win, lose.

The win.

This sprinkler wire was a hassle every time I edged the lawn.

I had to lift the wire up with my foot 

while hopping along with the weed wacker at my side.

Ineffective.

To solve that annoying little dilemma,

I screwed little open eye bolts into the stucco and hung the wire up.

Ahhhhh.

The lose.

Here's our front door.

Here's a closer look at the threshold,

and yet a closer look.

As you can see, the black paint on the metal did not look so hot.

I very carefully taped everything off and started spraying.

It looked great!

Unfortunately... 

the new paint disagreed with the underside of the door,

and, even though it has been a month, 

the door sticks every.time.you.open.it.

What's worst...

the paint is scratching off.

Win some, lose some.

framed.

This mirror was pried off our hall bathroom wall a year ago.

Since then, it has been the full length mirror  

in the alcove outside of our bedroom.

It was time to give it more substance. 

I bought some 70% off scrap wood from Home Depot

and had them cut it to the approximate sizes I wanted.

I laid the boards out to get more exact measurements.

After trimming the ends down, 

I glued them together.

I never really know what I'm doing, 

so I use construction adhesive and nails to slap stuff together.

I was afraid all my hammering would crack the mirror,

so turned it upside down and glued anywhere and everywhere.

After letting the adhesive set overnight,

I had this:

My seams weren't perfect, 

but that's what you get with clearance wood 

and a craftswoman that doesn't know what she's doing.

I'm ok with the rough look though,

so I just sanded, painted (with watered-down grey paint),

clear coated, and called it good.

The mirror now looks like I paid $400 for it,

instead of the $10 it actually cost.

primrose.

Every spring, we enjoy a mini field of
pretty Mexican Primrose in our front yard.

I love them, except they are incredibly invasive.

This year, they spread 5 feet farther than I would prefer.

Also, after 2 months of blossoms, they turn into woody brown sticks.

Not so pretty for the remaining 10 months of the year.

I mowed the tops of them off last week and was left with this:

I have also fought with the weeds
in the back portion of the side yard for too long.

Something had to be done.

I weeded like a mad woman in the back,

and made a distinct separation of where I wanted
the Primrose to be contained in the front.

In an attempt to keep the weeds at bay and control the Primrose growth, 

I secured WeedBlock cloth.

Then came the fun part of hauling and spreading 19 heavy bags of wood chips.

I'm still sore.

I choose the two-tone look for a little bit of variety 

and to clearly mark where the Primrose should and shouldn't grow.

The little accordion wood fence was $2.50 from Home Dept.  

We'll see how long it lasts, but it's cute for now.

This is my first time using WeedBlock or wood chips.

Hope the combo does what it promises for discouraging weeds.

At least we'll have some curb appeal for a few months.