A month or so ago we finally had the majority of our fence replaced. We've been really happy with the results.
The fence posts:
Dead fence:
The completed fence:
The whole fence job went really smoothly, and we're happy with the results. No more dogs running into our backyard to poop! And the neighbors are staying out as well. The only thing is, Tonya and Shanna and Rob have been interested in how much the pool neighbors (whose names we discovered are Donna and Joseph) paid for the section of fence that we share - if they even paid at all. Now, in a previous post I mentioned how everyone had badmouthed these neighbors, and to be honest, we didn't have much of a problem informing them that we were getting the work done, and they paid about 80% of their half. That's fine by me. But, Rob called last night and asked me if Donna and Joseph had paid anything for the fence. I said they paid for some of it and left it at that. However, Rob was very, very emotional and angry, and I hope I didn't agitate him by my answer. I think he's very upset that we got paid, and he didn't. It's a messed up situation, and I wish my neighbors would talk our their issues with each other rather than all this snipping about each other to Nate and me. Bad neighbors!
We also did more work on the front bed. We've decided the outline for the stones, making the front yard a little easier to mow, and have been steadily hauling away dirt from the built-up bed to the backyard. A couple of weekends ago my family visited and my mom helped up break apart the soil on the section near the driveway, and we got the soil low enough that we could plant some lilies of the Nile and caladium. We also got several trees from Lowe's for 50% off the original price. We planted a Jane magnolia in the front yard:
The Jane magnolia:
In the backyard we planted two gem magnolias and a pink dogwood. We also found a hibiscus tree at Kroger for $5, and planted it near the fence as well.
Dogwood:
Magnolia:
Hibiscus:
With bloom!
Our garden has been doing so great! We've used some green onions, and had the most delicious tomato in our BLTs. It's nice to just visit the garden when I want green onions, or basil, or sage, or cilantro. I have had to moved some things out of the herb spiral, though, because the squirrels were enjoying them too much. Who knew squirrels had such a thing for mint and cilantro? They don't seem to like the sage, rosemary, or oregano as much, although I think they've been sampling the thyme and spinach. Not enough to destroy the plants, though.
Arugala:
Basils (sweet and peppermint) and pineapple sage:
Onions!
Cilantro:
Tomato plant:
Finally, we've been finding lots of peculiar things as we've dug up our yard to remove/plant things.
Over a hundred (and likely over two hundred) oyster shells found underneath some photinias:
Nate with the remains of a post that was next to the slab for the shed:
A few random pictures that I'll throw in since this is practically a picture post:
The Canna lilies by the dining room window:
Pictures from when it was floody in the street:
Front bed:
Shed foundation (right-side yard):
Back patio:
Front yard:
Our poor garden got flooded out. After everything settled down, we redid the soil in the garden (since we now knew the low spots), and then planted the spinach and onions, as well as the basils.
