flowers & a long weekend

It was a very flower-filled week, I must say. Since we did all the landscaping last weekend, including planting lots of new little flowers, we've been required to drive out to the house and water those babies every day. Ugh! Now theoretically these are strong, hardy plants that won't require a lot of water in general (you'd be stupid to plant anything else here in a perpetually drought-stricken state), but since they're newly planted they have to be "watered in" so that their roots will grow nice and deep. Which means I have to drive 20-25 minutes out to the house (and back) just to water. Since we don't really have anything else to do out there (still waiting on the floors to be done) it's kind of a pain, but I guess it will be worth it. We have been filling up the back of the car with loads of stuff to move, so the trips don't feel as pointless. We're just piling up a bunch of stuff in the 'nursery'...once we have actual furniture and floors in the guest room, that's where the stuff will actually go. Anyway, here's proof of our hard work!

This small bed is to the right of the walkway...we're not doing too much to it yet (those bushes were all already there), but we planted a few little things (2 gerbera daisies!) in the empty corner. Maybe next summer we'll attack that one since they (the builders/whoever did this landscaping) planted the bushes backwards...smaller ones in back, larger ones in front. Duhhhh.

My mom brought this variety pot from her home-- there's some fresh parsley growing there! Cool!

Just some groundcover and canna lillies around the mailbox...maybe flowering plants at some point.

So in addition to all the hard-labor-requiring yard plants, I also got some beautiful hydrangeas from my husby for our anniversary! I have somewhat of an obsession with hydrangeas...and hopefully will plant some in our yard someday soon!

I am already enjoying my long weekend-- very thankful for having today off! This weekend our friends the Moores are coming up to visit and they're staying with us...this means I need to go whip the guest room (currently a holding space for approximately 12,000 flattened moving boxes) into some semblance of order. Funny how we've had overnight guests the past two weekends, when both my Athens house and Statham house are at their absolute worst...I bet once we move and have just one beautiful house, we won't have guests for months. Ironic. Oh well. We're looking forward to spending time with friends, swimming, and cooking out this weekend...probably not much "house stuff" will get done, but that's okay.

Oh- one last funny story. Last night Matt and I were swimming laps (still loving that!) and Lola, who is pretty much terrified of water/the pool, has really gotten funny the last few times we've been swimming. She's gotten so bold as to actually come down to the pool-level deck (normally she stands on the highest deck, furthest from the water/closest to the gate out) and she's started RUNNING laps next to us as we swim. It's hilarious. I'm in the habit of coming up out of the water at the end of each half-lap (when I get to the pool edge) and counting off what lap it is ("two!" "two and a half!")...it helps me stay motivated. Anyway, Lola runs alongside as I swim, and when I pop up to yell my count, she is right there, in my face, usually with a quick lick or playful swipe of her paw. It is the funniest and cutest thing. I think she's trying to be my trainer and keep me motivated...and it works. I'll swim a few extra laps just because it's funny...and hey, she can use the exercise too!! The really funny part is if Matt and I are both swimming at the same time, she gets really worked up trying to keep up with both of us...and if we happen to be swimming opposite directions...she's just in a tizzy. Who to greet, where to go...oh, the conundrums she faces. However, despite her apparent warming up to the pool, she is still not a fan of being in the pool. We tested again last night (more or less dragging her 55 pound, legs flailing, panicked body in with us) and she doesn't seem to be any fonder of the water than she was last month. Oh well, maybe soon she will be swimming alongside us!!

Happy Fourth!

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