A Walk Around the Outside of the House

I've been trying to take some photos of progress on the inside of the house, but there is so much chaos that it makes it hard to take a good photo -- and heaven forbid, that I post a photo that is not blog worthy!

So, because it was sunny this morning and I had my mud boots in the back of the Subaru, I ventured out with my camera for some outside shots. They still require imagination to fill in grass where you see mud and landscaping where you think it needs it.

Let's start with the cottage, which you know is my favorite.... The siding will be painted pale yellow (mistake with the siding order) and the two dirt mounds out front will be raised garden beds with stepping stones in between, forming a path. Along each side of the cottage will be blue hydrangeas (and the front door will be Babbling Brook Blue). To the left will be an orchard with three apple trees, two peach trees, a sweet cherry tree, a plum tree, a persimmon tree and a pear tree (with a partridge in it, I hope). To the right will be our berry patch (yet to be determined) and a Zinnia cutting garden. Tucked around the back will be a rain barrel, a compost bin and a propane tank.

The cottage: Won't you please come for a visit?

Here's a view of the back of the house. The posts holding up the covered porch will soon be wrapped in cedar and supported with some cool half arches. The small left portion of the porch will be a screened in with access off the master bedroom. 

We'll be able to sit on the back porch and watch fish leap out of the lake.

Here's a look from the back garage-side of the house. That's a generator that you see at the back right corner. No more spending a bitter cold week in a house with a gecko and no electricity.

And here's how the front of the house is shaping up. Still missing are two chunky brackets to support the front porch. A wide stone walk will lead from the front steps to the drive.

Next week a black wood-board fence and red cattle gate will go up and some maple trees will hopefully get planted at the front drive entrance. Ed and I are putting in the mail box this weekend and I'm hoping the daffodils that Jack planted along the roadside will soon poke their heads up.

Hard to believe that in less than a month, we'll be Shelby Countians!