One day, we will be all finished with our landscaping improvements. For now we will keep progressing forward, even if it we are as slow as dirt : ) Here are some of the latest pics in progress...
Here is the back before anything added from when we purchased...
So, 10 Arborviates, 4 Magnolias, 5 Bamboo, 6 leylands, 1 Laurel, 2 retaining walls later and this is where we are at:
Facing North West...
Facing North...
Facing South. At the very end is a monstrous tree/shrub mixed with thorny ivy that we are removing so that we can extend the two retaining walls around the corner to the left (east). The top wall will extend our flat space by probably 6 ft. The lower wall that will extend around to the left will eventually be for planting a vegetable garden on top off. This area gets loads of sun.
Day 1 of removal....
After day 2 and 3 a couple weekends later....
And now to the front before anything has been done. We plan to put in three walls here.
After day 1. This is the beginning of the first wall. We will end up decreasing the height of the wall here, it is too tall as it is now. The plan is to put in two more above it evenly spaced out. From there we can plant like crazy.
Sometimes it feels as if we are making little progress, but then when we review the before and after, we really can see how far we have come along : )
I planned a small surprise get together for Olimpias 30th birthday at Andina. It is a great Peruvian restaurant that plays lovely live latin jazz. I think she was surprised and happy that all of her closest friends were together. Oh, and just so you know, it tool her 29 minutes to blow out that damn candle, a bit indecisive on your wish don't ya think ; ) Even so, I hope all her wishes come true! Cheers to you Olimpia!
Sylvan Highlands Neighborhood Association won about $3k in grant money towards community development. Part of the funds were used to create a bookmark that advertised our events for the year. I volunteered to create the bookmark, with the help of another volunteer, that we would mail to about 500 households in our neighborhood. Here is the end result of that work. The Racoons name is Waverly and is our logo for the neighborhood. The events on the back range from Tree Planting, to Neighborhood Clean Up, to a Movie Night outside during the summertime. It is because of volunteers and donations that allow these awesome activities to emerge; just one of the many great aspects about living in Portland, and the United States...
