My yard...

Tabe wrote a comment about my yard.

"is that ur yard?? its huge"

Yes that is my yard. Our house sits on 3 acres. We have a huge barn, old pole barn, corn crib, garden shed, well house and a dog run. I thought I had done a post about my yard already but I guess I haven't so here it is.

My Yard!!

We have since taken out this little fence because we no longer have chickens.

This is the view coming from the south on the gravel. Don't let it deceive you. That little green stripe closest to the bottom of the photo is really wider than it looks.

I don't remember why I had to drive the AWESOME green truck. I mean really my car is in the driveway.

A view from the front. The property is almost completely square and if you were to draw a tic-tack-toe on it the house would sit in the bottom middle one. The front door faces the west so we get great views of the Iowa sunsets. The windows on the second level is our bedroom. the bed sits right under these windows facing the door that looks right out into the hallway and the hallway window that faces the east. So we get the sunsets at night and the sunrises in the mornings. It just so happens that when the sun peaks over the horizon it shines directly in my eyes. Consequently I rather like the sunsets.

We have a good sized riding lawn mower, John Deere 345, 20hp, 52 inch deck, and it still takes a solid 3 hours to mow the yard. It used to only take 2 and half but Austin got a little carried away with the fertilizer this last spring. I don't mind though because the lawn mower is loud enough that I can't hear myself think. It is the only time I get to myself and I love it.

So that is my yard. I love to be outside working on it. Whether it is mowing or weeding flower beds. I can't wait until the first frost so that I can out there and clear out the beds. I have bulbs that need planting. There were some beds that we just didn't like and have been in the process of redoing these last couple of years. Well I should say that I knew I didn't want what was in them so we took them out and I didn't know what I wanted to put back in them so we did some temporary landscaping. I have finally decided what I want in them and have just recently purchased a butt load of bulbs that now need planting. It should be fun. Hopefully after the first frost the snakes are in hiding and not hiding in my flower beds.

Horrible Little Fence!!

Lately Austin and I have been working outside getting things cleaned up. We decided that this fence needed to leave. So we proceeded to take it down.

The previous owners lived on our property for 13 years. During that first year they decided to put this fence. They did no maintenance to this what so ever. By the time Austin and I moved in we had decided that this fence had become an eyesore.

Sometime over the last 14 years the fence post had rotted away and so they just nailed the rails together. Disassembly should have gone smoothly. Then we discovered the nails that need to be taken out before we can burn the railings on our burn pile.

Austin decided it would just be easier to cut the railings before you get to the junction. We aren't going to take any nails out. The little pieces will be thrown away over time. Taking down the fence went much faster and smoother. Unfortunately this fence is located right next to poopapaloosa. That whole little side yard must be where Bubber and Hyde have been going number 2 all winter. Maybe if I look hard enough I will find a pile of dog shit suitable for the hateful ladies I talked about here.

Finally no fence. Now if we can just get the dead fall and other debis picked up we will be in good shape.

Glimpses of Mason

I was looking back over the last several post and noticed there were no photos. So here you go. A little glimpse into our lives. Mason adds so much enjoyment. I have no clue what we did before he came along. Everything is now such an adventure. I love looking at life through his eyes. Seeing everything for the first time again.

Spaghetti Dinner

I think he got more on himself than in him.

He is getting so big!!

What Dad? No, I want spaghetti in my hair!!

He was saving that piece on his cheek for later.

He screamed and screamed when I took it off his face.

After dinner bath!!

I got wetter than he did. My front looked a lot like the mirror.

Look Mom the mirror is now clean!!

Left hand!

Right hand!

Mama!! Get me out, I look sweet!!

One: Sit here look innocent!!

Two: Roll over and scoot to edge of recliner!!

Three: Slide off to standing position like big boy!!

(Break Mama's heart)

I don't know why he likes it outside he always has his eyes shut.

Eyes closed again. Whenever Austin started the chainsaw Mason would close his eyes.

Watching Dad move the fence post.

Hey where did you go?

Spring

It is going to be about 60 today and I have spring fever really bad. If our gravel road wasn't so muddy I would put Mason in the stroller and we would go for a walk. I cannot wait until the weather is nicer so that we can get outside. I informed Austin last night that we needed to get Mason a little swing to put in the oak tree. He doesn't see a reason for one but I have convinced him (told him firmly so that no argument ensues) that we do. I also informed him that if we have any more kids that we will need to buy a new p-n-p. Ours will most likely get destroyed this summer. Taking them outside seems to be a little rough on them. O'well, I sure am not going to stay inside just to save the stupid thing.

While we were at Lowes getting 2*4's I looked at all the flowers that they have out. I have some flowers that we are going to be moving but my honeysuckle got destroyed from the corn crib demolition. I also need to buy a couple of Lilac bushes. I know just how I want everything and where everything needs to go. Now I just need to find my husband in a good mood so that he will help me with a minimum of complaining.

Hopefully this summer we will get the rest of the corn crib down this summer. It has turned into an eyesore. I have tried to convince him to just put a chain around the copula and pull it down. Evidently my way was way too easy and he has decided to torture me with it.

I have informed him that when he is ready to tear down the barn we are going to do it the safer easier way. He can pick the weekend and I will make the necessary plans with the electric company and the fire department.

We lost all of the fish out in the goldfish pond over the winter. We will be cleaning it out completely this spring. I am going to try to put it off until April. I don't want to get it all cleaned out and have fish in it only to have it freeze again. New fish can be somewhat picky. I am just glad that Austin is going to help me clean it. The outside of the tank goes to my hip and it goes deeper on the inside. I have no clue what is on the inside of it. Everything that we pulled out of it is covered in this black slim stuff that smells of sewage. I am sure it will be super gross. One of those day projects that we get to do while Mason plays over at Grandma's house. We usually get a lot done when Mason is gone. Well at least after we get out of bed again.

As I am writing this I look over to see the little brat smooshing an animal cracker into his hair and all over his face. He has learned that he can spit stuff out of his mouth. Now feed time is especially fun. For him that is. I don't enjoy it so much. Well I do when it is Austin he is misbehaving with.

We have a new rule. Who ever Mason is with when he is naughty has to take care of it. That includes any clean up. I was tired of doing it all alone and then when I would get a break if he was naughty Austin would just hand him over and go outside so it wasn't like I was really getting a break anyway.

New Door

Today we are drywalling the entryway. We finally had to break down and buy a new door. That means we had to cut a bigger hole in the wall. The door we had was very old and wasn't the standard size. We went from a door that was 30*78 to a door that is 32*80. I would never have thought that the little difference would change that much but it is surprisingly a lot easier to get baby out of the house with all of his stuff now. That and I now have a window in the door. Now that entryway isn't so dark and I can see who is in the driveway. I love the window, well at least after noon I do. This door faces directly east so that morning sun really comes through and is blinding. Hyde LOVES it. Now he has patches of sunlight in almost every room until late afternoon. I know that dog is spoiled.

These are the best photos I have of the old backdoor.
I know I had some better ones but Austin erased them before unloading the camera. Therefore I didn't think we needed to take any "before" photos, I thought we already had some.

Don't mind the mess these are from when we redid the kitchen floor and painted.

My new backdoor. I love it. Another good thing is that when we are all done there will only be a memory of that horrible green. YIPEE!!

This is how it looks on the outside. We are going to paint the trim tomorrow night. Later this spring we are getting a new doorbell to cover the hole beside the door.

I have complained about this doorway since we moved in almost 2 years ago. It is always cold which in turn makes my kitchen cold. We tore down all the old plaster and lathe and what do we find, NOTHING, that is right, nothing. There never has been any insulation in the outside walls. There is now. I have already noticed a huge difference.

I cannot wait until it gets warmer outside. We are going to put o a plantation style screen door. Just plain wood and screen. The winter wind is not conducive to an actual screen door. So we want one that we can put on in the spring and take off in the fall. We will have to put a little lock on the inside that way Mason can't just go outside whenever he wants. Can't wait for those arguements to start. We plan on putting up a jungle gym/swing setup later this summer. We have a whole acre side yard to play with and we are 6 miles from town so it will have to be something that will keep Mason entertained but strong enough to last for years and years. Austin already shot down my idea for a pool. I will broach the subject again next spring. For right now I am just thrilled to have a new backdoor.