Home Improvements (It is better, right?)

This took forever!

Jason and I have been working hard to make improvements to our yard. Jason's taken a liking to trying to grow things in pots, so as you can probably see in this picture, we now have pots covering a lot of our patio. We added mulch around the edge of the patio; the grass there was sparse at best in most areas, and there is a place that floods right in the middle. Jason is going to build a little "bridge" over the mulch directly in front of the door going out into the yard. It may not look like we've done much, but this is actually the product of several weekends' work.

Along the side of the house, we've planted strawberries. They've been growing well and producing berries, however we haven't gotten to eat any of them because some nasty white slug things keep eating them before we can pick them!

R.I.P

Originally, we planted azaleas on either side of the area where the bridge will go. They died. (Remember how I said one area flooded? Yeah, it still does when it rains a lot, even with the mulch.) So, after the drowning of the azaleas, we decided to plant these rhododendrons instead. Of course, we failed to notice when we purchased these beauties that they are low-light plants. Since they were planted out in the open, all that's left is burnt-to-a-crisp twigs. Oops...

Edgar always enjoys our pursuit of lawn perfection, because he gets to play with all kinds of cool new toys, like this giant piece of mulch he discovered. I'm glad someone gets to have fun!

We also bought a new grill, since we left our old one in El Paso when we moved. Jason was determined to get a charcoal grill (I think he's scared of the gas ones, though he claims it's just because it's annoying to fill the tank). At least it seems to be functional and we haven't destroyed it yet.

So, there you have it. Our new-and-improved backyard paradise. It's a little better, right?