A new yard awaits....

 A new yard awaits....

April 30th to May 1st -- At 8:00 am on April 30th, the truck arrived to deliver the pea gravel.  By the end of the day that mountain of pea gravel found a new home around the raised beds, in between the north side of the house and fence, and in the alcove outside the greenhouse.  

One of the 4' by 8' raised bed frames has been built.  One down and four more to go.

After putting in several hours, all of the raised bed frames have been constructed and when the back fence is completed, they will haul away the trash and put the raised bed frames in their proper location where irrigation hoses are already in place. 

The gate on the back privacy fence had to be reconfigured so that there wouldn't be a huge gap between the bottom of the gate and walkway.  These photos show how the backyard is essentially done.  It is easy to see the two 4 by 8 raised bed frames next to the garage and the two 8 by 8 raised bed frames next to the walkway.  If you look really hard next to the fence, adjacent to the 8 by 8 frame, you can see the fifth raised bed frame as it is next to the back fence.

These photos also show a pile of flagstone scraps that I will use around the yard.  One of the raised beds has a bunch of mulch in it, which I'll use around the yard.  

Here is a better photo of the reconfigured back fence gate and that last raised bed frame. Next spring this raised bed will have old windows covering the top to serve as a cold frame for early crops such as greens.

Also, 2 yards of planters mix and 1/2 yard of mulch were dropped in front of the garage (hiding underneath this cover), which I'll use to fill the raised beds. It won't be until Monday until the spray heads for the drip irrigation system for each raised bed is installed.  So, this weekend will be all about preparing the beds so that I can plant next weekend after the threat of the last frost is gone.

The woolly thyme has been planted at strategic joints in the flagstone on the patio by the south-side deck -- the woolly thyme should spread by the end of summer -- as long as I'm on top of the weeding -- and will be no more than 1.5 inches tall.  Hopefully the flagstones will be surrounded by the woolly thyme to give a touch of green to the patio.

  

Here is a photo of what the woolly thyme will look like -- hopefully -- at the end of summer

There is now pea gravel around the back of the house where there isn't mulch.

The front privacy fence and gate is done -- this view is from the deck.

Here is the view from the front of the house, and you can see that not only is the new front privacy fence done, but the chain link fence has been put back in front of the house.

Here is the alcove outside the greenhouse with pea gravel.

And, in this photo there is water on the pea gravel from a test of the sprinkler system -- there are sprinkler heads embedded under some of the flagstone so that the woolly thyme will grow, and so I can also put flower pots on the patio that will be watered.  Here is a photo of the potting bench in its new location in the alcove.   I haven't moved the gas grill yet, but I have a much better location for it than in the alcove....photos to come this weekend.

And, look what I noticed this morning -- not only did this plant live through the construction dust, but there is a bloom!  

There is nothing like the promise of spring and the thought of digging in the dirt, and this year a new yard awaits that will hold all sorts of surprises.

I can't believe this is my yard....

I can't believe this is my yard...

April 29th -- The landscaping is really coming together and way beyond my wildest dreams!

They are pretty much done with the flagstone and worked on the fencing today.  Here is the new front view of the house with the privacy fence up.  They will put in the gate and hardware tomorrow.

I will need to decide whether to paint the fence with a colored stain like the pergola or just use a clear water sealant over the cedar.

Here is a view of the front privacy fence from the deck and patio:

The walkway from the patio to the garage and rear-entry is done and now has mulch on each side.

Now there is also  mulch around the back of the house for a future shrub bed, with a few flagstones serving to mark a path to the backyard.

I started to build the frames for the raised beds, and here is the first one that I completed.

There will be another one like this one (4' by 8') in front of the rear fence.

I got about half-way through this raised bed frame (8' by 8') and tomorrow I will complete this one and a second one just like it that will be near the back fence.

I will build one more raised bed frame tomorrow, which will serve as cold frames with my old windows.  I haven't decided exactly where I'll place that bed yet . Around these raised beds there will be pea gravel, which will be delivered tomorrow at 7:00 am.

This view shows the progress that the crew made on the back privacy fence.

At the request of the landscaper, I turned on the water line for the sprinkler system, which I had shut off last fall to avoid freezing over the winter.  Tomorrow they will also lay down landscape cloth in the alcove (shown in these photos) between the greenhouse and east end of the mudroom and cover it with pea gravel.  They will install the rest of the sprinkler system to the raised beds and install the clock that controls the irrigation system.  The clock will live in the greenhouse.

Pretty soon I will move the gas grill into the alcove along with my potting bench.

On Thursday the landscaper will plant lemon thyme between the flagstones so that eventually there will be greenery in between the flagstones that make up the patio.  The landscaper will also drop off a mound of potting mix that I will use to fill each of the raised beds.  

I can't believe this is my yard, and I can't believe that all of this landscape work will be done in time for me to plant my garden this year!

The painters were here for almost the entire day working on touch-ups and second coats on the trim in the stairwell and second upstairs bathroom.

I'm still waiting for the fabricator to install the counter top for the second upstairs bathroom.  As soon as that is done, I'll get the plumber to install the bathroom fixtures.  On May 10th, the floor guys will come to sand and refinish the floors in the living room, foyer, front bedroom/office and the upstairs sitting room.  Hopefully, then the finish carpenter will return and the painters will spend one more day doing exterior touch - ups. 

 I'm not sure we will get this project done before the one-year mark, but it will be close.

Spring is back.....

Spring is back....

April 28th --  Last year the last snowfall was on May 2nd.  It would be nice if we only had rain and no more snow because snow this late has a nasty habit of knocking the blooms off the trees.

The dogwood, which isn't supposed to grow in these parts, but was a gift, has started to bloom, but isn't at peak just yet.  No matter, it makes one of the best shows in the yard.

This will also be a good year for the lilacs.  I had to trim some this weekend because they were getting into the gutters on the roof of the mudroom.  

Just a great excuse to cut some blooms and bring them inside.  The vases are still somewhere in a box in the garage, but a plastic cup will do just fine.

I applied a second coat of paint to the claw foot tub claws and then was inspired to add a bit more contrast.  It looks like that tub could just get up and walk away on its own.

The replacement translucent library door for the guest suite has arrived, as shown here.  It will be painted, the protective cover removed from the glass and then re-installed once the one with the shattered glass is removed -- no one is looking forward to this operation as it will take 5-6 hours.

In the meantime, more progress outside the house....

The fence posts for the front privacy fence were dug and the posts were set in concrete.  These photos show the view from the front of the house.

Here is the view of the fence posts from the deck.

More progress on the walkway from the patio to the garage and the smaller patio in front of the rear-entry of the house.

By the end of the day the landscape crew ran out of large pieces of flagstone and a few more large pieces will be picked up tomorrow by the landscape contractor.  







These photos show the view of the patio at the rear-entry of the house leading to the garage.

This last photo shows where the flagstone patio ends at the back or west end of the house.  The backyard will be covered in landscape cloth and pea gravel around the raised beds and with thick mulch close to the house.  

The lumber has been cut and I will assemble  5 raised beds (2 beds that are 8' by 8'; 2 beds that are 4' by 8'; and one bed that is 32" by 6' -- this last one is sized to accommodate old windows from the house that will serve as cold frames to start early spring greens and root veggies next year).  After I arm myself with a corded drill and 3" wood screws, I will start to assemble the raised beds later this week.