Fixing Up the Yard :: Part 1

Holy nice Saturday!  Finally a break from winter that landed on the weekend.  Saturday we had a 65 degree day with no wind.  Un.Freaking.Heard.Of. (the wind that is)  No wind.  It was amazing and it almost made me love Kansas.  That's right, I said Kansas and love in the same sentence.  I wore a tank top knowing I'd get a little bit of a sunburn on my shoulders, and I did, and it was awesome.  However, today (Sunday), the Kansas love has totally disappeared and I have been reminded just how much I can't stand Kansas and it's wind.  Today is 75 and windy and by windy I mean 25-30mph sustained winds.  Winds so hard and loud you have to yell at the person standing 5 feet away.  With wind like this there is no point in even having hair because all it does is whip you in the face.  It makes me feel crazy, really crazy, and I'm pretty sure that is not a good thing....

Anyway, let's go back to Saturday.  We had a Saturday that was awesome weather and we had nothing on the agenda.  So we decided to stimulate the economy with some of our tax refund and pretty up our yard a bit.  First up, we raised the swings up and Willow spent the rest of the day swinging without dragging her feet on the ground.  Then we began to start fencing off the garden box to keep Sam, who has recently buried 1.5 apples and a rawhide chew in them, out. He is not pleased and was slightly freaking out when we closed it off.  I'm sure he's already salivating over the tomatoes he's going to be missing out on this year.
We first removed the temporary fencing that really didn't work at all.  Sam either jumped over it, or squeezed in between.

And put up some garden fencing.

It was so nice out that Willow demanded we have a picnic and she drug all this food outside, and for once it wasn't windy so it didn't blow off the table.  That was nice.  Real nice.

Then we started putting landscaping bricks around our trees and flower beds.  Jayden was really interested in the part where we had to bust a brick apart to make it fit.  Safety first!

I think it looks nice!  Now we just need some more dirt and some flowers!

Royal's weedeater died a few years ago and we've been limping by on a battery powered one that can't make it though the whole yard without needing a recharge.  So, we stopped by the Stihl shop and bought Royal a piece of equipment we're pretty sure we can pass onto Jayden.  (We have my grandpa's Stihl chainsaw that totally still works.)  And because he was getting a fancy new toy, I got an attachment for it.  You know me, I like accessories.  This thing is going to make turning over the garden boxes so much easier!

Jayden was all over wanting to use the power tools, he helped fix part of the fence because he got to used the drill,  and he really wanted to use Royal's new toy.  "Please dad?  Is it my turn yet?  Please?"

So he got a turn and the thing had so much power (he pulled the throttle all the way in)....

...he walked right out of his boots....

We have got much more to do.  Fencing off the rest of the garden area, finishing laying the bricks.  I need to clean out and pour vinegar and cinnamon in the sandbox (to sanitize and help keep critters away).  And soon we will be planting the garden and flower boxes and hanging baskets.  I can't wait!  I just really hope that we don't get any freak snow storms in April.  I am really over winter.