It only took 3 years!

For the last 3 years, this is what our fence has looked like. A very sad state of affairs! Please excuse the very neglected backyard. As we finally, finally have a shiny, new fence, we can start the backyard landscaping...when we've recovered from the bathroom reno that is!

And here she is...

The best bit about this improvement was that we didn't have to do it! The colour is Deep Ocean and I like that it seems to change colours throughout the day. We went for a darker colour so it fades into the background a bit more where there is greenery.

So, onwards and upwards with the backyard landscaping! It will be a slow and steady process but at least we have a plan in mind already!

Rain, rain, go away...

You're making my outdoor jobs unpleasant, if not impossible. The pavers and sand are still sitting out the front waiting and I had just one coat of paint left to do out the back...

Looks like I'll be waiting until next Tuesday to finish it now :-(

Yard progress

A (long) while ago I posted about tackling the old BBQ area. The plan was to render the back wall of the old brick BBQ and then put the hand-me-down spa in front of it. Well, we did do that. I have never posted any pictures of it as quite frankly, it's still a disaster area. So the last couple of weekends I've been working on fixing it up. 

Way back when, before the work began

The next job was to render the garden bed in the foreground of the photo above and as the garden bed is empty at the moment it seemed like the right time to start.

Supplies

The offending garden bed

End of day 1 - You can kind of see the spa and other wall at the far right

This last weekend I finished it off so, weather permitting, it can be painted next weekend. The bare patch is staying bare. Eventually there will be decking that comes right up to the edge of the garden bed so while it looks a bit strange, it's strategically saving time and money!

Meanwhile, out the front of the house, A has been tackling the infinitely more challenging retaining wall issue. Being that we want to pave the front area but when we dug it out to prepare the base, we had to dig below the footings of the retaining wall. And, the wall is kind of cobbled together and not flat so rendering as is would be a nightmare. Solution, attach frame and blue board to existing wall and render that. Doesn't sound too difficult...right?

The offending wall

Area to be paved

Wrong! But it's getting there. There's been about 3 days work in getting it built and covered but it's starting to come together now. Next weekend we'll be rendering out here.

Oh to have a shed full of the right tools and 20 tradies to do the work for you, huh Block, you make it look so easy!

Less of a Backyard Blitz...

and more of a slow-and-steady-wins-the-race transformation. 

The plan is to transform this...

...into something more like this, care of our good friend D who has moved to Queensland and couldn't take his spa with him!

Via West Texas Pools and Spas 

Job 1: Remove well established (but very ugly) vines from pergola. Tick!

Job 2: Knock down old brick BBQ, keeping the back so we can render and paint and have something to sit the spa against. Tick!

I really should have done this job during term time when I needed to blow off some steam as it turns out whacking stuff with a sledge hammer provides great stress relief!

Alas, I wasn't as productive as last break so that's all I really have to show for two weeks holidays! 

It's that time again!

Yep, it's the school holidays. The last few weeks have been crazy so I'm looking forward to some time kick back, relax, collect my thoughts and get ready for the next adventure....the new job!

I'd like to do some more painting but think it may be too cold for it to dry properly. Seriously cold this last week. The poor fish pond has frozen over twice. It's really quite bizarre watching goldfish swim under a layer of ice! So rather than frost, tomorrow I'm hoping to wake up to this....

Hey, a girl can dream! I'd settle for just a sprinkling, c'mon, please?!

If painting is a no-go then I may take on the scarily overgrown BBQ area and get the sledge hammer onto the old brick BBQ. Or maybe continue A's good work removing vines from the back fence so we can get a new one! Now there's a couple of challenges!

Here are some befores...

Wish me luck!