After three years of really wanting a fenced backyard--talking about it, calculating costs, deciding against it, and then starting the process all over again--my wonderful and very handy hubby not only built me a fence, but he also landscaped a beautiful backyard for me as well.
These first pics (taken from James' 6th birthday) show how atrocious the yard was before. It sloped off the back and left side which provided quite a bit of useless space; unfortunate, since there wasn't a whole lot of space to begin with. I had dug out a hole for the trampoline in an effort to make mowing easier, but it looked messy and unfinished. Oh, and it felt like we were in a fishbowl every time we went out to play because of the neighboring homes in very close proximity on both sides--not to mention the Barbie mansion in the back (it's hard to see in the pictures, but trust me it's there ... I had a plastic one the exact same color when I was little).
These first pics (taken from James' 6th birthday) show how atrocious the yard was before. It sloped off the back and left side which provided quite a bit of useless space; unfortunate, since there wasn't a whole lot of space to begin with. I had dug out a hole for the trampoline in an effort to make mowing easier, but it looked messy and unfinished. Oh, and it felt like we were in a fishbowl every time we went out to play because of the neighboring homes in very close proximity on both sides--not to mention the Barbie mansion in the back (it's hard to see in the pictures, but trust me it's there ... I had a plastic one the exact same color when I was little).
The edge of the yard in this picture is the blue Rubbermaid on the left. 
In this picture, it's the line of small rocks on the right (starting at the whiskey barrel), and in the back, it's the smaller farm-looking fence (not the larger one further out).
So after about three months of working as much as time would permit, hauling 12 yards of gravel, 7+ yards of cedar chips, who knows how many cinder blocks for the retaining wall, and quite a few garden wall blocks for the fire pit area--not to mention digging out sod, laying weed block, and building actually quite a large fence--the yard now looks like ...
ahh!
isn't it pretty!
Even though the fire pit appears in the above pictures, it actually did not come until the rest of the project was complete. Kevin and James (quite the little handyman himself) got the idea after watching an online video tutorial of "how to build your own fire pit". After having observed, through the life cycle of the yard-improvement project, how a small-er project can quickly turn into a much larger, more expensive, and much more time consuming one, I was initially against the idea. But they did a wonderful job, and the whole thing only ended up taking a few hours (including the purchasing and hauling of materials).
James wasn't the only one more than excited to help
Don't they look handy!
Making sure the fire bowl fits in the pit opening
Laying of the fire-resistant bricks
Daddy's little helper
And, voila! We're ready for s'mores! ... Thanks, Mom, for a great early Christmas present!
And thanks, hon, for all your hard work. You're as handy as they come!
Honorable mention goes to my mom and Glenn for helping with a variety of very undesirable tasks. The least glamorous of which would have to be staining each individual fence board, oftentimes on the hottest summer days. Thanks, guys!
In this picture, it's the line of small rocks on the right (starting at the whiskey barrel), and in the back, it's the smaller farm-looking fence (not the larger one further out).
So after about three months of working as much as time would permit, hauling 12 yards of gravel, 7+ yards of cedar chips, who knows how many cinder blocks for the retaining wall, and quite a few garden wall blocks for the fire pit area--not to mention digging out sod, laying weed block, and building actually quite a large fence--the yard now looks like ...ooh!
ahh!
isn't it pretty!
Even though the fire pit appears in the above pictures, it actually did not come until the rest of the project was complete. Kevin and James (quite the little handyman himself) got the idea after watching an online video tutorial of "how to build your own fire pit". After having observed, through the life cycle of the yard-improvement project, how a small-er project can quickly turn into a much larger, more expensive, and much more time consuming one, I was initially against the idea. But they did a wonderful job, and the whole thing only ended up taking a few hours (including the purchasing and hauling of materials).James wasn't the only one more than excited to help
Don't they look handy!
Making sure the fire bowl fits in the pit opening
Laying of the fire-resistant bricks
Daddy's little helper
And, voila! We're ready for s'mores! ... Thanks, Mom, for a great early Christmas present!
And thanks, hon, for all your hard work. You're as handy as they come!
Honorable mention goes to my mom and Glenn for helping with a variety of very undesirable tasks. The least glamorous of which would have to be staining each individual fence board, oftentimes on the hottest summer days. Thanks, guys!
It looks WONDERFUL! Great work you guys. We're putting in a fire pit this Fall and can't wait.
ReplyDeleteI am seriously impressed!! That looks amazing!! I hope you guys enjoy all of that beautiful backyard!
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