Well - it's been a long road to the landscape island but it was finally finished this past weekend! The weekend before last, we pulled tons of weeds, added fill to the area of the front yard where the tree used to be, and picked out all the plants at the nursery. Jeff gave me a lesson in landscape planning - and I quote him as he rode the golfcart around the garden center - "yeah -what's that? Cool - I'll take 15 of those. Yeah - 2 of those, 7 of those, throw in about 10 of those...do you deliver? Nice - let's do that!" This past weekend, the plants were delivered and Jeff planted them (sadly I had to work all weekend and couldn't be of any help except withthe mulching and watering)! Surprisingly, after the random planning process, we had gotten just the right amount of plants to allow room to grow and fill the space. It's hard to capture it all in one picture, but in general, the island has a big Royal Poincientta on the right, a Starburst on the left, and an Agave and 2 Queen Emma Lilys in the middle. Then it's all surrounded by grasses, foxtail ferns, xanadu, small olive bushes, junipers, and garlic. We also took out a small Live Oak that was beside the driveway before and replaced it with a Screw Pine. We've been assured that most of the plants are drought tolerant so hopefully after they get established, it won't be too much maintenance. Regardless, it looks a lot better than the big dirty hole it's been for a year or with the big "I want to topple over your house" olive tree that used to be there. We got some ferns and bromeliads for the backyard but haven't finished that area yet - more to come....
The Long Road to the Tropical Island
Well - it's been a long road to the landscape island but it was finally finished this past weekend! The weekend before last, we pulled tons of weeds, added fill to the area of the front yard where the tree used to be, and picked out all the plants at the nursery. Jeff gave me a lesson in landscape planning - and I quote him as he rode the golfcart around the garden center - "yeah -what's that? Cool - I'll take 15 of those. Yeah - 2 of those, 7 of those, throw in about 10 of those...do you deliver? Nice - let's do that!" This past weekend, the plants were delivered and Jeff planted them (sadly I had to work all weekend and couldn't be of any help except withthe mulching and watering)! Surprisingly, after the random planning process, we had gotten just the right amount of plants to allow room to grow and fill the space. It's hard to capture it all in one picture, but in general, the island has a big Royal Poincientta on the right, a Starburst on the left, and an Agave and 2 Queen Emma Lilys in the middle. Then it's all surrounded by grasses, foxtail ferns, xanadu, small olive bushes, junipers, and garlic. We also took out a small Live Oak that was beside the driveway before and replaced it with a Screw Pine. We've been assured that most of the plants are drought tolerant so hopefully after they get established, it won't be too much maintenance. Regardless, it looks a lot better than the big dirty hole it's been for a year or with the big "I want to topple over your house" olive tree that used to be there. We got some ferns and bromeliads for the backyard but haven't finished that area yet - more to come....
A Letter to Karma and Zen
Just in case you don't read 5-year oldese, the card says, "Hi Karma and Zen. It's me - Kaitlyn and Matthew. I love you." I love how you can't tell how many legs they have - this is pretty much the best picture I have ever seen! Karma and Zen definitely love their personal letter from our niece and nephew, which was given to them before our vacation. It made the fridge with the Elvis magnets!
The ULTIMATE Family Vacation in Review
Jeff and I just got back from the ultimate family vacation - both our families (let's count us all - me, Jeff, Dave, Judy, Brandon, his friend - Carter, Gail, Jim, Chris, Debbie, Kaitlyn, and Matthew - that's right - 12 of us!) went on a cruise to the western caribbean together this past week and had a great time. The ship was ridiculously fun - plenty of activities, good food (and more food and more food and...), and time with everyone. We had two days on the boat at sea and also stopped in Haiti, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. We rode jet skiis in Haiti, did the classic Dunn's River Falls climb in Jamaica, shopping in Grand Cayman, and checked out some Mayan ruins in Cozumel. Everyone pretty much did their own thing during the day, then we all met in the dining room for dinner to compare stories and then headed for the night shows onboard. This was actually my first cruise and it is definitely a great vacation idea for a family so that everyone can do exactly what they want and eat what they want - it pleases all. So anyway - it was impressive. Thanks family - we had a great time and miss you already!
Sniff, sniff...the B&B are Moving!

Our great neighbors and friends, Brennan and Beth (aka B&B), are moving to Atlanta in a week, so last night some of us got together to toast to their new chapter of life and say some goodbyes. Here are Bryan, Beth, Brennan, Tammy, Keith, and Jeff before we went out to dinner in Boca. We will miss you B&B!
Guster...Finally!
Some of you may remember the trama experienced a couple of months ago when Jeff and I thought we could randomly go down to Ft. Lauderdale to see Guster but didn't have tickets. Well, they came back, and I got to go with friends Keith and Tammy last weekend (but Jeff was in San Diego so he missed out). It was the best show ever and I even got a few pics - although the true drummer wasn't playing this night - it was great fun. I haven't seen Guster since my Clemson days - they are as good as ever. Their encore was "Running with the Devil" a la Van Halen and then "Jesus on the Radio" acoustic style - absolutely wonderful - I was in Guster heaven.
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