Backyard Decorating

A few little items that we added in the backyard!

A Butterfly house that we got as a Christmas gift:

We re-used one of the old fence posts to stand it on.  

We still have to paint it the gray of the privacy fence.

The butterfly bush is going to be re-planted from the side of the house (where it was moved before construction on the backyard began) to a spot nearby.

I've been going back and forth on what to do around the sundial.  Putting in plants would mean digging up the leveled foundation underneath- which would cause a hassle if I decide to go with the blue stone that I think I really want.  So I don't want to do anything too permanent for the time being.

I found these rocks in the craft section of the store and bought a bunch.  

They reminded me of the rocks on the beach we always went to when I was growing up!  

The boys picked out a few rocks that they liked on a recent trip to California and added them to it too.  

I think we will make this our little memory rock garden for the time being, adding a few from each trip we take!

Patio Fan Installed

More progress on the pavilion... we picked out the light and fan.
Then installed it and our neighbor came over to help us with the electrical hook-up.

The gray fan blades will look more cohesive once we paint the pavilion ceiling blue.  We can't do any painting on it for a year while the wood ages.  We plan to paint it complementary colors to the house.

I love that it has a timer!  I can put the light on for dinner time, set the timer and not have to worry about running back out to turn off the lights after I had cleared the table!

Patio Furniture Placement

With the pavilion up, I was anxious to get the new patio furniture up there (it was being stored in the barn all this time).

The electric is run to it, we just need to have it connected in the basement.

We also have to install the ceiling fan & light.

The landscaper will be back to finish the slate around the posts (they had to be left open so that the building inspector could check the footings).

I think we'll put the little fire pit on the one side, and eventually the grill will go on the other side (closest to the house).

We are finally getting to enjoy it a bit back here!

Putting up the Pavilion

This was the most exciting day... the pavilion was ready to be delivered & built!

I can't believe it only took them 1 day!

The building inspector came soon after to approve it- all went smoothly with that!

The builders did knock into the sundial and the bottom of the arrow broke off.  They immediately offered to pay for replacing that piece.  The piece is currently on back-order, so we will order it on our own when it is back in stock.

Well House Roof

Some nice weather in June also brought back the roofer (finally!!!)

The first day consisted of them fixing the damaged wood.

Next was the shingle & dumpster delivery:

They ripped off the old roof:

New roof going on:

 We had a couple of issues with the roofers, so not sure that we'll use them for the house (which will need to be done in the next couple of years)... we will have to see if/how the issues are resolved! 
I am very happy that the roof is finally on and the building is protected from the weather!  We can now stop worrying about the stuff inside the well house getting ruined and can put everything back in place in there.

Catching up: Painting the Fence

We re-used the privacy fence in the backyard.  Since the new fence line is shorter than the old one, we picked out the best panels to install.  We no longer wanted the green fence, since it doesn't match with the new house colors. 

Step One: Scraping off the peeling paint

Step Two: Power Wash

It was kind of satisfying to see the paint come off with the power washer!

Step Three: Stain the fence

It looks so much nicer now!!!

We hung the hardware & gate on the gray fence, and the dog can now run free again!

Catching up: Back Yard Fence & Mulch

I'm way behind on the backyard updates...

The fence has been completed!

View from the road... you can see the line where the old fence extended.

This section of the old fence has our Wysteria growing on it.
We will remove that in the fall/winter.

We bought & planted more plants... plus the big mulch delivery!

Next up... painting the fence!

More Plants for the Backyard

The landscaper arrived with some of the trees for the yard- they are the two Kousa Dogwoods that go in each corner behind the patio/pavilion.

We also have a cute bird residing in the birdhouse hanging on the fence!

With those trees planted (and a few other small bushes), the landscaper said we are at the top of the estimate he had given us- there had been more stonework/steps than he had originally anticipated.  

This was a bit disappointing- so much empty space that we thought would be filled with plants! But we decided that we can do the rest of the plantings ourselves and headed over to the garden center.

Spirea Bushes filled the back of the car!

We got herbs to make an herb garden inside the circle of boxwoods:

Spearmint, Italian Parsley, Foxley Thyme, Sweet Marjoram, Upright (pink flower) Rosemary, Berggarten Variegated Sage, Raspberry Dressing Rumex, Lemon Thyme, and Basil. 

Some additional plants that we picked up are:

10 Double Play Pink Spirea Bushes, 5 Japanese Andromeda bushes, Pincushion Flower, Garden Phlox, Digitalis, Astilbe, Balloon Flower, Blue Mirror Delphinium, Balmy Lilac Bee Balm, Pachysandra, and Variegated Weigela.

Other plants that we moved from other parts of the yard were Hostas, Lily of theValley, Coreopsis, Climbing Hydrangea, Azalea, Peonies, Lavender Bushes (some of these might not make it- they were a bit bedraggled).  There are a few others from our other gardens that we moved but can't remember the names of!

Next step is the landscaper bringing in a lot of mulch!