Saturday, July 10, 2010

Now You See it, Now You Don't

We used to have a pool in our backyard. It was a fun pool! We spent many a hot summer day in there. When I lost the use of my legs back in 2007, I could no longer look after it. I had always done all the cleaning and chemical adding. My DH didn't know how to do any of that. The water turned a pretty green colour and later a thick pea soup green. We decided to fill it in and build a raised garden that would be easier for me to deal with. This is what it looks like now - the same view without the pool.We are still working on the patio. It will be where the shallow end of the pool was, right near the backdoor so it is easy to carry things out there and to use the barbecue.


This was the pool from the west side.

And here is my garden. from the same angle, as it looks now.
I still have a lot to do. Lots of my perennials, that are at ground level, will be moved to the raised beds. I have no idea how they will survive the winter, so I am just experimenting for now.

This is the back of my yard. The few cherries that remain are for the birds and squirrels.
This is the view along the east side of my yard. Still a lot of work has to be done here too!This is the raised bed that has my vegetables in it. That big sunflower was planted by one of my resident squirrels. I love sunflowers, but I think those squirrels had a mission, because they have already harvested several of the flower heads.
And here is a head-on shot of my vegetable garden - tomatoes, zucchini, egg plant, cucumber, basil, parsley, rosemary, lettuce and radishes. I also planted a couple of pieces of potato to see what would happen. They came up fine. I've never grown them before.
Like I said, we used to have a pool in our backyard. With all this hot weather we are having, I wish we still did.



10 comments:

Pat said...

I'm sure you miss that pool and it was lovely, but you have made a very pretty garden and patio in its place. Hopefully, we won't have such extremely hot summers again for a long time. This year has really been odd for everyone with the weather.

Unknown said...

Oh it's beautiful! I miss having a pool too. Mom always had one and then she moved and I'm in an apartment without one...especially this week I really wish I had one!

Tudy said...

What a neat idea. I am not a pool person so the raised beds works for me. You have done a great job on it.

Simone de Klerk said...

Thank you, Hetty, for sharing these wonderful pictures with us! You have a great garden and I love what is done to it. These days a nice dive in the pool would have been fun too, but what you have now, you can enjoy each and every day. I love it!!!

the dutch purple rabbit said...

ow i could use a swim for real now.
it's so hot here we are not used too.
but the garden looks very handy and easy to take care for now.
so enjoy you're self grown and made meals.

nynke

Opal said...

although it's a hard transition, i think it's a beautiful metamorphosis.

Oiyi said...

Your patio is stunning! My husband never wants a pool because of the maintenance. But it sure would be nice for these hot sweltering days we have been having.

dutchcomfort said...

The sight of the pool makes me want to take a plonge! I can understand why you miss it, in spite of all the loveliness that has been planted now and made for a wonderful garden to look at.

LizzieJane said...

Your garden is beautiful Hetty. I can imagine that it takes a lot of work to keep a pool in good working order. I can understand that you miss it, I would too.
x

Rinie said...

Of course you would like a pool with this hot summer we are having.
Go sit in a bathtub filled with cold water!
This patio and garden you have created are just wonderful!
And then the colours. Always a surprise when new blooms appear.
You did a great job.
Enjoy!