Here is the front lawn in spring ’22. Now we see that all of our work last year is worth all of the effort. Pete has just mowed so I went out to take pictures showing how the grass seed grew in quite well.
Not all drainage problems are dealt with yet at the base of the rock walls but the largest majority of it is so much better now. Above is an example showing how much better the erosion is controlled where the grass is planted vs bare ground.
In the middle is our own “grassy knoll” pun intended. I put dead furrows on the downward slope of this hump of dirt between the trees. Wildflower seed is planted there but not yet sprouted. I transplanted extra flowers, mostly red poppies, from the garden in rows also.
You can see that one breakthrough in water drainage occurred after last night’s rain. It made a gulch right down the center of the mound. The seed and tiny transplants only can hold so much. Everything that can be done is complete at this point. Now, we will have to wait for the warmth of summer to help get things sprouting, growing, and holding the soil in place.
We begin to add dirt and seed after the rock walls are complete. Here is how it looked from the porch on the basement level. It took all summer long to make the rock retaining walls and fill in the area behind them for our front yard. Pete ended up doing the most of this work as I simply worked the garden below. The fall weather began to tell us to get moving a bit faster as we noticed winter getting ready to kick-in full blast.
It will not be a level yard but it will be a lot more gradual slope, giving us room to enjoy ourselves in front of the house.
Peter back blades smooth the fill dirt and the surface begins to take shape. What a change. The next step is lots and lots of hand raking to smooth it all out. We scatter 25 pounds of grass seed and fertilizer (16-16-16) evenly over the dirt. The seed just started springing up before the cold of winter closed everything down. Spring of 2022 will tell us if we did it right. Having a lawn in this front yard should reduce the amount of erosion around the house due to uncontrolled drainage.
The west rock wall will be sloping down to our driveway when it is all done. Landscaping-wise, it starts off looking somewhat unremarkable with the first rows laid. The base has the largest boulders that the tractor can move. What is unexpected is that the rocks are placed with their longest sides laid flat for increased stability. The rise in height is slower this way, but the goal is to put enough strength and weight in the structure to withstand nature.
See the large flat stone at the end on the right? This was pulled into place with a chain across the hill. There are intentional gaps in the wall allowing for drainage. Remember, no one wins a war against nature. Water always wins, so it is important to invite it to a place you want it to go. 
With this view, you can see how the land has natural rock outcroppings stepping up the hill. A lower 10-foot rise where we are building the rock walls and another 10-foot rise behind next to the house, that we have made into a rock garden.
This process took all summer long to complete two walls last year. It was not a job that was hired out to a landscaper as we sat drinking tea on the deck and watched. You don’t have to be rich, just be willing to go out every day and get dirty and sweaty. Nose to the grind-stone. We can do almost anything if we have the where-with-all to put the effort out and the stick-to-it to finish it.
The east rock wall base is level now for the first course of rock to begin. We have a rock wall on the east side slope and on the west side slope with a mound of dirt in the center between the two big fir trees. This side of the lawn will have a slope going down to the road to our garden below.
We leave a big enough gap between our fir tree and the wall to not cause it any harm. The largest boulders are the base of the retaining wall with gaps for the wet stuff to drain through. 
We love the tractor, and only wish that we had purchased it earlier. It has made a lot of this work a lot more doable. There is still a lot of hard hand work to place these guys so they don’t slip around.
There is an area on the lawn side of the wall where smaller rocks are placed to help retain the soil yet still preserve the draining capabilities. 
Pry bars and gloves and Mr. Kubota are our friends for this project. 
Peter found a boulder that is perfect to recline on, so it was put on the top of the wall for anyone to use if they happen to notice it.
There are also rocks that have great prehistoric marks in them mixed in the wall. We had an archeologist tell us what this one is in-depth.
Here is the wall almost complete.
Before we can fill for the lawn landscaping we have to try to level out the existing area. You know, push the high spots into the low spots and discover where there are rocks. We have a plethora of boulders at the Woelk’s in Elk. They vary in size from human pickup-able to nothing short of dynamite can move me.
There are two majestic firs in the middle that have a large mound of dirt between them. We have to leave this dirt so our main water line remains at least 5 feet below grade or we will have broken water pipes in the winter. The building code calls for 4 feet of cover but we have learned the hard way over the years to go the extra foot. Fixing a water line in freezing conditions is not a fun way to spend a day.
Peter discovers a dynamite daring boulder on the south side of our house. It is bigger than our Kubota and will simply remain right there. Our landscape will incorporate that into the rock garden above. Besides, it is probably part of that rock garden anyhow.
Walking back up to the house after a hard day of work, my husband has finished leveling and making a flat base course area for building the rock retaining walls below.
Creating a Front Lawn doesn’t seem like a really complicated thing to do. But, it is something that takes a bit of design when you are on a steeply sloped property.
You can see the steep slope combined with a natural rock outcropping along the side of the house here.
Previous tasks that we have completed involved building up our driveway to insure accessibility all year long. Mainly, lots of gravel. The year before, we also cleared the shrubs and trees in an area above the garden and leveled it out planting grass to slow the flow of water before it reaches the garden.
Erosion and drainage may not seem very important for a lawn but remember that water is one of the most powerful things in nature. Water made the Grand Canyon…
I woke up to sprinkling rain this Spring morning, so I decided to cancel putting the rest of the seed in the garden. Bake for Rachel’s party dinner for 20-40 hardworking people, totally simple right? Here is the start of the rye dinner rolls on my kitchen counter. Begin with rolling up a golf ball of dough, then dip the top of the roll into a bowl of beaten egg and milk, and dab it on the plate with the caraway seed layer. The egg and milk is like Elmer’s glue for the caraway seeds to stick. You can’t beat the taste of fresh herbs, grown in our garden last year. Yum.
The rolls are then covered with a damp cloth and set aside to rise before baking.
The rye dinner rolls come out of the oven and cool on wax paper. Next, are white dinner rolls coming out of the oven. I like to paint them with melted butter right when I take them out.
The main course for the gathering will be simple soups, cream of corn and an alternate of ham with bean. Sorry, no pictures of the soups, cause they just aren’t all that interesting to look at.
This big batch of chili cooking began on a prior day as I put beans in water to soak overnight. But, in the morning I combined the remaining other ingredients into the big roaster/slow cooker and put it on low all day and night. We grew the pinto and kidney beans, tomatoes sauce, and onions in our garden.
Here is how the chili appears the next morning. It is a really different color after it has had the opportunity to simmer overnight. It almost looks like a different batch doesn’t it? Now, I taste and add salt or spices if needed.
I add these last peppers to give it some zing and only need to be added an hour or so before you plan to eat the chili. I remove the seeds and the veins holding the seeds in the middle of the pepper to keep the heat down. If you leave the seeds in you will have a HOT batch of chili.
After I have removed the seeds and veins I put the peppers into a blender. 
Pour into the chili, and stir. Let the soup simmer again about an hour before it is ready to serve. Bon appetite!
Today (02/22/22) was bread baking day at the Woelks in Elk kitchen. I cook fresh bread and have done this for years about every two weeks. Sometimes, it is every week if we have people over for meals or there is something that we take food to. I found multiple pictures of bread baking days in the Do It Yourself folder on my Blog, so I thought I’d share them with you too.
Here are four loaves of bread baked on 10/16/21.
This bread was baked on 09/10/20. Wow, I have a real routine here don’t I? Same four loaves in the same pans on the same stove. Hmmm.
That same bread recipe can be cut in half to make a giant pan of cinnamon rolls and two loaves of bread instead. 
Land Clearing
Then I notice a broken-down RV parked in the back forty of the Winco parking lot. A vehicle that has certainly seen better days. There is no license on it. The windshield, door glass, and even the window in the overhead sleeper are all broken out. It must be cold as heck to sleep in there.
There is no license and a shopping cart full of bags and garbage is parked next to it. There is a bike laying under the rear axle. Just then the back door opened and a hand threw a bowl of liquid onto the parking lot. Oooooo. A few moments later a man stepped out bringing a walker with him, he squared himself up and proceeded to walk up to the street corner to stand with a sign. You can see him on the left side of this picture.