The Sears Manor

Ok, so I know people would probably rather read about the new baby, or the girls' dance recital, or what we did for Easter, etc. but the following is what we've been passionate about lately.

I think we've been a little land-deprived in the past. You may think we've gone a little too far, crammed a few too many things, given ourselves too many projects, but after living in small spaces for so many years we have learned to maximize every inch of space. We just can't function any other way.

I am referring to our patch of garden paradise we've started.... but first let me show you our house.

That's right people!! We own a house!!!!!

(built in 1935, notice the giant oak trees in back, our newest members of the family, beautiful beautiful majestic trees but they are fond of drinking from and blocking our sewage pipes- NOT GOOD)

Instead of commuting an hour each way to work, we are now blocks away from Enoch's office and he WALKS.

Instead of only seeing the kids on weekends (they were always sleeping when he was coming and going to work) we now have three square meals a day together as a family.

Instead of falling asleep to neighboring tenants' domestic disputes we now enjoy the neighborhood sounds of birds, distant trains, and lawn mowers.

Instead of piling everything we own in every possible corner (bikes and bike trailers in the living room, etc.), now we just stick it in the garage!

But the best part is having a yard.

So here is the tour-

Side Yard

You can tell where the property line is, haha. And if you look closely among the weeds you can even see our four grape vines we planted.

Back Yard

We added all that dirt in the backyard. Made it hilly. Killed our lawn. Now our lawn is a combo of pre-existing weeds, freshly laid sod, and little baby grass from seeds. And yes, our garage is separate from the house, we come in through the alley.

Mini Side Yard

So what do you do with that sliver of space between the fence and the garage? I cleared it out, added a few chairs, and told the kids it was their secret clubhouse. Conveniently there is a fence post missing so they can all take turns petting the neighbor dog.

Tetherball

Coolest thing ever, thanks Sandy!

And now we come to my babies!

Our apricot tree

Two apple trees

Boysenberry

Zucchini

Snap Peas

Peach- Enoch got creative with the pruning...

Another peach tree, Rivka's sunflower plant she grew from a seed, and the kids flowers they picked out themselves. Jude likes these the best and picks them when we aren't looking. Only the violas have survived.

Our Fruit Cocktail tree- two branches are nectarine and one branch is plum. its a bit older and massive than the other trees- we dug it out of Sue and Chad's yard.

Enoch's other love- the avocado trees. We found a fake plant in the dumpster and put it in the avocado corner to keep them company. The fluorescent leaves are rather cheery.

Another nectarine tree

My pride and joy- our two cherry trees. I salivate just looking at them.

Pomegranate

Two kinds of blueberries

I wanted to document that now so we can see how they grow over the coming years.

Our garden looks the best close up; here are a few of the most precious parts.

A peach!

A nectarine!

A baby sunflower!

And a snap pea flower!

We have been so consumed with the outside, that we haven't really gotten to any of our projects on the interior of the house yet. The one thing we did do before even moving in was finishing/oiling the original oak floors. GORGEOUS!!

All four walls of our living room are fire-engine-red. Its oppressive and dark and I think it makes the children angry. So I was excited about painting over it, and pretty proud that I at least got primer on one half of one wall.

And this is my vintage oven, its totally awesome. Makes me want to wear an apron and heels.

Stay tuned for more updates, there is always plenty going on at our house, its just a matter of finding time to blog about it.