The pictures say 'serene' to me...nice fragrances like newly mowed lawn, roses....fresh flowers... Your love and joy shine thru...!!!!

What an absolutely beautiful transformation!

Like Carol said, everything is just serene!

I really like all the cool things your hubby made and I really want mine to build me the flower cart that you had at the beginning of your photos.

Thank you for sharing your garden. It's so lovely and I enjoy the winter scenes as well.

Thank you for sharing your garden with us.
It is great and you have shared how it developed over time.

Lots of inspiration in your gardens - thank you for sharing them with us!

Thanks Aloha, vic, Caroline, and dave! I just did a walkaround and pulled some rose of sharon starts (they come up everywhere!) and some wild violets (hate them). It does take work, but we know it looks nice and is worth it.

Vickie, your gardens are beautiful, you have done a fantastic job!!! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks, mcash70! It was fun to do.

I love your gardens. You have a great "eye" for design and color. I have to say, though, what I really loved was seeing how your house became your home. You've done a fantastic job on adding outdoor spaces and transforming the original house into a spacious and lovely home.

Very nice! I have a little plow just like yours! The birdhouses are cute, especially the unique outhouse. And the bridge. How big is the drainage ditch? Does it usually have water in it? Not this year for sure. You have done a lot of work, and it shows.

Absolutely beautiful, Vickie. I have a windmill like yours too! Only a bit smaller. Is that a solar powered light on top, or do you have it hooked up to the spinning part of the windmill? Mines doesn't turn all the time, but on some days, it turns like crazy. I told my son it would be great if he can rig up something that will take advantage of the wind power.

Bubbles, Thanks for looking and for the compliment. Sometimes when we come home and see our house, we just can't believe it is ours. It certainly isn't the fanciest, but we love it.

Mary, the drainage ditch comes from the drains in our garage. The pipe was sticking out in the lawn and the dip was just deep enough that I was afraid someone would come running around the house and twist their ankle, so the bridge idea was born. It is not really very deep, but we added rock around it to make it look like a little dry creekbed. Here is a picture that may give you a better idea of what it looks like. This is from 2009 and I don't have the porcupine grass anymore.

soilsandup, my husband thought it would look cute with a solar powered light on top of the windmill. He's really the creative one in the family! I'll have to tell him about hooking the light up to the windmill... he will get a kick out of that and think of how he can rig that up. Ours has rusted some over the years, but he keeps WD-40 on it and tries to keep it going. We have to keep the honeysuckle cut back quite a bit or it will choke up the windmill too!

Good idea to make a dry creek bed where there is water occasionally. I was picturing something bigger with water in it most of the time. I've also got a windmill. Mine came in a box and is aluminum, about 6 ft tall. Hubby drilled holes near the bottom of the legs, inserted rebar and we piled some basketball sized rocks on it so that our winds will never move the thing. I watch it to see which way the wind is blowing and how strong. I dumped soil over the rocks and planted hens and chicks and other succulents at the base. I've always thought that it should be doing some real work. Never thought about a solar light, but did think it could pump water if we had a little water feature near it.

Edited to fix my typo.

I wish I had a water feature! Every time I mention a water feature, my husband harps about how much electricity it might take to run the pump all summer long. Oh well, I don't fuss too much about it because he does so much other stuff. I don't know if our windmill would generate enough power to do a water feature, but that is an interesting thought.

I like your idea of having something at the base of the windmill. I don't have anything on mine, but some phlox, liatris, and daylilies grow nearby. I watch our windmill to see which way the wind is blowing too. It's a garden feature with function!

I just discovered this, and am so impressed! It's absolutely beautiful and must be very enjoyable for you! You have me drooling and wishing I could be there in person!

Why thank you, Karen! It was so very nice to see this comment this morning:)

We do love our little corner of the world. The large oak tree next to the wood fence was taken down this week. Very disheartening to lose it, but it was hollow at the base and was deemed too close to the house to keep. So now I will lose all the shade plants under it, but will have a sunny place for something else.

It all looks so peaceful and enjoyable. Sorry for the loss of the tree, but that is the nature of gardening. They are never finished, and always evolving. I'm sure in a year or so you'll have the former shade garden looking lovely too.

You've definitely made up for lost time for those years you didn't garden.
It's really beautiful !
I just spent 30 minutes going over all your photo's. Thanks for sharing !

Thanks, Mike! I do enjoy it and am glad that my husband goes along with most of the things that I want to do. I certainly couldn't do it by myself

I'm back for another look, and still in awe of what you have accomplished! It also makes me feel nostalgic because I was born in Indiana, but left very early. All of our relatives are still there. Things are a lot greener there!