Monday, November 18, 2013

Landscaping Complete!

In order to finish planting, we needed to pick up some additional topsoil.  But in order to pick it up, Chris needed to fix the truck.  While he worked on that, Samantha helped me put together the cart he purchased for the tractor.  It took a little longer with her help but she had a good time putting bolts in the holes (and got to work on some fine motor skills in the process!).


Once Chris got the truck in working condition, he picked up the topsoil and we finished the planting in the retaining wall.  In addition to that, we cleaned up (i.e. moved old plants and debris) the side of the house so that we could put the last of the plants in the ground.  Here are a few pictures of the side of the house - from before we owned it, after we removed some trees, and now.
 


 

We still need to build the portico around the door, build a small retaining wall on the uphill side of the slab, and plant some flowers.  Of course we think it is a major improvement over the multiple trees (feet from the house), the ugly mudroom, the multiple rusty fences, "Beware of Dog" sign, and poison ivy!

When we weren't working outside, Samantha was helping me work inside.  A couple of the things we did this week included:

Scrubbing the oven...


...and shelling pecans.


Sadly, Samantha did a much better job on the pecans than I did (of course I gave her the easy to shell ones!).


And finally, Samantha has been showing a lot of interest in my sewing machine so I asked her if she wanted to learn to sew.   She said she did so I cut out a couple cardboard hearts and punched some holes in them.  With a large yarn needle and some yarn, she did a great job (with only a little coaching).  Her great-grandmother would be so proud! 


Up next on the house is hopefully some patio work (until the weather gets too cold/yucky).

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