Welcome to Debbie-Dabble Blog!!
I am so happy you decided to stop by!!
Blogging has always been a stress reliever for me along with an avenue to share my passions which are my home and my garden.....
I
feel it is a personal Journal that, hopefully, someday, my Twin
Granddaughters will be able to look back on to learn about who I
was....
I will be posting 3 times a week on MONDAYS, THURSDAYS and SATURDAYS....
As always, click on each picture if you would like to enlarge it....
PINTEREST
A NOTE ABOUT COMMENTS
I
enjoy reading your comments and will return the favor by visiting and
commenting on your blog or reply to you directly here if you do not have
a blog but I do have my comment section set to Moderation due to
spammers and hackers so your comment will not appear immediately...
And since I have a very busy life, like most of us do, it may take me awhile to return your comments but I promise I will....
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In my last post, I shared How I did with my Goals for April....
And what my Goals are for May....
Click HERE if you missed that post!!
Thanks to Charlene, over at a Pinch of Joy, for choosing my post, Landscaping the Slope, as one of her features from last week's Busy Monday Link Party!!
Thanks so much, Charlene!!!
I want to Thank the Hosts of You're the Star Monthly link party for choosing my Blog Post, Major Back Yard Project, as one of their features for Garden Week!!!
Thanks again to you all!!
Please stop by and link up to these wonderful parties...
And now for a few Personal Notes...
For the New Year, I am trying something different with my 3 times weekly posts....
On THURSDAYS,
I will feature what I cooked and ate during the week, showcasing local
cuisine and a few recipes for things that I actually made...
I decided that on SATURDAYS, I will showcase What I Have Been Up To in the past week, sharing events and places I went to, if any....
On MONDAYS, I will be featuring What I Have Bought or Been Gifted Recently, if anything...
I really did not buy anything last week to share with you today on MONDAY...
But I will share that I am actually passing on something.....
My China!!
I decided that since I have dishes for so many Holidays that it was time to pass on the China I have had since I was in high school.......
This is Summer Rose by Johann Haviland, which I started buying at Acme Markets when I was in High School.....
2 Platters....
Soup Tureen....
2 vegetable bowls....
creamer and gravy boat....for some reason I never got the sugar bowl....
Fruit bowls....
Soup bowls...
Dinner plates...
Tea cups and saucers....
I originally had it displayed in my Dining Room hutch when first married and we used it for every Holiday meal....
I rarely use it now because I have so many Holiday dishes that were gifted to me over the years so I asked my great niece Caitlin if she would like it....
She was thrilled and said YES!!
Caitlin and I have very similar tastes in that she loves vintage and antique pieces....
I am thrilled that it is going to someone who will appreciate it ...
And eventually, when I am willing to part with my Old Curiosity Shop dishes....
Cait's sister Carly, will get these dishes passed on to her as she loves green and was definitely excited about them when I offered them to her....
I did forget to mention in my last post as part of my April Goals that I also reorganized the shelves in the bottom of my Dining Room hutch and the cabinet under the TV in my Den, which is where I keep all my dishes....
And of course, I did another landscaping project......
Evn though I lost my Laborer, my late husband Joe, Barna Landscaping just can not seem to retire...
LOL!
The house next door is owned by Trish and her tenants are Mo and Mehrukh.....
As I mentioned in previous posts, the landscaping quotes I received were around $600 for each property!!!
I have already shared how I cleaned up, weeded, cut back perennials and mulched my front yard.....
Click HERE....
HERE.......
And HERE if you missed those posts....
So of course, I could not let the yard next to me look like it did after the Winter as my late husband Joe had promised Trish that we would take care of it for her and her tenants.....
I had Trish buy 10 bags of bark mulch which is now on sale at Lowe's for $2 a bag....
Mo carried them all up the steps for me...
I did not expect her to buy the more expensive rubber mulch like I did as it is a rental property......
This is the flower bed under their Living Room window....
I did not take a Before picture...
When we originally landscaped it, we removed huge old evergreen shrubery and I had transplanted some hostas in the flower bed.....
Last year, I transplanted some asters and Missouri primrose that look to be coming up....
I replaced crumbling scalloped border with 2 pieces that were by the steps.....
I used a piece of fencing that I had and placed it by the steps as I have the same fencing at the end of my yard in the flower bed on top of the slope....
Again, I forgot to take a Before picture.....
I did the same thing here with cleaning up dried leaves, cutting back dead growth and mulching....
Everything here was transplanted from either my yard or other neighbor's yards....
Hostas, columbine which reseeded itself into our yards from a neighbor's, lamb's ear, sedum and Missouri primrose....
Bonfire Spurge reseeded itself from a neighbor's yard...
This is how bad their slope looked after the Winter as I did not get a chance to cut back all the dead hostas because of my Fall in September.....
What a mess.....
And this is how it looks now....
I managed to cut everything back with a new loper I bought and then raked all the debris down the slope.....
I used weed killer and raked up what was left of the existing mulch, as it has not been mulched in going on 3 years....
I stood at the top of the slope, cut the begs of mulch open and basically left the mulch fall out of the bags down the slope!!!
I then raked it into place......
I cut this barberry bush way back and transplanted a lamb's ear in the corner here.....
The hostas will get as big as shrubs by June.....
I had planted these hostas here about 20+ years ago after taking them out of my MIL's yard.....
And the Bonfire spurge just reseeded itself and popped up all over....
I did plant lamb's ear here.....
To the right, is my side of the slope with the rubber mulch on it....
I have creeping phlox planted on the slope.....
Which is now in full bloom......
I am really glad that I did the landscaping of mine and my neighbor's yards myself....
Not too bad for a 68 year old, huh???
I can't believe that this would have cost almost $1300 for both properties!!!!
I do plan to cut back everything in November so I will not have to do this much work next spring and I am hoping that we can get 2 years out of the bark mulch in the yard next door and 4-5 years from the rubber mulch I bought for mine.....
My Azaleas on the top of the slope will be blooming soon and then the rhododendron will bloom so I will be sharing pictures of those and how it looks when I plant my annuals in the pots in the front of the house....
It was in the low 30's for the last 2 mornings so that will not be any time soon.....
Hopefully, by the 3rd week of May, we may be safe from frost here in NEPA.....
I did not charge Trish anything for this but she told me she will be gifting me a gift card or two in appreciation.....
And Mo and Mehrukh brought over this amazing chocolate cake in appreciation for "making their yard look so good"......
Tuxedo Bar Cake from Sam's Club...
It is delicious!!
So......
Am I done with yard work and landscaping?????
Honestly, I can not leave it looking that way....
Am I a glutton for punishment or what??????
I hope to catch up on my return comments and visits this week....
So sorry I have fallen behind but I truly have been busy....
And I hope you will stop by to visit again on for my next post on THURSDAY!!
Stay safe, healthy and most of all, HAPPY!!
And try to find JOY in every single day! 
Thanks to those who took the time out of their busy day to spend a little bit of time with me!!
If you do not have a blog, PLEASE give me some way to reply to your comment, maybe by including your email in your comment. If I can not find a way to reach you, I will reply on the post where you commented so please check back......
I am linking up to these parties:
THURSDAY
Please take some time to visit these terrific hosts and all those joining in on the fun!
As always, the slope in front of your house is beautiful -- what a great variety of plants. When I saw the cake from your neighbors, the first thing I thought was what in the world is a snake doing on top of it!! Glad it was delicious. Have a good day and fun with all your other landscaping projects -- a gardener's work is never done!!
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