Work Pants, Dirt, Shovel, and Biceps

In honor of getting our concrete curbing poured yesterday morning, I thought that I should do a quick post on some backyard updates.

That we did five weeks ago. Because that’s how fast I am sometimes.

It’s kind of fun to see these pictures, actually. I was outside all day yesterday, admiring our new concrete curbing around these two fences. And when I come in to edit these pictures…well, they just look terrible!

Hey, we knew that it would take a few years to get this yard the way that we wanted.

But now the fun part starts…picking out plants that will soon die that will thrive with our Hubby-installed drip system!

Speaking of Hubby…have I mentioned lately how lucky I am to have such a hard-working man? He is willing to do lots of labor, even if it takes a little longer.

And he’s buff.

We’ve learned from experience that these clumps of dirt need to be broken up as they come out and are still fresh.

If left to dry in the awful Arizona sun, these clumps will make life purely miserable later on.

Clumps don’t fill holes very well. Or break apart easily to fill holes.

This is where Hubby plans to dig for two sprinkler lines…one for the sprinkler heads for the (future) grass, and the other for the drip systems for these (future) planter boxes and garden boxes by the pool.

I think that our plants will have a fighting chance now that they will be watered regularly…and without our forgetfulness getting in the way!

This is our pure clump-removal process. It means chopping up the clumps as they first come out.

Chop chop chop chop.

He’s not even flexing here. He’s just that muscular.

Can you believe that he slaves away at a desk all day?

How do you know that he is truly working? Because of these pants, of course.

They are his official work pants. He does most of our house projects while wearing these plaid beauties.

The trench is dug. Soon, a sprinkler pipe will be in on this side as well. It will feed two sprinkler heads, while the other side of the yard has sprinkler lines and drip system lines.

Diggity dig, Hubby!

I feel so badly just taking pictures instead of helping.

But I remember that on this particular afternoon, I had a meeting later and had already showered.

Terrible timing on my part, I know!

And I promise that it was an accident!

You feel really guilty when the backyard starts to look like this…and you didn’t do anything to help getting it that way.

Wow, buff and patient with his wife?

Is this the World’s Best Husband or what?!

We have found so many “treasures” while working in this yard. Hubby now keeps a trash bucket nearby to throw in what he finds.

We’ve even stumbled upon drug paraphernalia. Weird!

But mostly just rusted nails, toy cars, and trash.

You know, stuff that we wouldn’t want in a brand-new, shiny backyard paradise!

These aren’t little sissy trenches, either.

Hubby does not mess around when it comes to digging properly for sprinkler systems.

Pipes go in here. And then we can fill it in, level the yard, and schedule some concrete!

(Apparently, pipes, filling things in, leveling, and concrete takes five weeks from start to finish).

We are making good progress. I’m learning patience every step of the way!

I can’t wait until we get this place finished! I know that it will be a space in which I will spend lots of time…when it looks nice and no longer like a gravel pit!

Do you remember what this all looked like when we first moved in?

I do. shudder

We’ve already made a teensy weensy bit of progress!

What have you been working on, now that Spring has arrived?

Raining Cats and Dogs and…Rain

All of our crazy and fantastic weather usually happens when I am far away from home in an airplane. I even get pictures from Hubby of snow on his car windshield or of terrible thunderstorms.

If I hadn’t seen photo proof of these things, I would question whether they really happen. I’ve rarely been able to witness crazy weather in our parts myself!

But a few weeks ago…all of my wildest, stormy dreams came true!

For some reason, we were blessed with a thunderstorm in March. Which is just the craziest thing ever. We weren’t nearly warm enough for that battling hot air rising to mix with cold to create such a storm. This was just a freak event!

And, oh boy, was it awesome! We had good, solid rain for about two hours. In the desert, where water can’t hide, we had a river running outside in no time at all!

Can you see all of that water pouring off the roof? Luckily, this happened just after Hubby patched part of our roof to fix a sneaky leak. His timing couldn’t have been better! This storm would have caused quite a bit of damage otherwise!

There were pools and puddles of water all over the backyard, which is still very much a work-in-progress. Someday, this will be a lush oasis for us.

And this rain was helping a little too much in the wrong direction for that…we don’t want weeds!

At least we can gaze at this picture and see where we still need to do some leveling before the sod goes in, huh?

The tiller has since gone back to its home with Hubby’s dad. But it sure helped us while we had it!

Hubby was using this barrel to level things for a while. It has since been relocated to a storage spot near the shed. After the mud cleared out from this storm, that is! Look at all that wet stuff!

Since the water barrel was in the way of Hubby installing sprinklers a few months ago, it wasn’t in place when this downpour hit! Which only meant that we had a whole lotta water hitting our backyard today!

We might as well get some fish to put in this pond back here! It was a foot deep in this part of the yard! Holy smokes!

A not-as-mean storm a week before had made these little lovely weeds pop up. Before I could manually get rid of them, this monster storm hit and made a whole pool of water near our sitting area. Can you see all of that standing water?!

But out front, the storm was taking an even greater toll. Can you see how our entire planter box here is filled with water?!

Other than some of our mulch floating away to a better life, this actually wasn’t a bad thing. These little guys need water. Even in March!

After just a few minutes of this, there was certainly a river flowing down our street! The desert isn’t very good at handling lots of water in a very short amount of time.

And you can see all of that water coming off the roof, too.

I actually love weather like this. Mostly because I know that it is very short-lived, but also because this is perfect pajama-and-book-reading-and-hot-chocolate weather. And I happen to love pajamas and reading and hot chocolate.

Bonus.

Even our little solar-powered house numbers light was drowned enough to lose its focus.

Does anyone have any inner tubes? This river shouldn’t go unappreciated for long.

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…