The Real Work Begins

Gosh folks, sorry to leave you hanging for so long! We've been spending the past weeks getting settled in our new home & neighborhood, dealing with the obligatory plumbing/electrical problems that always surface when moving into a new place, and unexpectedly commencing homeschool a la kindergarten. Busy, busy, busy! But now that we've settled into somewhat of a daily pattern it's time to bust out the tools and start work in earnest on what really needs to be done here in the Nuclear Bungalow.

Since we in the Rockies are rapidly closing on "frost date", I'm starting with that exterior job closest to my heart, planting the roses(cheers!). In preparation for the planting I get to do FUN things like tilling/composting the site, removing cat pee bushes(yes I know that's not what they're called), and knocking down the world's ugliest brick planter. Which has already broken one sledge handle. Hopefully the mason's chisel will work a little better, but there is a strong possibility that I will be planting around the thing for now.

So here are a few pics of what my front yard has looked like up to this point:

And this is what's going in the ground today:

Also, if I can find a "Green Gage"plum and "Blenheim" apricot locally that aren't budget-breaking these babies will be in rings around the trunks, in the island part of our yard: