Surprise!

That's the view from our bathroom window: an actual yard! Mickey was pretty surprised when he came home Saturday from a week-long drill to find that much had been done while he was away.

(I was pretty excited that the Bilco door is actually at ground level now.)

While Mick was still getting used to the idea of having a yard, bright and early Sunday morning, Marty and John and Judy arrived to work with him. John and Judy measured and cut porch rafters. Mickey was able to shim and nail most of them by the end of the day.

Marty and Judy made many trips back and forth and up and down moving shingles (which, I have discovered, are much heavier than they look!)

Thank you all so much for your help!

The next morning Mickey shoveled some of the rock that came up from the well to make a path through our newly muddy yard from the driveway to the front door.

Thanks to the huge head start on Sunday, Mickey was able to finish the rafters on Monday.

Don't the birds mouths look incredible?

A walk to our front door...

Mick also did some work in the yard on Monday.

He piled brush on the slope to prevent erosion, reduce seeding requirements, and build fertility. (You can see a potential root cellar on the right of the brush pile.)

He also took out a couple more trees and began to lay out future garden beds.

The beginnings of our boreal forest.

Getting closer to Home Sweet Home!