Four of our little grandkids came to help pick up sticks in the yard after a spring storm. Then both of our daughters and their families came for Easter and we hunted eggs in the yard. We miss the flowers from our past gardens, but we still love watching the deer too much to fence them out. And the yard serves us very well for the way we live.
Even though it's the height of summer, the mornings have been cool enough that we've enjoyed eating our breakfast on the patio by the firepit.
We enjoy the creek so much, especially when it rains.
We've been blessed with more snow than any year we've lived here in Missouri, and it's a good thing since we've had much less rain than usual. The wildlife in our backyard is a constant source of entertainment. Besides the many deer, we've seen squirrels, fox, possums, raccoons, rabbits, groundhog, armadillo, coyote, skinks, snakes, hummingbirds, and all kinds of other birds.
Our three oldest grandsons helped us string party lights and put together a fire pit in August and we have enjoyed it so much. Several wiener roasts and S'mores parties have been had, and until it got too cold, Ken and I often took our breakfast out to the patio. Can't wait until the weather is nice enough to do that again!
We are just loving the dry creek we had put in last summer. We've seen it through three seasons now and I can't wait to see it in the spring. After a little snafu when we got four inches of rain in less than an hour just hours after the creek was finished (thankfully, the landscapers returned and quickly repaired the damage free of charge) the creek has been doing its job perfectly! Here are a few images from late fall 2021. The grandkids think the dry creek makes a great playground. And we've loved having the older boys help with the raking!
We are still loving our Missouri home and have recently made some big changes to the backyard here. To add beauty and control the flow of rainwater that sometimes threatens to get too close to the house, we had some major landscaping done in August of this year (2021). We're so pleased with how this dry creek and stairway turned out! Here's a little photo tour from start to finish. (Well, gardens are never truly finished, and we do hope to eventually add some plantings tucked in among the rocks.)
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| The view from the dining room is so pretty! |
The deer have been a constant delight (and an occasional annoyance when they eat the things we plant) but they are never more stunning than when it's snowing in our Missouri backyard. These shots are from late February 2021.
So happy to get a little snow on this January day. Not much of it stuck, but it sure was pretty coming down.
We've never had a screened porch before, but I can tell you now that I don't ever want to be without one again! Our wish-list for a house in Missouri had a covered porch on it, but we got so much more in this glorious space high above the back yard.
Not only is there a ceiling fan and screens all around, but since we're protected in a "valley" at the bottom of a hill, we have very little wind, and with our wide eaves, we can sit out here, even when it's pouring rain, and barely get damp.
