Last June, during the KnitWits trip to NY, I bought 5 skeins of Lion Brand® Nature’s Choice  Organic^® Cotton yarn in blueberry. It’s very soft and feels go good against your skin.  A nice diversion from all that worsted weight yarn I have that can be a little stiff and not so soft.

I’m going to make the Edith Shawl, a gift to myself since I usual give my creations away as Christmas gifts. Well, three weeks ago I decided I wanted to knit something in a lighter weight yarn, so I picked up the pattern and got started.

It’s nice right. Even looks pretty easy to make. Yeah, that’s what I thought, too. Can I tell you that I am having the hardest time getting this thing started?! Well, believe it. The pattern consists of eight rows that you repeat until you get the desired length.  There are a ton of yarn overs, knit 2 together through the front of the loop, knit 2 together in the back of the loop, and they’ve even thrown in a few knit 3 together.  This one definitely requires more concentration than my earlier works.

I can usually pick up a pattern and get into a rhythm after doing it a few times, but not with this one. I get to row four or five and always seem to have too many stitches at the end of the final repeat. I cannot get past those first eight rows! I have frogged this thing about four times already! Frustration is setting in, but I’m determined to get this started and moving. My next plan is to use a lifeline after each finished row so I don’t have to frog the whole project, just the one row.

It usually only takes me two times of frogging before I wrap my brain around a complicated pattern, but this lace pattern is giving me a run for my money. We’ll see what happens. This one may end up in WIP purgatory with that crochet blanket I’m still no where near finishing.

Finally, the last and final phase was here! This was the last trip to Home Depot and it would prove to be an expensive one. We were getting the patio stones, and lucky for me, they were on sale for $1.24 because we needed 86 of them. But, before we did any shopping, we did a big return of everything we hadn’t used in the previous weeks. By this time, I’m not longer willing to hang on to things “in case we need it later” when the money can be spent elsewhere.

Whilst standing in line, I spotted a worker watering the plants and saw the name on her apron. Patty. I know it means nothing to you, but this is the person who I’ve been trying to find the last two weekend trips to Home Depot. Why? Because she knew all things that involved organic gardening. I quickly abandoned my cart, and the guys, and approached her with a huge smile. I’m sure she thought I was crazy and wondered how I knew her name when I said, “Are you the Patty that knows all things organic?”  It turns out she was said Patty and she was more than happy to give me tips and product recommendations. I grabbed Andre and we set off through the gardening department and got a noggin full of suggestions, natural insect control and websites to help in my gardening journey. She was such a help and I really appreciated the time she gave us.

Having said that, I tried to make this make over an organic one, but there were some things that may not  fit that description. For the most part, the majority of the materials I used were eco-friend and organic wherever possible.

Back, home, Andre showed me his pattern for the bricks again and went to work on the lay out. Stones were cut, corners were filled and sand was poured. The highlight of the day? The new lantern was installed. Before I go any further, I gotta tell you the story of our lightless front.

The homes on our block all have the one lantern outdoor light on top of a black pole. It comes on at dusk and goes off when the sun comes up.  And, being on the corner, had one as well. Over the years, the base of the pole rusted and it came down. I mentioned to my dad that we needed to replace it and he promptly found one to take its place. That was about five years ago. Yeah, you don’t have to say it. I know already.

But, today is was getting installed! The foundation was created and set in the ground, the pole went up and now came the interesting part. Getting the wiring right (don’t worry Charles Sr. handled this part, not Andre). After a few calls, sparks and close calls, the light test passed and the lanterns were put in place. It was a beautiful site to see and an expected lovely addition to the overall beauty that was now my front yard.

I waited until the sun went down and ventured outside in the midst of the insect fest that was going on and just looked out. The glow from the lantern now illuminated in our front yard and beyond. It added light to the entire corner and the scene from the street is spectacular.

It was four weeks of spending, deciding, cooking, digging and entertaining, but it was sooooo worth the memories that it created. When I went back in the house (the bug population has literally doubled since we started the project), I let out a deep sigh and felt so relaxed. By taking the time to do something, even if it’s outside of the main things I was supposed to be doing, it made my thinking clearer and thoughts less scattered. It reduced my heart rate and put me back in a state of gratitude and relaxation.

I didn’t know it when I made the decision to follow through with the makeover that it would actually serve as the one thing I needed to get me going on all the other “projects” I needed to complete. It showed where wasting time has put me and how not working on the vision the was giving to me, and instead being distracted by shiny things, was holding me up from all the awesome changes that is coming my way. It got me back to seeing what is before me now, instead of always trying to see ahead to the bigger picture. It taught me to savor and taste, instead of gulp and swallow.

I’m amazed at how much more I can “see” now that I don’t have so much stuff blocking my view.

The third, and not so final, phase was to dig up the yard closest to the house and fill it in in such a way that it would direct water away from the house. When we get heavy rains, the basement becomes damp and very aromatic, in a not so good kinda way. It takes on that basement smell, times 3 (if the rains are long and hard), and travels upstairs. Not cool!

So, my goal was to start on the outside and redirect the water from the yard, reducing the amount of moisture that collects down there. Once the basement was cleaned out, we would treat the walls and finish with a sealer. By the end of that, I’m hoping the moisture issue will be under control.

There were two suggested ways to do this. One was the dig two feet down and out in the yard, and fill it in with concrete. The second was to use a rubber barrier and leveling stones to gradate the water away from the house and toward the tree and garden.  It would be finished off with patio stones for a nice decorative touch.

Not knowing which would be better, I asked my Uncle Jimmy for his advice since he’s done the work before and works for the EPA. He said both ways would work, but the concrete would be harder to correct it we didn’t go down far enough to get to the source. He suggested I check the spouts for drainage and go with rubber membrane first. If it doesn’t work, do the concrete.

It sounded good to me, so we head once again to the Home Depot. By this time, the project was beginning to cost way more than I anticipated. Instead of financially over taxing myself, phase three became phases three and a half.  That decision made, we purchased the rubber membrane, the sand and stones.

The area was dug up and sectioned off to guide the stone leveling portion of this show. The first thing that went in the space was the rubber membrane.  It’s the same stuff they use to line the bath and shower areas, to block moisture and water, before putting them in place. Then, the stones were added and leveled across the entire area. From what was explained to me, the string guides were placed in a tapered format that, when leveled with the rocks, created the slight slope needed to redirect the water away from the house.

From the discussion I heard from Andre and Charles Sr., the hardest ( or maybe most tedious) part was getting the leveling right. If it’s not right, the whole idea wouldn’t work. I’m happy to say, the leveling was accurate and phase three was complete.

As I said good-bye to my diligent and hard workers, I looked out at the yard and took a deep breath. The lavender filled my nasal passages and I decided to sit for a moment. I looked out at the transforming yard and had this thought: when you let go and allow things to change, something so beautiful can emerge.

The second phase of the plan involved repositioning the current plants, adding to area where the shrubs were removed, mulching and putting in the decorative stone around the tree. My neighbor suggested I visit the Super Wal-Mart Garden Center in Willow Grove. With that recommendation, the night before the great dig, we head out to Wal-Mart to pick out plants. The idea was to get all perennials so we wouldn’t have to replant the main area every year. We did we come away with? Annuals. Trays and trays of annuals. Why? Because, for some reason Super Wal-Mart didn’t have a large selection of perennials for the garden. I rationalized that we can get more down the line, or plant bulbs before the season ends. At least, right now, the garden will look colorful and nice.

Saturday morning came and so did another trip to Home Depot. This time I needed to buy garden soil, mulch and corner bricks.  After going back and forth about the plants I purchased being annuals and not perennials, the guys got to work. During an impromptu trip to Lowes the night before (decided to go there after Wal-Mart since it was around the corner), I found some lavender for $2.00 that was hanging on by a thread. So, I picked up three to see if I could plant them along the side of the walk and bring them back to life.

They dig up the hostas, a nameless bush that blooms yellow at certain times of the year, and a small azaleas bush that has seen better days.

The hostas was planted closest to the tree to act as a divider, lilies along the fence, and our annuals of impatience were planted in the front. A co-worker of mine, was also kind enough to donate Black Eye Susan, a Flag Plant and another unidentifiable plant (once it blooms we can tell her what it is) from her garden. (There was a little creative discussion between worker and the help. Can you guess who is who? Thankfully, they worked it out.)

Because there is another tree on the sidewalk that is often mistaken for a trash dump, we decided to clean it up, place a fence around it and plant Four O’clock seeds. Once the plants were…ah, planted, and the bricks set in the ground, the mulch was added and the front yard began to come to life.

It was such a great feeling and, it was when I got my second revelation: clearing things out will free up space and allow things to grow.  Sometimes it really is the simple act of clearing out your physical space that will add a lot of clarity to your world. You will be able to see things with a fresh perspective.

With plan in hand, they arrived with electric saws, picks and some other things I’m not going to pretend to remember. The project was divided into three sections, one being completed each weekend. The very front of the yard, closest to the street, was up first.

It was populated with three shrubs, insects and random trash that passersby decided would make for decorative accents. We decided to remove the shrubs, relocate the hostas and lilies, and re-soil the area.  This would serve as the flowering portion of the garden and would have the most color.

It took most of the day, and my plan was to use the time to clean out the basement. Something that I was overdue in getting done. That didn’t happen. I spent most of the day running around trying to find requested items and tools I knew were in the house.

This led to my first revelation: there are times when you need to bite the bullet and just purge and organize. I knew the house was cluttered. I knew it was the main reason I felt so scattered and all over the place. Now, it was hitting me like a ton of bricks. I’m surrounded by too much crap.

By the end of the day, I was tired. It felt like I was out in the yard working, but I wasn’t. I spent the day running up and down three flights of stairs, moving boxes, digging in the basement and racking my brain trying to figure out where any one piece of equipment could be found. It was exhausting.

But, it was no time to rest. Next we needed to do some planting. So, I grabbed mom and headed off to the Super Wal-Mart.