Spring in our yard

This post may bore everyone except my mother. However, now that we have lived in this house for a whole year (!) we feel like we are finally settling. We are beyond blessed with this place. We realized this spring just how much we truly are blessed with this yard. We spent every waking minute outside enjoying beauty. We sat on the deck to read books, ate meals in the gazebo, and laid on blankets in the changing shade.

I have never seen so many azalea bushes in one yard in my life! Every bright color imaginable. This is just the one side of our front yard. There are these many azalea bushes on the other side too! The morning sun streams through the dining room window (far right next to the carport) and we start the morning looking at all that color.

This little walkway and gate next to the house always charm me. Flanked with azaleas and rhododendron I always feel like I am being invited into a secret world or something.

Our bulb garden was bright and glorious with early crocus followed by daffodils and tulips. I was so happy with how it turned out. Now the hosta, hydrangea and ferns are filling in to make a cool green summertime bed. We moved a bird bath here so that we could watch the birds from the sun room. A certain red cardinal especially liked to bathe here in the early morning light.

The border fence between us and our neighbor is a riot of flowering shrubs. Provides privacy and beauty at the same time!

This little corner of the yard is not used much now but has 2 of my favorite trees, our weeping cherry and Japanese maple. The sandy spot in the foreground is where the koi pond used to be. It is now a big sandpit that the boys like to play in (see top very picture) but we are hoping this summer to make a little seating area so that we can enjoy the shade here.

The boys have really enjoyed their independence in the yard. They are free to come in and out of the back yard as they please. For me, a fence is worth its weight in gold! It has been amazing for me to let them go out and play while I work inside (or rest in a chair on the deck). This year already our yard has been the setting for Peter Pan play as well as jungle animal hunts, hide and seek, and great hobbit adventures.