"Manual Labor" Day

This is what my brother jokingly called it today. We all put in a LOT of time in the yard this weekend. The weather was GORGEOUS! Absolutely perfect. Sunny, warm, but with a cool breeze in the morning and evening. Autumn is coming and we are all thrilled to be going outside to eat again now that it's comfortable. Jason had the brilliant idea of converting an old stone mess in our back yard (a fire place neglected since previous owners) into a fabulous fire pit/hang out for us this fall. Such a great idea! The picture above is the only "before" shot I have although, really, it was much more of a mess before they cleaned out the fireplace. You should see it now! Will wait to post another pic until it is totally done.


This was the kind of weekend I pictured when invited Jason and his kids to live with us. The guys were busy doing home improvement projects together. We had big family meals. Everyone in a jovial mood. This whole week really. Everybody chipped in and helped out, we took turns whipping up great dinners, and a lot of fun was had. Not that it hasn't been fun before but after a few months of living together we've sort of hit a high point. I guess we figured out each others quirks and routines...got used to this and that and are starting to have more fun. And yea, I'd say we are growing too. It's very nice. Granted, it can still be a bit chaotic at times and there are still nights when one of us wakes up another. Sometimes it's the kids and sometimes it's the BIG kids. But for the most part, we are working it all out and having a good time.

But back to the yard. It's looking really good. It took me all summer to get back into gardening but I am finally there. Went to Lowes today with Ruby and got some pretty mums and plants. Made a nice planter and to put by the new fire pit. It's funny how motivation towards one thing leads to motivation towards others as well. And inspiration also leads to MORE inspiration. For example, I wanted to eat more healthy so I started to cook, which led me to cleaning up and organizing (especially the kitchen) more, which led to me using herbs from the garden, which led to me weeding to actually FIND said herbs.... you see what I mean. :-)  A very good chain reaction! And then there is Jay (my bro Jason) - who was all excited about cleaning up the outdoor fireplace - which lead to digging out a gravel pit, which led to the guys making a patio, which led to them pruning all the trees around the area, which lead to an entire yard clean-up by all of us! I also got so inspired to "fall" up the fireplace and put nice flowers and candles around it. I'll tell you, the season of change is bringing about good stuff around here!