Redeeming Our Back Yard!!

I do love redeeming things!

 Our back yard has been in dire need of redemption for as long as we have been married - 12 years in June!  Finally we have been able to get a good head start on cleaning it up this year - thanks to such an early spring and no other major problems to deal with - as in replacing the gazebo last year and all the flooding situations we had the year before!

I have concentrated on the back yard and never even got around to cutting the roses back in February.

They are blooming beautifully!

Yesterday I cleaned the 'clean' rooms and worked my way from the back of the house into the dining room and sewing room and on out to the gazebo.

I put the wall art vinyl letters from Goodwill on the hall closet door.

Not bad for $0.75!!

Since Louis Dean was working so hard, I made him a hearty lunch!

Chopped steak in gravy with mashed potatoes and candied carrots and garlic toast.

Fried apples for dessert.

It was such a heavy meal that I had to take a two hour nap before I could go back to work!

I fixed lighter fare for a late dinner.....a super salad with white wine.

Our house doesn't set where we get good sunrise or sunset pictures but last night's sky was particularly pretty!

Such beautiful colors!

It was dark by the time I was ready to take photos of what we had accomplished.

We are getting there!!

And just in time, too!!

We normally host a Good Friday Dinner and by then our place should be looking the best it has in years!

Today we were right back at it.

Not early, mind you!

It was nearly 11:00 when I woke up and I slept soundly all night!

Louis Dean prepared the end of the flower bed and scraped the dirt off the stone edging.

He's been so busy working out here that he's lost 10+ pounds!

He does what he can do and I do what I can.

As in cleaning up this area behind the fence by the sandbox!

This is the other side of that fence. We hang the sandbox lid here when the kids are playing in it.

See that cut out square? We used to have a water faucet back there and Louis Dean cut that out so he could get to it easier! I have to watch him all the time or no telling what he will do!!

You can see at the end of the house we still have a lot of cleaning up to do!!

But progress is being made!! 

On the side deck, things are beginning to grow! I planted a bunch of stuff and then forgot what it was so I'm always surprised!

Oh, how I LOVE honeysuckle!!!

This bush is above the kitchen pond and I am so excited!

The only thing is - it is next to impossible to get back there and cut a bouquet.

However, I'm going to try tomorrow!

This wall is the outside of the Christmas house where I store all my decorations.

When I stand at my bedroom door - this is what I see.

And that's our bedroom door! 

The patio has been all cleaned up now!

The dark brown storage box is where the quads keep their toys.

Now the patio is cleaned up and they can even play over here!

That's where we stopped for the day.

We both worked hard.

I never made it to the kitchen which is the room I intended to clean today.

The most I did in there was unload and reload the dishwasher and for meals we 'cleaned out the fridge' - meaning we ate leftovers or whatever we could find.

I will cook proper meals tomorrow.

This is my blogging place tonight.

Louis Dean is burning some of the burnable trash - like old plywood pieces and roots and such.

I told him I would keep an eye on the fire while he took a nice hot soaking bath.

Bless his heart!

He was one tired fellow!

I can't tell you how happy this makes me - getting our property cleaned up!

Next year we MUST paint the house and there are so many other projects we need to do.

I have to remember to look at what is at hand and do that first. Don't look at the bigger picture except every now and then. It can be too overwhelming.

Now for an update on Summer.

Recovery can be a bit overwhelming, too.

She's been in pain for such a long time, it's important to remember complete recovery comes in increments. The piriformis is the culprit now and I am praying it settles down and releases its hold on her.

This is from her Facebook post this morning.

Wednesday was 1 month since my back surgery. My body has been healing exceptionally well. However the piriformis is still kicking my butt. Seems standing, sitting and walking for any extended time/distance causes flair ups. Today I was riding in the car and sitting in traffic and it's yelling at me. So I cracked open the pain pills and muscle relaxers. Bad thing is the muscle relaxer or the pain meds wire me and I can't sleep. Thankfully, I have my favorite recliner here and we are bonding again. Your prayers that the piriformis would release and the sciatica would relax would be so appreciated. I have learned all the stretches for the piriformis and do them daily but there's not a "fix" for this issue. My body has to decide when it's ready to stop the spasms, shooting & stabbing pain. Thank you!

Thank you all for the prayers prayed for her!

Now it is not even 10:00 so Louis Dean and I are going to enjoy another hour or two in the gazebo before we head to bed. Tomorrow is another day!!