The Lower Yard

 We have a small backyard and then a bank and then a ton of land. The little bank (until recently) was covered with a brush that we discovered was a Chinese weed and our landlord had said he was considering ripping it out (and then poisoning it so it wouldn't come back). He said we could do what we want. We have now deemed the area at the bottom of the bank our "lower yard". We have fantastical plans for it. The swing set is going down there (yes, we moved with our giant play structure) and a garden for me and maybe a little camping area for the summer with a bon fire pit and what not. Because there will most likely be a garden down there we opted to rip out the brush (by "we", I mean Rand) ourselves and NOT add RoundUp to the hill that would run downward directly into our vegetables. I can buy toxic veggies at the store, thank you very much. :) I'm not sure what it is with us and giant yard projects, but apparently we like them. And Rand just gets out there and starts working.....even in the winter. I think the thought was, "Let's clean this up before stuff starts growing and getting totally out of control." Instead what we are dealing with is very wet and heavy debris. But it's mostly all cleaned up now. And the best part is that our landlords (neighbors) are very helpful and are taking care of the piles for us and brought down his mower and mowed the whole cleaned up area for us. Score! We are really having fun here...even though it's winter. And I can't even wait for spring to see how everything will transform and bloom and come to color. It's going to be so fun to watch.

So here is the beginning of the "work" we do when we aren't "working".

before

after

the "lower yard". see the potential??

Around the House::Outside

For December, we've had some pretty great weather. More sunny days then expected and lots of just grey, but not rainy days. We obviously are taking advantage and getting outside a lot because, let's face it, we have a great place to get outside and play!

Here are a few of the places we've been lately around our property:

Walking down the driveway to the mailbox

The boys' clubhouse

Hey, we missed out on fall. And for the record, it was too cold for short sleeves...(not for him apparently)

One of the lovely ponds

The orchard

What is it with boys and hitting fences with sticks?

Wyatt (before his hair cut!!!)

Just boys....for just a little bit longer!

Around the House

Okay. I've got some anxious bystanders waiting for house pics. We are so almost done...but then there is the constant picking up behind everyone that makes taking house pictures difficult. Over time, I'm sure you'll get more looks at more of our place. For now...this is what I got!

our house: 1 story stone rambler. 3 bedrooms. 2 full baths. 1 great room. 1 small kitchen. 1 huge attached garage. nice size laundry room with sink. lots of storage throughout. 1400 sq. ft.

Me, Rand, the dog, and the new baby will occupy the master. All three boys are in one bedroom and the other room is multi-purpose. School takes place at the kitchen table because my kids table (I'm still crying about this one) got destroyed in the move. (I need a carpenter friend to come look at it. anyone? anyone?)

I have yet to hang curtains and most of the pictures. It's always last. And curtains are difficult on new windows, IMO.

a place for the train table (close to the sewing machine for kid entertainment close to mom!)

we haven't had it out since the big boys kinda outgrew it. Easton is just at the perfect age and went around and around and around last night....and this morning. (the big boys played with it too!)

a place for school books and other stuff

a place to sew!

a place for all the other crafty stuff. very accessible to a couple holiday crafters.

a place for all the other kid books (I keep the school books separate from all the other ones)

a place for little boys to sleep and play

a place to do laundry...and clean up from outside! (that's the door out to the garage)

another place to hang coats and store mittens! (and play the piano)

a little nook to stash the mail (and hang a fish)

a place for a Christmas tree (a rocking chair when the tree is gone) See my giant teddy bear? How did that manage to make the move with us???

Out the front door

Front

Front

Out the back door

the back

Wish you could see the stream!

coming next....around the grounds

Around the Yard

Talk about a major work in progress!!! We LOVE having a big yard, but there is so much we want to do with it, we have to be careful not to be always frustrated that it isn't up to par yet...and who knows when it will be! There is never enough time or dollars to get it done fast enough!  When we bought this house the yard was, at best, patchy grass. There was strange railroad-tie landscaping everywhere. There was buried river rock and boards that probably nicely bordered the yard a long time ago. And that was about it! Since late winter we have been working, working, working (mostly Rand has). He ripped out every last railroad-tie (except the 2 hammock posts). He spent HOURS engineering a watering system that would get the most coverage with the least amount of work (he has actually succeeded!!). We have planted grass seed and re-planted grass seed. We have watered diligently. We have planted a (very) small vegetable garden. I guess I could go on and on! There are a few pictures of what the yard used to look like here and here.

And here is some of our work in progress!



see? still have new grass coming in.



our mini-park. we want to fill this area with something but haven't decided on what. sand? pea gravel? rubber mulch??

This whole area is right off our patio when you come out our back door. Coming soon (hopefully) pavers to extend the patio and make this a nicer (cleaner) lounging and eating area.

this is what the ground is like under that table. really fine dirt. i have an obsession with sprinkling it with the hose so it's not all dry and dusty. :)

beyond that black hose (part of our intricate watering system) my plan is to make this the future vegetable garden. i'd like 5 (or so) raised beds.

growing vegetables has been a big learning curve. how do you garden in the desert??? we protected everything from the chickens, but failed to think about other birds. pretty much all the seeds i planted didn't have a chance. of 2 rows of cantaloupe i have 2 little plants that survived. same with sunflowers and zinnias. BUT, i have tomato plants with green fruit already! i have peppers doing nicely from starts, but the bell pepper seeds i planted got gobbled up as soon as they sprouted!

grass is almost all filled in. the soft green grass is all new, the brown yellow grass in the back is old grass that we have practically killed by over watering to start our seeds! (drought tolerant grass is a good thing!)

this area is going to have a small retaining wall on the one side and a stone path

and this spot. still in question. we are considering ripping out the hammock posts and putting a fire pit here.

more yard. that back corner is going to have a retaining wall flower bed. you can't see it but the back corner is actually a big pile of mulch from the yard. it's the chickens favorite place to scratch. they can take down the whole pile in a day! :)

the last brown spots! can't wait to plant along that back wall. i hate all the concrete!!!

thank you, olive trees, for shade!!!

and last but not least. our watering system. 6 sprinklers (soon to be 7) and hundreds off feet of hose. all connected to one hose bib. rand is pretty much a genius.