Our yard in the spring

I've been promising some pictures of the house, and what better time to take pictures than when things are in bloom? We have been spending a lot of time outside, getting the garden ready and mowing the "lawn". Mae and Ryan planted peas earlier in the spring, under the ornamental cherry, and on the upper retaining wall along the fence. We also put in more blueberry bushes recently, as well as added to the raspberries. We even put in a couple of blackberry plants. We ordered some heirloom tomoatoes from the seed saver catalog, along with some intersting things we can't get locally. We're trying out some funky broccoli this year.

Last year we didn't have time to plant the whole garden, we hadn't moved in in time. This year we bought a little honda tiller and Ryan has been doing a lot of work getting the soil turned and ready. He and Owen put down leaves last fall so the garden wintered pretty well. Ryan is a smart guy, but I think he learned a lot from being out at mom's, and you'd think he's been gardening his whole life. Last year's garden was mostly tomatoes, onions, carrots, and basil. This year it's going to be filled with as much stuff as we can cram in to it!

We have a couple of Camelia bushes, that we don't like. Others LOVE them, so the thought of taking them out makes people look at us like we're nuts. They just aren't in good spots, and they make such a mess. Besides, they are only pretty for a day, then the blooms start to brown and fall all over the place. Don't be suprised if next year's spring pictures don't include them! Ryan wouldn't mind taking out the ornamental cherry as well. It's old, and shaped kind of funny, but the birds love it, and it brings hummingbirds to the yard. I think that he'll have to come up with a miracle landscaping plan to get rid of that one. And then there is my favorite, the one that almost killed me this year. We bought the house this time last year, moving in the first week of May. AFTER the 60 year old Japanese maple had a chance to flower. It turns out I'm VERY allergic to the tree and I'm hoping that it hasn't permanently ruined my eye sight. I've been puffy and itchy and red for almost a week, and now my vision is blurry. (don't tell Ryan that I'm typing on the computer while complaining about it, he said to stay away from the strain from the screen, and he's right) It is huge, and bright green all summer, then in the fall it gets that famous Japanese maple red.

Our grass is patchy at best, it's filled with moss and some flowering weed. It all dies in the summer and looks HORRIBLE, so these are the only green grass pictures you'll ever really see. The front yard isn't much better, but at least it has more moss and moss is harder to kill in the summer so the front yard keeps some color, even if the grass is dead.

So, there you go, the house, which we bought for the yard. The inside isn't exciting, we'd like a new kitchen, and some closet space in our bedroom. Other than that we have no complaints, other than Ryan HATES it now, because he doesn't have a garage... but I don't like to address that.