Brad's project.....

Aidan and Brenna are finally home and had a wonderful time at Gramma and Papa's. They had so much fun, but are all quite exhausted...including my parents!

I thought I might show you a huge project that has been going on at our house since early April. To give you all some background...when we moved into our house a 1 1/2 years ago, the house had been sitting vacant for about 1 year. The previous owners had built it as their dream house and than moved suddenly out of state on a job transfer. The house was only 6 months old and just sat for a year. Nothing was done about the yard or landscape. So, when we moved in, we knew the outside needed some tlc! That is just what Brad loves to do. We always say that I can take care of the inside of the house and Brad does the outside. So, we did a little bit last year and than were going to take care of a large chunk of it this year.

Here are some before shots of the back. Our house bumps right up to the woods and so we don't have any yard in the back. On the side we have a large area with grass.




















Because of the large slope in the backyard, it was in need of a retaining wall. (Ignore the date...something is off on the camera. It is actually the first week in April.) Brad is starting the digging. Lets just say, it was a huge mess for a while! Have to love that Georgia clay!
















Here is a shot of the first layer going down.














The "dead men" as they call it, help the wall from moving. I sat pregnant with Carsyn most of the time he built this and I really don't know how he lifted and cut all those railroad ties. They are at least 200 lbs. a piece.









After the wall was up, you have to place drainage and rocks behind it and then backfill the whole thing. Our driveway looked and still looks somewhat like a landscape store. At one time we had all the railroad ties, 7,000 lbs of rock, pea rock, dirt and 7 yards of mulch sitting there. (Another 5 yards of mulch is being delivered this week.)
















After the backfill and as the rock wall was being built.
















Somewhat of a finished product. The stairs going up the hill. I know the hill might look steep still, but the two walls have made a tremendous difference in what happens to the rain (when it does rain). There is still lots of planting to go and more projects for the top of the hill. That is all for next summer. Stay tooned....









The shot of the rock walkway behind the deck. Eventually the deck will be finished off to a closed-in porch. It is just so great to look out my kitchen window and see this instead of red clay with a bunch of weeds growing. Awesome job Brad! We all love it!