A Weekend of Gardening With My Dad
Happy Sunday, friends. Long time, no talk! Last week was unbelievable. I’ve transitioned to a new job at work and began last week. It is exciting and a challenge, but I forgot what it’s like to the newbie in an office. I can’t wait to share more about this soon.
On Thursday evening, my dad drove from Milwaukee to spend the weekend with me. Living in Minnesota, we live so far (6 hours) from our family; it is so nice when people take some time to visit us. Jason’s good friend is getting married in September and this weekend was his friend’s bachelor party, so it was just us. I had an amazing time spending the weekend gardening with my dad.
My dad came to help me with yardwork and landscaping. Back in May, he and my mom housesat while Jason and I were in Europe. He did so much work and did such a great job that I told him he could do anything to my yard if he wanted to come and mess around. He took me up on the offer!
He told me to order some mulch and we would go from there. When I got home from work on Friday, he had done a lot of work. He weeded, he removed some dead plants (ah, the joy of being a new homeowner!) and made everything look good.
This area was previously overrun by plants/weeds. My dad cut down the good plants and covered with mulch. It’s my job to water it and keep it looking good.
This is another area that just looked sloppy. I started weeding last weekend, and my dad made even more progress. With the mulch, it looks so much better than it did before. (These are the flowers that were by the mailbox in the previous pic).
This area underwent the biggest transformation. It had been half covered with rocks, full of weeds, and dead plants scattered throughout. My dad cleaned this all up, then covered it with mulch. It makes such a difference to our house when you pull up!
Finally – my favorite. When we moved in, this entire area was overgrown. Over the past two weeks, I’ve been weeding this area. The weeds were huge (up to my waist) and the roots deep. I’ve made good progress. My dad and I went to a local nursery (Steve’s Nursery in Elk River, if you’re local) and found some annabelle hydrangea’s to plan. This is the start of my garden, but I’m loving it and can’t wait to build on it! (Thank to Hoss for the photobomb!).
First Work, Then Fun
After working for 8+ hours on Saturday in the sun, we were tired and ravenous. We drove down the street to a local favorite, Lupulin Brewery. Lupulin is a staple; they are a small, local brewery who makes amazing beer and has an awesome atmosphere. My dad demands we go every time he visits! We ordered a few beers (the Belgian Blonde is a fave) and ordered a pizza from Pizza Pub. It was the perfect way to cap off the day after working so hard!
My neighbor also stopped by with goodies from her garden. She brought lettuce, cucumbers, and radishes. I’m convinced she stopped by to sweet talk my dad to work on her yard next! She was one of many people who stopped by to tell us how great the yard was looking!
Overall, I had an amazing weekend spending time and gardening with my dad. I appreciate all the work he did, but more, it means the world to me that he took the time to drive and spend time with me. I am so lucky to have so many great family and friends in my life, and weekends like this remind me of that!
