Our New House

This is a picture of the house when we first looked at it in March. I thought it looked like a barracks. . . fitting. we were actually really happy to have such a blank slate to work with. The family who had lived here before us painted over the brick. This gave us a VERY blank slate.

We did not think there was a lawn to revive so we had actually planned quite a bit of money in our budget for the broken sprinkler system and grass. The sprinkler system ended up needing very little repair and the lawn came back quickly. We still can't believe it. Then we hung shutters, painted the front door red and hung a flag.

Here is another angle. We got one big tree out of our deal. This is it. There are a few trees on the perimeter of the property but they aren't in great shape and they are pretty small. I feel pretty insecure about picking plants but I think we made some good choices. I am anxious to see what it will look like when things grow in.

This is from the road in front of our house. I think Paul is still a little disappointed that is is paved. If we are here long enough we plan to do some major landscaping out in front. Right now it is one big square. Any suggestions? We are also going to move the walk to the front door so it isn't so narrow and so close to the house.