Deck Detail

Today marks the beginning of our last week of school here which means that soon I will be sleeping in for a couple months! I had been eager to clean the back deck so it would be ready for summer relaxation and that is what I did today. The birds had made quite a mess this spring in this area and it had been driving me crazy. The birds had built a nest up here in this cozy spot at the top of the downspout

and one of them constantly flew into these windows, making annoying loud knocking sounds. I had to google why he was doing it and also consulted with one of our science teachers at school to find that while he was guarding the nest, he was seeing his reflection in the windows and felt threatened. He left such a mess on the windows - yuck!  

After we noticed the racket the bird was making, we bought Mr. Who to scare the bird away.  Mr. Who didn't help much at all, but I can't really blame him. The wind kept blowing him down since we had not weighted him with something - we would find him under the table - lol!  He's really scary looking, don't you think?

So I hooked up the hose, filled a large bucket with dish detergent and water and got busy.

Everything looks so nice and clean and the water cooled me off while I worked. Yesterday when I cut the grass, the bugs bit me pretty bad and I have major inflammation going on in my left upper arm. I am pretty miserable with it today. I took a picture of it and was going to include it here but decided it was something for the medical journals (it really looks terrible and this is coming from a nurse). Guess I better use some bug spray next time. I am still a newbie when it comes to mowing the lawn.

Now that I am mowing the lawn, I am enjoying the yard like I never have before. It takes a few years for the shrubs to grow and I am enjoying seeing how they are filling out around the deck railing. We do not have neighbors on either side of us yet. We decided to build our home across from the golf course and not directly on it where most people want to be. Dan said golfers cuss too much (hmm, he is a golfer) and he thought I wouldn't enjoy having that going on in my backyard all the time. That was very thoughtful of him and I appreciate it.  

I like how these shrubs make a layer around the corner of the house outside the master bedroom window and how the Japanese maple can be viewed from inside this big great room window.

Well, with my mission accomplished we are ready for cook outs and corn hole tournaments. I know this area desperately needs some color! I will be working on that now!