Part Two of Before Pictures

In Part One of Before Pictures, I showed my front yard. Not much that I needed to do with it. If I was actually in charge of my whole front yard, I actually would have done SO MUCH!

This is Part Two of Before Pictures. These are pictures of my back yard. There is A LOT that needs to be done with the back.

This is a picture of the main part of the back yard taken from the gate on the west side.


And now lets flip it! This is a picture of the other side of the yard!



The bike is already gone and the grill will be leaving us soon.... hopefully! Gotta get the money to buy a new one before the hubby will let me get rid of the old one. Anyone need a grill that needs some work???




The toys will eventually be put towards the back. That will be Grady's play area.




I plan on putting flag stone in the rest of the yard. Starting at the patio and moving back. Then I will put container gardens all over the place. We will also add a table and chairs and a fire pit! To be completely honest, the only reason we are really cleaning up the back is so we can have a fire pit. Shhhh.... Don't tell!



Dan's grass that grew too late!




My lil' Sheba Kitty! She loves the outside. We hope to be able to plant some catnip for her to have fun with!

It is spring in Colorado, which means there is snow. Lots of heavy, wet snow! Once the snow melts and things dry out just a little bit, I will be back there shoveling rocks and pullin weeds.

HAPPY OSTARA!

HAPPY OSTARA! Or also known as the first day of Spring!

Oh how I have been waiting for Spring! Warmer weather! Rain! Everything starts to get green before the summer heat comes and makes it all brown.

This is the first year that my son has been old enough to do sabbat/holiday fun. In our house, we celebrate the pagan sabbats and the traditional holidays. But Easter is not about Jesus in our house. It is about the Easter Bunny bringing chocolate! Just like at Christmas time, it is when Santa brings the good little girls and boys gifts. Not about Jesus! The Sabbats are our spiritual time to celebrate and the holidays are our materialistic time to celebrate. I was raised Catholic and my husband was raised Protestant... I think. So we still celebrate those holidays our own way.

This year, we dyed Ostara/ Easter Eggs! We let Grady just dive in!




It was so much fun! He still has dye on his hands!





And I hung plastic eggs from my roof. I got this great idea from reading a wonderful book I have called Sabbats: A Witch's Approach to Living the Old Ways written by Edain McCoy.

I bought a bag of 12 colored plastic Easter eggs at Wal Mart.

They already had holes in the top, so I did not have to make my own. The book suggests that you use a drill bit no bigger then on-sixteenth inch. And to keep the drill at a low speed so you do not melt the plastic.

Take embroidery floss or string and lace it through. I had mine different lengths. You can have yours at any length you would like.

Then hang them from a tree or bush in your yard. I hung mine from the roof because I do not have a tree and the eggs did not look all that great on the bush.




I am going to keep the Eggs up until after Easter. They are so easy to make and they look really great outside as a decoration!

What are different things that you do with your family for the Sabbat or Holiday?

First Phase of Front Yard Complete!

When I started on the front yard of the house, one side looked like this:






Now it looks like this!




The other side looked half done:





And now it looks done!





I worked VERY hard and long for 2 days, racking and shoveling and pulling weeds and carrying buckets of rock! I feel good!
The nice weather did not last long. It snowed the day after I took the "After" pictures. So until the snow melts, I will be doing my research on gardening. Almost done taking notes on Garden Witchery: Magick from the Ground Up by Ellen Dugan!

Part One of Before Pictures

This past week as been BEAUTIFUL in Colorado! It is spring weather. But unfortunately, March is our snowiest month and I do not plan on the nice weather lasting much longer. So, while the snow is melted and the temperature is up and sun shinning, I decided to take my "Before" pictures of my yard.



Now, I am starting with my front yard. My front yard is the easiest out of the two. Mainly because I live in a patio home and the HOA is suppose to have a landscaping company come out and take care of the "common grounds". Us, the home owners, are in charge of our own backyards. The landscaping company makes sure the grass looks good and the trees and most bushes are trimmed. That is it. Some of us home owners have taken it upon ourselves to fix up our rock beds and such.




Last fall I started moving the rocks from my back yard into my front yard rock beds. Before I started doing this, our rock beds were dirt beds with 5 rocks holding hands. Now, one side looks like a half done rock bed, thanks to me:)




As long as the weather stays nice, I do plan on filling my rock beds next week. I will need to pick up the trash and pull the weeds first. And eventually, I would like to put a couple planters out there. Maybe a wind chime.




This use to be a really nice "stepping stone" with moons and stars on it. As you can see, someone stepped on it. I got it at the Dollar Store.

All pictures were taken by me.

Garden Research

I truly do not know the first thing about gardening! Well... I know that the plant goes in soil and that you have to give it sun or no sun and you have to water it. That is about it! So I decided to do some research. Not only so I know what I am doing, but also to find what I want in my garden!

The only book I have read so far is Garden Witchery: Magick from the Ground Up by Ellen Dugan:




I love it! I am currently RE-reading it! Ellen writes about the different magickal properties of herbs and plants, How to incorporate color magick into your garden, different crafts you can make, and she also shares her dos and don'ts that she has come across while gardening. There is so much more in this wonderful book. I learned so much. I had no idea that there are climate zones? And a shade index? WOW!

The next book I am going to read is Gardening for Dummies 7 in 1 book:



I ordered this book off of Amazon.com last week and it should be showing up today! I am so excited! It has 7 of the Gardening for Dummies books in ONE!! So I will get to read all the basics, gardening design, roses, perennials, annuals, bulbs, and vegetables and herbs all in one! So excited!

Do you have a garden? What, if any, research did you do? Do you have any recommendations for me either mundane or pagan? I would love it if you could share! IF you could not tell... I am excited!