Finally done with remodeling the side yard. We've taken out all the paving stones (they went from the front like this all the back to the end of the driveway) and put down grass seed. We're going to consider bushes and other landscaping.

We put the wall up initially because the old lady who lived in that house always bitched about the nature of the grass. It wasn't cut enough. It was cut too short. All the clippings were in her driveway. When Gene lived there, it was soooo nice. She called the cops on us (or her son did) that the lawn hadn't been mowed, and we faced a fine if it wasn't cut in 24 hours. I got out the weedwhacker and had at it myself after that cop visit. But then I looked at the law- it required the grass to be higher than 12 inches, and it assuredly was not (although yes, it could have used the trim). We were tired of her bitching.

She died last winter. I can't say I was fond of her. I can't say I'll miss her. I can't say I ever really knew her at all. I do know there is still no for sale sign out front. Her son and daughter show up regularly to get the mail and a "few small things." I think the estate will be argued over for a couple of years. Then who knows what will happen to it. I don't know who will live there. Or when. It feels just as empty as when she lived there.

But it has felt good to be grubbing in the dirt. For years and years, I longed for a bit of earth to call my own and to plan my own garden. I saw this bank and wanted to put in a rock garden. But with my allergies, I have trouble being outside once the lilacs and then the roses bloom. The lilacs are blooming now. As long as I'm not standing next to them, they aren't as bad as they have been in the past. This is *wonderful*.

And we're working on the back deck too.  ¶ 11:23 AM