Fireplace is totally gone!

Yesterday I thought it was exciting that the hearth and chimney were out.

Then I stopped by this morning and saw that the fireplaces were all gone.

We are exploring the option of using a steel beam to go across the span. That way we won’t have to have a support column in the middle of the room. Wouldn’t that be nice? It would make placing furniture so much easier and give us more options.

My mom recently added a screened porch to her home and they used an innovative approach to the problem that didn’t require the column  and she’s sending me the plans to share with my builder and engineer to see if they’ll work. I can’t wait to hear if this will work on our situation.

Here is another cool picture of the rear yard view

Also stopped by the Mecklenburg County Extension office and met with two master gardners! It was my lucky day! Two were there and we discussed the side garden in depth. I was so worried about what to do with the nice naked dirt and they confirmed I should be putting some black plastic on top of it to keep weeds from growing…..immediately!  So, off I ran to buy black plastic garbage bags (which my sister recommended a week ago!) and paint for the brick.

I also found that I can send my dirt samples in and have them analyzed for FREE! I fill out a form telling the lab what I want to grow and they will tell me what my PH level is and all those important gardenly details like how to make it be in the right range for what I want to grow.  It was a super easy form to complete. You can do it for your lawn also, so I will find out what it needs. Wonder how long it takes to find out?

They had a LOVELY garden in front of  the office. Drat, why didn’ t I snap a picture? I will be going back soon and will be sure to remember. They also have a hotline that you can call and leave a message with any kind of gardening question. The volunteers research and will get back with you. Hooray, I am so happy about having professional gardener access!

Did I tell you I don’t like the white brick on the house? Well, that is a story for tomorrow I guess. I have to tell you that I am not afraid of paint! Just wait until you see what I am doing next!

Side Yard Renovation

So, my sister is donating 300 iris bulbs and daylilies to me!  Well, actually she is sending me about 150 which is totally amazing! She had a few extra in her yard and wanted to do a vast plant removal. Lucky me!  Thanks sis!

Look how lovely they will be!

Mom is coming to visit in October and will be delivering the goodies, so I started thinking about where these will actually go. I mean, I am not in this house yet!  The side yard will be the perfect place to see them from inside and each time we come and go from our house we’ll enjoy them. So, side yard it is.

I sprayed the yard twice with ULTIMATE DEATH SPRAY! I have Bermuda grass growing in the patch to the left of the driveway.

Here it is dead.

Bridget wearing her lovely safety glasses with the Mantiss tiller. I have seen commercials for this and coveted it like crazy! You can rent this for $37/day at Home Depot and satisfy that craving. It was great, though a bit more difficult than the infomercial looked. Ben and I completed the job in 2 hours. I tilled the area twice and we used a rake on it to get large grass clumps and rocks out.

Ben worked so hard on this project with me!

Next we’ll lay plastic over the top and weight it with bricks until we move in. Then I will remove the plastic and lay down cardboard, which I understand the worms LOVE. Worms are good things to have in a garden.

So, we returned the tiller and it was a nice surprise that we only were charged the minimum charge of $26.  I am hooked and will go rent one again when I need it. So easy and quick.

Check out my post about all the pretty flowers that are being considered.