What does back-breaking work get you?

Satisfied Home Owners.

And the neighbors like the yard too. We didn't realize all of the responsibilities that come with owning a house on the corner. Oy vey, we're learning fast.

Yard Gems

Minnesota played a dirty trick on us, insisting on raining every weekend for a month. Do you know how hard it is to dig dirt in the rain? In addition, the boulders that were scheduled to be installed had to be delayed, day after day. We're not that crazy to move boulders by ourselves.

Just as our patience was running out, watching our new plants wilt in their pots, a break in the weather allowed the boulder crew to install the wonderful limestone monoliths. They actually look really cool.

So, last weekend, as the clouds lay low, we spent hours digging holes for our new yard gems. What did we plant?

13 Hosta Blue Angels
2 Afterglow Winterberry shrubs
1 Jim Dandy Winterberry shrub
8 Baja Daylilies
1 Pyramidal Japanese Yew
3 P.J.M Rhododendrons
1 Unique Pee Gee Hydrangea
3 Tiger Eyes Cutleaf Staghorn Sumacs
3 Jacob Cline Mondaras
5 Karl Foerster Grasses
3 Sedum Neons
10 Stella De Oro Daylilies
3 Annabelle Mydrangea
1 Dwarf Bright Gold Yew
1 Autumn Brilliance Apple Serviceberry Tree
1 Arcocona Norway Spruce Tree
6 Melting Fire Coral Bells

Basement Work Room: Before

No better time than now to tackle the basement work room!
Here are the problems
1) it's too dark
2) it's filthy
3) the window is too drafty
4) the workbench is too tall, is covered with asbestos tile, the shelving is not so good, and there is no place to attach a vice. And we all have vices.





So Sam took out the workbench. He found the artifacts that fell behind the bench over the years. Why does it seem that dirty tennis balls are always left behind?


Then Sam started mopping the floor. Whoa! The asbestos floor isn't so bad after all.

Dingo Day

In our case, the dingo is a compact utility loader that "ate" our yard.

Lucky for us, we live close to Diamond Lake Rental, and we have a very gracious friend with a truck (Dan Hanson, of Hanson Building and Remodeling). Sam and Dan loaded a trailer with the dingo and a sod cutter. Following the landscape plans we purchased from Gertens, we used those two machines, a couple of shovels, and back-breaking work to take out the Fugly existing shrubs and sod to make room for the Fabulous!








Through the dirt and mud, you might notice that we have a new sidewalk and steps!

Yard & Sidewalk: Before

Here's the yard and sidewalk - yeah, we bought it this way.




Our front steps were literally crumbling beneath us.

Before & After

Living Room

Before


During


After



2nd Bedroom

Before


During


After

This has become the "office" or "blue room" or "the room where imagination comes to fruition."