Escape Artists, Big Yard Projects & The Coolest Looking Driveway!

Welcome to the 908th Metamorphosis Monday! Things are hopping around here this morning, but before we get into that, look at these two escape artists! A few days ago, late in the evening, while I was upstairs working in my office, this was taking place in the sunroom. For the past two weeks, I’ve been opening a window in the sunroom after having reinstalled one of the screens I removed many months back. I’ve been checking the screen every few days, from both inside and out, to make sure it felt secure. Well, apparently one of the kitties—my bet’s on Agatha—pushed against it hard enough to push the whole thing out, probably trying to go after a chipmunk or squirrel running around under the birdfeeders nearby.

By the time I realized they had made their escape, they had been out about 25 minutes. After calling and searching for them for a minute or so, I left to run over to my son’s home to ask for help in finding them. I knew five people searching would be better than one, especially since it would be dark in about half an hour. I was only gone about 45 seconds to a minute to get additional help, and by the time I returned to the backyard, they had apparently heard me and were in the garage and driveway. I’m so glad they know their names and always come if they hear me calling them. The screen has now been removed, stored back in the basement, and all the windows will remain closed from here out.

On one of my recent stroller walks around the neighborhood with cats, I caught this view of the back of the house. That room over the garage is my office. It has three windows down this side and three down the other side that faces the driveway area in back.

So interesting to think that when this house was built in 1938, those windows didn’t exist and that area was just attic space. Thirteen years later, in 1951, the attic above the garage was converted into a sewing room for the lady of the house. It’s my favorite room in the house with its charming built-in bookcases and storage cabinets tucked into the eaves.

On one of our recent walks, I came across something that I have seen before and really, really like! One of the neighbors on my street has the most charming driveway. Actually, her whole house is charming! I’m not sure if these are concrete blocks turned on their side or how this driveway was made, but when the monkey grass or whatever grass is planted in the little holes is growing, you almost can’t tell that there’s a driveway here at all. It’s a bit more sparse this year, maybe due to our severe winter, but I love how it almost camouflages the driveway. Such a cool idea!

So remember when I had all these weeds removed shortly after moving in? (Note the large tree on the left…more on that further down in this post.)

This is how the back patio area looked after the weed removal. Mulch was added to this area after this photo was taken.

This is how the side yard looked when I moved in.

Here’s how it looked after that area was cleared. All this weeding costs a small fortune, as you might imagine. There’s the big tree again—there at the end?

When I left in March to head to Georgia, weeds were just starting to make an appearance in this area where the large tree had to be removed when it split last year, dropping a large limb into my neighbor’s yard. Once the tree was gone, the weeds, now getting full sun, went nuts while I was in Georgia.

So discouraging after I paid so much to have everything weeded not that long ago.

My lawn guy is here this morning, along with a helper, removing all the weeds that grew back where the tree used to be and in other areas where they have reappeared. You can see the remaining tree stump there on the left. I need to have it removed next. So this is how this area is looking so far. My landscape is not done; he will be here for another 3-4 hours.

The roots on some of the weeds are incredibly long! So we will need to continuously watch these areas for a while to keep them from returning.

Here’s how this area is starting to look.

The area on the side of the house is a mess again, too!

They will be here working for 4-5 hours today and are expecting to clear all these areas.

My goal is to sod this area this fall and then enlist my lawn guy’s help in keeping it weed-free. I would love to plant some perennials around the circular patio this summer/autumn. We’ll see how it goes, we may have to just spend the coming months working on the weeds. Before I purchased the Dollhouse, the weeds in the backyard were allowed to grow completely free with no intervention for over three years, so it’s been a constant battle to get rid of them and keep them gone since the roots run deep. Hopefully, I’ll have some beautiful photos to share this autumn when the sod goes in.

I can’t close this post looking at ugly weeds, so I’ll leave you with this photo of the kitties as we headed out on a recent walk around the neighborhood. They love their stroller walks and stand at the back door, meowing and vocally asking for them every day now. Hopefully we’ll get to take one today. Looking forward to the wonderful Before and Afters linked for this week’s Met Monday!

Metamorphosis Monday: Metamorphosis Monday is a party that’s all about Before and Afters. Please link up your Before and After projects, like DIY projects, room makeovers, craft projects, and even recipes. Please do not link up Table Settings; save those for our Tablescape Thursday party on Thursday. If you are participating in Met Monday, link your post to the party using the “permalink” to your MM post and not your general blog address. To get your permalink, click on the name of your post, then copy and paste the address (that shows in the address bar at the top of your blog) into the “URL” box for InLinkz when prompted.