touching any snakes!!!

In another snapshot taken that same day, Gary was blowing pine needles off our rock, a noisy but much less scary aspect of yard work! You can see in this picture one of several examples of Asian art we have as a tribute to Gary's 3 military assignments in that part of the world in years past.

These are clippings from some of the rose bushes in our front yard.  Years ago I embroidered the clusters of flowers on this doily. There are a lot of French Knots in there!

As I type this while sitting on our front porch, we are waiting for our landscapers to show up with new sod (St. Augustine grass) for our front yard. As Gary has often said, "There's a secret to growing grass in Florida, but I don't know what it is!!" We live in a gated +55 community with a hefty monthly HOA fee, so there's pressure to have a smart-looking lawn.

With the new sod coming, we decided to take out the ring of curved bricks and rocks surrounding the Holly tree and have the grass grow right up to the base of the tree trunk. Gary set the curved bricks out on the driveway and I posted this snapshot on our neighborhood Facebook page. That was right after breakfast. Long before lunch, somebody took us up on the free offer!

We both knelt on our rubber knee pads to scrape up the rock from the tree's base and carry it to the driveway where Gary hosed it off thoroughly. Then the rocks were added to other ares of our landscaping. It was a labor-intensive task in our Florida heat and humidity (sweat rolling down the center of my back...); but as I said earlier, we later fell asleep in our recliners while watching our TV shows!

This is a Crepe Myrtle tree. They are blooming all over around here now and are just gorgeous. Most of them are pink, lavender, and sometimes white. But the ones I like the best are this dark red (almost crimson). We don't have one in our yard (they are kinda messy when the flowers fall off). I took this snapshot while on one of our bike rides.

Bringing this summary of our current events to a close, this is the puzzle I'm working on now. I found it in Gary's china hutch when we got married. He's had it for so long that he doesn't remember how it came into his possession. The design is CRAZY, but it's only 300 oversized pieces, the kind of puzzle I like the best, so every day I work on it for a few minutes. 

My readers know I don't discuss politics on my blog. I just don't want to field the comments it brings.. With that said, I close with this verse that is an excellent prayer prompt:

So then let us pursue the things

which make for peace

and the building up of one another.

Romans 14:19

Thanks for stopping by! Until next time, grace and peace.

Barbara

Lately.....

 

our front door

Things have grown a little quieter around here of late. The snowbirds are gradually locking up and heading back to their summer homes up north in Michigan, Wisconsin, Colorado, Tennessee, and New York, escaping Florida's balmy H🥵T!!! weather until October or November. I've counted several times and concluded I almost have more friends who are snowbirds than those like us who stay here year 'round!!

door repair

While people pack up and move out, we are here dealing the circumstances of ordinary life. The weather stripping at the bottom of our front door needed replacing. Gary tackles a lot of the Honey-do's around here, but for this one a repairman was called in. He did a good job.

I've been in the kitchen a little bit of late (Gary is the Chief Chef in this house). A request was submitted for Rice Krispy Treats. I made up a pan of them and in the blink of an eye they disappeared. (it's clearly been too long since I last made that!)

The Chef has been very busy lately pulling out bushes and planting new ones, trimming the landscape, and so forth. I gave him a break by cooking lunch yesterday and serving the leftovers for a light supper. Sloppy Joes. 

Internet photo
2026 Kentucky Derby

We watched the Kentucky Derby this weekend. Since our town is known as The Horse Capital of the World, it was only right that we showed some interest in the race, although the actual competition is only 2 1/2 minutes long! We had the options of watching the race at our community center and also at the World Equestrian Center, just down the road from here. But we would have had to get fancy hats for the occasion, and we are not party animals, so we enjoyed it all from the comfort of our recliners (where the food and rest rooms are just steps away 👍🏻👍🏻).

Ocala International Airport
May 1, 2026

The last piece of news I'm sharing today is that the President flew in just 5 miles from our house (closer as the crow flies 😉🤭). He then took a helicopter to The Villages where he spoke to a huge crowd.

Our runway is not long enough for his Boeing 747 to land here, so a 757 was designated as Air Force One for this trip. One of the residents in our +55 community took the above photo, which really shows off our annual wildflowers as well as the President's transportation.

me in 2016

Those of you who are on Facebook know how the app pops up old photos, asking if we want to share them with [the world]. Usually I do not. 

In the picture I'm climbing the stairs to a ranger station at Colorado's Devil's Head mountain. It's located in the Rampart Range, which is southwest of Denver. The elevation of the lookout tower is 9,748 feet. 

Devil's Head historic fire lookout tower

It's been nearly 9 years since I moved to Florida from Colorado. I kinda doubt I could handle the elevation of such hikes now. My dear friend, "Sister D," led me to many hikes in Colorado's Front Range; this was one of them. I loved getting up high, being able to look far and wide. To quote a tune by Barbra Streisand, "On a clear day you can see forever."

Speaking of mountains, this comes to mind:

I lift up my eyes to the mountains --

where does my help come from?

My help comes from the LORD,

the Maker of heaven and earth.

Psalm 121:1-2

This is a reminder to pray. We live in a day when the evening news is shockingly horrible. Let's use the headlines as prompts to pray. 

Until next time, grace and peace.

Barbara

April's Last Hodgepodge

Agapanthus flowers in our front yard

The Hodgepodge questions for this week are below. If you want to link up and/or answer the questions on your blog, click here.  

1.   Are you feeling more reset, restart, or full speed ahead as we move into May? Tell us why. 

I'm not sure I can differentiate between "reset" and "restart." Just climbing aboard the blogging habit after a break is where I am.  Perhaps my "reset" is the tweaks I made in my blog design; and my "restart" is deliberately putting one foot in front of the other in the dailyness of life.

2. Painting, sculpture, architecture, literature, cinema, theatre, music...what's your favorite form of art? Elaborate.  

 Oh, without a doubt, my favorite form of art is music, especially inspirational. On a fun (musical) note, often my husband sings to me! He is a fan of Elvis, but "our song" is by Rod Stewart.

Have I Told You Lately

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doCIvWFEgN4

Then there is this: every time I begin a conversation with him about yesterday, Gary breaks into song with his version of Paul McCartney's "Yesterday." 😆

3.  What time is dinner at your house? How do you feel about leftovers? 

“Dinner” is lunch at our house, our biggest meal of the day. We don’t usually have leftovers because our meals are often prepared for just two servings. But with that said, when we do have leftovers in the fridge, it’s nice to have something that’s already been prepared to eat for a light supper (around 5pm).

Last week's lunchtime Pepperoni Rolls at Piesanos 
gave me some wonderful leftovers 
for that night's supper!

4. What's the last thing you fell down a rabbit hole investigating? 

I have questions!! With the research tools available to us now (Internet, Artificial Intelligence, and ChatGPT), it's super-easy to spend a lot of time investigating those things that baffle us. In my childhood years,  I enjoyed reading about many things in my family’s set of Encyclopedia Brittanica and The Book of Knowledge. Research today is so much easier, and faster!

Discernment as to what is truth and what is a ploy to outwit us out of our money is really important, so we need to be careful.

A list of my recent (and most frequent) "rabbit holes," includes the following:

commentaries on scripture

product reviews

psychology

5. And now for a question from the book Marilyn (Memphis Bridges) gave me...

At what are you 'self-taught?' 

Blogging. I read some informative books and websites, but in large part I had to figure out the quirks of blogging platforms on my own. That all began in 2009. I have had many blogs over the years for different interests, but now it's just this one, Journal Memories.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

hand brakes on my bicycle

Know Your Options

Recently while on our morning bicycle ride, figuratively speaking, my mental tires weren't fully inflated. I nearly "met my Maker" as an approaching car and I almost collided. The driver had the right of way, and I did my best to yield to her, but my brakes were not working! 

Blessedly, the driver slowed down to a stop while I helplessly careened right in front of her. All the while Gary was behind me shouting "use your brakes!!" 

Finally stopped on the other side of the road, thanking God for protecting me through that near miss, I learned something I had been told before but clearly had forgot, information I had not been using. 

I've got TWO hand brakes on my bicycle but I've been using only the ones on the right handle, never the other ones on the left. Each one serves a specific purpose and the one on the right had been sufficient -- until this one time. 

When we got home, Gary saw the problem with my brake and fixed it. He also explained (again) when I should use the brake on the right and when the one on the left is necessary. 

Clearly, I was not aware or paying attention to my options. I learned that in the case of bicycle brakes, this option is not just a matter of preference but more an issue of which is necessary for specific situations. 

You can be sure I am wiser for the experience! Now I am more inclined to look around other aspects of life, asking myself if I'm overlooking any other options that need my consideration. 

"..... a [person] of understanding 

and knowledge maintains order."

Proverbs 28:2b NIV

Until next time, grace and peace.

Barbara

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https://thechristianlounge4u.blogspot.com