Larry's Courtyard

Our house has a courtyard in back of the house with high walls on 2 sides and a low wall that overlooks the golf course. When we first moved in, 6 years ago, there were tall shrubs and other overgrown vegetation that completely obstructed the view of the golf course. Larry spend months of weekends (he was still working then)  cutting and digging everything out before we replanted it with desert landscaping.  He would spend hours puttering around in the courtyard, spraying for weeds that could come up between the brick and washing the bricks down with a hose. I would do the trimming of the plants and then he would cut them up so the pieces would fit in a trash bag. This picture was taken in 2007 and was repeated many times over the years - sitting out in the courtyard with the Sunday paper, a cup of coffee and golfers going by.  Since the 18th tee box was just the other side of the low wall, the golfers would stop and chat which interrupted the reading.  Morris would be inside on the top of his "tree house" (cat condo) where he could watch his buddy outside. Not just on Sunday, but during the week in the afternoons, he would take a book and go out on the patio.  It was his place....  I enjoyed it to but most of the year it was too hot for me out there. Anyway, there are 3 plants along the courtyards border that if not kept trimmed will become too big for the space and Larry always reminded me when it was time to trim them.   However, this year, the plants completely got away from me and it became an overgrown jungle. I asked the landscapers who do our front yards if they would trim the bushes back.  They came over last Thursday after their regular work and cut them back.  I was out there with them and realized that I have spent very little time out in the courtyard since Larry has been gone. I haven't gone out there to do any gardening, blow off the leaves, clean the chair cushions or anything this year. So.......this morning I was out there around 6 a.m., before it got too hot, with the leaf blower which I had never used before.  That was interesting....  Next was unrolling the hose and spraying everything down including cleaning the chair cushions.  Spraying for weeks will have to wait until tomorrow... It looks so much better!!!!! Maybe I can get back to going out there this fall and enjoying it like we did before.  "One Day At A Time".