Diggin' in the Dirt

{Note: See previous post below for a family update and kid pictures!}

For the past few weekends and multiple weeknights, Keith has been hard at work in the backyard. In case you've never seen it, it's the Ugly Stepsister to our front yard.

The beautiful front yard looks like this...


While the back yard hides it's ugly head in shame...


So it's finally getting a much-needed spruce-up. We've wanted to do this project for a few years, but somehow any extra money gets eaten up elsewhere (hello, medical bills). But we really wanted to have an outdoor space for Maddie to play and Lucy to run free, before we hit Summertime...so we're starting with the cheap stuff! A while back, my dad was remodeling his office/warehouse and was getting rid of old decking lumber--hey, we'll take it! Free!

Many hours with the planer and sander + a few trips to Lowe's for hardware
+ my husband's handiwork =


Beauty! This deck is just off the French doors in our master bedroom, so we'll have easy access from there, or through our back door which leads into a screened-in "porch" {aka-current recycling bin area & future BBQ grill area} and then out to the rest of the back yard.

Step 2: Railing and stairs. Can't wait! I can already a little bistro table and chairs, ready and waiting for my morning cup of coffee or summer evening glass of wine!


This morning the rest of the back yard looked like this...

{that wall with the window is the side of our garage
&
the little sliver of wall in the foreground is the screened-in porch}


Then Keith spent all day doing this...


{our driveway-turned-construction-zone}


And by this evening, we had this lovely blank canvas...


Tomorrow = Leveling the dirt in preparation for framing the hardscape...a four-quadrant grid that will have brick borders and poured concrete insets, then a border of plants all along the fence. Next year we hope to build a short stucco wall along the perimeter of the fence for raised planter beds, but for now it will probably just be dirt.

We're off to a great start! :-)