Outdoor Projects

 Owning a house is just one long continuous project, isn't it?  We generally feel as though we have about 25-50 projects all at the starting/midway point at a time.  And any time one gets finished, another is waiting to take it's place.  But, "idle hands" and all that, right?  Better busy than the other!

 Tadd and his girls got to work removing all the moss and dead grass one fine spring morning quite some time back.  Caroline put in a full day's work helping Daddy before she headed off to school in the afternoon.  It's so fun to see them work so hard and get enjoyment from the help they provide. 

 Nora thought that raking with a bat sounded like more fun.

 As the girls and Daddy worked, a couple of nice guys worked on a shed in our backyard. 

 They did a fantastic job.

 The kids poked around and explored the work site as much as they could.

 Nora loved watching from inside.  She actually was stuck in the window and bawling for help at this moment in time.  Like any good Mommy, I stopped to take a picture before rescuing her.

 After the worker dudes finished the building, it was Tadd's job to paint the shed.  He chose good colors, didn't he?  Now it's my job to fill it up!  I'm only half joking on that matter.  It is, of course, for yard care items, tools, etc.   But it's also a storage shed and I am busy cleaning out closets that are jammed full of boxes that don't need to be in there.  Kid clothing, toys, baby gear, etc. that we've had to save and recycle for each new member of the family take up a lot of room. 

 I've been working on filling in all the bare spots under our trees and shrubs in the backyard.  It's hard to figure out what plants work well here.  Technically the area is shaded by the large pine trees.  But in reality, quite a bit of sun gets down there in the middle of summer.  It's sort of trial and error to see what does well and will actually spread to keep the weeds down. 

 Potted plants up on the deck make me happy.  Flowers are so simple, but can bring so much joy to the senses. 

 And this project has been a big one.  There used to be huge shrubs that were up against the siding (a no-no) and a pain to mow around.  It happens to be the best spot in the yard for growing vegetables.  So, Tadd and his Dad used a chain saw to get rid of the shrubs and we put in these raised beds.  I took this picture less than a month ago, but with all the warm weather the plants are at least quadrupled by now.  I can't wait for fresh veggies!  So far we've been enjoying the lettuce several times a week.

 And finally--the front yard.  We shoveled and wheel barrowed, and shoveled some more to fill in and raise up the soil.  Then we took a deep breath, visited a local nursery and chose some plants.  We tried to keep in mind how fast plants grow and fill in and plant "light" compared to the last time we did a landscape overhaul out in Snoqualmie.  These plants have already taken off in the past month and I think we'll be pretty happy with the selection.  They are native, so they don't take much care other than keeping them trimmed up the way we want.  Much better than the big rhododendrons that were stuck up against the house before. 

It felt really good to actually finish up a few things before we started tackling new items.  And Tadd and I both will be happy to not shovel any more dirt for the time being!