Things are moving right along at our new home. The back yard has been started and we both are so excited to see it completed, but enjoying each stage of progress.
The first thing they did was to stain our fence. Since we have an HOA we had two choices. Natural or a darker reddish stain. I had to go back and forth about this decision because my husband preferred the dark one over the light one.
This is how my brain was working....... I know the darker reddish stain will make the green plants stand out and would make a great backdrop because red and green are opposites on the color wheel. I walked around the neighborhood look at fences stained that color.
Then I treated myself like a client and the very first thing I would ask a client is do you EVEN like that color? The answer was a big fat NO, it was to russet for my liking and my home is bright and airy and I did not want to look out my windows and see a dark fence. So it was settled, we went with the lighter more natural looking fence.
Next came the weed removal, boy was that hard work for them. I am sure glad I did not have to do that job.......
Once all of the weeds were removed the digging for the sprinklers, drains and electrical was placed in the ground. Next came the forms for the cement that would make our patio's and walkway at the side of the house.......
We will actually have 3 patios, one which is a covered area right outside our great room door that the builder provided, then there will be another rectangle patio that joins that one at the back of the house and it will intersect a circular patio that will be all used brick....
You can see the start of the circular formation in this picture.
On each side of the circular brick patio there will be a small lawn area.
After they compacted all the gravel they began finishing up the forms and adding the rebar. There will also be steps in the lawn area that will go to the other side yard.
When the cement truck arrived it was busy, busy, and the men really worked fast and furious to get it all in the forms correctly. An amazing process and a definite skill when it comes to the finish work.
Thursday two big pallets of used bricks were delivered and they start laying the brick tomorrow. This is the part I am most excited about.
We will have brick around the mow strip and framing (brick end to end) the walkways and the steps, the walkway will have soldier brick breaking up the long expanse of concrete. the circular patio will have soldier brick (brick side by side) around the edges and then a herring bone pattern in the middle.
Here are some pictures of examples of the look I am going for.
The brick on the outside of the walkway will be end to end in order to give us more walking space, but the division of the walkway will be like this is pictured above.
You can see in this inspiration picture the soldier brick around the edges.
I will keep you all posted as more changes happen in our yard. Next week we get to go pick out the plants. I also get to pick out some boulders that will be placed on the slope behind the lawn area.
We are beyond excited and grateful to be able to do this. We have never had any project totally done. In fact when we were younger we were the one's raking rocks off the soil to plant a new lawn, digging post holes for fences.
So you see, we understand the hard work that is involved, and we do not take it for granted that we get to do this in this stage of life, and have someone else do the work for us.
Lots to be thankful for and excited about!!!
I am definitely .......
"Enjoying the Process!"
