Landscaping Day 16: Front Yard Time

Yesterday the landscapers started on the front yard. Unfortunately so did the next door neighbours. ><

Starting on the outside fence...

View of the side where a gate will go.

View of the wrought iron. I love it!

Front yard work! The tree has been moved and raised. There will be daylillies around it. The corner will be filled with river rock and grasses. :]

Sad part... the neighbour next door started working on the stuff between our houses. I thought that it would be river rock on either side of a single strip of mulch. Instead.. well.. yeah...

I've had enough trouble with neighbours... I think Ian and I are going to give them this one. When the grasses go in you probably won't notice the striping...... /sigh Blegh.

Landscaping Day 15: So Close!

There was lots of progress made yesterday! For the first time, we could get a clear picture of what the finished product will look like. We're very happy minus the threat of a lawsuit. It starting to feel worth all the crap. :] Here's what is left to do.

They've enclosed the patio except the section of lattice work that needs to be popped in. The waterfall's liner needs to be cut and finished off in stone. The patio edge next to the waterfall needs to have the filler stuff put in as well. The extra pieces of flagstone have really confused us... I don't think it's "done" in a sense of layout/flow. I love the direction it is going though.

Looking towards the back left corner. They've put the cedar posts in and one post of wrought iron. We noticed the safety cones and giant rock next to it. Putting two and two together... They must have been digging down for a post and run into it. There is a big hole where the safety cones are, covered with rebar and wood. I suspect today will focus on filling the hole in and continuing on.

Looking back towards the house... When the neighbour behind us put up his deck, our backyard felt very small. We were expecting this because we live in a new subdivision. It helps to have a corner lot but I thought the backyard would feel tiny and closed in. I am happy with the landscaping we chose because it feel so big now. The patio is huge and there will be space for a "lounge" area and a dining area. The wrought iron of the fence will hopefully make it feel open but with privacy.

The absolute best part... Ian and I were eating in the dinette. I was running the waterfall and I turned to look back at it. A bunch of birds flew out of it and up onto the fence. A couple of them flew back down and stood on the flagstone with the water running over their feet. Ladies and gentlemen... we have a giant bird bath. Awesome. :>

Landscaping Day 14: Rainy Day - Boo

The landscapers couldn't get much done on Monday. They made some spraypaint marks on the ground and started up on the fence again. But the rain came shortly after they arrived. Bummer.

*Note the ladder left on Bad Neighbour B's "land". Hehe. :]

View from the back corner of the side yard.

Max Quacks: HONK!

Max is checking out the local wildlife. :] I love his Mid-50s look... baseball jersey... matching crocs. Awesome. Better than the old man sandals that Ian would like launch a holy war on. :P

A Really Good Laugh

So awesome. I see Ian trying to coerce our future children.

Oh Screw That...

Landscaping Day 13: A Good Fence Makes Good Neighbours

The title of this post is what our next door neighbour said to us when we first discussed a fence. He has been anything but a good neighbour and has also recruited the person behind him in his bitter campaign. We are trying to not let this hurt the fantastic experience we have been having with creating a beautiful backyard. Today we moved one step closer when Heritage began to install the fence panels. Just having 1 1/2 panels up has made a world of difference. When that side is fully enclosed and the angry phone calls to our landscapers stop, Ian and I will really start to enjoy it.

Traumatized

We went for a walk tonight like normal... but this time we headed out a bit late. The sun was mostly down and it was pretty dark in some patches. We were walking on our normal path when Ian kicked something. He didn't mean to kick it.. he just hit it with his shoe while taking his normal stride. I noticed it because the thing he kicked seemed to have some weight to it. Here it is:

He accidentally kicked a toad!! Or a frog... whichever it is he accidentally kicked! :( We were both completely traumatized. We spent the next few minutes trying to coax it back to life. It eventually jumped, scaring the poop out of us. We decided he was fine and continued on our way.. Only to find that our path home was literally covered in toads/frogs of all sizes... It was like a toad/frog mine field!! We were super careful and made it home without harming more of the wildlife. 

In the future, we will be much more careful if we head out later than normal. The toads/frogs like to come out to play, especially around the pond. :)

Privacy

Privacy. It's a simple thing. I didn't really value it THAT much until last week. I discovered last week that people can care so much about sticks of wood that they are willing to ruin any relationship. I discovered this week that people can care so much about a couple of inches of land, that it overshadows the birth of a baby. I guess I have a different perspective on life than these petty people. It's a fence. Not that big of a deal.

Anyway, I'm happy for the bit of privacy we now have. We can shut out the bad neighbours and enjoy our lovely piece of property.

Landscaping Day 12: Stalking Landscapers

I worked from home today. Which means for the first time, I was able to stalk our landscapers. :) It also means that I was home when I got the "I have bad news for you" phone call from the landscaping company. More neighbour crap. I don't understand people. I really don't. The bad neighbour next door went to the neighbour directly behind him and wrongly convinced him that one of our posts was on his property. We have done our due diligence. Before today I didn't want to go outside because it was such an awkward situation. After today, I'M PISSED OFF. Do these people have nothing better to do? How about checking your facts before causing issues? Hell.. how about coming to the damn door to talk about it with me directly instead of bothering my hard working landscapers? Grow a pair and ring the doorbell. I was sitting right there in my office looking straight at the idiot. There's no way he didn't see me. Then I could have told him he should take a second and look at his Surveyor's Property Report. I have mine right here along with the fact that I paid for a land survey. He has a dinky little property and the post is not on his land. I'm done being nice.

*breath*

On with the good stuff! They made a lot of progress with the waterfall today.. and I think we almost have the final layout! The water flows out of the top down onto 2 flagstones. The rest is a little bubbly creek. I think it will be beautiful once the water clears up. I can't wait to be sitting out there.

EVERYTHING is covered in the dust from them cutting the stones. I think I'm most excited to see the stonework when it's back to its true color. When water is flowing over the flagstones, they are a nice dark gray. I love it!