Summer Cleaning

We have been enjoying outdoor living over the past month - warm but not too hot temperatures have encouraged us to use the deck for morning coffee and paper reading. I've planted flowers in containers on both the deck, front porch and patio while B has been feeding the lawn and shrubs. Some outside furniture from the Lake house was brought over in the early spring. 

After washing a few outside windows, we noticed not only how much the windows needed cleaning but also how dirty the front brick was. The sidewalks, front porch and back patio also needed cleaning. Having had success with having the roof washed, B suggested we again contact Apex Soft Wash. A representative came out and we ordered a home exterior soft wash that included the entire house, front walks and back patio. They came this week and we are amazed at the difference! And of course, I was out with the camera taking pictures.

All the furniture had to be moved off the patio along with the potted plants

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The two deck boxes were emptied and moved

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And a very dirty patio was left

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They first sprayed the cleaner on the house including the windows. The spray was "soft" enough that spraying the windows presented no problem.

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Honey supervised from the master bedroom window

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The spray reached the top and got all the windows

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The brick on the front was done

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And the front porch as well as the front walks

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Here they are using a round scrubber to clean the back patio - this was also used on the front patio and sidewalks.

An amazing difference!!!

We are so happy with the results! The lawn guys will be trimming the overgrown shrubs within the next few weeks. This summer we are looking forward to enjoying outdoor living at our Park house. 

Where are the May flowers?

While the calendar says May, the temperatures say very early spring. It's been abnormally cold the past several days - and cool temperatures continue into the weekend. The band of storms that caused so much damage earlier this week only gave us winds. While nothing you could call "damage", there was a lot of twigs and small branches down. I bought herbs and put them in a crate and have brought them in on two occasions due to low overnight temperatures. But, it is Spring and the trees are in bloom as are the azaleas and other flowering shrubs. 

B has been buying mulch by the car-full and we did put a lot of it down last week when we had warmer temperatures. We dumped a few bags over the past several days. These pictures were taken last week when the mulch was mostly in the bags. We are just about done!

 This lovely tree has both pink and white blossoms

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And you can see the bags of mulch all ready to put down

We replaced two azaleas and are leaving the one on the right in and pruning it. Spring wreath on the front door The front door can't be considered a "porch"!

 This pretty, small red maple is so lovely. We had a red maple at the South Jersey house. 

We have never had a "front porch" before. And even though it's facing front, it's really the side door that is next to the driveway and opens to the kitchen. It's the door we use the most. I've started on the decorations and still have a way to go.

And around the corner you can see a different view of the porch as well as a bit of the garage door. This is where we had all the mulch. 

We are anticipating warmer weather and look forward to putting some flowers in and getting those herbs planted! 

Spring weather!

Spring has finally arrived.  Yesterday was lovely out with blue skies and warm temperatures. We did some yard work - put more lime on the grass and B put liquid feed on most of the shrubs. Last night we went to a party to celebrate Bernie's nephew's marriage. Great time, tasty food and it was good to see so many of the family.

This morning we were again working outside. B finished up the plants and I washed the inside of the car windows as B did the outside. After a trip to Penney's for a great sale and a stop at Sam's for some stuff for dinner, we headed home. Sam's was offering tastes of various items so we filled up there! Right now I'm upstairs in my office. I just finished a craft project and am now finally posting.

As I get back into blogging, I'm thinking about layout.... some blogs post pictures with the explanation about them below the pictures. This seems awkward to me as you scroll down in a blog and see the picture before the text. I'm going to explain first and then show the picture - that way you know about what you are going to see.

This past Thursday, while Honey and I were out and about, B took a picture of us. I'm really appreciating how the pruning of the trees has made walking out in the area easier. No more walking into a branch. B had placed motion lights on several of the trees so when I'm out at night it's easier to see. Even with a flashlight it's dark out there. The grass is greening up and the second application of lime should help.

We are fortunate that many of the trees and shrubs are doing well. This lovely weeping  tree (think it's a cherry type tree) is starting to bloom. Several rather large bumble bees were buzzing in and out of the tree so I didn't venture too close when I was taking pictures this morning. At this point, it's the only tree starting to bloom.