Last week my Father-in-Law brought down his skid-loader since we couldn’t find one in town to rent.  It was a blessing he was here, because DH hurt his back the same day and we needed a lot of help.  My mother-in-law came too and ended up staying with us several days which was a blessing.

Here’s the front of our house from April 2012.  That was before new front doors and the tree trimming. Most of the yard was ground cover ivy instead of grass.

The side yard by the driveway was full of misc. trees and bushes that always looked scraggly to me.  I’d been begging Darren to let me cut them down since we bought the house.

They are gone now! Don’t worry, we still have a lot of beautiful trees left, but everything looks a lot cleaner.

I was thrilled to say goodbye to a yard full of weeds, and hello to beautiful dirt angled to keep water from seeping under the foundation.  We took several bids on gutters but don’t think we’ve found the right company yet.  The house is 4 stories tall in the back and we need something that doesn’t have to be cleaned out every week back there.

It took most of the week to get the dirt work done.  Then Cloyce tilled the entire yard 3 times to smooth everything out and prepare it for grass seed.  You can see him on the right with his garden tiller.  Oh man, this was a serious amount of work. Darren was in no position to help–he was laid so flat I was dressing him and feeding him too…I’m thankful he’s starting to get better.

While Cloyce worked out front, Bonnie (my mother-in-law) planted Hostas fro me in our jungle bed out back.  She pulled out a lot more of the invasive ground cover, which I was so thankful for.  I got my hands dirty a little bit too, but my job at the school interrupted our most productive work times.

When she wasn’t working here, she was inside helping with dishes and laundry, and reading stories to the cutest 2 year old named Grant.

We are expecting a second opinion on the foundation this Friday and will know more how to proceed.  It feels like a long time to wait.