Neal bought his house about a year before we started dating. Other than some early renovations, I’ve witnessed most of the changes he’s made to the little yellow ranch in the woods. I’m most sentimental about the stone wall he built at the edge of the back yard, where the woods begin. He acquired some beautiful stones with cool history and spent the entire first summer (at least) that we dated moving them around. Many of our early phone conversations included discussions of the shape of the wall, progress he had made, and changes he planned to make over the next week.
I want our yard and gardens to look like this is a great-aunt’s house (well, I am now a great-aunt, not just a great aunt, so I suppose it is by virtue of my living here), specifically, my great-aunt Lou’s yard. I remember it as small and magical. The stone wall brings us close to my vision. We have lots of hosta and fern growing back there, as well as a plant from the greenhouse at Mohonk, where we honeymooned, and a plant from the restaurant where we had our wedding brunch.
I spend a lot of time in the back yard in this fabulous weather, and I enjoy looking at the stone wall. It reminds me of Neal’s dedication to creating a beautiful space for us; it reminds me of our wedding; it reminds me of our courtship. It may be the most sentimental part of our home.
What has you feeling sentimental this week?
Lovely! I wish either one of us were handy enough to build such a wall on our property. This week, I’m feeling sentimental about martial arts. That’s what I wrote about for Sentimental Saturday.
Do you have before and after photos? It sounds like you’ve worked in every room in the house.
Love the picture, love the sentiment too. Often a garden tells you more about the occupants of the house than the furnishings. This wall shows that home really is where your hearts are.
Maddie, I bet if I dug deep into my archived photos, I’d have a few early pictures of the wall. There aren’t any from before N. built it, though. I’ve gotten better at documenting renovations as we do more. We have (or I should say, N. has) renovated every room in the house at this point. Next up is our mudroom/guest room addition, but we’re going to wait until next May to break ground.
sentimental……remembering vacationing in Door County with my kids ten years ago was a journey of emotions….and remembering Huck our dog was with us…..I bought a small Retriever angel at a store in door county for him
Hmmm…my husband’s grandmother’s rosebush which is over 100 years old…our first fence that is falling down. Got to do something with that wood. Vacationing with cousins. Thanks for the post Bev!