Victory?

We had my daughter's high school graduation open house Friday night and its such a relief to have that done.  Not that it isn't enjoyable, it just involves so much preparation.  Planning the menu, purchasing the food, sending the invitations, cleaning the house; that sort of thing.  One big thing we needed to do was get the yard ready.  The borders needed weeding and mulch, the grass was kind of dying in spots, and in the bare border spots, I needed to plant annuals.  On Wednesday of last week, we placed 6 yards of bark in the borders, which took 5 of us just under 2 hours.  It looks so nice!  Besides mowing, it was the last thing we needed to do to the yard. 

After a morning spent praying away the rain, and weather reports of impending thunder storms right around the time of the open house, we were lucky enough to have NO rain.  We didn't have to resort to plan B, which was to put everything in the garage. 

I had a lot of compliments on the yard from the guests and many were surprised that I was a gardener.  One of them even mentioned (without any prompting from me, I might add) that our yard looked better than the neighbor's yard.  Hot Diggity!  I'm claiming that as a victory in the Turf War !

 And now, indulge me.  Look at my pictures.  Thanks!

Look at those Fox Gloves in the left picture.  Aren't they beautiful?  They're a biennial so I planted them last year for blooms this year.  And on the right, those feathery plants are called Goat's Beard. 

Thanks for not mentioning the sparse grass in the picture on the left.  These 4 pictures are all from the same area, different angles.  I'm trying to be an ar-teest.  (Not really, just wanted to get in as many flowers as possible.)

That Rhododendron bush in the corner is not doing so well.  Its leaves are turning brown and there are just a few blooms on it. 



Notice the string ornaments that Bethany made.  She and her friend Kelly made these to hang from the canopies. 



They also picked wildflowers to put in canning jars. 

It was a really nice time, and nice to see so many friends and relatives.  Whats really nice though, is that the yard is done, the garage and house are clean, and I can relax for a minute.  I hope you find a minute to relax as well.  Grab a beverage and go find a quiet spot to sit in, preferably outside, and enjoy the peace.