Hangin out in the back yard

 The heat wave that brought 95 degree plus weather finally broke in DC, which means we spent Saturday morning in the backyard.



For brunch, I made sandwiches with a whole wheat baguette,  homemade pesto, vine-ripened tomatoes, and some delicious fresh mozzarella.  I also brewed some Moroccan Mint iced tea to serve with our meal that we took outside on my new tray from Ikea (Last week was a failed adventure in eating outside/carrying multiple objects across the house to the backyard, which would have easily been solved with a tray. Enter the $10 Ikea tray to solve all of my multitasking problems. Woot!)



Our backyard is definitely a work in progress. There are cement pavers that are difficult to mow around, a hydrangea bush that is too big for the backyard, and no real flat space to put a table and chairs or grill (not that we have any of those things yet.)

We have been working to put our own personal touches in the yard. Our friends, Kyle and Beth, brought me some tomato plants and some herbs to start gardening in the backyard. It required a fair amount of sweat and digging, but the tomato plants are in the ground!  I have to do some more digging to get the herbs in a happy place, but for now they are keeping the tomatoes company.

Our hydrangeas next to the shed are starting to bloom, which I am really looking forward to watching. Unfortunately, the larger of the two is out of scale with the rest of the backyard, so this fall I am going to trim it back and hope for the best next year.  Hopefully by then my Mom and her green thumb will be able to offer us some sage advice on how to make our garden grow/not take over our mini yard)