Uncle Freddy Would Be Proud!

Well, we hope he would be proud! For those of you who don't know, Kurt is a descendant of the world renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted (he's a great-great-great uncle, I believe). "Uncle Freddy" is the creative mastermind behind New York City's Central Park and Boston's Boston Public Gardens just to name two. This past weekend, Kurt and I channeled Uncle Freddy and did a bit of a landscape overhaul on our front yard. For those of you who haven't yet been to our house, we live on a fairly busy street--busy enough that we won't ever let Madelyn play outside in our front yard. We had grass, but the grass was sparse and half moss and was just ultimately not that pretty. So we decided to get rid of it altogether, and with the help of many of our dear friends and Grandma O. (who was on Maddie duty all day) this past Saturday, we did just that. What a day! We started at 9:00 a.m. and didn't finish until 9:00 p.m. And then on Sunday, we started up again around 2:00 p.m. and finally finished the whole project at 9:00 p.m. For weeks, we dreaded getting started because we are such novices and we knew we had bitten off more than we could chew (or a mouthful at the very least). But we actually had fun! TONS as a matter of fact! And thank God for the input of all of our friends (Pat Rank, we said an audible prayer of thanks specifically for you and your gentle suggestion to rent a sod cutter rather than tear up all that grass with our shovels and our bare hands). All in all, we are thrilled with the outcome. Our little yard is modest and we look forward to continuing to add to it in the coming months, but it has definite personality now and will grow and flourish alongside our little family.


Highlights?

1. THE ROTOTILLER! What a wild ride! We decided that next time, the guys need cowboy hats and an 8 second count in order to really complete the experience!

2. All the neighbors. Nothing like a yard project to bring out all the neighbors...and some of them even pitched in!

3. The weather. Sandwiched by cold, gray, rainy days, the weekend was gorgeous. The temperature was just warm enough and the sun shone brightly. Beautiful!

4. Our friends. We have the BEST group of friends. It was Alli's idea to begin doing these group work days at each other's houses, but I think we set the bar pretty high! They were enthusiastic and encouraging and strong and energetic and didn't complain once. We had a blast!

5. The Bells of Ireland in the half wine barrels. They're the coolest plant...like little green Martian suction cups. And the wine barrels are totally authentic. They made our garage smell like wine every time we opened the door.

6. Saturday night's sleep :)