The Project and Cool Tape Trick

This project under the apricot tree has taken up all of our weekend and the past few days.  Since nothing but weeds will grow in the shade of the gargantua apricot tree, we decided it was time to turn the eye-sore into a place of beauty.  We had to dig down 8 inches to make room for the gravel and sand.

After laying down weed barrier, we brought in gravel.  This handsome guy is my son-ion-law, Andy the Younger. (Yeah, it can be confusing to have 2 Andys in the family)  We invited our family to the parade on the 24th then recruited them to help!  We couldn't have done it without them! 

After tamping down the sand, we're ready for the jig-saw puzzle with the flag stones.

Here's Andy the Elder taking a 30 second break from the hot, grueling work.

A little bit of moss between the stones and we're ready to use this patio extension.  We'll need an umbrella though, not for the shade, but to protect us from falling apricots!

Now for the cool tape trick.  My good friend, Joan, (she's the one who invited me to China) brought over some beautiful sunflowers for my birthday.  She used a trick to make it easier to arrange the flowers.   

She made a grid on top of the vase with scotch tape.  Isn't that cool?  It holds the flowers in place and you don't need a smaller vase or more flowers to make a beautiful bouquet. I decided to make an arrangement using the tape and some gladiolas from my yard.  I'd suggest putting your water in the vase first. 

Ta-da! 

Have a lovely day!