When We're Helping We're Happy

We've had some on going family projects.  Matt tried to get us motivated in the spring to work on a few things outside.  We made some progress, but he got especially busy over the summer with work, it got hot and a few of our projects got a little out of hand before we were able to get them back under control this past week or so.

Not to brag, well maybe just a little bragging, our front lawn became one of the nicest in the neighborhood.  It's a bit spotty now that the weather is changing, but after twenty five years of living where someone else took care of most of the yard work, Matt has been able to enjoy and cultivate his own green thumb.  I'm more than capable of mowing and when he tweaked his back last month he had no choice but to let me mow a time or two. I'm sure I didn't purposely zig zag across the lawn, but needless to say he prefers his straighter lines to my sometimes haphazard rows. I think its cute how he rotates the direction he mows each week.  One week its diagonal this way, the next week that way and every so often he actually just goes straight across, and I must admit it has made a difference.

New grass!

I have two beautiful pots of mums on my front porch.  My friend gave them to me after helping with her son's reception.  (Hannah and I have spent three of the last five Saturday's helping with wedding receptions. As fun as it's been we're looking forward to conference weekend and hopefully no more weddings for awhile.) They are gorgeous.  We don't often use the front door so I find myself wandering around the front just so I can take a look at them.

One of our most involved family projects has been the space between our fence and the neighbors behind us.  I'm not sure who, if anyone, the space belongs to, but we've adopted it and are doing our best to reclaim it and make it mowable.

Pennsylvania has magic rocks.  I'd love to set a time elapsed camera and see how the phenomenon takes place.  We can pick rocks until the area looks clean and pristine and somehow the next morning more rocks have magically appeared, Too bad they aren't gold nuggets.

Saturday Matt spent hours leveling the strip, picking rocks and was finally able to get about half of it seeded and mulched.  I'm learning that the Fall is actually prime time for seeding and preparing for the Spring.  We've got optimal rain in the forecast for the next few days so hopefully we'll get the rest seeded this evening during Family Home Evening.

It's been a labor of love.  A few weekends ago Matt and I worked together for a good part of the day. One of us wore long pants and a long sleeve shirt, the other wore shorts and a t-shirt.  One of us got poison ivy and one of us was spared.  After several miserable days, Matt finally went to Express Care and was perscribed steroids.  I itched just looking at him.  Not only does PA have magic rocks, but poison ivy that's intensified. (FYI Matt declined the opportunity to have his poison ivy photographed for verification.  You'll have to take my word for it, it wasn't pretty.)

I've been sticking closer to home during the day to be available for Hannah and have been working on the side fence line and the front of the house. I admit that I sometimes go take a peek just to feel the satisfaction of having done it.  I dare those weeds to even attempt growing back before the snow flies.

I'm not really sure how things should be thinned back or pruned, so I just went at it.  I was a bit over it by the time clean up time came, but threatening rain motivated me to make quick work of it.  After three drops the rain passed, but I did have things bagged and swept by the time I realized the storm was passing us by.

(Notice car driving off.  Matt conveniently had to go to "work."  I still haven't been able to verify, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.  Just kidding! He really was going to work.)

Ricky likes to help with the yard work and has been a big help pulling weeds around the fence line.  Unfortunately he sometimes forgets where he should be working and will pull random patches of grass. He was a "big help" when Matt was filling some bare spots with soil. Sometimes you just got to take the help you're given and be happy.

Ricky can be such a sweetie and is very eager to please.  I just have to remember he's still just a puppy.