Heeeey! We lack focus so ten projects are simultaneously happening in all four corners of the property and I have nothing complete to share. But, instead, a look at some ugly pics of the total chaos going on around us!The biggest progress has been the addition of a giant trampoline eyesore. I tried to semi-hide it on the side yard, but there’s no hiding it. I can’t complain because it is so much fun. But seriously, why is it so huge? And why doesn’t it come in orange???

The shed was moved to accommodate the trampoline freak show and it got a shoddy coat of accent paint that my husband thinks was the single biggest waste of time of my life. I gotta disagree because it used to look like this. Tiny improvements still count.I’m trying to set up a little outdoor kid’s art space over here behind one of our orange trees. Not there yet, but this is a start.We lovingly refer to this magical little platform in the corner the side yard as the “avocado tree house,” built with scrap parts of our old playset. We have a lot of landscaping and sprucing up to do on the ground, but that hasn’t stopped the play action above. This tree has my heart and I love to see my kids hiding in its canopy (and picking the hard to reach fruit).
The main hold up with finishing the side yard has been what to do around the orange trees. I want a lot of mulch underneath (to cut down on fallen leaf and fruit clean up in the rock), but the edging we started with has sucked and given us pause before continuing on a failing mission.It’s this rubber edging that you stake down, but it isn’t tall enough or strong enough to withstand abuse from the dog. It looked very clean when we first installed it, but after a week it was obvious that it would be blob shaped instead of a circular, and that mulch would constantly be spilling into the rock.
We considered wood squares instead (not with this wood, this was just for visualizing squares), but I can’t get away from circles. They feel right and, although squares would be easier and cheaper and this is just the side yard, I have a hard time passing up opportunities for fun in design. And that’s why we have some aluminum edging shipping to us this weekend that we are hoping will be the solution. I’ll keep you posted.Moving to the backyard, we’ve planted only, like, two things. Mainly yucca cuttings because we’re trying to get them to root. Fingers crossed. Here’s those ugly but awesome Costco solar lights that I was talking about and that I purchased a hundred more of.I’m currently working on what may be the most satisfying project of my life on this wall. First steps include priming and painting the cinder block.

The front yard is another story. We’ve (he’s) been doing the most boring jobs ever out there. Repairing drainage pipes, trenching trenches for retaining walls, scraping layers of dead weeds away and repairing crumbling rock walls. I’m just doing my best to keep our mini nursery alive before we plant it.
I think that about squares us up in the yard department. Hope your summer is filled with as much rock, paint, and sweat as ours is :)