A lot of our focus this year has been to stop saying and start doing. . . There are a LONG list of things my husband and I have
“been meaning to do” for years. The to do list just keeps getting longer and longer and the accomplishments list is . . . well, not as lengthy. It’s not that we don’t know what we want to do or how we want to do all the things. . . it’s just that there’s usually more to it than that. See, when I met my husband, I met a kindred spirit in that he’s a fellow problem child like me.

For example, we need to replace the flooring in the kitchen… we have needed to for years now, but we don’t want to just go to the home improvement store and pick out a floor based on style, cost, color… all the normal stuff that non-problem children do… We want something unique, something still useful, something that is salvaged and/or rescued or something we can create ourselves. Something. . . well, “we’ll know when we find it” – ish… and it doesn’t bother either of us to live with the ratty old floor until we find something we really want.

And… if I’m being really honest, neither of us have had the time, energy and focus (ALL AT THE SAME TIME, mind you) to put into personal projects in a long while. But this year, we’ve made tiny steps. We are beginning to accomplish some of the to do list… (the Four Musketeers photo was one of them!) and this past weekend we’ve been working on the back yard. Back in the spring, we were able to salvage a fence that we both really liked and it has been waiting patiently through all the really good opportunities of spring and summer and almost alllllll of fall to finally be installed. . . I’m gonna be really brave for a minute and share . . . It’s a HOT mess back there.

We managed to get the fence line mostly cleared and the last remnants of an old storage building removed. Hopefully, if, this weekend cooperates, there will be progress to share next week! Maybe. Even. A. FENCE!!! So exciting!

But. . .

I promise, I swear! I had high hopes of sneaking out a couple evenings this week and tackling more bits and pieces to be better prepared and ahead of the game come Saturday. The weather has been Beautiful. I finish up earlier in the evening. This was a totally viable plan!

Except

My partner problem child doesn’t get home until almost dark which means I was left unattended and completely to my own devices…. ANNNNDDDDD when we cleared the fence, we cleared piles of wild grapevines that needed a new purpose and see, there was an old tomato cage just hanging out underneath the deck. . . and well…

• 1. I still have a BUNCH of grapevine to rescue (Pinterest, here I come!)
• 2. I really hope we don’t come up one tomato cage short for anything next year, and
• 3. Hey! Look! A Christmas Tree!!!!!!

And just in case it seems that I couldn’t get more distracted from the true goal of completing the task we started. . . The “tree” trimmings were salvaged from some fairly beat up Christmas arrangements I acquired when a friend cleaned out her storage unit this summer. One arrangement had fake “candied fruit”, so I added the pears to the tree and am currently in search of a partridge! Now, if I can only find some turtle doves and French hens, I think I have the vines left to do a series, and… oh, yeah. . .<Sigh>, I’m gonna wish I done more with that yard come Saturday.😲🙄😁