Fathers Day

Twice this year we've convinced our parents to volunteer themselves to doing yardwork. Do I sound like a horrible person if I say they worked on Mother's Day and Father's Day? Somehow we convinced them that they should be doing yardwork instead of relaxing and letting us pamper them.

To be fair, I did ask my dad to bring his rototiller when he visited over the weekend, but I'm pretty sure that he volunteered to do the tilling. I think he wanted to make sure we knew how it worked.

For us, the purpose for the rototilling was really just an attempt to get rid of weeds. There's a back section of our yard that we just can't manage. I don't know how so many weeds propegate there - they just do. I don't know why I thought loosening and blending the dirt around the weeds would make them go away. Have I mentioned I'm new at this gardening thing?

It was sort of a wet and gloomy weekend, but we made the most of it by having a Father's Day picnic inside with my sister and her family, who had also come to visit. Dad managed to get a small section of the yard tilled in a couple of hours and we all had an opportunity to get a little muddy.
While Dad was tilling, hubby dug up the massive tree root left by the cherry tree we'd had cut down in the spring. Ella watched for a bit while we all worked in the rain, then decided she wanted to get in on the fun.

Our goal is to flatten out the back section of the yard, re-seed, and put in some nice border plants. At some point we'll have a chicken coop and a stone patio area with a fire pit. This all seems like such a slow process, but someday it will be a nice little oasis.