Outdoor improvements

I spent Friday & Saturday at a Beltane Festival, attending workshops and drumming at a bonfire.  While I was doing that, DH was doing this

He’s turned our deck 90 degrees so we have a larger open space. We bought a 16ft Intex pool this year and needed more space. (We’ve had the 12ft one the past 3 years). In another 3-4 years we’ll probably upgrade again to an 18ft one, but we don’t want to move the deck again.I was was surprised he moved the deck. Previous estimates had indicated it would be a 2 person job.  I had cleared out as much rock, ancient wood blocking and random vegetation as I could manage prior to the festival. But I had thought the deck would not be moved until this weekend

It’s been raining constantly for 2 weeks now and he is also in the middle of the

retaining wall project. Which is now going into it’s 3rd and hopefully final summer (it requires a confluence of weather, equipment, time and funding that does not happen very often & then only in short bursts). It’s purpose is to give us more turning space in the driveway and keep the hillside from washing down into the driveway. We’ll be planting some of that forsythia bush and those irises you see in the deck photo, along the top of this retaining wall.

With any luck Dh will be able to finish that wall this weekend. Later this week, assuming the rain is done, he’ll get some sand and some gravel and I’ll get that all raked out in the new space around the deck. So next weekend we should be able to set the pool up. We have slate tile left from when we did the kitchen & we’re going to lay it between the deck & the brick wall to extend the deck’s seating area. That may not get finished until June though.  Eventually the whole pool area will be pavered over rather than gravel. But that is the newest 3-5 year plan.

I host bunco on the summer solstice. My only real goal is to have the yard looking ‘nice’ for that day because we play outside when I host.