Three Years Later

The new shed. Handsome, isn't he? Oh, I mean it.

Today marks our third year living in the backwoods of Tennessee. Anyone got anything longer in the "I Bet They Regret This" betting pool?

We celebrated by puttering about in 57-degree sunshine. Not bad for January! We finished the day with an hourlong hike, and would have set ablaze a ceremonial bonfire, except that the wood in the fire pit was soaked from yesterday's rain.

Mason has made great progress on the second shed, which now only needs some soffit material and paint. Today he started moving in so much stuff from the first shed, that the new one started to look a bit crowded. Oyyy. But the first shed looks great!

I finally finished layering mulched leaves over all the dirt in the yard. It's a somewhat ridiculous process: Rake fall's leaves up off the yard, shred the leaves, redistribute the leaves all over the yard. All in a bid to improve our dirt. I also spent some time contemplating a fenced veggie garden area ... all in due time.

Mulched leaves now cover all of the backyard planting areas.
Now I just need plants. (Note the almost full moon rising.)

All this time off from working at the garden nursery has also meant a whole lot more cooking. In the past two days, it's been Martha Stewart's ribeye steak and smashed potatoes, Martha's delicious mini biscotti (With grapefruit zest! So yummy!) and America's Test Kitchen's chicken stew, which was outstanding.

So, who's visiting next?