Hydroseed! (7/6/11)

The backyard is finally ready for seed!  It took a lot of work to get it ready, but we're finally here!!  

 Backyard

A little in the front where it was still patchy

Granite Desk (6/29/11)

I've been trying to think of an area that I could work on my scrapbook stuff upstairs for a little while now.  I have a room downstairs for it, but it is just so far away from where we always hang out and I don't really like to scrap down there.  Mike said we could put in a counter top upstairs in the living room area where I have my desk.  Then we could put cabinets underneath to store my things. I suggested we put a slab of granite on top as that would look really pretty.  Mike was able to find a piece on Craigslist within a couple days for a great deal and he hauled it home!

It's a little more red than I envisioned, but for the price I think it will grow on me!  We picked out cabinets at Ikea and once the weather cools down and we finish up our outdoor and garage projects Mike will put the desk up!

Smoothing out the backyard (6/28/11)

Now that the patios and landscaping are complete in the backyard it's time to get it ready for seed.  It just needed to be smoothed out and a dirt moved around here and there.  Mike hooked a fence on the back of his dad's garden tractor and pulled it around the yard until it was smooth.

It took 2 nights and a modified fence section to get it how we wanted it.

More patio's (6/16/11)

We finally decided on what to do with the backyard when you come out the back door.  We needed a spot to put our canopy and chairs.  We decided to do a wooden deck-type 10x10 area just for the canopy and then an area of pavers for another little table and chairs.

Mike working on the canopy patio

This was a few weeks later.  We put in a little garden mulch area; and also around the canopy patio

Driveway Patch (6/13/11)

There was a spot in the driveway full of river rock.  We took out the rock and were left with a hole.  We had it patched with asphalt.

Circle Patio (6/11/11)

We were able to put in the circle patio the weekend of June 11th.  It took both Saturday and Sunday, not non-stop but it was time consuming!  Progress pics of the patio installation:

 Putting the pipes down to level out the sand base

 Finished :)  YAY!

 Edging to keep it tight together

Sand to fill in all the gaps

Tractors and Bobcats (6/8/11)

Mike is lucky enough to have some really nice friends to help us out with the backyard!  Mike Femling brought his tractor over that had a tiller on the back; and Chad Parkos brought over his Bobcat to move dirt around and smooth it out.

It didn't take long for Mike to til up the whole yard!

We took out the circle paver patio that we had at our old house over Memorial weekend and Chad was able to make a spot for it with the Bobcat.

 The boys figuring out the perfect spot to put it

 Digging out dirt to add in class 5 for the base of the patio

Compacting the class 5

It took 2 evenings of Bobcat work and some extra black dirt to get it smoothed out.  We also had class 5 put down next to the garage so Mike can park the truck there while we're not using it; and up along side the driveway.