Deven finished our fireplace for me just in time for Christmas! It’s gorgeous! Here are the final phases of construction…

Sanding, painting, caulking…

Ready for stone! He laid it all out on the ground first to measure each piece…

Late nights the week before Christmas!

He is super talented.

Next day: ready for the bottom section.

And here are some pictures I took today of it all finished! All the Christmas decorations are gone. :( So sad.

 It’s so beautiful! My favorite part of our whole house.

 I am so thankful to have such a talented hubby… thank you, Deven, for using your time, talent and effort to build this! I love you. :)

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My garden is really starting to take off! I had to move the zucchini and yellow squash out of the box and onto the hillside… they were already too big! Second crop of corn and lettuce planted… tomatoes are coming in. Can’t wait to eat some of these delicious veggies! Oh and check out the little decorative wall I built out of leftover bricks we found… and the mulch makes it look nice and pretty. :)

Bush beans.

Regular and cherry tomatoes.

Lettuce.

Carrots.

Zucchini and corn.

I love spending time down here in the warm, summer evenings… it’s a nice relaxing break from being inside at my desk most of the day.

Yay! What do you think? :)

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Well, my garden is all planted! Check out my little veggies!

Bush beans and tomatoes…

Artichoke and bell peppers…

I also planted corn, lettuce and carrots from seed, and squashes from seedling. I can’t wait to eat some fresh vegetables! :)

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I started building garden boxes a few weeks ago… and today: I’m going to Home Depot to buy some veggies to plant! I’m doing about half from seedlings, half from seed. I’m so excited! A big THANK-YOU to my wonderful hubby for helping me out with this project. When I’m not strong enough to finish screwing the boxes together, he finishes them for me. He’s got the know-how on leveling the boxes, preparing the soil, and most importantly, plumbing the boxes for water! He is a genius. And such a good husband. Thanks, hubby! I promise I’ll make you some good salads once the fruits (or in this case, veggies) of our labor are here!

Here’s the process… first, cutting the redwood to size and lining them all up. I did this part all by myself!

This is how far I got by myself… Deven helped finish them up, then applied the sealer.

My cowboy. :)

Plumbing the sprinklers! No, the faucet is not that high. :)

Setting the boxes and leveling them…

Us! And a little dirt…

Lastly, we lined the bottom of the boxes with chicken wire to ward off the gophers.

Stay tuned for my next post and you can meet my vegetables! :)

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Deven has been plugging away on the fireplace… it looks so good! I am amazed at all the detail he’s added to it. Next up- finish the woodwork, caulk and paint it, then place the stone in the center!

• our house project