The Shed and Porch Dreaming

There used to be a rickety shed in our backyard, among other things like random ceramic statues, overgrown weeds, railroad tie garden beds, and cracked concrete. And now, it's been two weeks since the shed has been demolished, weeds pulled, garden beds renovated, and a new home found for the ceramic cat and frog. But tomorrow, tomorrow is a big day.

Tomorrow the jackhammers arrive. The concrete will be broken up, hauled out, and see-ya-latered. The front porch will be poured and the front steps smoothed out, all ready for stoop sitting and late night talking and beer front sipping - all out in the from and back yards of our Tieny home.

So with concrete tomorrow, a new roof two days later, and flower beds and no more shed - I'd have to say our little house is coming along. This time next year I dream of patio parties, wildflower perimeters and finely tailored garden beds; with a big open umbrella over a table where meals are shared and food baskets passed with bare feet in the grass; mowers and laughter and crickets sounding in the far and wide - on our back and front yard porches.

p.s. I can't wait to show you the transformation of our yard - these photos are bits and pieces from the before to after story of our yard progress. top: the very beginning full of the old shed and weedy beds, middle: the newly fixed up garden beds, bottom: getting there with the shed removed.

Yard Reno | Part I

When summer arrived, we knew it was time for major exterior work. Matt's mom, Jayne, came to town a few months ago and helped us knock out some serious front and back yard demolition. It was three days of brick hauling, wood chopping, dumpster filling work. Now, our front yard is getting so much closer to livable. Overgrown shrubs, cracked brick planters, and rotten wooden flower beds are gone. This Friday we are having a concrete porch poured and some other concrete work down in the front and back of house. So much has changed already,yet nothing has been documented here - so I figured it was about time to show the yard progress we've been making.

About a month ago, a hail storm walloped our house. These photos were all before that storm, but even with the hail damage, our house is really coming along. Matt is such a hard worker - I seriously owe everything that looks better on the exterior to him (and Jayne). It's not pictured, but now the shrubs, brick, planters, and flower beds are all gone. I'm counting down the days until we can sit in chairs on the front porch and enjoy a few more summer nights outside, or have people over and utilize our front porch and yard for entertaining. (Yay!)

The Start of Our Yard Revamp

What can be more gratifying than seeing progress because of good old hard work? Labor intensive, dirt on your jeans, roughed up knuckles, and sunburnt cheeks kind of hard work. Maybe I'm an odd ball, but pulling weeds, ripping up stumps, and clearing out overgrown shrubs is something I find such satisfaction in. And goodie for me we have lots of this ahead of us in our backyard! I'd be fibbing a bit if I told you I didn't grumble when I woke up this morning, though. Even with finding satisfaction in outdoor/gardening work, and pulling up weeds like I said just a second ago, there's so much do to in our backyard. Its a bit daunting, really. But I pulled up my boot straps and knocked off the grumbling. We just went at it. Starting one section at a time. The rollie pollies and earthworms didn't know what was comin' today.

Matt's already talking about how one day, once all the messy bushes are gone and we've taken care of some big projects out here, that apple and peach trees would be nice. I was pretty spoiled having so many fruit trees at my mom's house in Thousand Oaks. I think that even though Colorado isn't as gracious with growing fruit trees like California is, I will take what I can get. And, yes, apples and peaches would be so so nice, don't you think?

We've started on the very left side of the yard, pulling up a deck that used to hold up a spa. All the other work on this side consists of tearing out tons and tons of roots, shrubs, and stumps. Yippee! Such a pile of messy overgrown plants it all is. How wonderful it'll be once this is all cleared out and I can have a little vegetable garden all along this area of the yard. It already has the framework for a great garden bed. And the soil is the really great type that you hope for when it comes to growing veggies. Remember last summer when I started my own little garden DIY style began venturing into city gardening? Gosh, we've come a long way since then. How truly blessed I feel to call this yard ours.