My MIL's Yard.....

[DianaB]

We are having an outdoor wedding for Jaci. My MIL has one of the most beautiful yards I've ever seen but it is really run down and hasn't had any care for years. Glen and the guys have been doing a lot of work......taking down an old log cabin.....a real shame. We've all been over pulling weeds, painting, digging out old sidewalks, trimming bushes, and other yard work. We have a couple more weeks of getting it all ready but it's going to be so beautiful!!! We've also been planting flowers in pots. A couple of business have offered plant stands and flowers in pots as well!!!

Here's some pictures that I took probably a month or so ago.....it looks a lot different since we've done clean up!!

The first couple of pictures is where we'll be having the wedding. The audience will be angled to a corner that's 2/3rds the way down the trellis.....there's a short wall across the yard at that point. Everyone will be walking down the trellis......whether is to be seated or being in the wedding party. I have ferns to hang all down the sides of the trellis!!! So pretty!!!

[DianaB]

Here's some pictures of the log cabin. It was such a neat place that it was hard to tear it down but as you can see....the roof had caved in.

The fireplace was left standing. There's a tile patio on the east side and the kids tore all the ivy off and are planning on having their wedding cake in front of it. One the back side where the log cabin was at there was a nice tiled floor that we left. We're going to use it for dancing on!!

[DianaB]

Here's more pictures of the log cabin.

The fountain in the third picture is being worked on and will be somewhat operating! My husband will do anything for his girls!! I keep telling him that it's just for one day!!!

My MIL has been very gracious about everything we're doing. We did have one of Glen's sisters that got a little upset over us pulling some vines off but I decided that if we were doing the work then we'd do it the way that WE wanted it done. My MIL hasn't said a negative word and has gone along with everything......which is unusual when I'm involved. So.......so far so good!!!

[DianaB]

A few pictures that include my MIL's house!! Such a beautiful place.....it's too bad that she's a hoarder and the house is full of STUFF!!!

My BIL, Burke, is on the tractor cleaning up the log cabin.

[DianaB]

A few more pictures of the clean up and the neices, nephew, and grandchildren that helped.

You can see the tile floor that was left.

[DianaB]

The first picture is of a play house with a sandbox and a wading pool in front of it. It's never had a roof or a floor in it that I've ever seen but must have really been something in it's day!!! The man that built this owned a brick yard and it shows!!! There are brick paths all through the yard and some of them are getting the dirt cleaned off for the wedding!!

Isn't this a beautiful place? I forgot to mention that there is a brick wall that surrounds the whole yard with iron gates at both of the driveway exits. I'm just praying that it's a nice day with cool temperatures and no rain!!!! Otherwise it will be at the church and that would be a real shame!

[gja1000]

Oh Diana! It is absolutely gorgeous. There is nothing I like more than old houses and gorgeous backyards like that. The setting is perfect for a wedding!!! I can hardly wait to see the pictures!!!

I wish I'd know you were taking down an old log cabin. There is a business in central Texas that travels all over the country taking down old log cabins. They transport them back to their location, repair/replace all the broken or missing parts of the cabin, sell them and then take them to the new location and set them up again. You'd be surprised at the number of people who buy old restored log cabins! Gary and I love to go to the yard and look at some of the cabins. Some of the ones that are in good shape, they reassemble on the yard so you can see them. When someone buys it, they take them apart again and set them up for the new owner. I don't even want to think how much it costs!

I just know the wedding is going to be beautiful! I'm glad your MIL is cooperating, so far!

[DianaB]

When my in-laws bought this place 33 years ago it was just beautiful!! The log cabin was built about 1930 or so. In fact some pictures have been found that show the yard as it used to be back then......very interesting!! Since my MIL didn't keep the inside of the house clean....my FIL didn't do any thing to the outside out of rebellion to her. The roof needed to be replaced years ago but no one ever did anything about it.....until it got so bad that it finally collapsed. Everything was so rotten that there really wasn't much worth saving on it. It was very sad to see it go........My MIL will not turn the house over to someone who will fix it up and take care of it because that's what she's always planned on doing and she can't bear the thought of someone else doing it.......Trust me.....we tried to buy this place before we built our house.

Above the garage is an apartment.....the previous owner's children tore out the sheet rock but the studs are still there. The original owners had servants that cooked and cleaned. We know some of the people who worked and lived there.

My MIL has so much stuff and can't hardly get around and she only lives in two rooms of the house now. The porch area with all of the windows is where her washer and dryer are at, then there's the kitchen, a walk through room with cabinets in it (a pantry/hallway), then there's a back room--like a family room with an attached bathroom, where my MIL has her bed. It's so sad that the rest of the house isn't lived in.

[gja1000]

That really is sad, Diana. Old houses like that can just be so beautiful with the proper care and maintenance. What will happen to the house when your MIL no longer lives there? I hope someone will fix it up and care for it properly!

[DianaB]

I don't know what will happen to it. The house and all of the "stuff" is going to her two daughters........the three boys are getting the tools and equipment. She has it set up that way on purpose........it's to make sure that things only go to HER children.....not their spouses. We've already had our problems over this. There's absolutely nothing that I want....if there is I'll buy it at an auction....if there is one....like everyone else. My MIL and her family all have problems accepting anyone that's not a blood relative.

Get this......one day my son, Feyn, and his wife and kids were eating at a restaurant when they ran into one of my MIL's sisters......She made a comment about how thinned down the Lambert blood was getting with all of the many generations that are coming!!!! However, she let my son and his family know that THEY are Lamberts!!!! Do they want to just in-breed?! My son just laughed at the comment!!

MY family is NOT like this at ALL and I have a hard time accepting it. My DIL and SIL's are loved and accepted as much as my own children. When I think of leaving things to my kids....Tammy is included in getting stuff.

I just try to stay away from them because I always do something wrong or I come home upset with them.

[gja1000]

Bitterness and pettiness eats away at the soul - it will catch up with those that espouse it.

I know you've had your difficulties - I try to avoid such toxic people and I know you do too!

[paula1961]

The pix are just beautiful! You can just see that there is so much history there. I know that the wedding will be beautiful Diana.:) That house is so pretty. It's such a shame to think that it's anything less than perfect on the inside. But I have watched the shows on tv about hoarders. It's really sad. I don't see how people can live like that but I guess it's a disease just like so many other things.

[judy]

What a beautiful place this is! This will be a gorgeous wedding Diana!

Too bad the log cabin got so run down. It must have been magnificent. What a shame that your MIL and her children are so miserable! Too bad for them! I would also avoid them, like you do.

I love that show "Hoarders." I guess it's because those hoarders are usually getting help. I think my ex might be a hoarder now. I feel bad for him.

Whatever they do, it is wonderful that you and your family are transforming the garden into a magical place for Jaci's wedding! As always, you and Glen and your family are so loving! Everybody will feel as though they are a big big part of the wedding.

[DianaB]

Thanks everyone!! I think that it's such a lovely place. I wish that I would have know a couple of years ago that we were going to have a wedding there because I could have planted some hostas around the yard. They are such lovely plants......I just love them....but it takes a couple of years for them to get to a nice size.

Jaci's decided to move the place of the wedding to further back in the yard. Nate's parents were there on Sunday and pointed out that they were going to be sitting in full sun at 4:00 so Jaci's looking for a shady-er part of the yard now. There's a beautiful little concrete pond further back but it will mean more yard work to get it very pretty. Everyone's been working so hard!!!

[Janet]

Just seeing this Diana....it's all so beautiful. I love everything...the yard...home. It's going to be a beautiful setting for a wedding and I pray the weather cooperates. Wish I could see it in person. Reminds of the old times of people having tea parties and yard parties.

[DianaB]

Janet, you can see it whenever you come to visit!!!

[Shada]

How beautiful! I love the older homes with history. Sad about the log cabin. Can any of the wood be used for something else? Not to preserve any of it would be such a shame.
The wedding will be beautiful there!

[DianaB]

The logs were mostly rotten so they were burned. It really was sad to see it go! My SIL kept a really neat window out of the cabin and I guess that the bathroom fixtures were nice too and we kept those. The fireplace is still standing and will look stunning in the wedding pictures!!

[Blueyes]

Everything is going to be just beautiful!! Thank you for taking the time to show us the pictures, Diana!

[DianaB]

Betsi, I'm so glad that you like it!! The whole family has done so much work and I'll have to get some up to date pictures. They've been scraping dirt off of the brick walks that run through the yard. They won't stay clean except for the wedding because the dirt is up two or more inches on each side. It is a beautiful place.

[Blueyes]

Has your mil enjoyed having everybody there working? She is really the one benefiting from this. I hope she appreciates all of your hard work!

[DianaB]

Yes, she has enjoyed having everyone there and she's loving the fact that the yard is going to look so lovely. She's even bought some bushes to do a little landscaping and also bought some flowers to go up by the house. She's also wanting some of her stuff cleaned away from the windows in the house so people can't see her mess!!! That's something that only her family can do......she's very protective of her stuff!!!

[Janet]

Diana....I can't help it...but I would love to go through your MIL's house. It just seems like soooo much fun.

[DianaB]

Janet, we'd have to wait to do that when she was gone. She doesn't like for people to come in.

[Janet]

I had to come back and check out the pictures. It's going to be so fun seeing the wedding pictures and see how much you all had done. It's beautiful.