Breaking Ground.

So my mom always told me I was talented and gifted and she was proud of me and I can do anything I set my mind to. You know all the things every good mother should say to her only daughter. But you see, these praises can bring about a false sense of security and confidence. I recently remember telling someone that I like to garden.... After looking at this picture, you will see that this phrase is almost laughable. 

I really DO like to garden. I promise. In my dreams, my yard looks like Martha Stewarts'. If fact, this area of our back yard once looked beautiful. You see, the former owner is like a Master Gardener. In fact, we are friends on Facebook and she such a nice lady and I'm actually horrified that she might actually see what I did to her backyard. So, to her, I say, I'm so sorry. :(  Please forgive me. It's my mother's fault for telling me I could do anything I set my mind to. Obviously keeping up with this garden was not one of them. So it went from this weed infested swamp fest that I was literally scared to go near for fear of being sucked in and Buie would never see me again...

Then Buie got a hold of it and it look like this for a while. Better but still an eye sore. 

After quite a bit of rain and two crazy dogs, it then became a huge mud pit. That was fun for a while, until it dried up and there were these huge holes all over it and it looked worse than ever before. What was once a lovely this garden with lilies and zinnias and roses all thanks to the former owner, had now because a huge thorn in my side. I hated to look at it because it just reminded me of failure. I let all of those pretty flowers die. I let all of the former owner's hard work just go to waste. I hated to even go outside because it would remind me of the huge project lurking over there in the corner. 

So we started dreaming of things we could do with this space. Should we plant a big tree to provide more shade for our home? Should we put in a pool? ha! ok, we quickly passed on this idea. Should we just landscape it with pretty bushes and/or flowers, something super easy to maintain? But we kept going back to the idea of having an area to gather and hang out with friends. So I started searching in magazine, Pinterest, DIY books and found a few ideas of firepit patio. We kept seeing these pergolas that provided shade and we loved the idea. Keep in mind this whole dreaming and searching process has been about 2 years. Probably because I'm so indecisive and it doesn't help that I'm a cheap skate. 

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Buie nor I both have any experience with woodwork or building anything at this scale. We attempted to get a quote from a larger company and it was WAY out of our price range. Disappointed we put it off for a while. When we mentioned our project ideas to the guy who mows our lawn, he informed us that he just happens to put in patios and pergolas. Man, did we hit the jackpot! And he's doing it for us for very little labor cost. It's CRAZY how much those big lawn companies overcharge you for labor! I cannot tell you how excited I am to have a pergola in our backyard soon. I'm even going to have a place to hang my hammock! :) 

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So this week, we broke ground on the project. The land was completely cleared and I am amazed at how fast things are getting done! I'm thinking this thing will be done by football season which is in a couple of weeks! :) We are already planning cookouts, backyard parties and just nights hanging out on our new patio. 

 The retaining wall is going up. We have to make sure everything is completely level. 

Check back for updates! 

Other backyard ideas on Pinterest.