a little outdoor space

This is our side yard. I almost never mention it (because really, the front and back yards are enough to tax anyone's imagination), but it exists, and it's really quite large. If I were able to just poop money whenever I wanted or something, I'd build a sunroom off the side of the house here, as it's really ideal for it -- lots of space and lovely quality of light. Alas, I don't have the financial -- or intestinal -- fortitude for that, so it just stays the way it is.


The best thing about the side yard, though, is that around this time of year it starts to smell really, really good -- because the roses are in bloom!


Whether or not we're going to be able to keep the roses when we finally "do the yard", as we've taken to saying, is still up in the air. They are so tangled and wound around the chain link fence that separates the side yard from the back yard that there may be issues, as that fence absolutely has to go. We're planning on hiring landscapers whenever the mythical yard-doing actually occurs, so they may have some tips for saving the roses. We'll see.