Working Around The Yard

Spring has sprung (and now summer!) and we've had the bug to fix up our yard and tackle some projects.... I'm a bit upset that I didn't take some before shots... Oh well. Just know that we've made our house a bit more beautiful on the outside!

First, our front yard was covered with stones. Apparently the previous owner had a thing for little white rocks and ground cover. Both of which we hate! So, we spent a lot of time, removing the ivy and rocks around the trees. Instead we planted grass and flowers with mulch. There is still a bunch more rocks we need to tackle but we need to save something fun for next year!

Pulling out ground cover

Elise toting away extra soil. She's earning
her keep!

Flagging the grass seed.. I'm sure the dogs will know
what this means! Ha!

Ahh.... new grass and flowers. Notice those ugly
white stones that remain in the background!!

We also lost some boxwoods from the harsh summer, so planted lavender instead.

Jeff worked especially hard on the arbor which needed some serious painting. And Cecilia supervised.

Luckily Jeff had a painting assistant

More supervising from the twins! They would spend tons of time watching Jeff and Elise paint... occasionally throwing out "Dad!" followed by knocking on the window to get his attention.

Job well done! The arbor even now has been mulched with
some new hostas.

Elise and I planted our annual vegetable garden. This year we planted tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, red papers, yellow peppers, banana peppers, jalapenos, carrots, cantelope, watermelon, dill, basil, brocceli, thyme, chives and zuchhini. Bring on the bounty.

The best gift of all? Mother's Day flowers in our planters curtesy of Jeff and Elise!

There is one large, outstanding project still underway... the front gates have been temporarily removed. They were rotten and needed some TLC with new wood and lots of painting. They are going to be gorgeous in the end.