Front Yard Patio

We decided to take advantage of some glorious Pacific Northwest weather and get some yard projects done. I did this patio and the planting in this front bed, a project I've been waiting to do for two years! I have before (way before!) pictures as well as after, though the before pictures don't do justice to just how crappy the bed was getting to look! Anyway, here's my masterpiece! It will look even better as I get more planted around it:

Before:

(note the little poodle at the window....)
After:


Before:

(I know, you can only just see the front bed, but it's the best I could do!)
After:


Pretty cool, huh?

Well, we may have job news soon, but nothing is certain and now we wait. In the meantime, we are fixing up our kitchen for the next week. There is lots to do, as can be seen from this picture:



We have an entire wall to replace, a wall to repair, wallpaper to remove, a floor to put in, painting, a sink area to redo....lots of work, so we are using this waiting time to get it started! I continue to hammer away at the final chapter of my thesis, which is taking longer as expected (not unusual!). But it is going well and is a much more interesting, and challenging, chapter to work on than the others. I hope to have it completed and revised in time to defend it before the end of the year. A lot will depend on other people’s schedules and there is a lot that goes into the application process once the writing stage is completed. I look forward to having that to deal with!

Anyway, I’ll post again as soon as the job front resolves itself!

Dueling Hummingbirds and other news...

For those interested in funny backyard birding antics, I’ve identified a new species of hummingbird at my feeder—a couple of female Rufous Hummingbirds. They are surely passers-by, since I know they migrate, with the males going south first, then females and juveniles following later. I suspect they are stoking up for the big journey to Mexico, lucky birds.

So today there are two of these rather assertive little birds vying for space at the feeder, neither very happy with the others presence. I’ve seen a couple of minor squabbles before, but these two mean business! Here’s a photo of what they look like:





Apparently they are quite aggressive little birds, for being among the smallest (perhaps the smallest) of their kind.

Nothing else really has changed of late. We continue to plod along our respective paths together—John continuing to hammer away at his career quest and me slogging it out with the last chapter of my thesis. I am, in fact, merely taking a small break as I write this. The temperature here has returned to normal while the east coast continues to bake. Our cool summer days are so lovely. I can’t believe it’s already August and in another month or so it will be fall! Back to work on that thesis or I’ll never get it done!!