Side Yard Project

I spent what seems like weeks trying to get this how I wanted it. It all started when we found out we could submit our landscape plans at the garden fair and get the $75 fee waved. I scrambled the night before to get my drawn-to-scale sketch ready. We changed a few things since then and below is the final design.

Patio pavers were on sale at Lowes, 20% off and I had a 10% off coupon as well so I wanted to get as much of our supplies as I could in one go, especially since we would have it all delivered and I only wanted to pay one delivery fee.

This is how it started out. Well almost. We had to move a ton of rocks in the yard and used them to build up the patio space. So many rocks!!! And the ground is full of more rocks.

Since our yard is mostly shaded during the day I wanted to do a little shade garden in one of the corners.

And here it is after we got all of our mulch around the perimeter and in the center is our biograss garden soil spread with lawn seed. I sure hope it grows a lush beautiful lawn! Until then, we'll enjoy that we don't have to mow.

And here is our paver patio. Its a little less than perfect, but we did our best given how tired we were by the end. A few pavers sit a little higher or lower than they probably should, but at 11 at night after a full day of yard work, we weren't really noticing it as much. Hopefully it will stand the test of time. Just imagine some potted citrus trees on the corners and a patio set...oh and the lawn and we are almost there!

A New Appreciation for Topsoil

While putting in our side yard we have had to clear a lot of rocks and dig several holes for our plants. The ground out here is nothing but clay and rocks. You can't put a shovel to it without hitting a rock or 20. Needless to say, it has been quite the task to put anything in the ground.

Growing up, the family business was a sand and gravel company. My grandparents and all their kids contributed in the mining operation where they mined and sold topsoil and sand. Today as I dug several holes in our yard I couldn't help but have a new appreciation for rich topsoil, the kind that is found on the family property.

I feel slightly like Scarlet O'Hara from Gone with the Wind when she comes to understand her relationship to Tara.

Space or Upgrades

The house next door to us sold recently. We have watched it go from drywall stage to completely finished inside. The house is fairly small, something like 1300 square feet I think, but it is really cute. I remember when we walked through it, really not liking how the upstairs was just a small landing with 4 doors coming off of it. The master bedroom was really small too. The price of the house when we were looking was $13K less than the one we went for with 1800 square feet. I know we made the right choice, but every time I walk by our upstairs window I can see right into the house. They got all the upgrades, nice tall baseboards, 3-tone paint, upgraded carpet, dark wood floors. nice hand rails. I can't help but think about how cosy it must feel in there and wish we could have had a few more of those extra touches. I just kept thinking it was too small, that we would outgrow it quickly, oh and it doesn't have a yard at all. Sometimes I think it would have been worth it to sacrifice the space and spend more on finishings. I am learning that you can really make any space work, but then again, having more space when you need it is definitely nice.

Paver Patio

We went to Lowes last night to look at the pavers in person and they happen to be 20% off this week. So now I have deadline. I need to get everything figured out by Saturday. The choice came down to a Holland Paver and a 4 Cobblestone Paver.

New Smart Phone

My poor little phone had an unfortunate accident a while back. I'm not sure what happened, but there is a big spider web crack that starts in the upper right hand corner and spreads down about 1/3 of my phone. Fortunately it still works okay, but now that our contract is up with AT&T, I can get a new phone. I contemplated going back to the days of simpler life and getting a non-smart phone (gasp!), but when we got to the store and I looked at them, I was sad at the thought of having just a regular ol' phone. Call my spoiled, I am used to my snazzy iPhone. Andre showed me an Android smart phone, which I promptly disregarded. Eek, "It looks like a windows device," I thought. I looked at a few others but somehow ended up back by that HTC Inspire. Upon actually checking it out, I kind of started to like the huge screen and it was surprisingly responsive. I liked looking at the calendar on that big screen and the camera was cool too.

Then I checked out the iPhone 4 and what would you know, I just don't love it. The screen seemed small all of the sudden and I don't like the hard edges. Of course a bumper would take care of that, but I went back to the HTC. I was actually considering getting an Android phone. Yuck! I really dislike the word "Android". We went home and did a little research. Turns out the battery life on the Inspire is awful. But it really had me thinking. Do you know what it does?? It senses when it is in a pocket and rings louder. My husband can attest to the fact that I often miss phone calls simply because I can't hear/feel my phone.

I know the iPhone is a superior device though and their clever marketing campaign was ringing in my ear, "If you don't have an iPhone...well, you don't have an iPhone." And I worry I might be sad if I don't at least give the iPhone 5 a chance to make its appearance. But congrats HTC on making a phone that actually had me thinking!