Trees, Leaves And Kids

Posts have been more sparse than normal, I know....

Fall is in full swing, but the leaves have been dropping quickly after the recent rain and winds.

The rain was beneficial though to a new member of our landscape....  a new Japanese Dogwood tree we planted!
This variety is supposed to be more fungal/disease resistant which is a good thing for the marshy area we live in.

We cleared out the last overgrown patch in the side yard and planted it there.  Progress post on the side yard HERE.

This area had ALOT of thorny overgrowth.  It supposedly was the dirt and rock dump site when the previous owners had their septic system updated.  This pic was taken before the rail fence installation.

Excavating began; LOTS of roots, thorns and rocks.

Then the digging....  Many hands make little work.  Many little hands make more work.

Getting in the hole was a must.

"Plant a tree, for your tomorrow".... the song goes something like that.

So all that rain has been good for this planting, helping the roots get established.

Ending with some fun in the leaves.

At this point I put the camera down and tried to join in.....

A Mess Of A Yard

We not only bought a fixer upper house, we bought a fixer upper yard as well.  I ask myself OFTEN is this worth it?  At times my answer is no, other times I am thankful because working together as a family has many positive benefits.  Besides, idle hands are NOT a good thing.

Its been right about two years now since my parents visited and helped us start clearing the overgrown brush.  Our yard at one time had some lovely landscaping, but it was let go...... I mean off the leash let go.  Stuff was running wild y'all.
This is all weeds-

This past weekend we continued cleaning up around the pool fence in an attempt to make the yard easier to maintain.  Such has been a 3 year effort now.... and we keep failing.... but have high hopes to finally get things in order this year.
The cleared area around the fence still had heavy duty landscaping fabric poking out here and there (and weed seeds and roots imbedded throughout).  Ripping this stuff up was difficult even with the front end loader.

Front end loader was helpful in moving all the dead brush too.

We also pulled up some small trees and moved shrubs to open things up, so the mower can get through more places and less weed eating is needed.

We are not completely sure what to do around this fence area.  Initial idea is to plant grass up to about a foot around the fence and fill the remaining area with white smooth rock.  Then we can mow right up to the edge and can spray the rocky area to kill the weeds.  But rocks might not work since there is a slope?  Mulch is ok but prefer not to have to buy and spread the stuff yearly.  Any suggestions?

Kid involvement as always..... collecting ants..... or taking soil particle samples?

Please share landscaping ideas?  Yet another area I am clueless, *deep breath....

Side Yard Before and After

Pardon my blogging hiatus.... lots has been going on.  This post is a quick before and after of our side yard improvement, nothing jaw dropping here.

The cleanup started about a year ago to this date when my parents visited.  My Dad cannot sit still and has to always be busy with something.

 After the brush was cleared we were able to get the two trees cut down.

Then Jonathan tore up the area (since it was all weeds and crab grass), re-seeded it and such.

Last our neighbor put up a new split rail fence just a few weekends ago.  He has been wanting to do this project for some time.  Sweet!

Not the best before and after pics, but here it is again-

After-

So thats about 1/16 of our yard.  Now onto the rest.

We are currently dealing with a flooded basement after all the rains, about 1" standing water throughout.  Basement guy was here today for an analysis of how to fix the problem.  Looks like we will be doing some home improvements in that area soon.

Enthusiastic Yard Work

With the horrible events that took place in Boston this week I have to begin this post by asking for people's prayer.  Sandy Hook is still in our minds and now an exciting event such as the Boston Marathon was turned to tragedy.  Please pray for New England.  For the many that are broken physically and emotionally.  Also for those who seek to do evil, that they would be saved from the evil that they seek.

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'Tis the season to ramp up on yard work.  We're excited to get a new tool to help with yard cleanup.... well some of us were excited-

Little man does not like loud noises.  The leaf blower is a re-fab from our local small engines shop.  I am pretty sure it could double as a jet pack.

I ripped up the old landscaping fabric that had become a weed blanket (weeds and grass were growing all over the top)-

Some Shasta Daisies had spread along the top of the fabric also.  I tried to remove them without disrupting the root system and replant them.

I also planted some Echinacea (purple coneflowers) and Black Eyed Susans.  We hope they grow well here and pretty much take over this bed.

Jonathan is still working on improving the grass in our yard so the kids and I try to water the new seeded areas daily.  On warm days like today it doesn't seem as tedious.  Little girl has shown an obvious liking for playing in the water-

Little man deemed this area in need of special attention-

She followed it around like a dog follows a treat-

More close-ups for the grandparents-

Little man got a spring buzz cut.  I like it better short, Jonathan likes it better long.  We compromise with the seasons (long in winter, short in summer).  Still very blonde?

More water was found to play in-

First garden news of the season.... stuffs comin' up.  Everything has taken its time to germinate with the cool spring weather, but we finally have progress-

The sugar peas germination percentage has been very poor.  After some trouble shooting we will have to try new tactics next spring (poor soil structure is mainly to blame).

The seedlings in our raised bed on the other hand are thriving.  Carrots, beets and garlic are coming up and doing well.

Thanks to a fellow gardening friend I got some free Arugula seeds that I planted today.  I also have parsley and leaf lettuce popping up in pots, and cucumbers (pickling variety) that should start popping up soon.  I check them daily like an anxious kid.
Here are a few planting and growing lists that I find helpful-

• Special thanks to Torie for sharing this site with me.  Mavis shared growing guide here.  General overview growing guide.
• I like the breakdown and information on this one from the Old Farmer's Almanac, here.

I plan to write a post about raising your own chickens and if its been worth it for us.  Thanks for the positive feedback, friends, on the pastured raised pork post. :)  I hope to also post a 2nd year in review of our house updates since the anniversary is approaching (and its been awhile since I've posted anything about the house).

Filling Trim Holes, Windows and Tape

We are slowly making progress towards our goal of completely finishing the dining room.  This week we are filling those little brad nail holes in the window trim.

You gotta do what you gotta do-

Progress list so far:

Fill and sand holes in trim - in progress

Paint window trim white

Paint window frames black-

Put up baseboard trim

Fill, sand and paint baseboard trim

Sand off stain on walkthrough boards (or are we replacing?)

Put up trim around walkthrough

Fill, sand and paint walkthrough trim

Make and install stair banister

Paint and install heater end plate

Make blinds or curtains - possibly have fabric choice!

It would be nice to have the windows complete and painted before the holidays but house updates will not be a priority in the coming weeks.
Did you notice the fake grills on the window?  Those are made of electrical tape and were helping us visualize what style grill to get on the newly ordered bay window.  What are your all's thoughts on these two styles?  4 pane grill or 6 pane grill?

The 6 pane grill looks better from the outside of the house since its more colonial.  I kind of like the 4 pane because it looks more 'open'.  For the bay window we went with a 4 pane grill on the two small side windows but that would match with any grill we go with on these full size windows.

Where you even able to see the windows through the tree stationed on our table?  This is our Giving Thanks Tree (not near as pretty as the inspiration, thanks Tori for sharing the idea with me).

We started it last night and each of us are adding a leaf each day with something we are thankful for written on it.  Can you guess whose this is?

I'm finding it to be a good activity for our almost 3yo who didn't fully understand thankful when we explained what it meant.  So this has helped him understand and even voice it.  While eating lunch today and looking at the tree he told me he was thankful for me (so sweet, made my day).... but then he threw his scrambled eggs in the floor.  He maybe changed his mind after I disciplined him for doing so.

Last I wanted to share our mad efforts towards cleaning the yard after two high wind storms.  Last Saturday was a great workout and my super human strength mom arms continue to amaze me. :)  Other moms know what I am talking about.  Throwing logs across the yard....  no problem <enter Xena princess warrior scream>.

My 13 mo weighs more than these, and how many hours a day am I carrying her around.

I feel like we racked up enough pine needles, sticks and leaves to build shelters for a small village (MacGyver could totally do it).  Thankful we have an easement area we can dump on instead of having to bag all this mess.

Jonathan likes chopping wood.... and I like watching him :)

He looks mad at that log.

I hope to post more about our farm and winterizing sometime later.  I have herbs that are still surviving out in the garden and hens whose food is getting swiped in the night.  That stuff interests me... maybe I am the only one. :)