After putting in grass last week, today was spent on the fire pit area. Nothing fancy--less than $125 dollars for the chairs and fire bowl, but already the backyard is a gathering space for the kids after homework. Once they can play on the grass that will only increase.
For nearly eight years, the backyard has been a challenge, a trial, and a source of contention between Summer and me. Here are the basics: the backyard is small (15'x50'), with a pretty nasty slope (roughly 2' in drop from the neighbors behind us to our back patio). We've tried several quick fixes, but after a few years, it became obvious that we needed to do full-throttle, cutting into the slope, building a retaining wall, and leveling the yard into two terraces.
So, after years of work, last March we finished the wall and started leveling below it. Today we reached the promised land by putting in ~225' of sod--not a lot, but enough for the kids to run around. Here, then, are some pictures:
From above the wall looking southeast
From the patio looking west--that's one of the two apple trees we planted last spring
From the patio looking south--below the wall are two lilac bushes we planted last month, and above the wall by the fence are hollyhocks
Behind the house looking northwest--that's the other apple tree, and Summer's garden gnome
At the north end of the yard is a sandbox we put in this spring, complete in this photo with Ryan and Evan
And here we get a broader view of the yard looking north, complete with Allyson, who here sniffs a marigold--the dirt area behind her will be home to either another tree or a small patio and fire pit
