The Backyard - After

Remember the before:

And now, the after:

The most painful aspect of the yard for me had to be installing the "flagstone" looking cement pavers going across the front of the deck.  I can't remember how much they weighed (probably 40lbs), but I kept picking them up and down to re-level the sand, change the pattern, etc.  A full day of squats, with weights.  I was fine that day - just some shaky legs, but so sore later I could barely move for a week!

The path around the yard wasn't too bad, little light pavers. Only overwhelming in number, many carloads of them.  The people at Lowe's and the neighbor across the street took pity and helped me load & unload them.  And more blessings were evidenced by that path - once again, I was in a time crunch.  I started laying the path from the arbor area going to the corner of the yard, and started from the deck to the corner, with my custom made up pattern.  The pattern met at the corner perfectly.  Required zero adjustments.

And going from the deck to back to the stairs by the gazebo, I was worried because it needed to line up in front of the stairs - but I just started at the deck, and figured I'd monkey with the back when I got there.  Didn't do any monkeying.  I didn't need to.

It lined up and fit perfectly, not even the slightest fraction of an inch off.  I count it as evidence Heavenly Father loves me, and knows my limits, and fills in when I've done all I can.  Tender mercies.  I had to learn to cut pavers for some of the odd pieces - but since I'm storing my brother-in-law's tools for him, not a problem.  Angle grinder with a masonry disk?  Check.  Done and done!

And more pictures to follow from pretty much every possible angle:

The base decoration on the pergola posts is just some of the pathway stones laid on their side and glued together with concrete construction adhesive - the redwood part I fashioned from leftovers from the arbor purlins.  And yes, I know the pergola purlins are crooked - they aren't attached yet!

View from inside the gazebo:

Close ups of the gazebo:

I added a birdhouse looking like a mini gazebo on the top for a final touch.  And solar lights on the outside, and furniture on the inside, and a candle chandelier.

And a close up of the arbor:

The "arbor" really ended up being a small pergola, that's what happens when you build something with no plans, and let it evolve as it goes.  But I still call it an arbor, even if it is a little big for that.  And those cross boards perpendicular to the beams aren't just for decoration - they held up the 16 foot beams so that I could install them myself!  And I did not cement those posts into the ground.  Found these great spikes about a week after doing the pergola posts.  If I remember correctly they go about 30 inches into the ground, and provide a base to screw your post into.  All I know is I didn't have the upper body strength to hammer in the last six inches or so, had to call in the male reserves for the final push.

Hammock close up (Catzilla photo bombing):

At some point someone pointed out that all my patio/yard furniture moves, rocks, glides, or swings, etc.  Haha, until I got the park bench for the arbor, that was correct!  I guess I'm a fan of motion.  And I looked at hammock stands for ages.  Large unwieldy things - the tree straps ended up working out perfectly instead!

View from under the arbor:

 From the other corner of the yard:

The BBQ was courtesy of my dad.  My second niece was born a few days before my aunt and uncle came to visit (in the middle of my backyard project - I had just finished the deck), and I told my dad there's no way my sister would want to take a newborn out to a restaurant, but if he wanted to buy me a BBQ we could eat dinner at my place.  Haha, he said yes!  That thing has been well used since then!

Close up of the planter box by the back window:

The fountain I also found on clearance.  Someday my dream yard will have a real waterfall.  This money pit is not my dream house.  But this will do for now.  The kiddos poured bubbles in it during Bubba's third birthday party.  Haha, that thing was frothy for months!

And view from the back door:

And that is my backyard... mostly done.  Still need to attach the purlins on the pergola (but they haven't blown off yet!), and do some sort of overhang on the roof eave extensions.  And add some more pieces to the drip sprinkler system and get a fire pit.  But I keep changing my mind on what kind of fire pit I want.  And the continuous upkeep does take a bit of time!

I've been asked where my favorite place to sit is when I go out in the yard.  Haha, I don't sit.  I do maintenance.  I mostly just look at the yard from the house, like it's a painting.  But I do intend to change that in the coming year.  Need to spend more time in the hammock reading, or staring at the trees.  But to pick a favorite place, it would probably be the gazebo.  I still love it - and it has romantic potential...

After my break during 2012 (had to let the tendonitis in my right arm heal from pushing myself too hard on the backyard), my house goal for 2013 - the front porch & yard.  But first I have to decide if I'm going to add a second bathroom onto the house in the front.  I so wish that I could do it myself, but I'm pretty sure the city would frown on that since I don't have a contractors license.  And it would be difficult to pour a foundation, alter the roof line, and do the wall framing all by me onesies.  So since I don't really know anything about building codes, I'll have to get quotes, and pay somebody else if I really decide to do it.

Meanwhile, I can't do the front yard yet, since there's no point in landscaping if it's just going to be destroyed by construction.  And honestly, I don't care as much about appearances as I probably should.  I kinda like that the front yard is totally awful.  It lowers the expectations for the back!  Haha.  Besides, I know it's fantastic on the inside, so who cares what anyone else thinks?  But the front is getting pretty horrid, even for me, and the plumbers didn't do it any favors by digging it up last year for the sewer pipe replacement.

Anyway, I had some friends over for a BBQ who had been looking at buying a house, and they said they'd passed up many a horrible backyard that looked much better than mine originally did.  Said they were inspired by my transformation of it.  Well, good luck to them if they decide to take on their own monstrosity!

I thought of my backyard when I read this quote from Thomas Edison:
"Opportunity is missed by most because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."

Lol, I don't have overalls, but I certainly know about work!

All told, the backyard took about a year and a half - from the point of no return, to the mostly final product.  Then it was a year before I finally remembered to take the "after" pics.