The REAL "Before" and "After" Pictures

I had been unable to find these pictures before I started my blog so the "before" pictures from my post in July were just before I started a new flower bed project. When I found these photos from 2003 I was amazed at how stark the yard was when we bought this house. These are the REAL "before" as my husband would say, "I made the yard all cluttered."

This is 2003 when we just moved into our house. We thought the deck looked like a stage and maybe we should be starting a band or something. Unfortunately neither one of us was born with the musical or rhythm gene. However we both have the "shopping gene" so we were able to figure out a way to fill it up.

The shed 2003. I started by trying to cover it up with plants to hide it. This was before I saw a feature in the paper about decorative sheds. After that we painted it, decorated it, and embraced it as part of the garden.

Backyard 2003. Unfortunately that power pole is a bit difficult to embrace. We hardly notice it now but wish there was a way to disguise it.

The front yard right after we moved in 2003.  This is the color of the house before we chose the "clown colors".








Here are a few more "After Photos" from 2010.

 Patio 2010

The shed 2010.

2010 the front of the "Clown House"









The Front Corner 2010

Visiting with Grace in My Garden

Grace arrived at my house bearing a gift of these beautiful flowers from her garden. They are now sitting right next to my computer and the smell of the honeysuckle is heavenly! She is a gem and I am so glad to have met her and look forward to seeing her garden very soon! 

I also look forward to reading her memoirs. If you haven't noticed look at the top of her blog and click on the link that says "Memoir Excerpt" and then ask her to post more for us to enjoy! Or else, just click here http://www.gracepete.com/p/normal-0-false-false-false.html

Peaches Goes Swimming!!

We took our dog Peaches to the Osborn Aquatic Center in Corvallis for the annual end of season "Dog Day". She had a blast along with the other 500 dogs who took over the pool! Poor baby, she cried when it was time to go home.