Yard tour

I finally managed to get outside with my camera to take pictures for you all. Saturday was a glorious day-- we couldn't bear to do anything but spend it loafing and basking (see above picture), enjoying the sun. Which was a good thing, since the floors were still wet from Friday night. I'll talk about that tomorrow.


On with the tour.


This is a slightly off-kilter view from the street. We have a front porch to the right, and a big flower bed, and a seriously overgrown bridal veil bush. Our exterior to-do list is almost as long now as our interior to-do list was back in November: strip and paint porches and window trim, prune bushes, plant lots of flowers, pull lots of weeds, eventually remove dented aluminum siding and scrape and paint the entire house. Yeah, we'll be holding off a few years on that one. Which isn't to say we aren't already scoping out potential exterior paint colors. You know.

The aluminum is in good shape, and we don't mind the color, it just... isn't quite right. It's a very old house with a lot of integrity... covered with a shabby shell of aluminum. For now, it serves. 

Also, you'll notice the foundation is covered with foam paneling (visible below). Once we do things like install new storm windows and sweeps for the outside doors, and beef up the insulation in our attic, we'll be ditching the foam and letting the house's pretty stone foundation see the light of day.

Side view. This porch is right off the dining room (you can see the door that leads to it in this picture), which we love. So far, we've enjoyed a couple of meals and a couple of beers out here, with many more to come. Also, a robin has built her nest underneath the roof, and, once we get a dining room table and chairs moved in, I'll be able to sit there and watch her feeding her chicks. Love that country living. 

Around back. That little shed, not visible in this picture, sits directly to the left of where I was standing to snap this shot.

... and if you turn 180 degrees from that vantage point, you are rewarded with this.

I know, right? This is where I was standing about a year ago (at the showing) when I started to envision our life here. I wrote a very cryptic post afterwards. I was SO excited, but there were still so many unknowns. That feels like a very long time ago, and I feel so unbelievably blessed that the path we took those unsure steps onto last spring have led us here. To this.

These trees, this land. Our very own daffodils blooming under our very own paper birch. I'm in love.


And, but wait, there's more! Looking right from the birches:

There's a line of smallish maple trees you can just make out across the grass; that's the property line. This part of the yard is extremely soggy from all the rain we've had, which makes me glad I decided to situate the garden in a drier spot. Oh, and speaking of the garden:

Yup, that's the asparagus I planted last weekend, on its way. Thrilled doesn't even begin to do it justice. 


This is the part of the tour where I felt the need to put down my camera and pick up a shovel. You understand. I didn't get any "big picture" shots, but I will soon. 


I will close with a currant bush. Come September, these guys may have a date with the jam pot.

In other news, Sunday we quietly celebrated the one year anniversary of the Day We Met Gilbertsville. I'll have to tell you that story sometime, it's a good one. It was total love at first sight.