Fall 2022-Fall 2023 was not a great time for blog updates, I guess! As we went back to basically full-time programming at the church, my bandwidth for doing anything with the documentation of changes in my house went entirely out the window. I have made a lot of changes, mostly cosmetic, in the last year. A relatively quick overview (some of which will eventually get longer posts!):
In the front:
I did some pretty intense pruning, especially of the lilac closest to the front door. I have three lilacs in my front, all of which were wildly overgrown. Just after bloom in spring of 2022, I cut one of them to 8 inches, and it came back really well - I even had flowers in spring of 2023! Then after the lilac bloom this spring, I took the next lilac down to 8-ish inches. It hasn't come back quite as strong (possibly I should have been better about watering it!) but it is definitely coming back - I think I'll have flowers in 2025, not 2024. I cleaned up the blue spruce and the apache plume. I also have several massive chamisa bushes; my neighbor and his chainsaw helped me prune one way back. It bounced back beautifully and is so much nicer.
Last fall, I planted almost 350 bulbs in the front (shoutout to Colorblends bulb wholesaler!) and this spring had a delightful flush of flowers that bloomed from February through into May (the first crocus bloomed on Feb 20; I took photos on May 6 of the last of the crocus and some tulips). I planted their 'vernal jewels' crocus blend and two varieties of species tulips (also called wild tulips). I also ordered a smaller number of 'rock garden' daffodils from High Country Gardens, which did quite well.
My house had a bright purple front door, to go with the purple interior, I guess. I painted the door a lovely eucalyptus-y shade of blue green and have been thrilled with it! Eventually the entire door needs replacing, due to some cracking and damage to the wood sandwiched in between the steel, but that is a project for several years down the line. My dad painted the ceiling of the front portal a pale blue color (I guess it's a variation on 'haint blue'). I swapped out the door hardware for matte black hardware and it was a massive improvement.
Inside:
One space that has some not-just cosmetic changes is the kitchen. The biggest change there was switching out the tiled counter for butcherblock. It was a game-changer for me in terms of kitchen usage and just like, aesthetics matter! I am, generally speaking, a function over form kind of person, but this house - and specifically the kitchen - have taught me the value of function AND form. We installed the butcherblock in July of 2022; it is September of 2023 and about the only change I'm planning on making is doing a light sand and refinishing the top with tung oil rather than the mineral that I've been using. I also removed the microwave from over the stove, removed the backsplash, and swapped out the light, all of which have been a huge improvement in how the kitchen functions AND in how the kitchen looks. (Look for a post on this soon!)
I also did a major garage storage update, which included basically creating a 'countertop appliance' pantry on some shelving, which includes permanent homes for a microwave and a toaster oven. Very boring to photograph; totally life improving! (Probably a post on this as soon as much of the stuff in the garage has been disposed of - to Goodwill and to the dump).
Otherwise, most interior changes truly have been cosmetic - though life-improving for sure! I bought a new couch, hung a pendant light, and raised the cube media console on a frame. I changed the light fixture in the guest/study. I moved a bunch of plants around. I added a few small pieces of furniture for better storage.
In the back:
I put a ton of work into the garden this year, much of which was very unfortunately stymied by monsoons that never really came. I spent several August afternoons watching rain fall everywhere but in my yard; I think I only got one good soaking rain. Monsoon season isn't over yet, though, so . . . hope springs eternal!
Over the last two years I have planted: four lavenders (two angustfolias and two intermedia), a desert willow (Chilopsis linearis), a desert peach tree (Prunus andersonii), three raspberry plants (two everybearing that need a pollinator and one smaller self-pollinating), three ice plants (Delosperma xMesa verde and a generic), a lovely native succulent whose name I am COMPLETELY incapable of remembering, a bunch of thyme (wooly, pink chintz, and elfin), three alpine strawberries (I think; a gift from a stranger), a kintsley's ghost honeysuckle, a hummingbird mint, and four salvias. Oh, and two penstemon and two rocky mountain columbine (which are, unfortunately, not reseeding very well). I also pulled up three lilac shoots from the front and transplanted them to the back, along with several chamisas (Ericameria nauseosa/ rabbitbrush).
Of that, I have lost one of the Mesa Verde ice plants (possibly to overwatering?? how???), the desert peach (it was the tiniest little start and with the heat we've had this summer I was not surprised it died), and likely the Kintzley's ghost.
Despite living in unbelievably arid New Mexico, I added a little rock fountain in the garden bed closest to the patio. It's attracted lots of birds, the occasional ground squirrel from next door (a ground squirrel looks just like a midwestern tree squirrel, it just lives in the ground and not in trees. I thought a ground squirrel was just like a chipmunk, but these guys have the bushy tails and everything), and very rarely I catch a glimpse of one of the many lizards drinking. It has very little exposed water surface, which means even at the height of the summer heat and aridity it only needed filling about every two weeks, but it has a good trickle sound and I am super, super pleased. It's so nice to sit out and listen - and if my door is open, I can hear it in bed at night.
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