May Photo Dump

Confession: "May Photo Dump" is the kind of thing one comes up with when one doesn't know what one should write about.

The weather this week has been absolutely glorious! I think warm weather is finally here to stay, and I couldn't be happier. 

The other week the neighbor lady brought over all kinds of starts from her flowerbeds. Jasmine was in heaven; digging and planting and planning!

We are very unsophisticated - read: we're cheap - when it comes to flowers and landscaping (and pretty much everything else, come to think of it.) Jasmine has spent hours on the hilly space  beside our front steps, digging out terracing by hand with a shovel, making a stone wall, adding compost from her pile and from the woods and planting things. She's got a nice herb garden established now and is working on more flowers and bushes. 

Her cilantro stayed green all winter and I harvested a huge stash this spring!

None of what she's done looks picture perfect, because she (like me) refuses to spend much money. I love it so much though. 

Last week we spent an almost ridiculous amount of time making one of her dreams come true. 

It started with a lot of time spent in the woods with a rusty, old saw and 

a pair of pruning sheers... 

and a hefty side of elbow grease. 

Then, we proceeded to be those women 

who can measure and saw and nail 

and do it themselves.

Yes, we were rather proud of ourselves

 at this point. 

Our first attempt at the roof was a fail

And we ended up needing the man of the house to step in with his screw gun 

to accomplish plan B.

(Yes, that is a level that you see;

 this girl does things right.)

It still needs some stabilizing help but all in all, it was time well spent for

 our "free" arbor.

I thought I had killed the clematis plant I bought last year, because it wouldn't climb on a post. I'm so thrilled that it's thriving with my little, homemade ladder/ trellis! (I say thriving; I know it's still tiny but at least it's growing.) I love how it wraps it's tendrils around the sticks and knows exactly what to do. 

The other creators around here stay busy with legos...

And miniature versions of our bigger project

I love it. 

And, that's a photo dump. Hope you enjoyed it!