Battling Juniper and Living Room Painting

We visited our Bellingham house a couple of times in May and June to help get it ready for our final move up here for the summer. We started fixing things up right away and it turned out to be hard work but also a lot of fun. One of the things that we started working on right away was the yard. 

Each time we visit it seems like we discover a new beautiful plant that we hadn't realized we had before. On one trip, we discovered a towering lilac bush, the next trip couple of lovely rose bushes were blooming, and this last trip we discovered 3 large mock orange bushes (my favorite)! 

However, there are also the plants that make their presence known during any time of the year such as the juniper bushes. Our yard is home to many many poky juniper bushes, some small but many huge. However, the one that bothered me the most can be seen in the photo above. 

This particular juniper bush was situated in a little garden space set between the driveway and the path that leads to the main house. As you can see, there was a path hiding there, but it was being taken over by the juniper. I would always try to walk down the path, but in order to stay on it, I had to brush up against the juniper which was quite uncomfortable. 

So, when Woodley got a hedge trimmer, leaf blower, weed cutter extraordinaire tool, I suggested we take out the juniper first thing. He was happy to get a chance to use his new tool and we set out to remove the juniper.

In the process we met one of our new neighbors who came over to introduce himself once he saw what we were up against. He told us he has also spent a lot of time battling juniper in his yard. 

Finally, after several hours of hedge trimming, sawing, clipping, and digging, the juniper was all but gone and our path was clear! Once we finished removing the root, I planted a bunch of flowers in this little garden spot such as sweet peas, love in-a mist, and forget-me-nots. They are just starting to come up now and I can't wait to see how they do.

There was quite a lot of debris to haul away later though!

That trip we also started painting the living room and dining room. It was quite green to begin with. There was green carpet, green trim, green walls, a green ceiling, and green curtains. We tested out about 6 colors and finally decided on "Welcome White." Below you can see our test paint on the wall and me attempting to paint the ceiling. 

Here you can see how different the new paint was. The rooms feel so much more open and welcoming now! 

Here's a lovely view of Bellingham Bay with Mount Baker in the distance that I captured as we were flying out of Bellingham last month. It's such a lovely place and I am so happy that we get to spend some more time up here. (Even if it is a gray and rainy day today...) 

~ElizabethRose