More Pond Shots

done!

It's done. Complete. Finished. The pond is up and running, and we even already have some fish. OK, they are little fish, and they are even more dwarfed by the size of the pond. But hey, it's done! We will still be adding some plantings around it, but the construction is done! YAY! here are some shots of the completed yard.


Close up of the waterfall



View from the patio


View from the front gate


View from the deck

deck? done!

There it is. Finished. Done. Complete! So nice to be able to actually sit on the furniture, without having to squeeze in between the table and the wall! I will be working on the pond the pond this weekend, and hope to get it finished. They we will get some grass down, and the yard will be done. (Until the next project!)

Work slowdown

We have finished the back patio, and the lower section of the path to the back gate, but alas, progress seems to have stopped there. The deck is scheduled to be done this week, but the rain may have to set that back a while. The more research I do on the Koi pond, the more overwhelmed I become. I am just not confident enough to do all the plumbing work myself. It's too much money to spend to screw it up! So, now I am looking for some help with the PVC piping, and hooking up the drain, and the pump. If you know someone, maybe a freelancer, that knows what they are doing, please let me know!


The view coming into our side yard.


Looking back.


Patio. Done and being enjoyed!


Path in front of the shed, to the back gate.


The front gate. No grass between the stones here.


Our neighbor's yard. We call it "Sanford & Son."

one day down, one more to go

We worked on the patio today, as well as the fish pond. Deb and Brian came over and helped schlep stones, and dig. here's what we accomplished today.

Stones Arrive!

Have you ever wondered what 4 tons of stones looked like? Well, wonder no more! We got 4 tons delivered to the house today. OK...to the park behind our house really, but it will end up in the yard.


4 tons. I think it's more than we will need, but we will see.


Cool forklift they had to bring it in off the street.


Going back for more.


The crushed stone, for the base of the patio.


The whole delivery, just waiting to be installed!

Hardscape

Well, this weekend started early, at about 8:00 on Saturday. We drew out the outline for the new and improved fish pond, and leveled the back corner of the yard for the new patio. Our neighbors who recently moved out of state had a huge estate sale, and we purchased 2 sets of nice patio furniture. (And a nice bar for the dining room...another story)


Back corner...soon to be home of a stone patio.


I was not happy with the corner of the front wall, so Saturday morning, I pulled them all out, and re-laid them.

So, we got the two areas preped on Saturday, and today, we went to work on the pond. We had marked the area with white paint on Saturday...then Joy HAD to put the blocks down so she could see how it was going to look.



Then today, we had to remove them all so we could did the ditch, to level the ground and lay down the crushed stone so we would have a level wall.

Trench.

Deb came over an was a huge help, digging and schleping the stones for the wall. Our neighbor also helped, by letting us use his awesome leveling device. I have to say, I felt pretty good when we were measuring. My old fashioned method was actually spot on.


Deb helps.


And works some more!


First row, done.


Second row.

We were almost done for the day, after the last trip Deb and Joy made to Home Depot to pick up another 40 of the blocks, and we got them all placed, and we decided to go over and see what was left at the estate sale, which was when we spotted the bar, and since it was all half price, we decided to take it. We didn't realize the thing weighs a ton! Well, it was just the 2 of us, since Deb had left, and we got it up the stairs from the basement, and outside and down to street level. We were both beat, and filthy from working in the yard all day, and I wasn't sure we had the energy to get the thing into our house! Thanks goodness our wonderful neighbor had a hand truck, and we got it in. What a day!


The new (really heavy) bar we got. Needs to air out. Still smells like smoke.

We picked a fabulous weekend to do all this heavy lifting, both days in late April going over the 90º mark. (Can you feel the sarcasm?) But it is done, and we are really pleased with our progress.


How we ended the day Sunday.
Done for the day.

Oh yeah. On Saturday, we stopped at a local quarry, and we ordered 4 tons of flat stones to be delivered for the back patio, and 1.5 tons of crushed stone to set it in. It gets delivered on Friday. Guess I know what we are doing next weekend.

nice weekend=more work!

We added some plants to the back yard today. Actually, not as hard as we thought it would be. More time picking them out than planting!
What did we add?
Japonica, (4) Azalea (2), Pulmonaria (3), Saxifraga (3), Ostrich ferns (3), Jacobs Ladder (3), Aucuba (2), Autumn Ferns (2) Iris (2)

Spring is here!

Yes, the weather is warming up, and we have started to do some more work around the house.
More work tomorrow I am sure.


New trees along the property line. Anything to block the view of the neighbors yard.


Back corner, where the back patio will be. Nice, big slabs of field stone.



What happened to the old patio off the deck?


It was moved to the side yard!