Before, During, and After
Well,
gee wiz. Summer break is in full effect
at Chez V. I have no idea what I did
with The Monster last summer to keep her entertained but now that she has one
year of pre-school under her belt, well, she sort of expects rainbows,
fireworks, and 3-ring circuses on the daily.
Daily blogging might be a little sporadic until September. But I am excited to share more of the fun that goes on around here, so I will do my best
to provide entertainment in both arenas.
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scene from the patio on Friday evening |
I
promised a while back to share some updated pictures of our patio and pond
project, once things came into bloom.
You can read some details about the project here, but today I will share
a lot of pictures of the evolution of our outdoor space. To trigger your memory, the executive summary
reads: we
tore out an old rotting deck, we dug up a bunch of dirt, we installed a large
paver patio, I planted a bunch of trees and shrubs, we dug up fieldstone from
building sites, we dug up tons more dirt, installed the pond, lined it with the
fieldstone, brought in more dirt, filled the pond with water, threw in some
fish, and planted lots more plants and trees.
We saved over $25,000 doing this ourselves armed with little more than two shovels, a pickax, a dolly, a wheelbarrow, and some ingenuity. The end.
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AFTER |
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NOW |
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BEFORE POND |
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AFTER POND & AS IT LOOKS NOW FROM SIDE GATE |
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THE INITIAL OUTLINE OF POND |
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DIGGING HAPPENED FOR A LONG TIME |
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SOME OF THE FIELDSTONE WE COLLECTED FROM BUILDING SITES |
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THE POND LINER |
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COVERING LINER WITH ROCKS TO PROTECT AGAINST UV RAYS |
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DURING |
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EARLY PLANTING STAGES |
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TODAY |
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NOW |
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NOW |
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that smallish shrub is the tall one below that now masks that hideous crawl space hatch |
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AFTER & NOW |
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BEFORE PAVING & PLANTING ALONG BACK DRIVE |
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NOW |
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NOW - ARBORVITAES PROVIDE MUCH NEEDED SCREENING - PLANTED 2007 |
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NOW - VIEW ALONG BACK DRIVE TOWARDS BACK GARAGES |
Most people ask how in the world we knew how to do this. The answer is we didn't. We read a lot of How-To patio & ponds books from Home Depot. And we talked to a lot of people who know things about this stuff, all of whom had differing opinions on certain aspects. So in the end, after much research, we just did it and learned how along the way.
Because
Chez V is so teensy tiny, we wanted to create a nice little outdoor space where
we could relax that would feel like an extension of our living space. And we do just that most nights.
All photos by mrs. V
kisses, mrs. V
1 comment:
super, carzy FABULOUS!
congrats,
Scot
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