NSFJ: Backyard... Agains?

January 11th was a big day in the Martin world.  Why?  Because it was 1/11/14 and I'm really weird about numbers/dates (4 1's and a 4)?  Well yes, but also, our backyard was FINALLY finished.  Mostly.  Until I start trying to work on furniture, at least.

As you may recall from here, this saga started nearly 3 years ago.  We moved into our house and pretty immediately undertook the task of de-jungling the backyard.  We thought- we are young, childless and have PLENTY of time & energy to get this whipped into shape.  Over time this poor space fell fast on our priority list.  Fast forward 2.5 years and we are with child, without energy and willing to admit we were shamefully wrong.  So what's the best way to fix this?  Hire someone.  As Ryan can attest, this is my go-to method of solving problems in the first place.

After a couple estimates and a few months of waiting, on January 6th Steven's Landscaping showed up and got to work.  They managed to clear some mange-y brush, demo the existing patio, lay sod, make new beds, build a pergola, lay a flagstone patio, build a path to the utility area behind the house, re-level the back yard and re-position sprinkler heads in a matter of about 5.5 days.  I am very impressed and I highly recommend them.  Most weeks I can't manage to get 4 loads of laundry done over 5.5 days, so two thumbs up from yours truly.

So that's that.  What is the moral of the story here?  Hire people.  Write that one down folks.  I am about to show you some before/afters, but I do so with the disclaimer that Ryan & I decided to re-do the backyard in the dead of winter.  So keep in mind the grass is dormant.  I considered spray painting it green for after photos to impress you, but Ryan talked me out of it.  So just imagine it's greener.  Some day, maybe, just maybe, when I get my act together and have the new backyard staged I'll post some updated pictures.  Because you know as well as I do that is unlikely to happen, I'm posting these now while it's fresh in my mind.  

This is what the backyard looked like when we bought the house.  Those palms were so big that we could have lost Lola in them.  She also frequently used to trip over that monkey grass.  Which was indeed hilarious but screamed "here come's a vet bill," to me.

More backyard before.  WAY before.  Did I mention thanks to a lack of leveling when it rained the backyard became a swimming pool before?  It did.  Princess Paws was not a fan of that.

After they tore out the existing patio and prepped the space for the new patio.  Sorry about that Saturday morning wake up call, neighbors!  We love you!

View from the corner of the yard of the future patio space.  Also a rake, wouldn't want you to miss that.

Purdee flagstone.

Pergola.  It's hard to tell but this patio is about 2.5x bigger than the previously existing patio.

View from behind the backyard's main tenant.  

Why I no longer have to keep the shutters closed in the back of the house.

Excuse the poor lighting.  The whole week the crew was working we never got to see the backyard in the light.  I was too excited to wait this night, obviously.

The lady of the backyard got a little sprucing up.