Yard Work Has Begun

Hey all! So yesterday turned out to be such a nice day that we were able to finally get a little work done in the yard. It was so nice out, sunny and in the lower 70's.

I got my mulching done in the flower beds. We had 6 bags, which was just enough to get the beds looking all fresh and cleaned up. I also raked out a bunch of leaves from the side yard. I got the job done all by myself, and I was worn out by the end of it!

So afterward, I sat out back on the patio and watched Trent start on his mini project - he's making an outdoor bar out of supplies and reclaimed wood that we already have on hand.

First he built a floor out of some plywood and some boards we had laying around.

Then he took the door frame he built for our wedding, set it on top, and attached it to the floor.

It's going to be kind of the framing for his bar. He's so handy and creative! He didn't even have plans, it's all just an idea he had in his head.

This is where it's at now. He is going to add in the doors and backdrop from our wedding, too.

I love that those items from our wedding are going to be repurposed into something fun for the backyard area. Trent has been wanting a bar back there for a while, so this will be his own little mini tiki bar out there.

There is still some clean-up and more work left to do in the yard. I need to pick up some flowers for my pots and plant them, and we will probably try a garden again this year, even though last year a lot of critters got in there and ate our plants! 

We also have to pick up some small rock to clean up both side yards. We plan on adding rock to the east side of the house, since we haven't done much with that side yet.

Meanwhile though, a lot of our plants are growing back in the yard, and the peony bushes have been growing. They haven't bloomed yet, but they are getting there. And the lilac bush in the backyard is also in bloom. I don't know that I've ever shared pictures of it on here before. But the flowers are so pretty:

They also smell so good, and they seem to attract a lot of bees and butterflies. The bush separates our yard from our neighbors' - it's right in between.

Yesterday was definitely a beautiful spring day and almost felt like summer! It gets me excited to work on more projects around the yard, and work on the house more this year. Because Lord knows, we have a LOT of work to be done!

Solar Walkway Lights

So, remember our walkway we put in last summer? Well, "summer" is a loose term - we actually started it in late spring last year, and worked on it all the way up until the first snowfall. But we got it completed, and we've been using it for a while now. I love it, and it's so much better than walking through the mud or the grass to get from my car to the door, or vice versa.

This spring, we planted new grass in the dirt around it, leftover from where we dug out the area. It seems to be growing pretty full, and now we're just waiting for it to be a little thicker before we mow it.

Trent was really excited about some new solar lights he recently added to the walkway steps. They were on sale for a good price, and there were 2 in a package. Trent got 4 lights total - you just screw them onto the steps, and they are completely solar powered. No wiring or electrical installation required!

I don't know why Trent was so excited about adding these, but hey, it's the little things! 

They probably weren't totally necessary, but they do add a nice little finishing touch to the walkway, and they look pretty cool at night.

Just for kicks, this is how Saleen feels about the lights...

She could stare at them all day. ;)

And I couldn't resist taking a picture of these two best buds sitting on the porch. They looked too cute sitting there together.

Saleen just turned 13 years old at the beginning of this month, yet she still likes to act like a pup sometimes. She's 13 years young, for sure. :) 

The New Fence

Our new fence is officially up! That's right, we put in a privacy fence for the back patio area. This is a project Trent was dying to do, so we figured we'd do it as soon as the weather cleared up and got a little nicer. We've been wanting some privacy in the yard, and until we fence in the whole backyard, we thought we would just build a fence by the patio for now - that way we don't feel like the neighbors are watching our every move through the windows! 

Last week Trent dug some holes for the posts and got them put in the ground and secured with cement. There were 5 posts total for the area we covered.

Trent did almost the entire thing by himself, and this is the first fence he's ever put up. It was a tricky one, too, because it goes gradually down hill.

There are still a few finishing touches to be done, but we got it fully up last night at least. I helped put the panels up yesterday, and it felt pretty good with each one done. Slowly but surely, our neighbors' windows disappeared from view, and we felt like we had a little privacy for the first time!

We used 4 pre-assembled panels, and they are all a little staggered, or "stair-stepped" with each panel, since they go downhill. This keeps about the same distance at the bottom of each panel. We used a level to make sure each panel was completely straight before Trent drilled them onto the posts, and we got them up to the correct height by stacking bricks under each panel until it was level.

Trent had to attach a few 2 x 4's to the fence posts to help hold them while the cement fully cured. The tops of the posts of course will be cut down to be more in line with the tops of the fence.

The wood is pine and has a bit of a green tint to it right now because it's treated wood. This means it has a chemical on it that helps to prevent rotting. In a month or two, after it's had a little time to dry out in the sun, that will fade a bit, and we'll be able to stain it.

I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. And Saleen was really happy that we got the fence put up, too!

Trent also got an extra panel and a couple of extra posts in case we wanted to go further, but I think for now we might leave it the way it is. Now we just have to fix up the patio area back here. Some new patio furniture might be nice!

It's not perfect and there are still a few areas to finish up, but the fence is up, and we're excited.

All ready for some fires and barbecues this summer!

5-Year Housiversary and First Snowfall

Hello all! Today marks five years to the day that we started living in this house together! How time flies. I've been calling it our "Housiversary." And how perfect to mark the occasion, than the first snowfall of the year?

And what a snowfall it was. We've heard it's coming all week, and today on this lovely Saturday, it's here. I thought I would be mad, but instead, it oddly has gotten me into the Christmas sprit. More on that later...

We've had a nice little Saturday around the house today. Trent made strawberry banana pancakes this morning. And we watched Ernest Saves Christmas at breakfast.

I took a jaunt outside to check out the snow.

It seems the trees weren't really ready for all of this!

And neither was Trent. I guess it's not so fun when you have to shovel it all.

I'm not sure how many inches we got, but I think it's somewhere in the 6-10 range.

So I guess I would say winter is finally here in full force. It is kinda pretty, though.

The sad thing is we were ALMOST finished with the walkway. Just about 5 bags short of river rock is all that's left. 5 bags! Which means, we almost made it before the first snowfall...but not quite.

Now it's a little snow covered. Trent has been a trooper this week and has gotten supplies right after work, then worked to lay it all down in the dark when he got home. We knew we wouldn't have much time left to get it finished. But it's almost done, so at least it will be so much nicer this winter not having to tread through as much snow.

Can you believe there are even still leaves on some of the trees?

Oh well.. And back to being in the Christmas spirit now, I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet, and usually I put up the Christmas tree the day after, but.... I put the tree up today. :)

I'll have all the deets tomorrow. Stay tuned!

The Walkway Work Continues

It's been a long time since I've blogged about our DIY walkway out front. We've only been working on it all year. No big deal. Actually, the last update I blogged about was in May, before summer and all the craziness of planning the wedding set in.

But Trent has been working on it still, little by little. It's a long path to create, wrapping around half of the whole house. And we've run out of supplies countless times. (Only so many bricks and bags of paver base and rock can be hauled in the back of a GMC Canyon) Plus, daylight hours are few and far between this time of year when you work full time.

There's always the weekends though, and we've been lucky enough to have some really nice ones this fall. In fact, it's the middle of November, and it's sunny and in the sixties right now! You couldn't ask for better late fall weather like we have today.

It's Saturday and I've been in the house watching episodes of The Wonder Years on Netflix. But I've been sneaking outside every now and then to check out Trent's progress on the walkway and cleaning up the yard.

Here's where we are now...trying to finish before the snow comes!

We just need to pick up more paver base, pavers, and rock. It's getting close to winter, so I'm hoping we can get it all finished. Then at least we'll have something to walk on when it gets messy out there.

The yard is full of leaves at the moment, so Trent's out raking right now.

It seems like forever ago when we started at the very beginning, laying out the path where it would be. It was early spring - March in fact! 8 months later, and we're still not finished. I guess it was a bigger project than we expected!

We have gotten a lot of compliments from neighbors on how good it's looking. Just wish we had more time to work on it.

Here's a panoramic view. I'm not sure how many feet it actually is, but I'd say it's a pretty long way. We might have the best DIY walkway in the neighborhood after it's done. Ha.

Of course, Trent has had a little help...

In the form of a four-legged furry pup.

Here's hoping by next summer, we'll have a nice, grassy yard again, won't have to walk through the mud to get into the house, and the landscaping will look a lot better than it does now...And best of all, be finished. Fingers crossed!

I'm also hoping I'll be able to post a breakdown of all of the supplies we've used and the costs when it's all said and done. It just might take a little while to add up (and find!) all of those receipts! Wish me luck! :)

Flower Garden, Part 2 and Walkway Progress

Hello all, and happy Friday. Back with an update on our two current outdoor projects: my flower garden and the walkway. I'm proud to say the flower garden is now all planted and mulched! See Part 1 here. The next step is waiting and watching our wedding flowers grow. Oh, and the occasional weeding will probably be beneficial, too, and maybe a gate or some netting to keep the pests away. But hopefully the landscape fabric and mulch will cut back on the weeds a little bit.

Are we crazy for growing our own wedding flowers for our reception centerpieces and decor? Maybe, but I guess we'll find out! Ready to see my progress? Here's what the garden looked like after I got all of my seeds and bulbs planted:

It took 3 nights of work, and I was so glad when it was finished. I planted them all myself, too! For the next few days I had to wait to mulch it, since we've gotten quite a bit of rain since then.

Last week I put down around 8-10 bags of mulch, I can't remember exactly how many. That's the light colored mulch you see in the photo below. It faded in color a little from the rain. Wednesday night I put down the remaining bags - about 7 more I think.  So I'd say there's around 17 bags of mulch total on this garden!

There are a few flowers that are starting to sprout up, and a couple of my mini zinnia transplants are still growing. I've made a colored diagram below so you can see all of the holes that were dug and different flowers that were planted:

Here is the list of which flowers coordinate with which color in the diagram:

Pink: Dinnerplate Dahlias

Purple: Lavender Dahlias

Burgundy: Hollyhocks

Red: Ranunculus

White: Alyssum

Kelly Green: State Fair Giant Zinnias

Light Green: State Fair Giant Zinnias and Pink & Purple Zinnias

Blue: Green Envy Zinnias and Pink & Purple Zinnias

Peach: Mini Zinnia transplants and French Vanilla Marigolds

Turquoise: Marigolds and Ox Eye Sunflowers

Yellow: Poppies

Most of these are just annuals, except the Hollyhocks in the back which are perennials. So the hollyhocks will return each year, and the others will die out after the summer. I also have other perennials seed packets, that I'm planning on planting around the sides of the house. I just have to wait for another nice day to plant them! It's been so rainy lately, and I've been trying to get everything ready for the upcoming yard sale and get all of our wedding invitations out. Hoping to plant all the perennials soon, though. I have some Carnations, Baby's Breath, Dusty Miller, Sweet Williams, Achilleas, and Astilbe. Our neighbor also gave us some Cannas, that we're hoping to plant by the garage. So we should have lots of flowers growing around the yard in the near future!

And speaking of flowers around the yard, our Bleeding Hearts have bloomed and are super pretty looking! See for yourself:

The hostas and hydrangeas are all growing along that side of the house, too. And Trent's been out working on the walkway when it's not pouring rain. He's finishing up the steps right now - here's one of the steps complete:

Wednesday night he finished up the second step, so now it's pretty much a straight shot to the driveway. Ya know, just about 30 more feet to go.. Ha. Hopefully we'll get it done sooner rather than later. We picked up some more supplies a couple of nights ago, so we'll see how far that gets us!

I'm looking forward to summer weather, and maybe a little less rain, so we can get more outdoor projects done. We definitely have big plans for the yard!