The Mower

Charles got his birthday present a little early this year...

...and he spent 6 hours on it the first day. At 8:30 PM, I was still wondering if he would ever come in from the quality time he was spending with the new Toro. I think he is going to be constantly looking for excuses to cut the grass. The rest of the yard projects might be a little neglected for a while.

It Takes Team Work

The boys are ready to help with the trench-digging.

Or, maybe they are just looking for some good spots to bury bones.

Groundhogs

Yes, we have those. The only groundhog I have ever seen up close and personal is General Beau Lee at Yellow River Game Ranch. Who knew these large rodents were so common in Canton?

Pulling in my driveway last week, I had to slam on my brake to avoid hitting one of these little guys. Apparently they live in a burrow beneath our red barn...who knew?

"How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?"

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day, we took my Mom on the Atlanta Botanical Garden "Gardens for Connoisseurs" tour of gardens around Atlanta. There were eight homes on the tour, but we only made it to six. Throwing in lunch at the "OK Cafe" and it was a long day!

~Here are a few pictures from our fun-filled day~

Water Water Everywhere!

Every time the forecast calls for rain, I have to cringe a bit. Honestly, rainy weather is my favorite but living in a house that takes on enough water to create it's own flash flood during rainy periods does not exactly allow me to "enjoy" my favorite weather anymore.

We have finally started the projects to help with the water problems...new gutters, regrading, trenches and drains installed...yes, we have a lot of exterior projects going on right now.

We had gutters installed on the main house, guest house and kennel as well. We went with the regular white on the guest house and kennel, but I opted for something a little more unique on the main house. Even though our house has the typical white farm house look, I went with a light bronze gutter with round downspouts. Right now, it looks a little different but it is just one of the first steps in my never-ending exterior house projects. Down the road, I will be adding matching shutters to make the gutters "pop."

For now, I will wait, and wait some more, for our first rain so I can see how the new gutters work.

It's A Big Day!

Today is a day that we have been waiting patiently for...we CLOSE on the Shaker Hollow house today. It's bittersweet saying goodbye to that house. We (my entire family) worked countless hours turning it into the little gem it was. It was almost 4 years ago today that I bought it (May 4, 2007). Time flies.

He Loves His Dad!

Auggie has his new lookout...always waiting for his Dad to get home.

If You Plant It, They Will Grow

Just a few of the plantings from around the house. It's nice to see your hard work show up (delayed gratification).

 Flowers we planted around the gazebo.

 Lots of bulbs!

A beautiful Japanese Maple given to us by Mr. Oddi. He accidentally sent us some hostas too!