Jerry Building Our New Pool Deck

Last July we had our pool installed (you can read about it here) and this year in the Spring; Jerry built us an amazing deck to enjoy :-) Finally getting a chance to blog about it and was able to pull the pictures through. :-)

He had a couple good friends come over to help him install some of it, for which we are very grateful!! Sam on the deck, Ed bottom left and Mikey on the right next to Jerry.

We didn't want Sam to get a bad sunburn on his head so Hayley lent him her Pink Panther hat and he wore it proudly, lol. ;-)

Hayley also knows what a perfectionist her dad is when he works on his projects. Ever since she has been little he has been teaching her construction so..... when she walked out she immediately saw this board slightly out of place and pointed it out to him, lol. He was like "I didn't think anyone would notice it..." but sure enough Hayley did, I guess he taught her well ;-)

                            After getting the deck part ready, it was time to add the sides.

Jerry designed this himself, there were no plans to follow.... he just did it all on his own with an idea he had in mind.

             Sam came back a few times and really was helpful to Jerry in getting things done. :-)

Originally he was going to complete a ramp as you can see in the next picture, it was for my mom since she is in a wheelchair now; but it ended up being so steep we decided to change it out to steps. She wouldn't have been able to get in the pool anyway, but we were hoping we could get her up there to sit with us and hang out. :-(

                               All finished just in time for Hayley's 16 th birthday party :-)

                          Kathleen was so excited waiting to get in for the first time this year!

                 Hayley's group of friends came over and had a blast, it was a wonderful day!

If you are interested in seeing more of Jerry's many projects, please click the tab at the top of my page labelled Jerry's Projects to see more. :-) He is quite talented and puts so much passion and love into his work.... we are very lucky :-)

                                                Hope you're staying cool this summer!!!

                                                                          Blessings,
                                                                                Jill

Our Garden Progression :-)

"The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body but the soul."   Alfred Austin

Been wanting to get this post on for awhile, still figuring out the photo issue with my computer, but at least I'm getting a few back so more posts to come! :-) Knowing this year I was going to have my surgery and not be able to bend down well for awhile, I talked with Jerry about making raised garden beds. He quickly agreed and made me these amazing plant stands to place my containers in. It was a day project for him, one I appreciated very much.

He also drilled several small holes into the bottom of the containers so the water would drain out.

On a different day (minus the sun ;-) He also took time to make me this lovely trellis and bought me a beautiful new clematis plant.  Each time we've moved I've had to leave one behind and they are one of my favorite plants. So starting again.....

                     He quickly found out the tree root was making it tricky to dig the hole, lol.

He also lovingly set up my rose garden, which they are currently blooming beautifully, I will post updated pictures of those soon. This was in the Spring as  I captured the sunlight falling over the garden as it set for the evening.

                  I planted several herbs in my garden, along with marigolds to deter some insects.

"I grow plants for many reasons: to please my eye or to please my soul, to challenge the elements or to challenge my patience, for novelty or for nostalgia, but mostly for the joy in seeing them grow"

                                                                  - David Hobson -

                 Jerry made these so Kathleen could plant her strawberry plant and cucumbers.

                  Hayley chose these as different flowers are her thing.... takes after her momma ;-)

I love climbing vines/flowers so much! These are doing really well and we will soon need a taller area for them to climb up on.

"A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust."   Gertrude Jekyll

These photos were all the early stages of my garden and now we have been enjoying the veggies from them. Although the squirrels have been too, lol.

Our pepper plant now, it's doing very well. We added some cow manure to the dirt mixture and it has really made a difference. A funny story.... this Easter Kathleen was hiding the eggs in the yard and was keeping mine in higher places so I wouldn't have to bend down, well sure enough she dug one down into the soil for me to find, not realizing there was cow manure in there... lol.... when I finally got the egg out, I decided not to eat the candy that was inside... ;-)

                                Tomatoes and brussel sprouts have taken off very well also!

Some goodies from our garden and just had to repost this one of Kathleen ;-) There is just something so wonderful about picking fresh veggies straight from the garden :-)

        If you're looking for a yummy recipe for the zucchini in your garden, here is one for you:

                                                                  Zucchini Sticks

1/2 c. plus 1 TBSP bread crumbs
1/4 cup Parmesan
1 1/2 tsp. fresh oregano finely minced
3 medium zucchinis
olive oil spray
freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 475 degrees
Combine bread crumbs, Parmesan and oregano on a plate.
Cut the squash into spears. Layer them in one layer on the baking sheet and spray with olive oil. Turn them over and spray again.
Roll each one in the crumb mixture and place back on oiled baking sheet.
Bake 8-10 minutes till brown and serve hot
Enjoy! :-)

Garden update and Photo Issues

"Remember that children, marriages, and flower gardens reflect the kind of care they get"  H.Jackson Brown Jr.

"The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just on the body but on the soul"  Alfred Austin

My beautiful, smiling Kathleen is proudly showing off her cucumbers she planted and grew on her own :-) Our raised beds have been doing well and I wanted to share more with you as far as pictures and what we have been doing but I am still having issues with uploading my pictures from my Mac. :-( Still trying to figure it out so I can post more frequently and show you what we've been up to! Bear with me as I try to get it all sorted out. :-)

        Summer is keeping us very busy with activities, vacation, house guests and more! :-)

  Really hope to have a longer posts with more pictures coming soon!! Have a wonderful week!!

                                                                          Blessings,
                                                                                Jill

New Additions to our Family and a Quick Catch Up!!!

Hello Everyone!!! :-)

Oh I've missed blogging so much! I feel like I have so much to tell you about all that has been going on! I'm still having some trouble loading in my photos so I will need to work on that and catch up on some previous posts I have planned out too, plus we just came back from vacation and I want to share that with you as well :-)

But I am super excited to quickly share that we have 2 new furry family members and that is our new pygmy goats Ruby (the mom) and Annabelle!!! We also know there is a good chance the mom Ruby may be expecting again..... so will keep you updated ;-)

                   Did you know that animal crackers are one of the goats favorite treats?? :-)

Ever since I was little and met my grandmother's dear friend Mrs. Rosalie and her husband Mr. Nearman and I saw their goats they raised I was so in love! I always said one day I would have goats of my own as pets and that has finally happened. The girls are excited about them too.

They are such loving, social, caring and fun to watch animals. We will be adding in some things for them to climb and play on. They love jumping up on us and interacting. They always make me smile :-)

          I will definitely be sharing more about them and how we did their home and fencing.

I have garden news to share with you all and so much more! If only there were more hours in the day, lol. Time is already flying by!! Will be taking the next couple days to come around and visit you all, can't wait to see what you've been up too!

                                        If you haven't already you can follow me on Facebook

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           I post on those places pretty frequently if I don't get a chance to blog as much as  I'd like to :-)
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                                                                     Have a fabulous day!!!


                                                                            Blessings,
                                                                                 Jill