Pictures from the 2007 Holidays.

Playing cars on the kitchen floor; Bella and KayJay still in their PJ's - Jer and family spent the night during their visit over the Holidays from Oklahoma. Mike dropped off Luke and Ben earlier on this Christmas Eve morning as he had to work part of the day and Rachel had worked the night before.



One of the cats chillin out ...

Ben ready for a ride in his new dump truck.

Showing Luke how to magically move the magnet.

Taking a break.

Checking out the stocking stuffers.

In with the new.

The new shed arrived right on queue; the driver knew how to handle the rig and did a very fine job of backing between the fences with less than a foot on either side, straddling over the PVC irrigation well, and positioned the shed with its pre-cut hole right on the service conduit. Notice the clearance (min 5 ft) around the shed! The siding along with the shingles are a close match to the house, all maintenance free.
The first things to move were the items we temporarily had in the garage - so I could park the car in the garage before any major snow (lake effect) and/or ice.
Now we can look forward to the spring, fix up the yard and finish the wiring.

Prep for the new ...

This past fall we prepared a different spot in the backyard. We removed the 8 x 8 square foot garden, re-routed some sprinkler lines, dug up some grass, leveled the dirt, staked the perimeter 4x6 with some 4 ft rebar and stubbed the electrical service conduit. Oh yeah - I wheeled in 5 yards of crushed limestone.

From old ...

Our old shed served us well but was in need of some repairs; for one thing the back side was only 6 inches from the school yard fence which made it difficult to do any maintenance. Plus it needed painting, the tree from the school yard (which was removed this summer) was tipping the cement pad.

Subtle update

No new posts, just an updated link to Other Pictures.

It's about time ...

I'm way overdue for another update, get together some of the summertime photos and things. Projects have been slow to none. I disassembled our raised garden to make room for bigger shed in the back yard. I'd put it where the old one is but the ground isn't level enough in the immediate area to accommodate a bigger shed. The old shed is less than a foot from the schoolyard fence - which makes it very difficult to do any maintenance. As a result, there are holes in the walls; holes lead to spiders, bugs, and mice.
Anyway ... I'll be back with some pictures - soon.

Fall Flowers and Plants

There is a person standing with
their hand raised alongside the
castor bean plant, next to the
cana plants, behind the soon-to-be

red leafed bush ...

The Rose of Sharon were
fantastic this year.

The butterfly bush is in full
bloom and the fragrance can
be smelled a block away.

Yard decorations can only accent
the natural beauty of a flower.

Pansies and Roses

More flowers from around the yard. The chair was re-claimed from someones trash and painted bright color to highlight.

Starting up

This gloxinia plant that is beginning to bloom for its 4th time.