Pepper Phillips' Fearless Adventure

FEARLESS FRIDAY

I'm so pleased to have Pepper Phillips today. Read on and enjoy!

Thanks Brenda for letting me describe my fearless adventure.

I’d like to say I bungee jumped off a bridge, but I’m afraid of heights, so that’s never going to happen!  LOL

Instead I attacked my patio and yard.

This is more difficult than it sounds. For one, I have a black thumb. My daughter bought me a lovely princess teardrop fuchsia for Mother’s Day, within ten days all the little stems curled up and died, except for one. I’m relieved to say that hers did the same thing, so I don’t feel quite so guilty. The lone survivor is hanging out in the fig tree.

So why am I doing this massive undertaking? A baby shower. At my house. Lots of women coming. Enough said.

The patio itself wasn’t that hard, but it was time consuming. Move the furniture around so that it looks good from the living room. My living room has five double French doors, so everywhere you look, you can see the patio. I needed to make the area look appealing from inside the house and livable on the outside.

And then it needed plants. Lots of them.

I borrowed the hubby’s truck and went to get some ferns. Three of them filled up the back of the truck. They were really inexpensive, and really huge. I had to go back later and get three more, as I decided that three wasn’t enough. Now it looks super lush and gorgeous.

Then there was the long blank spot of plain dirt in front of the patio. I bought ten plants with pink flowers with a white center…that would work well with the color theme of pink with white polka dots that I’d chosen to use (it’s a girl!).

Luckily two of my sons felt sorry for me and planted them in about ten minutes. But it was a long space and still looked sparse. Another trip to the greenhouse and I purchased all of the plain pink ones. Just enough to plant between the others. I got smart and hired a grandson to help me.

While I had him, we tackled the large pecan tree in front of the patio. First he dug up the Amaryllis plants that didn’t want to leave their ground, then we stacked a double stack of bricks around the tree. I ended up planting eighteen of the largest bulbs back around the tree. Before they were only on one side, so it looked lopsided, and weeds were on the other side. At least the weeds did have blue flowers in the spring.

Then for a spot of color, I planted eight bright red salvia plants. I might have to go back and get another eight, but my aching body is protesting big time.

I truly admire women who love to dig in their garden. I for one like the end result. But looking at my patio and enclosed tree bed made me look across the yard and driveway at my hubby’s office building and it really needs something in front of it…I might have created a monster.

Pepper Phillips is a transplanted Northwestern girl, now basking in the Louisiana countryside where she creates stories set in the South. If you enjoy sassy contemporary romance with a touch of heart, try The Devil Has Dimples. At Amazon http://amzn.com/B005RQ26IQ and other major distributors.