Welcome to our new backyard

It's finally done!! Sure, there's plants to put in, some more mulch that needs to go around the existing flower beds, but for the most part, the patio and pond are complete. So it took a little longer then expected but at least I didn't go over my budget : ) (Tip: Always, ALWAYS, way over estimate on EVERYTHING on ANY project. Trust me, your wife will be far more forgiving if it takes you two months longer to get the job done, as long as you didn't spend too much money!!!)

Even better is that George W.'s check was deposited yesterday in our account. At least he got one thing timed correctly : )

Here's some pics...





You'll note that we had so much extra stone left that I made a little bench next to the pond and a stepping stone path that leads to our driveway. Fun little additions that didn't cost anything!! We've still got plenty of time left this summer for some cookouts...and even more exciting is when the weather gets a little cooler we can make smores on the fire pit : )

ps
I have sworn off HGTV for a little while. Those fools make everything look so easy and only takes them two days. LIARS!

Getting closer

We're getting very close to having the backyard complete...at least for this year. I spend a few days of our vacation last week hauling more gravel and sand back from the lovely people at the local stone yard. I have to go into some details about the patio and pond because the picture does not do it justice (more pics after I clean up the yard some). In order to put the pond and patio in, my new lil red Tacoma has hauled:

1/2 ton of cement
2 tons of sand
3.5 tons of gravel
3.5 tons of stone

So here it is...



The lights we picked up at Lowes on clearance a few weeks ago just had to go in asap. Overall we're still below the budget we set for this little endevour (thanks George W.!!) and my estimates for how much we saved over hiring a professional to do all of this...well let's just say that I've now justified a large percentage of the cost of my truck : )

Fishies to come soon

The fish pond is now all set up! Finally!! A few minor details to complete, but nothing too big and it at least looks like a functioning pond now : ) We'll let it run for a week or two and then get some feeder goldfish to see how long they'll make it! Don't worry, we added three plants to the pond after this pic was taken, so they'll hopefully be able to hide from any predators.

I don't think this little guy counts as a predator, but he's been hanging out in our yard a lot lately...

Weekly Update

Sorry for the lack of updates (for the two stalkers, I mean readers). It's been a crazy week.

Last weekend instead of finishing up the pond and starting on the patio, we bought new furniture for the patio, which has found random places inside the house to reside until it has somewhere outside to go to. Here's a sample pic...



For some odd reason World Market had the set on sale last weekend and informed us they would not be getting any new ones in. Made the decision very easy since my lovely wife had already decided this is what she wanted.

There has been progress made...the electric line is installed outside and just needs to be connected to the breaker box. As a side, Home Depot returned my call today (two and a half weeks after my call to them) to get an estimate to do this work for me. I'm becoming less and less impressed with the big orange box.

I've also the got the waterfall complete on the pond and should have a pic of that this weekend with water and plants in it! We're very much looking forward to the sweet sound of running water in the backyard soon...and the reaction Phoebe will have to it!!Of course my wife already has an idea of what she wants to have in the pond...

Pond Update

More delays in getting the pond finished up. My parents stopped by this past weekend so that my Dad could help me run an electric line out to the retaining wall in our backyard so I could plug in the new fish pond pump. After some debate, it was decided that it would be best if I dug a trench in the yard to bury the line rather then running it through the crawl space (which would have involved giant me in a three foot high crawl space for hours after drilling a hole in the foundation). Turns out that digging a 70' trench is very time consuming and causes sore muscles! Who would have guessed!! Then of course, by the time it was completed, the rain started again! Hopefully one evening this week I will be able to get the entire electric portion of this project complete so I can get back to finishing up these projects!

In case your wondering, the electric line had to be put in now because soon we will start construction of our new patio...which will go over top where the electric line needed to be installed. Pics will some soon.

Big Plans

What to do? I had these ambitious plans to finish up the fish pond (which I've been saying for weeks...darn rain) and get a good head start on the new patio this week. My lovely wife is out of town on business until Friday. But it's raining (again!)...which is a good thing for my grass and flower beds, but bad news for me.

I'm bored. Sure, I could clean the house to impress my wife upon her return. It's only Monday though and I'm sure the dogs and I will make it more messy by the time Friday comes around. I'm becoming more high maintence as I age. After marriage I realized how I need people around. When my wife is out of town, I tend to get sad, bored, just down in general. So I plan out big projects to keep myself entertained, have a sense of accomplishment (I should write a whole post on that topic), and most importantly, out of trouble! Guys, women know everything. Never doubt that!

I may just have to drive her new car around all evening to entertain myself until the sun returns tomorrow :-)

Fish Pond

For the past few weeks I have been working on putting a fish pond in our back yard. This has been a lofty dream of mine for some time now. Before now we haven't stayed put in one place long enough to warrant the expense of a project like this.

As you can see, the pond is still not complete, but it is looking like a pond! I decided to pour concrete for the pond instead of using a preformed pond or a pond liner. There were many reasons for this and while I am very pleased with the result, next time I'll use a plastic liner instead! It took 12 bags of 80lb concrete to make this small pond...all mixed by hand in a bucket. Needless to say, my back was sore for a few days!

Hopefully next week this little project will be complete...after the waterfall is installed, concrete sealed, and plants planted. Phoebe can't wait until she can play with the fishies!!