Fayetteville, Arkansas
  
         
 
Our Home
 
         
 
 
  When we bought the house, the front and side were pretty much overgrown with trees, brush and vines. Also, there were trees planted in much of the front yard, which is the drainage field for the septic system. The river birches loved it, and the lawn stayed green right through the summer. We removed the trees, and also cleared out the brush and vines. Neighbors were astonished to find out the place had a basement level. The deck is a pleasant place to sit and in the winter is our bird feeding station. The variety of song birds here is better than anywhere we have lived. Not so many hummers as in California, but they do come to the hanging planters on the deck.  
 
 
  Behind the house are three terraces. The stone walls were poorly constructed, without proper footings or drainage and when the brush and trees were left uncut for about 5 years, the roots and the water pressure caused the walls to fail. We cleared out all the brush and have build two massive buttresses/pillars of solid concrete to stabilize the wall. Now we are excavating behind the wall to open up the drainage pipes and further strengthen the walls. Should be done in about a year. Our neighbor up the hill is also re-doing a rock wall and adding another to terrace his back yard, so we should have quite a showpiece when it is done. Also behind the house, we are building raised-bed gardens along the first terrace wall for a kitchen garden and herbs. It looks like the terraces will make fine gardens in a year or so.  
  In the meantime, we are gardening our front yard. We put in multiple small raised beds and are growing vegetables there this summer (2005). to the right is a shot of our tomatoes. We may convert the raised beds to flowers and rosebushes when we get the terrace gardens established.
Or we may continue to grow vegetables in the front yard. It is very sunny and makes a great garden. And after all, we are in the Ozarks, so a front yard garden should be alright.  
         
 
Shots from the house. Built in the 1950s, it is typical for that era. It was re-done in 1997. Left is the living room fireplace, right is the bedroom, and below are shots of the library newly created in another bedroom. The third bedroom is Ellen's office.
 
 
 
 
In early 2006, we bought a second house and spent spare time fixing it up. You can see it Here.