Backyard Pergola

We placed 4 poles in the ground last summer and planted some vines around them with the intent to build a pergola at some point. I (Marty) finally got around to it. Too bad I picked the hottest Saturday yet this year; it was miserable. I kept the design pretty simple due to constrained resources (tools and $$), but I'm happy with how it turned out. The next stage of this project is to build a wood deck underneath, but that may not happen for quite some time. I really enjoy working in the yard and have so many ideas, but am limited to low cost projects.

Kitchen Window Pergola

To top our Christmas Eve painting project, Marty decided that New Year's Day was a good time to build the pergola we've been planning. Our kitchen window looks to our neighbor's house and yard. So, instead, we wanted a vine covered area with hanging bird feeders to gaze at (of course you know that it will take a year or so for the vines to grow). It is fun to dream up things and have a handy man do all the work! We figured it would take a couple of days to finish, especially since he didn't get started until the afternoon. Nope, not my honey. He finished it that night! I know, I know I should stop on the details - you are all getting jealous. I'm just so proud! So, moving along. Here are the before's and after's:

Christmas Painting

So on Christmas Eve Marty and I painted our kitchen. It was fun at first and then not so much. Kids did surprisingly well during the whole episode.

First picture is the light tan that it was. Second is the gray primmer suggested to help the red pop and so we only have to use one or two coats of the red instead of 4 or 5. Third picture is the red. I won't be offended if y'all don't like it, but I love it. It is the perfect red that I was looking for. It is beautiful in the sun light and in the indoor lighting in the evening. It makes the kitchen much more warm and welcoming. It makes me want to paint the whole house. What a difference!



It is still a mess, but you can get the picture! That free furniture looks nice against the red, huh?

Let me know what you think?

The Brick Patio

This is Marty; I'm making my first post. I promised a few people I would post pictures of my brick patio project. It’s been a ton of work…most of the work was done after dark. I could never seem to find a full Saturday to work on it. I should have taken more pictures, that way you could appreciate the improvement it is to our back yard.

I started by cutting the sod out and digging down about 7 inches, and hauling it to the other end of the yard in hopes to create a garden some day. That was quite the chore; I’m just not the “Iron Man” I used to be. This office job has softened me right up. I framed in exactly where I wanted the edges of the patio to be and then started wheel barrowing 2 cubic yards of limestone base from the front yard to the construction zone, followed by 1 yard of torpedo sand…for final leveling purposes. Here you can see the limestone base.

Then the fun part began- placing the bricks. This really was the fun part, because I could see the final product come together. Fun that is until the piecing began; I had many bricks to cut and fit together. I finally bought a circular saw and I also bought a masonry blade to cut the bricks. It worked quite well, but was hard to hold the bricks without cutting my arm off. Half way through the project we got a massive rainstorm, which washed some of my sand out from under the bricks and flooded my work area. That required some repair before I could begin again. You can see the standing water here.

Well it’s done. I guess I don’t have a final picture of it, but we can take one and post that later. The project really was fun. I liked having Celie help me out. She always wants to help. Every day when I would get home from work she wanted to know if we were going to go “work on the brick patio”. She would pick up the bricks from the pile on the covered porch and waddle over to where I was kneeling to hand me the next one. They are really heavy for her; she would grunt, but never complain about the weight. She is such a hard worker.

Our back yard is coming together. We want to create a place in the yard that will accommodate small gatherings. This patio will really help. We enjoy having friends over to let the kids play and grill a few hamburgers and hotdogs; it’s cheap entertainment.

French Drain Documented

This is a project that M took upon himself to improve the yard. When it rained this one side of our lawn would puddle up with water for a long time. He thought that a French Drain system would be helpful and it is!! It works like a charm. No more puddles and that means no more breading grounds for mosquitoes! H invited his coworker over to help - what a good friend. It just so happened to be one of the most hot and humid days when M decided to do this project. He wanted to make sure that it could get all done by that evening too. So he asked me to help start digging the night before - - at 9:00 p.m.! I was in my pj's and flip flops. The ground is like a wet suction cup with every step and the bugs were out and about. My job was to hold the light while he dug out the sod. Now I knew M was strong, but not this strong. He was pulling these huge clumps of sod that are completely filled with water. He is standing in the trench full of water heaving out the monstrous loads, bugs are swarming him (and me because I am holding the light!), and he says "Isn't this fun?!". What a guy. After a little while I am really noticing the bugs all over me and am asking M every few minutes why we can't do this in the morning. I am then given the job to shovel the sod out so he can pick it up. Now I am shaking because this wet land smells like sewage and the bugs are eating my alive. I also notice that every time M lifts up the sod an army of huge spiders come running towards me!! If any of you know me then you know how I felt about this. I was beside myself. I must have been in shock because I didn't think of going to change my clothes so they wouldn't be running over my toes and up my legs .\dfkla;kdhf lksjfhg. Oo that gave me the shivers just writing about it. Lets move on.

M's friend came the next day and his wife and family came too. We swam at the pool next door while the boys worked hard to finish the job. I made sure they had drinks, but you could tell that they were delirious from heat, exhaustion, and dehydration. They were moving very slow by the end of the project. You can tell in the pictures. Luckily they got to come swim afterwards. We have such nice neighbors. Wow, this story turned into a long one. I hope you enjoy the pictures. . .




Our great neighbors.
M's coworker and wife

Before we cut the ground

This shows the three stages of the system. Ground, rocks, hose, rocks, sod on top.

Almost finished!

Last clump of sod to roll over!!