HOUSE: Newburgh + Life + Health

Sunday to-do.

Ah, that brief period of time while the purple sandcherry in our front garden is in bloom, and the Japanese beetles haven’t taken over yet…and when there are weeds every where because it’s been raining constantly and I’ve been too busy to get out and stick my hands in the dirt.

I gotta do some gardening today. I know we complain about this every year in the northeastern US (and of course New Yorkers in particular loooove to complain about the weather…okay, and everything else, too), but did we just go straight from winter to summer and skip spring completely? I don’t understand why we never have temperatures in the 60–65° range, for example. It’s like it’s 45° and disgusting one day, and then it’s 85° (and still disgusting, just in a different way) the next.

But today is nice. Really nice. So I need to get out there and take advantage of it. I already spent an hour pulling some teeny-weeny little weeds, and there’s lots more let to do!

TODAY!
pancakes
laundry
grocery shopping
pull weeds in front and back garden
turn compost
• trim grass strip next to sidewalk?
rake/sweep
iced coffee ♡♡♡
put away winter coats
FREELANCE WORK
• manicure/pedicure
• write up a planting plan for the back garden
• figure out how many bags of rocks/mulch we need

Oh yeah, and check out how crazy and bouncy and BRIGHT GREEN the creeping Jenny is looking already this year! Having our porch gutter drain directly into this corner of the front garden (via our rain chain, which has been working like a champ for a year now) was such a good idea. The Jenny is a-creepin’ like nobody’s business, and this pleases me greatly.

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24 Comments

  • Reply lau May 1, 2011 at 1:46 pm

    creeping jenny! we just got some from the boy’s grandmother last month. trying desperately to keep it alive post-transplant. a little bit is doing good, but nothing like yours! beautiful!

  • Reply Jen May 1, 2011 at 1:57 pm

    Wow! That rain chain is so cool!

  • Reply Laura May 1, 2011 at 5:09 pm

    Would this rain chain not compromise the damp proofing around the house?

    • Anna @ D16 May 1, 2011 at 7:06 pm

      Laura, rain chains function just like regular downspouts, though obviously you wouldn’t want to use one on a 20-foot roofline or anything like that. If you’re using one in an area that’s very close to your foundation (this one isn’t—it’s on the front of our porch roof, about 8 feet from the house perimeter), you’d need to drain into a sloping trough if the ground isn’t properly graded. In this case, the water drains directly into our garden.

  • Reply Adrienne May 1, 2011 at 6:24 pm

    I’ve got to tell you, your weekend to-do lists always inspire me to write my own. I always know there’s tons of stuff to do but writing it down helps a ton. This weekend we pulled weeds in the front and back, put in some new perennials in the front, planted some summer bulbs, mulched in front and in back AND planted a bunch of new vegetables. Super productive, so thanks for the inspiration!

    • Anna @ D16 May 1, 2011 at 7:10 pm

      Wow, you got a lot more done than I did! I can’t wait to start planting stuff. Next weekend!

      p.s. My dog Bruno would like to tell you that he likes the name of your blog. 🙂

  • Reply Nina May 1, 2011 at 8:12 pm

    Really like the rain chain and the creeping Jenny! Don’t really know anything about plants and still need to figure out what to do with our front yard, maybe the creeping Jenny is an option to fill out some areas. Is it low maintenance?

    • Anna @ D16 May 1, 2011 at 8:36 pm

      Very low maintenance! It takes a couple of years to really spread and fill in, but it’s worth the wait. 🙂

  • Reply Mandy May 1, 2011 at 9:50 pm

    Really beautiful !!!

  • Reply Holyoke Home May 2, 2011 at 7:53 am

    We have three enormous Norway Maples around our house. So, from April to July, I pull up Norway Maple seedlings from our beds. I desperately wanted to get to the greenhouse to buy veggies this weekend, but it didn’t happen.

  • Reply paige @ MCC May 2, 2011 at 9:03 am

    I think I’d rather skip right to summer. Here in Cincinnati it’s rained for pretty much a month straight. Going into the 40’s at night at around the 60’s during the day. It’s pretty dismal. There was a break in the rain yesterday and I started trying to mow the jungle that is my front yard, but it turned into mud as soon as I started.

  • Reply erin@designcrisis May 2, 2011 at 10:29 am

    Why have I never considered this rain chain idea before? Not that it will EVER rain here again!

    Your garden is looking totally fab. Envious of your delicate foliage.

  • Reply erin lang norris May 2, 2011 at 10:44 am

    I loved seeing a rain chain in your yard! I just wrote an ideabook on rain chains over at Houzz that got a ton of positive feedback. I think they are awesome.

    Our spring in Wisconsin has not been good for gardening. If it’s not cold and rainy, it’s super windy. Today is going to be 53 and sunny- and to think that I’m looking forward to such a meager temp!

  • Reply jbhat May 2, 2011 at 6:30 pm

    I am loving that pancakes was on your list. And am glad it got to be one of the crossed off items too. : )

    jbhat

    • Anna @ D16 May 2, 2011 at 7:37 pm

      Confession: I’d already made (and eaten!) the pancakes when I made the list. 🙂

    • mommy May 3, 2011 at 6:11 am

      For some reason I find your confession hilariously funny!

    • Anna @ D16 May 3, 2011 at 7:32 am

      Maybe if you’re lucky I’ll make pancakes for YOU next weekend. 🙂

  • Reply Krystal/Village May 3, 2011 at 8:34 am

    these are cool photos to share…i like the creeper plants, surely a bright color to spice up your day!

  • Reply Bre May 3, 2011 at 10:21 am

    Your place looks SO SO beautiful and I’m incredibly jealous!! We haven’t even gotten to spring yet (even though we should have a month ago). Its been stuck in the 40s. I hate the 40s!

    Enjoy gardening as much as possible, hopefully all went well! 🙂

    xx

  • Reply laurenjanelle May 3, 2011 at 11:05 am

    That flowering tree is beautiful! What is it?

    • Anna @ D16 May 3, 2011 at 11:19 am

      See first sentence of post. 😉

  • Reply Mixed martial arts los angeles May 4, 2011 at 7:13 pm

    Well, you can be thankful there is that much color and you were that productive. I haven’t been able to do anything because of how bad the weather has been lately! Spring, are you there? It’s me, Ava.

  • Reply Jonahliza May 26, 2011 at 12:52 am

    i remember that post about your rain chain. first time i really ever notices one, before.. love it.

  • Reply citizen July 11, 2011 at 11:10 pm

    Saw this post months ago:

    then one I was wandering around the local garden store I saw a rack of creeping Jenny on sale and explained to my wife that we needed to plant a ton of the stuff under our downspout… Couldnt remember where I’d seen it, bit I knew it was good for that spot.

    well, here I am months later and I rember that your blog was where I’d first seen it.

    Thanks,
    Us

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