Making It "Homey"

Lisa and I have been home for less than a week, and we're knocking out household tasks one by one. Our first big priority has been the yard. There were a lot of weeds to pull, some bushes/plants to get in order, and some basement/garage leaking to try and fix. While Lisa was working on the plant/weed stuff, I was grading the side of the house and digging a 10 foot long, 18-24 inch deep trench to lay a french drain in. Thankfully, we have some of the nicest neighbors in the world, and the guy came over and helped me dig/grade. We spent a solid 3 hours in the on/off pouring rain making the yard (and therefore ourselves) super muddy, but it was necessary. Hopefully we've solved those problems now!

Today was another big day for us. It was pretty impromptu really, but it turned out to be incredibly productive! It started with us going on a mission to find the stone or something very similar that is around a good portion of the landscaped areas of the house, as well as a "guard" stone for our mailbox that had been run over since the last time we were home. During that trip, we ended up going to a nearby quarry, and we had a blast! (see pictures below) When it was all said and done, we had found the landscaping stone and a guard stone, mission accomplished, sort of... Now the real work might have actually started. We had to dig a new post hole for the mailbox, put the mailbox up, move a lot of little stones around, and maneuver one giant stone into place. We did it though! We still have a bit of work to do with the landscaping stones, but it always feels so good to feel that you've accomplished something :) Home ownership is hard work, but I think it can be pretty rewarding, too!

Ready for our "field trip" into the quarry!

She found our guard stone! And a waterfall... Who ever new a quarry could be so beautiful?

And here you have the "birth" of our guard stone...

And evidently my expression shows there's been influence from my Belgian teammates/staff!

Before...

After!

And I know you're all wondering how we moved that stone... simple: Lisa just man-handled it! As awesome as that would be, we actually borrowed our wonderful neighbor's idea and "tools". We used his Toyota 4 Runner and a big tow-strap to roll, pull, and twist/turn the rock into it's proper position. It worked well, and we hope that all the effort was worth it!