Yard Projects

 So here are some comparison photos from what we've been doing with the yard... the gravel area is what I've been focusing on of late...

 I still have not taken pictures of the front, but here looking from the back, the little tree is gone, the big one cut back quite a bit. Now peas are growing up along the garden fence...

 Here in the front, the evergreen trees are gone, along with the two small trees... in place of the evergreens are large blackberry bushes, strawberries and pansies. In the hole of where the tree on the right was removed is a small black current bush start growing.

 This was that gravel area of the back... we built a planter box out of some scrap pieces of wood and my Mom filled it with the loveliest shade-tolerant flowers: forget-me-nots, bleeding hearts, columbine, pansies, lambs ear, mint, buttercup... it's beautiful!! It makes me happy every time I look at it!!

 Some spices planted in some bricks we found in the garden area...

 A sandbox Ryan made; pavers going from the deck down to the sandbox... eventually we'll get the gravel area filled in with more grass or some nice vigorous plant that doesn't mind little feet stepping on it or picking it.

The fence line is now lined with raspberry plants, which looks like they'll actually give us raspberries this year, and the big bush on the right is our third blackberry plant. We have a small strawberry patch planted also, and 4 grape plants, but it looks like two of them didn't survive, so in the fall we'll replace them also with raspberry canes or more strawberries.

We are still waiting for the baby to come. I am trying to learn patience, but I have to admit, it can be hard sometimes. We are excited to learn if it's a Lena Jan or a Jacob Ryan (who we'll nick-name Titus -- this is a good compromise Ryan and I came to).