With our schematic landscape plans in hand (thanks to our fabulous landscape architect, Dave Walsh) we planted our first two trees this week -- almost a year to the day since we bought the house! The overall site plan includes formal and ornamental plantings in the front and side yards (which are east and south-facing), and a kitchen garden, lawn, patio, kids' play area, and shade garden in the back (which are west and north facing). We started by getting the old pine tree stump on the corner ground out, then Guy Shepard (a local arborist and friend) worked with Bruce to prune the Bradford Pear tree by the driveway. Guy also helped us select and locate our new trees: a Magnolia for the corner and a dogwood for the other side of the front porch. Already the yard looks more private and more welcoming at the same time. We had a bunch of neighbors over this morning, and everyone enjoyed sitting on the front porch in the sunshine while Bruce and Amelia mulched the trees- a lovely fall day!

We painted the exterior of the house in the spring of 2009 -- what a difference! We considered a few different color schemes, but finally settled on two shades of green with white trim, consistent with the period of the house. Our painter, Michael Schiller, did an amazing job, starting with extensive carpentry and repair work (replacing and cleaning up the soffits, porch details, shingles, etc) then scraping, priming and painting. It took about two months in all - a total transformation. Michael told us that the son of the original owner and builder of the house stopped by one morning and was thrilled to see all the improvements, and wished his mother was still alive to see it.