Lattice started, plants planted

 At the top of the steps on the landing, there is a strange area where our neighbors garage, our fence, and his taller deck fence all met. It is an awkward space and since it will be a focal point at the top of the stairs, we decided to put in a lattice and grow some type of climbing plant. Above is one of the side posts.

 Then a frame is built on the ground.

 It is put in place. The post on the right is not pounded all the way down into place yet.

 The upper piece of lattice is in place, we had to go buy another piece to cut to fit the bottom.

 Here you can see it with half of the stair treads resting in place.

 We are creating a shade bed by the back door. This is an idea of the shape and a few of the plants that will go in it.

The bushes were planted at the top of the retaining wall. They should fill in nicely over the next few years to cover the ugly cement behind them.

Starting to lay pavers

 Between the house and the garage we are finishing off that area by laying pavers. First a layer of gravel was put down, followed by sand. The whole area was leveled off with a slight incline for water runoff.

 We decided to make a shade bed next to the house to add a little greenery. Tyler's dad worked hard at making sure things were straight and level.

 The area by the back door is coming along nicely.

This is about the point where we finished up for the day. Tyler's parents left to go back to Maine so we will be quite a bit slower in the amount accomplished the next few weeks. Thanks to them for all the hard work in making our backyard look better.

Backyard Work Continued

  

We have been having some nice weather and we did dinner up on the patio. We made smores for dessert on the fire. It will be nice to have the space a little more accessible and be able to use the upper area more.

 Here is a nice overview of the project. The mound of dirt to the left will eventually be flower beds. The steps are finished being built except for the treads being laid in place.

 We also added a few trim boards on the house where they were missing allowing for the back walkway to get finished with pavers. We also went shopping and picked out a few bushes to put in the trench at the top of the wall.

 At the top of the stairs, there is a landing before turning 90 degrees and going up three more stairs to the top.

 The edges of the landing are the same material as the stair treads.

 Once those were in place it was time to start laying pavers on the landing.

 Tyler's parents helped us out so much during their visit in getting a little bit closer to finishing the backyard area.

 It took looks of leveling to get things perfect and lay all the pavers. We still need to build the last stairs up to the top.

 Then, we put the cap stones on the wall. They are attached with landscape adhesive.

 The bushes were brought up but have not been planted yet. We will probably reduce the number so they have room to grow and spread but they are all just sitting up there for now.

The dirt at the base of the stairs and back 1/4 of the lawn is about 12 inches too high so we are slowly chipping away at moving it and lowering that area. It is hard, unrewarding work to do so we are doing it a little at a time interspersed with other tasks.

 While we were working hard, Sam was being a perfect baby. He slept contently in his stroller enjoying the fresh air. He would wake up occasionally to eat but was satisfied to stare at the plants and watch us work the rest of the time.

Back Wall - getting taller

 Quick update of wall photos. It is getting taller.

 The steps are coming along. We are using place holders for now and will pour concrete steps when the stairs are finished.

 Tyler chiseling to fit the end blocks.

More work on the back wall

 Tyler got another load of gravel delivered and decided to work on the back wall more this past weekend. His parents flew in on Monday and helped us out too. There are lots of blocks to move.

It was lots of shoveling and laying blocks.

 Russell and Llanie arrived from Australia Tuesday night and were a big help too.

 We made some good progress getting things done. It goes a lot faster with six people instead of one.

 

 Llanie helped us out by weeding our garden beds.

 

 And Poppy made sure to help too. Her feet got a little muddy though and we got lots of paw prints throughout the house.

Samuel got to meet his cousin Edward for the first time. He is quite the world traveler - making his second trip to the U.S. by six months old.