I found the perfect fall runner at Crate and Barrel. It is 120 inches long and I love it. As you can see, I also found napkins for $2.95 each. Bargain!

In honor of the fact that summer returned to Oregon this week, thus giving me the opportunity to actually go outside and take pictures without getting soaked, I thought I’d share some photos of our new yard.

Picture it: Spring, 2010. Things start growing (and blooming) in our yard. We’re thrilled. But, then more things start growing and blooming. And, suddenly our yard looks like the yard of a crazy old lady that plants everything. I’m sure the previous owners fancied themselves gardeners, but they really had no damn clue what they were doing. There was stuff planted in our yard that had no chance of surviving.

I don’t even know how we got to the front door.

Or, to our car.

Bill and I come from the “Pay Someone to Have it Done Right The First Time” School of Thought and decided that it was probably high time to hire a landscaper because chances were that the jungle our front yard had become would only get worse. We interviewed a couple companies and found one we loved. Hiring a contractor is hard work, you guys.
And, then one day, I came home to this.  And, a Honey Bucket in my yard. (Side note: Kerri came over a couple times while we were on our honeymoon and she reports that she saw TWO PEOPLE using our Honey Bucket. People of Greater Portland: You are NOT ALLOWED to enter someone’s yard to use their Honey Bucket. Also, you are disgusting if you think that’s okay.)

But, one glorious day…our yard looked like this.

Did I tell you all that I got a new car? Because I did (in June). There’s still some work to do in the back yard (though we have a lovely brick patio back there now), but that will all have to wait until Spring.

So, what do you think?

(full set of yard pictures)