My New Backyard!

Fall 2020

I've had a love hate relationship with my backyard. I've loved the space, the trees and the possibilities. But over the years the backyard has taken a beating. Trees dying, hot tub in then out, garden spaces in then out, shrubberies, the mystery of the city's missing sewer manhole and last but not least the 70 foot trench that had to be dug to replace the house's sewer line.

I've wanted to have it leveled and simplified for a number of years and this year, the year of the Coronavirus I finally had the money to make it happen. Nothing like being confined to the house for a number of months to reduce my travelling and increase my savings account.

I contacted several contractors but finally found the amazing team at Idaho Classic at: https://www.landscapingservicesblackfoot.com/

This team was great to work with. They communicated well and had great suggestions for improvements to my plan. They got the work done on time and on budget. I definitely recommend them to anyone who needs to improve their yards. They do sprinklers too.

Before photos:
You can see the non-grass covered remains of part of the trench

And the remains of the most recent garden attempt

Volunteer honey locust trees popping up where I don't want them and in the far right corner the mound of dirt leftover from the sewer line replacement.

Work in process


Such a lovely FLAT yard!!!

Finished
I know it doesn't look like much if you haven't been living with the mounds and debris of the past but this is stunning.


The lone planting bed planted with arborvitae, irises, tulips and other bulbs

Emotional Success: pt 1

I read Emotional Success by David DeSteno over a year ago and it stuck with me.  I would find myself thinking about how to incorporate more gratitude, compassion and pride into my core thought processes. How can I really leverage this big clue into real change.  Then there was a death in my family and grief washed me out to sea.   One year after the funeral I am back at square one battling  diabetes, weight issues, relationship issues, work issues, depression, and life.  I'm once again listening to my core and have started with short meditations, 15 minute walking breaks and listening to nonfiction in the morning.

I re-listened (I'm an Audible addict) to the first section of the book: Gratitude.  I am hoping to more fully understand how to incorporate this emotional concept and once I at least my fingers on the handle of it I will listen to the next section.  The first thing for me is to really start recognizing when I'm grateful.  I've tried posting my gratitude moment to Facebook, but my worklife has become quite complicated and I haven't had much time for Fbook, not even to post a gratitude moment.  I have started chanting about things I'm grateful for when I'm about to be tempted to buy dessert or treats, or when I'm in traffic. It is clear that when I do this my self control and attitude improves.  It's easy to forget to do it, but every step forward is a step forward.

I just need to make micromovements and eventually I will find myself in a better spot.  Like the ocean turning boulders into grains of sand, wash on, wash off.  -- Jenny

Emotional Success: The Power of Gratitude, Compassion, and Pride
by David DeSteno
https://www.amazon.com/Emotional-Success-Power-Gratitude-Compassion/dp/0544703103

"A string of bestsellers have alerted us to the importance of grit – an ability to persevere and control one’s impulses that is so closely associated with greatness. But no book yet has charted the most accessible and powerful path to grit: our prosocial emotions. These feelings – gratitude, compassion and pride – are easier to generate than the willpower and self-denial that underpin traditional approaches to grit. And, while willpower is quickly depleted, prosocial emotions actually become stronger the more we use them. These emotions have another crucial advantage: they’re contagious. Those around us become more likely to apply them when we do.

As this myth-shattering book explains, prosocial emotions evolved specifically to help us resist immediate temptations in favor of long-term gains. Originally, they enabled us to build lasting relationships with other people, and they still do that brilliantly. But they can also be adapted to strengthen our bonds with our own future selves – who will benefit most from the grit we need to succeed in life. No matter what our goals are, EMOTIONAL SUCCESS can help us achieve them with greater ease and deeper satisfaction than we would have thought possible." -- Amazon

Article: Gratitude, Compassion, and Pride: What Do They Have in Common?
By Katie Williamson
https://medium.com/in-rare-form/gratitude-compassion-and-pride-what-do-they-have-in-common-1946c5b820f9