Rome or Rhody?

I used to spend a lot of time in my backyard. When I was a smoker I would sit on the back steps of my deck, listening to the waterfall and watching the dragonflies in the summer. At night I would watch the stars, what I could see of them past the light pollution of Providence, Fall River, and Newport.

I don't smoke anymore so I don't spend as much time out on my deck, or in the backyard, as I used to. I do wander out from time to time to just take it all in. It's pleasant back there, peaceful and relaxing. It's a good place to just go and think.

Spring 2000

We moved into Chez Sarge in the fall of 1999. The backyard was then just an expanse of dead and dying grass which had been the playground of the previous owners' rather large dog, I think he was a Rottweiler. While he was friendly enough with humans, he and the lawn were not friends.

That photo above shows The Missus Herself beginning the landscaping process. (Our next door neighbor took the photo, she said it would make a great "before and after." When you're right, you're right. I can barely remember the old wasteland before the lady my wife began "terraforming" the place to make it habitable for humans.

That expanse of raw dirt just past the chain link fence is where we stripped out a big patch of dead crabgrass. You think the stuff is hard to get rid of when its alive? We had to rent a machine which cuts and rolls up the turf. We used that to build up that oval section she's working on in the picture. (The statue in the opening photo is just to the left of the mound. You can see it in the next photo.)

Spring 2016

As you might well imagine, a lot of work went into that garden, most of which The Missus Herself did. I'm good at digging and moving heavy things, she's the artiste. I'm just the manual labor, and I'm okay with that.

That dirt where the crabgrass was stripped out? Here's what it looks like now, well, in the spring.

Spring 2016

The pond, the hedge, the gardens, the flowers, all put in since the spring of 2000. Heck, even the shed had a "face lift," new color, new roof.

Fall 2015

A lot of water under the bridge since we moved in in late September of 1999. The Missus Herself completely changed the inside too. The woman has a talent for these things, I swear, her mind never stops working. If she sees something that needs improving, well Sarge, get out the wallet and grab the tools, whatever it is, it happens.

I am blessed.

Though there are days I kind of wish she would slow down a little. Neither of us is getting any younger.