Goodbye mud pit

Okay I lied, most of our backyard is still dirt, but this weekend I put in our second plant bed thus taking another dent out of the mud pit. The main challenge was just figuring out what to do with all the random plants I had accumulated and what to cover the bed with. Ian wanted the crushed granite and after going back and forth I decided to go with mulch to give it some contrast from the patio. It turned out better than I imagined it would! It's interesting, because I wasn't planning on doing any yard work this weekend with threats of Ike's impact on Austin, but when Saturday came and there was no sign or rain or heavy wind, it was really the perfect time to be outside. Really the only impact we had from Ike was about 10 minutes of rain, late Saturday night. Sunday morning was so cool and breezy, being outside was actually enjoyable for mid-September in Texas.

We tried to stay with native plants and finally planted the succlents my mom gave us 4 months ago: 2 aloe veras, 2 spanish daggers, a taller cactus and a pencil cactus that I split into several bunches. I bought some dwarf fountain grass, four-nerve daisy & silver ponyfoot to help fill it out. I'm curious to see what the ponyfoot does since I've never worked with ground cover before and it needs well draining soil. I don't think our Blackland prairie is the best at drainage....

Here are some pics.

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Here's the area between the house and the patio. There used to be a weird tree/bush here that was way too close to the house that Ian removed. This was a problem drainage spot, so now when rain spills over the gutters, it won't pool up here.

Here's a before pic - it's the area on the left.


Barley was my helper this weekend. Although we had to put him inside a few times so he wouldn't run out while the gate was open.

time for a margarita on the patio

Our patio is finally finished. We started adding flagstone about 2 weekends ago and Ian put on the finishing touches last night. We still need some rain to help pack down the crushed granite, but for now, we are done.


All these DIY projects are definitely a learning experience - particularly this one. Ian figured out the easiest way to do it after we'd already done over half the flagstone. He was tempted to rip up the first half and start over, but I think we'll see how this looks for the next month or so to see if we really want to redo any of it.

A few other things we learned during the 'experience'..... The particular rock we (i.e. I) picked out was extra thick which meant it cost more and was a huge pain to move around. We also dug out more dirt that we needed to and had to fill it back in. Poor Ian did all of the heavy lifting and rock placement since with my injured finger I couldn't do much else but fill in the cracks with granite.

Weekend 1: after digging out the area, we got the rock and crushed granite and began putting the puzzle together.



Weekend 2: actually leveling and filling in around the rocks.



Yesterday: finishing the last sections and packing down the granite.



Stay tuned for our next projects. I'll be working on turning the rest of our mud pit backyard into something a bit nicer and Ian is focusing on a fence that will provide us with a bit more privacy than the current chain length.

Who would dare build a pergola in the August heat?

we would.

Thanks to the planning skills of my dad, we were able to build a pergola on our back patio in a weekend. It was a serious family project since Bob also helped out. Thankfully we were able to work well together and no one yelled or stormed off:)

Last week I dug the post holes after work in the evenings. My folks came up Friday night and we actually put the posts in so the concrete could set overnight. Saturday started early with a hearty breakfast made by yours truly and then a trip to home depot with the giant trailer my dad brought.

Saturday morning

By the time Ian got back from his test (which of course he passed with flying colors) we had almost framed the top of the pergola.








Saturday early afternoon






We got about 85% of it completed by the time it got really hot around 1:30pm. The rest of the day was spent with a dip in the new Mueller Community pool, an early happy hour (of course), and then watching the American Olympic swimmers secure the first gold medals of the games.

Sunday morning

We just had to finish securing the rest of the slats which took just under 2 hours (the final one took some finagling).



Admiring our handiwork......



In about 2 months once the treated lumber has had a chance to dry out a bit, we'll stain it a rich brown color. Ian and I are excited to start extending the actual patio with flagstone and then finalize the top terracing level.

Mexican wedd'n

We visited San Miguel de Allende for Morgan & Josh's wedding in late May early June and I wanted to share some pics. It was Ian's first trip to Mexico and he's definitely ready to visit again.

Although a little Americanized, San Miguel was a wonderful experience. Cobble-stoned narrow streets, fireworks at all hours of the day and night, naps in a hot room with no A/C, hammocks on the patio of the Casita, hidden interior gardens, deserty botanical gardens, ATVing......

Landscaping - Trial & Error

This weekend was our first major foray into landscaping. Our yard is a bizarre shape and not level, plus the grass was dying and we weren't keen on wasting water on a lawn.

Before pics of the backyard...

Slope in the far left corner.











Sidewalk and porch.











We are going to try xeriscaping and have dug up most of the grass and tilled the yard to have more of a blank slate.

So far we made a small rock border to help terrace the biggest slope in the back yard. We also brought in extra dirt and moved dirt around from the other area of the yard to help fill in that section.















More exciting is our first plant bed.

After Party

Since the reception will end around 8 or 8:30pm at Mayfield Park we thought it would be fun to head to Donn's Depot afterwards for a few more celebratory drinks and perhaps some country dancin'.

Donn's is located on 1600 W. 5th Street near El Arroyo (between Mopac & Lamar).

http://donnar.home.texas.net/

Mayfield Park Location

Hey, here is a picture/map to where the Mayfield Park & Cottage is located. As you can see, it is just west of Mopac, at the 35th street exit. It's really close to Laguna Gloria - a branch of the Austin Museum of Art.

Also my grandfather pointed out that the cobbled grounds may be hazardous for ladies with high heels since it's not the most level surface. so just fyi.