All done!

Well, this is pretty much all done. We put the paver locker sand on and it rained so we need to put it on again. Also, we plan to put dirt/grass seed around the edges to cover the edging. All else is completed!! Now...if only we had a table and chairs!

Our new patio addition!

Jason hard at work!


Phoebe trying to help!


This is how we got the 284 pavers to our house from Menards.

Who says we don't see wildlife in the city???

These ducks were in our backyard many times.

Samurai Orchid

Here is Jason's blooming orchid!

Imelda Marcos II

This one's for you Sarah! Guess how many and who's these are??!! There is one pair missing as I forgot I had packed it away with my winter things.

Phase 2 of our projects

Here are some pictures of Phase 2 of our backyard and front yard projects for the summer. As you can see, it's coming along!

Our new backyard, freshly mowed

Here is our newly continued project of landscaping our yard. As of last summer, the grass was down and we had the bigger 3 arbor vitae in the center with the bushes off to the right of the house and the juniper tree and another bush on the left. This spring, we added the other 5 arbor vitae, but they are a different kind than the three that we had. We also put mulch down and continued the bed all the way around. We had to add some rocks into the juniper bed so that the water drained through there. We had a problem last summer with the bed being in the way! The other plans for this summer is to put more flowers/bushes in the bed with the 3 (2 alive and 1 dead) flowering bushes and add some dogwoods between us and the neighbors to our left. (over by the Juniper tree) The landscaper from last year has to come and replace the dead flowering bush (we think it's a serviceberry). I also want to put down patio blocks around our patio to make it a bit bigger so we can get a patio set to put out there. Maybe next year!! Our yard doesn't seem so bad anymore, but as you can see...nobody else in our neighborhood has done much!

Cat Bath

Well....we were never brave enough to give Phoebe a bath, but when Annette was at our house, she said that it was no big deal and gave her a bath. We found out Phoebe doesn't mind the water so much if she doesn't have to stand in it, but it doesn't matter how you do it, she doesn't like the hair dryer! Here's the wet kitty!

Playgrounds of old

Do you ever think about the changes in playground equipment from our days to now? I remember back in elementary school, using the spinner and thinking that it wasn't very safe back then even! Kids would 'fly out' after getting going and only hang on by their hands. Even the merry go round wasn't that safe if you think about it. But...we sure did have fun...going down metal slides that were hot from the sun and scorching our legs...or going down one that wasn't that smooth and getting your leg skin stuck on the way down! Or...riding the teeter totter and someone gets off as you are up in the air and you plummet down. Those were the days! Now, we live across the street from a park and it has one of those jungle gyms that you see in every new park. Even though it looks like fun because it's new and different than what we played with, it doesn't look like there is any place to add excitement by doing anything remotely dangerous!