Winters in Texas

Winters down here can be bad, granted not nearly as bad as those in the upper part of the nation or in Antarctica, say, but bad nonetheless.  We usually have one or two freezes a year and rarely snow, but we do get icy rains.  This ice doesn't usually bother the power lines or even shut down school for long, (darn) but it can and does wreak havoc on tree limbs. This is why I took a slight detour this fall after the ground landscaping work. I have a tree that is basically a junk tree on the corner of my property. It has a rotten heart and a broken limb that taunts my roof every time the wind blows.

So, digging in, I called B&B landscaping back and asked them to come and take a look and give me a bid. Jeff came out and looked not only at that tree but also at the rotting 5 foot stump on the other corner of the property.

After giving me a bid i couldn't say no to, I gave the go ahead for the stumps to be removed. What's sad is that you can't even tell they were ever there. The yard looks great and the eyesores are gone!! I know its not a big difference to anyone else that passes by on the street, but its made a huge difference to me! What do you think?

(This post was originally typed on my iPad, so please forgive any text that looks more like it was texted than typed!!)

Changing Outlook

Giddings Lane is getting a new outlook, literally!  After two years, my house, all in all, hasn't changed nearly as much on the outside as it has on the inside.  The changes on the outside have been very minor.  A new roof, trimmed trees and removal of TONS (literally) brush, all big things, but if you look, nothing that says WOW.  See??

  

All of that is about to change.  Thanks to an awesome local company, B&B Landscaping, Giddings Lane is about to start getting a whole new look.  Now, keep in mind that I'm saying that we're "about to start."  This is going to a LONG time process, which is fine.  Everything that's good is worth waiting for, right??

First up on the agenda is removing the excess brick and concrete that the original owners were so fond of.  

So long old basketball court!!  Hopefully it will soon be a thing of the past.

Next on the to-do list is to remove the bricks from the walk to no-where.  If you recall, after HOURS of work, my dad uncovered this brick path in the backyard.  

If and when, I mow, this random brick layout is a pain and is half buried.  The brick is going to be pulled up and moved to the corner of the yard for future use.  I'll let you know what kind of future use later, in the future.

When I first moved into the house I knew there was a front flowerbed because they had the straggling remains of bushes of some sort.  (It made a great play place for mud pies.)

After more hours of work, we found this, more brick, this time bordering the bed.

While it looks pretty in the picture, reality was more brutal and it looks pretty pitiful now.   The brick is also broken and jacked up too, so out it comes.  It will join the pile in the back for future use.  As will the very, very narrow, cracked and and uneven walkway to the street.

 

The biggest thing that's scheduled to happen, will most likely be the least noticeable to everyone else, I'm guessing.  In digging out the front flower bed, the dirt was tossed to the side for simplicity's sake.  Due to a poorly timed nose break, (but then again, is any nose break ever nicely timed????) the dirt was never moved to its permanent home, so there it sat.  Over the past year or so, it has become a mountain of dirt.  B&B is going to remove the dirt, leveling it for proper drainage and fill in the holes left by the concrete/brick removals.  I CANNOT wait!! Instead of a huge mound, I might possibly have the beginnings of a real front yard!