Finally – done done and done’r

I just need to share this; It’s finally done. My summertime backyard make-over. As of 7:30 this evening, the last plant has been planted, the last bag of dirt has been put away, the wheelbarrow is propped up against the last section of new fence, (which was installed on Tuesday), and every tool has again found it’s home in the shed. OK, I lie once more, it’s not really ALL done, as we need to wait until December to get a few red wine gape vines. But for now; Done.

The basic design, and most all elements used were based on a rough idea that I sketched out a few years ago. There never was a real plan; just a feeling and a vision. It’s not a large yard compared to many, so it was a challenge to decide how to make the best use of the space.

Most people don’t know this about me, but I could have had a career as an architect. Math; that was my downfall in that regard. Anyway, I took three and a half years of mechanical and architectural drawing in High School. The last semester of Junior Year, we had to design our own house on a real piece of local property, and then draw a full set of plans, complete with details and elevations. At the end of the semester, the instructor came and collected our plans for grading. On the first day of Senior Year, in my second year of architectural drawing class, the instructor walked around the room, handed us back our plans from the previous year, and said, “Now Landscape it!” – Ah well, the career(s) that could have been.

Still, it is a great feeling to sit back and relax in a space now filled with life, peace, the sound of chimes and bamboo, honeybees, hummingbirds, and two crazy squirrels that visit out from the palm tree next door. Now I look at the front yard, but am quite content to say, “I’ll get to you in a few more years, after the re-model!”