Front Yard Landscaping Project

It all started with John cutting and installing slate tile on our front porch



Goodbye Blue Spruce -- No more lights on the tree at Christmas!

Goodbye green lawn



Goodbye bushes by our front windows --

jack hammer and pick-up were needed to complete the job.


After letting the lawn die out over the summer, John rented a machine to strip the dead sod out, then had to take the strips to the dump


Lots of rototilling, making mounds, and digging for the new sidewalk


The first of many deliveries


After the bottom soil was delivered for the walkway, John rented another machine to tamp it down.



Gayle had fun trying to figure out how to fit all those slate sandstone pieces in the walkway. After she put in the grout, she had to fix the mistakes with a drill and grinder



The good soil was delivered -- lots of shoveling work



Boulder rocks delivered to add aesthetic appeal.

Did we mention this was back-breaking manual labor?


John bought a roll of cardboard to put on top of the soil to serve as a weed barrier.
It needed lots of wetting down to get it to mold to the landscape.



Finally -- planting the drought-resistant plants!



John installing the drip irrigation lines -- not an easy thing to figure out!


We had to finish up in the rain, but finish we did!!!!

We can't wait to see what our baby plants will look like when they grow up!

Oregon & Washington, Summer 2009

What a great time we had on a road trip--without our trailer! We spent a couple nights in Ashland, OR on the way north. Dorothy and Jerry Brooks offered us their home to stay in, even though they weren't there -- our big disappointment. But they are located just a block from the downtown area. We were thrilled to see 3 plays, and enjoy their comfortable home at the same time.

We spent another couple nights in Portland, OR, at a lovely downtown hotel. We did lots of walking and utilizing their great transportation system to see many of the Portland sights. We had a wonderful meal on our last night -- right on the Columbia River.

Our main destination was to the Bellevue, WA area where my brother, Alan, lives. His wife, Sue, planned a 60th birthday party for him. It was great to meet so many of their friends, and to show a slideshow for the gathering of our growing-up years. The other goal was to get to Silver Skis Lodge on Crystal Mountain to officiate at Alan's stepdaughter's wedding. The weather had been sizzling hot the weekend before, but the wedding weekend turned cold. Our Hawaiian outdoor laua by the pool (for the rehearsal dinner) meant we had to wear jackets and gloves to keep warm! The sun peeked out (barely) for the outdoor wedding, but all in all, it was a wonderful weekend.