Time for Another Reality Check

Who came up with this "Reality Check" thing any way?  Oh yeah...me.



Oh goodness.  This one is gonna hurt.




Ok.  I'll do it quick...like pulling off a bandaid.



Ready?  Set?

Wait!!   Really, these are bad!  I'm not sure I wanna...


Oh, good grief!  Here goes:

I've been really busy blogging and making so many other things pretty that I haven't given any attention to my front flower beds!  Look!!  See??!

What?  You don't think they're that bad?  

Ok, I was going easy on you.  Here.

Nutsedge!  Grrr!  It looks like a lawn in my flower bed.

And these vines and huge pokeweed and whatever that other stuff is.

And THESE are the holly bushes that ate the front of my house!

I used the telephoto lens for these pics.  It makes me feel better...like I'm looking at this jungle in the far, far distance.  Not outside my front door.

I should have kept up with the weeding but I've been busy and we've had a pretty wet summer here and these things grew like....um, weeds.  And, we have snakes!

No, I'm not making up excuses.  Why do you ask?

Ok, maybe those are excuses but there's NO excuse for this!

(Cue the dramatic horror movie music)

I know!  It's bad!  Bad bad!  I'm glad fall is just around the corner.  You know, the time of year when everything is supposed to die...anyway.  And the worst part, (sobbing) I went through the Master Gardener program!  

They will probably be knocking on my door any minute demanding that I hand over my certificate!

However, all is not lost.  Sweet hubby hit some of these areas with weed control this past week.  Out here where we live, in the boonies, it isn't just typical yard weeds.  It's field weeds like wild blackberries (which I'm thankful for), poison ivy (which I'm not thankful for), nutsedge (again, not thankful), and other very hardy nuisances.  And, did I mention we have snakes!  For real!  And, not just the good kind either we've had several rattlesnakes.  (Again, not thankful.)

I'm sorry poor Mr. Hanging Basket That Contained Some Flower I Can't Even Identify Now!  

(You'll notice I didn't watermark these photos.  Yep, shame not to put my name on these beauties.  I know I'll be missing all sorts of fame when they go viral on Pinterest...hahaha...not)

Ok, so reality check...I've got some weeding and planting and pruning to do!  Thankfully our house sits about 400 feet from the road so passersby can't really see how bad it is.  And, thankfully, the whole yard isn't that bad.  

Here's what I see most of the time from my house...the backyard and pond.
(That's the field where I did this tablescape post.)

And, the fig tree in the backyard is doing nicely.

The Rose of Sharon that I transplanted is also blooming beautifully, too.

Sadly, the front yard is kind of "out of sight, out of mind" because I rarely go out front.  We spend most of our outdoor time in the backyard.  I guess now, it'll be spent weeding the flowerbeds with my mud boots and extra long gardening gloves on because...did I mention we have snakes?!

I'll be out front if you need me.

Thanks for stopping by and God bless!

Angie

Ok, so here's one kinda, sorta pinnable photo for ya, if you feel you want to do the Pinterest thing :)

The farm pond near sunset

Launch of Reality Check Feature

Here it is ladies...the very first Reality Check feature!  Reality Check is an idea that came to me as I was attempting to upcycle an area rug to use on my deck.

DIYers have a drive or a hope that a project has potential.  It's what motivates us to keep at something, through the ugly stages, the frustration stages, and the "what was I thinking" stages.  That hope is what pushes us through and we see the results in a great finished product.  

However, what happens when that hope is driving you and it's really just not happening?  I think many DIYers can relate to the fact that sometimes the ideas in our head don't always translate in reality.  Of course, you may never see those projects displayed on blogs or in magazines.  Why should they?  They ended up (if they were even finished) bad. 

In trying to keep it real that not everything I attempt is post worthy, I want to encourage when you have a project that doesn't go as planned, you're not alone.  We all do.  Sometimes there are projects we just need to scrap and move on.  The rug upcycle was one of those projects.  

This rug was old, had been in the garage for a while, used as a scratching post for the cats, and who knows what else.  So, why did I want to try to even  upcycle that for my deck??  Because our two cats and I are at battle over the territory of the deck.  It's not a great deck and it's usually too hot to sit out there most of the summer.  It's small, uncovered, and poorly constructed.  BUT, it's my deck and, by golly, I would like for it to look nice.  I figured if the cats were going to live on the deck, I wasn't about to put one more nice thing out there for them to ruin.  

So, I tried painting the rug thinking it would give a nice appearance.  Good in theory...bad in reality.  No amount of painting or stenciling was going to hide the fact that the rug was beyond saving.  So I decided to stop the insanity and save my paint.  Scrap it...take it to the recycle center...it's done!  And I'm okay with that.  Actually, I was relieved.

What is important is that we keep trying.  Think about some of the famous people who have their claim to fame from some great invention or accomplishment.  What isn't always shared about that person is all the failed attempts they went through to get to that final victory.  

source

So, don't give up!  I encourage you to know, it's okay to scrap a project and move on.  Not everything is meant to have turn into a fabulous creation.  


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