More work on the back wall

Wall in Backyard

 We started taking down the tipping wall in the backyard. We have thought of many different ideas on how to work with this area but after analyzing our finances, we decided to work with what we have and to do the work ourselves. This means taking down the wall block by 85lb block to see what is behind it.

 Then, we laid down landscape fabric throughout the back area. Gravel that was behind the wall was then transported and leveled out. Eventually, these areas will be covered in pavers.

 There is a large concrete block up above that we are scared of undermining so great care was taken to re-enforce with rebar and to keep as much soil in its place as possible. We also have to rebuild the wall in stages so we aren't taking out too much at once.

 There is a drain that runs behind the wall and we are building a French drain between the house and garage to help water flow away from the house foundation and into the yard areas. We have a lot of gravel and hopefully water isn't an issue but since we live in the rainiest area of the country, we are over preparing.

 

Kitchen Overview

Here are a few pictures of the kitchen in general so you can get an overview of how things are coming.

Kitchen Lights - Homemade and Installed

 

As we've posted about before, we were unable to find any suitable lights for the kitchen that weren't really expensive. Even the expensive ones weren't what we wanted, so, we decided to make our own. This seems to be the solution for every problem for us. We ordered lamp parts online and used metal tubing. We got the shades at Rejuvenation - our only "splurge". Because Tyler is a lighting design engineer, he felt confident in wiring and building the fixtures himself. We have older posts that show how he put them together but here they are all up with the ceiling finished around them.

Yard and Garden update

 Our gardens are in full bloom - as you can see, we have a purple/blue/white bed and a pink/yellow/red/orange one.

 The planters have also done well, filling in nicely.

 And we have raspberries this year!

 The grass is starting to grow and fill in the old walkway area.

5th Anniversary Present - Sand Cupboard

 Every year for our anniversary Tyler makes an amazing present. This year, the theme was wood which is pretty easy to come up with something. Tyler made a cabinet to hold our sand we collect from our trips! We have the sand labeled and in separate bottles. You can see how diverse it is in color and texture. The cabinet will hold lots of sand from future trips.