Outdoor Tour

 I've posted pictures here and there of our house and yard.  But now that summer is fully here, and since I took these pictures for my father-in-law and mother-in-law, I thought I'd give you the thorough tour.  Outside, that is.  I plan to do a complete tour of the inside at some point too.  Just as I waited for the outside to fully "bloom," I'm waiting for the inside to be at least mostly arranged and settled before taking any official pictures.  It's a gradual process, trying to obtain the needed items to get it "fixed up."  I'm not talking anything fancy.  Just curtains that match and furniture that actually fits the space it needs to be in.  It takes time.  We're getting closer.

Back to the tour...above you see the top of our driveway.  Very exciting.  :)  I'm basically standing on the road to take the picture.  It's actually a pretty busy country road, but I was careful not to get run over.  If you look carefully, you can see the top of the roof of the house at the far left in about the middle of the picture.

Heading down the driveway.

The shed.

The parking area.

The path to the back of the house.

 We've begun to redo the landscaping along the front of the house.  To the right side of the porch is done and to the left and in front of the porch is not.

 The pond.  Also re-done, but not done.  Someone gave us a new liner and the boys cleaned it out, replaced the torn liner and refilled it.  It's coming along.  They have caught some minnows and some bluegill that they relocated to our pond.  They seem to be keeping the water pretty clean. 

Many a frog has found a comfortable home here.

A dragonfly nymph from the pond. 

"Fishing" in the pond.

Roses.

Back deck.

We have one flat, un-treed area behind the house.  You can see to the left where the old firepit was and then where we are building a new one.  Also, at the far end you can see where we've been working at putting in a vegetable garden.  I'm not sure how successful a garden will be here, as there is still so much shade, but we're trying it out. 

Pears!  We discovered one pear tree near the house.  They're getting bigger. 

And of course, Jones kids.  They're part of the "yard," for sure.

Cooper's Rock - June 2012

We made a spontaneous trip up to Cooper's Rock on Monday.  We usually have visited the lovely area before this time of year.  We've been so busy here at our own property, I guess it didn't occur to us to go until just now.  It was refreshing.  We never fail to enjoy the exploring/hiking/playing excursion.  It's just so beautiful up there.

 We saw this tiny, baby fawn on our drive in.  

When we arrived at the parking area, we were greeted by a scupture of a sleeping giant, made by some WVU students in honor of earth day.  It was very interesting to inspect it and see how they made it.  After that, we ate some snacks, played on the playground equipment, and made a picture stop at a picnic table.  Last, we hiked part of a trail and then explored in, around, and on the wonderful rock formations. 

For some reason, I'm having trouble getting captions in between pictures.  Most all is self-explanatory anyway.  There is one picture of Elijah touching the moss.  He was so fascinated with the moss.  I think he thought he'd found heaven when we got there.  He had the time of his life.  In the above picture he figured out that Mom was trying to get everyone to put on a certain facial expression for the group photo.  He wasn't exactly sure how to do it, but he was trying to conform. 

A Nightgown For Millie

If you want to read about Millie's nightgown that we made together, visit my other blog over at Tending Our Gardens.    :)

Providential Meeting

 Last week, the Lord arranged for us to spontaneously meet and fellowship with a lovely family from another CRE church in Virginia.  As they were traveling home from Michigan, their vehicle broke down right here in Morgantown.  We found out from their pastor that they were here and were able to host them in our home for a few hours while they waited for a repair to be done.  The reason I took some pictures was because we enjoyed the time so much and because they are such interesting people.  Above is a picture of my kids with the father.  He is sewing deer skin leather together into breeches.  Although skilled at working with his hands in different capacities, he is a shoemaker by profession.  This family actually lives in Colonial Williamsburg and he works in a shoemaker's shop, making shoes in the 18th century style and interpreting history to the public.  You can probably tell just from the photo how good with children he is.  Ben brought him some of his stuffed animals that had holes in them.  Our guest gave him a needle and thread and showed him how to stitch them right up. 

Thirteen year old daughter, reading to Elijah.

 Fifteen year old daughter and mother helping me cook up some quesadillas for lunch.

Seven year old daughter and Cecily cooking up something good in the little kitchen.

And the best dog-guest in the world, Virginia.  The kids adored her.

Not pictured were 17 year old son and 12 year old son.  I'm not sure that I saw the 12 year old much at all.  He disappeared with the older boys and I barely saw a sign of them.  They had such a great time.  A rare treat.  

We've marveled again and again at God's plan and goodness to give us this fun, encouraging and edifying afternoon with these folks.  We hope to see them again someday, this side of heaven.