What a great project!

I love New Orleans. I live about as far away from New Orleans in every sense of the word, as is humanly possible. However, that doesn't dampen my feelings for that wonderful place.

One of the things that I adore about New Orleans, especially in the French Quarter, but all over the areas that I have visited, is the way that they have found a good use for every single space. I *adore* the courtyards, often hidden behind a wall or a fence or a gate. The hotel we've stayed at each time we've gone to New Orleans has a wonderful courtyard to just sit and relax. I love the courtyard lifestyle.

Well, when we remodeled our garage, a few years back (and by remodeling, I mean tearing down everything except 1 small section of 1 wall.....), the idea that I'd floated a few years ago, about putting a courtyard between the house & the garage came back with a vengeance. So..... last weekend, right after the 4th festivities, I started whining (yes, I was whining) about the fact that this entire summer was going to go by and I wouldn't be able to sit on my courtyard and sip iced tea (or anything else).

You see, we were going to go to Chicago, eat at a restaurant we found when we were there at Thanksgiving, and take our Neighborhood Tour that we won in the VanderCook Silent Auction. That, and not a lot else - maybe do a bicycle tour or a Segway tour like we've talked about doing for years.

Mike, ever the wise one, said when my whining ensued anew last weekend, "well, we can go to
Chicago, and no, you won't have your courtyard this summer, either. Or, we could stay here, and I could put in the courtyard."

Chicago or Courtyard became the question. And while I *love* Chicago, I *LOVE* New Orleans, and the idea of finally having my courtyard won out. So, we are here in Manistee, and Mike is busily working on the courtyard, putting in 10 - 12 hour work days. He's happy as a clam, even if he is a little achey.

And me? Well, I got up this morning and noticed that the weather prediction was for it to only get up to about 67 degrees today (that is an entirely different blog post, I fear...) and so it would be a good day for me to clean out the old, overgrown flower beds in our yard, and clear out some of the brush between out house and the house next door (where my art studio is located).

Geesh, what a good idea that was (tongue squarely in my cheek...), and now I'm wondering if my 50 year old body was up to the task. I called a couple of the neighbor kids who are in the band, and asked if they'd like a little spending money in exchange for hauling, bagging, and pulling to the curb.

But... I got to learn how to use a chain saw (and there's more that Chain Saw Cindy will be cuttin' down in the future, now that I know how to tame that machine!), and I must admit, I'm on a roll here, and I think the backyard will look pretty good by the end of August!!

I'll post pictures of the progress soon - Hope everything is well with you, where ever you are!