We added a fireplace to the backyard this weekend! And what better way to welcome it to the family than with a S’mores roast! We’re having an extended summer with all this warm weather, so I see a repeat in the very near future. But first, we need to get those bright yellow stickers off the front!
Hope your weekend was fun too! What did you get up to?
This is our fourth summer in this house and I finally feel like we’re making some real headway! I just had to share this progress pic!
Last year Jason (aka husband extraordinaire) took down that big sun-blocking tree, and now everything is flourishing because there is sunshine in our backyard again! So far this year we’ve finished extending the patio and now have a new fence! A huge difference, don’t you think?!
Jason is finishing up building the garden box in that top corner so we can plant veggies this year, and we’re working our way SLOWLY out of that corner to tackle the rest of our landscaping plans. It’s amazing how a simple thing like a fence can make me fall in love with our yard!
Are you tackling any landscaping projects this year? Is your list of things to replace as long as ours?!
If you’ve wondered why I’ve been blogging less, other than the fact that it’s summer, this is the answer! I have spent all child-free moments planning for the parties that happened here last weekend. On Saturday the family party started early so that the kids could help celebrate Jason’s 40th birthday! And, keeping with tradition, my mom brought one of her delicious homemade birthday cakes.
Saturday evening was a backyard BBQ with good food, friends, and a fire in the firepit! Yes, you can see the finished patio in all it’s glory to the left of Jason, where he sits eagerly awaiting cupcakes by the fire. We still need to landscape, but it’s done!! It was great to have the parties in our backyard to break in the patio!
With Style & Grace, my go-to food blog, was the inspiration behind these Caprese Skewers that I served up as an appy that night. I took the pic before I drizzled on the balsamic, but you get the idea… very yummy, and so pretty!
Today we are celebrating another big 40th! It is my mom & dad’s 40th wedding anniversary!! I made up this card in honor of the big day! Congratulations to you both!!
Our backyard is the poster child for this quote! Or, in our case, “Things will likely get messier before they get prettier.” I think the concrete and dirt piles in our backyard illustrate this well!
As you can see, we got a little carried away. We decided that since we were tearing up the backyard already, and would need to get a bin anyways, that we might as well keep on going! So, Jason took out some frustrations with the sledgehammer, and the ugly slab of cement that comprised our small patio is no longer! Win, win situation!
And it didn’t stop there! Next, we thought that if we were putting in a new patio that we should bring it all the way out to the rocks, so bye-bye retaining wall… thanks to our amazing friends and family that helped us out!!
Stay tuned for the big reveal!!
Photo Credits: Rosa Pearson Design
Jason has been working hard digging trenches in the clay after work, and now we’re filling them back up! Some readers with similar issues commented, asking what the next steps were going to be, and so here’s the play by play!
First, dig out a trench 16″ down and 12″ wide, with 1″ of slope per 100ft to get the water in the direction you want it to go.
Then, add 2″ of 3/4 crush in the trench and lay in 4″ perforated PVC pipe. We were warned not to use Big O, since it tends to fail.
After connecting the pipes, wrap them with permeable landscape cloth.
Cover the pipe with 3/4 crush. And then cover with a layer of landscape cloth.
Top with 2 – 3″ of topsoil, and you’re done!
We have struggled with a dark and soggy backyard since we moved into this house. This tree has been topped so many times by the previous owners that it is shaped like a giant mushroom, and blocks the sun from coming in, keeping the ground soggy and kid free… and that is not what you want in a backyard! Time for the chainsaw to take down this huge tree!
Here is what it looks like now, bare, and messy from trench digging. I have to say that I love trees, and I fought to keep the tree for quite a while. But, Jason won, and I am happy now that he did. We now have a spot in our backyard where we can grow veggies! There are currently eleven tomato plants up there waiting for some sunshine. Jason, you were right. ; ) (Yes, those words are an early birthday present for you. Enjoy.)
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