Patio part 3

STAIRS

We started by using our neighbors as a guide.

We bought redwood and pre cut stair risers. 

We opted to stain them a dark walnut. After all the pieces were cut sanded stained and sealed we could get stared 

We had to get rid if the old by

Pulling off the old boards!!

We purchased Redwood and a can of milwax dark walnut.
We spent one day in the garage cutting, sanding, staining then drying.
I forgot to take pics while working :(

I had to run off to work, but this is what it looked like when I left. 

A few hours later I got this pic texted to me!!!!

I totally love that my sweet shady had to photo bomb it!!!

DIRT

Honestly this project would have not been possible without our wonderful neighbors truck, we borrowed it again... And off to get LOTZ and LOTZ of dirt

2 tons to be exact!! Aka a full truck load!

This is the truck already half unloaded!!

Area for the grass... The dirt we got was a garden mix, It was well worth alittle extra cost to get the right stuff.  The dirt was the easiest so far...it is a lot lighter then the sand and gravel! Our loads though the yard were much easier! 

GARDEN

Now the garden. I was thinkin we would be transplanting our plants, however my tomatoes are doing better this year then ever before so we didn't want to risk it

My hubby came up with the idea to keep them in the pots then this fall when we pull out the plants we will pull out the pots and used the potting soil in them to fill the gaps.  

Here we are about half way done. 

Perfect!!

Grass area being filled with dirt. 

Leveling out the dirt. Almost ready for grass. 

CLEANING UP!!! 

The story of ANY project, work, clean, repeat.

GRASS

My little Liam loves the grass

Part of the grass installed! 

This corner was well a spot of disagreement.  

We had originally planed to put a fountain here.  After doing some shopping and research it was going to cost ALOT more then I wanted to spend and I was unsure if it would really work the way I wanted.

We have power lines just under this area and we couldn't agree so we let it sit for just a bit!

After looking a bit I decided I wanted a miniature Japanese maple, we have a full sized one in our front yard that I TOTALLY ADORE!!! .  My honey LOVES Japanese culture, but he din't want another tree.  However after talking with the tree guy at our local garden store it should stay between 4-6 feet, and we can also trim it to keep it small, ALSO we don't plan to be here for more then another year or so, therefore the tree really shouldn't grow much between now and then. 

Garden all cleaned up.  You would never notice the pots! :)

This is the view of our full yard from our bedroom window. 

This is from the corner of our neighbors yard. 

MY JAPANESE HOUSE!!! THis was easy for us BOTH to decide on, and my sweet honey was out there one afternoon, I came out to see what he was doing. "it can't be complete without a path.  Japanese pay attention to details! "

We got a little spotlight to add to our tiki torches to make it complete!! 

HERE WE ARE!!!

It is so wonderful and all the HARD work made it 100% worth it!