Our Old House

So the whole backyard patio was built around an outdoor fireplace that we ordered before we even picked out the pavers. This spring, we found time to work on the hearth for the fireplace to sit. I haven't done masonry since I was in grade school... it was really interesting to mix the mud and work with trowels. Lots of memories...

The inside is cinder blocks filled with compacted gravel.

There was an attempt to be level =)

I really didn't mean to be as messy as it ended up being... but I did want to make sure they stayed on!

One side on.

Front side on.

Leveled off the top with sand.

on a roll....

Rookie mistake, didn't have enough cement, too tired to go get more to finish job.

Finally got more mortar and finished the top... now if we can just get the fire place set up!

So you all know how much I love garden season... and this year I got to start from scratch with new flower and garden boxes =)

Love bleeding hearts.. never had a white one before =)

Hope these survive the snails..

Box along the driveway.

Ladies mantle

Box behind the mailbox

Front of driveway box

Strawberries!!

Our goal is for the paver driveway to eventually have grass and stuff growing.. I planted a few ground covers hoping it will spread.

Here is one of them.

Here is the bed in front of the porch... Still working on this one.

My kitchen garden... sage, rosemary, and thyme.... and a few others =)

including lettuce, onions, parsey, and chives.

Raspberries... the best idea ever! I have been really really enjoying having these this year!

So, school started and I could not do any more paver work, so Janet took over.

Laying out the area for the west driveway.

The path from the door to mailbox.

other side of mailbox path

mailbox path now.

Go Ducks!!

Nice to have our west driveway back!

This is where it was starting to get exciting... could see the end.

Same thing, slightly different angle =)

another angle.. like taking pictures ... can you tell?

It's done!! It's Done... well almost.. some holes in a couple of places... but the main body is done!

Totally beautiful =)