What to stick in the hole?

Now, we have a patio, we have stone steps ... the dilapidated grill just has to go.
All it really took was a few whacks with a sledge hammer to separate it from the tube in the ground that contained the gas line.

Don't worry - the gas was capped weeks ago!

After that was done, the first thought was, what to stick in the hole?

Three choices: corn, bamboo shoots, enchilada sauce.

Corn doesn't work.

Enchilada sauce wins!

Add some dirt, and...what hole?

Uncovering the Past

In late July, Becky's parents came to visit for the weekend, with no intent on having a lazy, relaxing weekend. While Becky and Mom Franklin were out at a weaving class, Sam and Dad Franklin did some extreme pruning.
See the before picture.
Now check out the after shot: The mass of ivy is gone, and during their archaeological dig, they found stone steps up to the unearthed flagstone patio. Amazing!

It was great that the Franklins could share their expertise on what exactly is living in the yard, and to know what to do with it all. We look forward to having them back!!!

Boo! to Boo Radley

Remember the front of the house? See the scorched earth along the walkway? Notice the unruly bushes? There's even a small maple tree smack dab in the middle of the shrubs. Sam has been scheming how to remedy the yard's aesthetic woes, so the H of B can shake off the Boo Radley House reputation.

This morning we took a trip to Gertens and got a lot of great advice. Sam had researched earlier that we needed to over-seed the dead lawn, which requires fertilzer, soil, and seed. At Gertens, they had exactly what we needed - Minnesota grass seed for 50+ year old lawns. So, today we trimmed back the wilderness in front of the house, patched the lawn, and for good measure, adorned the front stoop with a pot of purple petunias.

It just so happened that a neighbor saw our progress, and after introducing himself, mentioned "it looks like a yard now." Take that Boo Radley!