Backyard Dreamscapes

More tilling?

Yes.

I promise that these aren’t the same pictures from a few weeks ago. You are simply witnessing Hubby’s work clothes in all of their glorified glory.

Um…again.

We’ve had a lot of rain lately, so Hubby headed outside to do another round of tilling. We are trying to get the backyard even closer to being ready for some sprinklers and sod.

Hubby’s Dad already helped with one layer of tilling, and now it’s Hubby’s turn to do some detail work.

And yes, heaven does shine down on this man when he is tilling up a storm.

Isn’t he handsome?

Work clothes aside?

This borrowed tiller has been a lifesaver. I can’t imagine doing this all by hand. It will make digging trenches for the new sprinklers so much easier with our hard clay already turned over!

Hopefully that will be a project during March so that we can get the concrete edging installed before laying sod in May. Hubby has researched it, and that is the best time to lay sod in our part of the country.

I’m really excited. And not just so I can get rid of these work tools from our back patio.

But I probably won’t miss those, either.

Hubby was using a giant 50-gallon barrel to help level and compact things in back. We make things up all the time! But it works!

It’s fun today, because I get some wider shots of the entire backyard. These little pavers in front (the ones trying to keep the pea gravel inside this “relaxation area”), will be goners. We were originally thinking of just doing a concrete border here as well, but I’ve started to wonder if we should just pour a concrete pad to replace all of that gravel.

What do you think?

I think they used to have a hot tub here, which is not even an option for us. Yuck.

You think that I hate pools? Don’t get me started on hot tubs!

We are thinking of filling in this gravel area with a new concrete pad. It would extend the patio and make the whole entertaining area nicer and bigger.

Aaaaaaaand…this is what I am thinking about putting on that concrete pad, if we do it.

If you must know.

The rusted pool gate is coming down all around. When we have little ones, we will put up a new one. For now, I am loving the openness!

I tried to take down the rest of the fence panels last week while I was home for a few days, but I am too weak-sauce and needed some man muscle to finish the project.

cough cough wimp cough

To the left will be the new concrete pad for my hammock. To the right will be the dirt area for Hubby’s garden boxes.

Everybody wins, right?

This is the plan with some concrete edging. We will trap the dirt on one side for the garden boxes and the grass on the other with a simple concrete border. It will be the same border that we carry around these two walls in the yard to create pretty planter boxes.

Won’t that look nice?

Man, I wish that I could just wiggle my nose and have it done!

Wouldn’t a hammock look nice here? I think that I would live in it for half the year!

“Where’s Micah? Oh, she’s out back…swinging in her hammock".”

OK, a hammock would really be a dream-come-true. May I please explain?

When I was fourteen, my Dad took us to the Florida Keys for a wonderful family vacation. It was incredible, but my most memorable day was the one spent on the private island owned by Hilton. We were toted over in a small boat (and I didn’t throw up!). I spent the day in a hammock with virgin drinks coming my way every time I so much as lifted my head towards the cabana boy. There was a slight breeze with a warm sun, and the palm trees were whispering high above me.

Basically, it was heaven. And I have wanted to own a hammock ever since.

Shallow, I know. Can you hear those palm trees swaying?

I’ve stacked the garden boxes on the far side of the yard for now. We still don’t know what to do on that strip of yard yet. Ideas?

The garden boxes will go to the left above the pool. It would be protected inside the future pool fence when we put that up again in a few years. Kids and gardens don’t mix, either, right?

At least soccer balls and gardens don’t mix well…

Man, I can’t wait to get those river rock boulders gone. Since we don’t have anywhere else for them to go, we are storing them underneath our bedroom window. It means that we will have to move them twice (argh!), but we don’t know what else to do for now. I moved some rocks around to make room for more to join them.

At least you can’t see them from anywhere in the yard. They are tucked away in a corner.

Just like Baby.

This place has been so neglected while we have been working on the backyard. I can’t wait to get the yard finished so that we can start using this space again! Come on, Garden Dinner Parties!

And a hammock just past the table probably wouldn’t be a bad thing, either…

Can I get some written support here, folks?

I like our backyard and think that it will be a nice space. I’m just excited to get it done sooner rather than later!

I am literally home four days in the next two months, too, so working on the yard to get it done will be that much trickier for me.

Luckily, I married a rock star worker. (That’s not a hint at all, Hubby. But good luck…).

Once this pool fence is down, this whole area will feel so much more spacious and open. I can’t wait!

I wish that I had muscles! I was worried about stripping the screws, so I decided to wait for the manly man of our marriage to get home from work.

We have oodles of gravel piles around these parts. What on earth is a girl to do with so much unwanted gravel?!

So that’s it for now. Someday, we’ll look back on these pictures and giggle like school girls that it looks so nice now. I wish that now was now, but I can wait! Maybe it will be completely done in just a few months!

Hint hint hint.

Any outdoor projects going on in your neck of the woods? I guess mostly everyone else is buried in snow…