Our Little Backyard

We have had a lovely backyard for about three months and now I am finally going to post about it.

You may remember that our backyard looked like this when we moved in:





The builders sprayed hydro-seed, which didn't take root because our yard was pretty much a gravel pit. Obviously, something needed to be done. First, we tried digging up the rocks, then we decided that was too much work. We pulled out the big rocks and got to work with my dad in April.


Dad chipping off cement.


Rachel enjoyed watching her grandpa work.


Dad working on the garden box.

And then we bought 10 cubic yards of topsoil so we could cover up the horrid gravel pit.


The dirt in front of the house.


Dad working hard to dig the dirt.


Our neighbor Claire "helping" us.


Hardworking and helpful neighbors.


The dirt was very fun for the neighbor kids to play in. If you ever have a birthday party for two-year-olds, just buy a pile of dirt.


Rachel and I raking.

And a month later, we bought sod for the yard.


Fooray!


Andrew laying the sod. In the bottom corner, you can see the berry box that Andrew built for me for Mother's Day. I'm so excited to fill it with delicious berries!


Rachel blowing raspberries on her walker tray.


That isn't a very flattering face, Rachel.


And Andrew got to use his machete!

We were happy to have our yard done. It is actually a nice place to be now. It's amazing how much some greenery makes your yard feel like an oasis instead of a desert. Next summer we'll focus on flowers and such.

It is a nice place to be. I have built a pathetic fort a few times for Rachel and I to enjoy.




She doesn't care how lame the fort is.

Hooray for the yard!

Coming soon: the first room I actually decorated!

Welcome To Our Humble Abode

Here are some pictures of our house before we brought all our junk into it. Enjoy this little tour!


Enter here! This is the front door.


The view from the front door. Ahead is the kitchen, to the forward left the dining room, to the forward right is the living room. There is a small bathroom to the left, and we want to put a piano against that wall on the right.


The dining room.


The kitchen. Finally! Enough room for Andrew and I to cook at the same time!


The living room. Now we have a green couch. I'm thinking about purple curtains...


The back porch.


The rocky and tiny backyard. We wanted a bigger yard, but this is a blessing in disguise. It is super rocky and we are digging all the rocks up. Thank goodness it is small! We are going to put a small garden in the back corner.


Now we go up the stairs. I love these big windows. My house is so full of natural light, even when it is a cloudy day!


The master bedroom. There is enough room for our bed and a small sitting area.


Nice deep bathtub in the master bath!


The upstairs hallway. We have three bedrooms (besides the master), a laundry room (closed door on the left), a full bath for the kids, and a "bonus" room where we put all our indoor recreation things.


Rachel's room/the eternal nursery. The baby will always sleep here.


Kids' and guest bathroom.


The bonus room. Love love love it!

And the other two bedrooms are just like the other bedroom, except the windows are taller.

Do you love it? We love it! The only room I know what I want is the downstairs living room, and Andrew disagrees with my dreams of purple. If you have any ideas for other rooms, let me know! I have been scouring Pinterest for ideas and would love to hear yours.

Homemade Pizza Sauce

This was so delicious and I just had to share it. Also, I'm no food blogger so there are no pictures. I also didn't measure anything, just threw things in to taste, so you will have to do so too!

Heat up some olive oil and add chopped garlic. Cook for 1-2 minutes but don't allow the garlic to brown.

Add chopped tomatoes, chopped onions, a hot pepper if desired, fresh basil, and fresh oregano (or their dried counterparts, but the fresh is what makes this so freaking amazing!) to the pot and bring to a boil. You don't have to take of the tomato skins. Once it is boiling, reduce the heat and simmer until most of the liquid cooks out.

Blend with a hand blender or put it in your blender and blend until smooth (or chunky--you are the chef!). Add some salt or other herbs to taste.

Try not to eat all the pizza sauce because it is so dang good. Spread on your pizza dough and make the rest of the pizza. We had mozzarella and cheddar cheese with italian sausage and spinach pizza. Amazing. Cook in the oven. Eat.

Now go make some pizza sauce!

I am making more today with my leftover tomatoes. I am going to freeze it in 1 cup blobs and then put them all in the bag so we can enjoy "fresh" pizza sauce all winter.

Flowers

I have been working on the scrapbook of our summer trip to Victoria, BC, with my family. Andrew took some beautiful pictures of flowers when we went to Butchart Gardens in June. He has been working on photography and I think he is getting better and better.

U-Picked HOW Many Raspberries?

Two weeks ago, when went to a U-Pick raspberry farm in Arlington, called Biringer Farms. The farmer wished us luck and told us where to go to get the most raspberries. It was, after all, the end of the season.



We picked for about two hours. Up and down the rows. I decided that raspberry farming is a very time- and labor-intensive industry. No wonder those wimpy things of raspberries at the store cost so much money!





But we are good berry pickers.

Probably too good.

We returned to the barn and the farmer said, "Holy!" We found a lot more than he thought we would.

He weighed our boxes. The grand total came to...

17 pounds.

Andrew and I were surprised. It cost us $50. But that $50 bought us delicious berries, which made delicious jam, which we canned in our kitchen without air conditioning on the hottest day of the year.



And it was worth it.

Two Zillion Tulips

In Washington, we planned to spend two days apartment hunting, but we found an apartment that we really liked on the first day, so we had an extra day to play. Andrew found a Tulip Festival in Skagit Valley and we decided to go. I was happy to know you could grow tulips in the Pacific Northwest, since I had heard somewhere that the bulbs rot in the ground because of the rain, so you have to supposedly dig them up each year. I learned that such is not the case, and that tulips and daffodils grow quite well there!

Tulips growing in a tree...

Me amongst the daffodils--my favorite flower!

Seeing all of those tulips and daffodils was really fun. They are such beautiful flowers in small quantities, and they are stunning in large quantities. It made me want to go to The Netherlands sometime to see their tulips.

Happy Springtime!