backyard

Backyard Sneak Peek

Posted by Lindsay C on May 28, 2011 in backyard, DIY, Exterior, Featured Articles, gardening, Landscaping, videos | 0 comments

We’ve been trying to take advantage of the few sunny days we’ve had this Spring and work on the backyard.  Summer 2011 is definitely all about the backyard projects.

Here is a list of what we’ve done so far: rototill up the old grass, plant a Crab-apple tree, put down sod, built a small garden bed, purchased and put together a portable gazebo for some shade and mosquito protection, and fix the graveled areas.

What we still need to do: put down ground covering where the swing-set is (any suggestions…don’t really want wood-chips or gravel so I’m stumped), build a “salad table”, build more garden beds, plant seeds and garden plants/flowers, paint the shop, and build our little deck off the back sliding glass door (we already have most of the lumber for it – woo hoo!).

So here is a video sneak peek at our pretty new lawn! It actually went down a lot easier than we thought it would, and we’ve noticed it’s starting to root (we can’t pull the sod up anymore) so we’re so excited to mow it because it’s getting long!

Instant Lawn from Facebook User on Vimeo.

Instant Lawn from Facebook User on Vimeo.

(Click the link if the video isn’t embedded…ugh, killin’ me! But this is just a sneak peek, I’ll have better pictures in a few short weeks – yay for summer!

Goodbye, April!

Posted by Lindsay on Apr 26, 2010 in backyard, Featured Articles, Me | 0 comments

Wow…April has been a busy, busy month around here.  I’ve found I’m a much better Facebook-blogger than blogger-blogger…so if you’d like to know what I’ve been up to, head over there and “Like” Likely Design!

So let’s recap April, shall we? April 1st was my first day of complete self-employment.  Very, very exciting!  If you didn’t know, I had a part-time job working with kids in the local elementary school in the After School Program.  The rest of the time I worked from home and hung out with Harper.  April has been going very, very well and I do not regret my decision one bit – I just wish it wouldn’t have taken me so long to make the jump!

I celebrated that move with a 30-minute (plus or minus, ha!) creative coaching call with my internet friend Michelle at When I Grow Up. She rocks and I would love (LOVE) to meet her in person one day.  Too bad she’s way out in NYC and I’m way over here in Northern California.  Go schedule your first (first one is free!) call now!

Also on the agenda during April – manual labor.  When I wasn’t drawing houses I was outside building fence, or inside watching the girl, watching Glenn and my nephew build a fence.  A big thank-you to the tax man for a refund that allowed us to go buy some lumber!  And cement.  We tore down our old fence (along with the back porch), and put up a new one over the very next couple days.  I sent a few phone pictures to the Facebook page, but I can’t wait to show it off in all of its before-and-after glory.  Plus it’s lighted a fire to also build a dog-kennel, fix the grass (where the dogs have destroyed it!) and PAINT!  And hopefully build a deck and new porch sooner than later.

Another Facebook page teaser is how much work and time was taken up to get ready for the Modoc County Home and Outdoor Show…which I had a booth at last Saturday.  People seemed to be excited and interested in what I do, so I think it was definitely worth it.  And it was fun to participate.  Thank you to the Alturas Chamber of Commerce for holding it (which I am now a member of, woo-hoo!).

And last Sunday (yesterday) I was running around after Harper trying to get her to smile for a few pictures.  Action shots are definitely easier to take of toddlers, as mine is more interested in what’s going on around us than letting us hold her and smiling.  But we got a few good ones that way!  Thank you to Elaine at Elaine West Photography. I am so glad I finally got some professional ones taken.  Go check out the entire album here!

So that concludes the busiest April ever for me! And I always love to see April go, as I am a May 1st baby.  Hello 29! Wow…29…

{DIY} Septic Tank Box: Part 1

Posted by Lindsay on Nov 10, 2009 in backyard, DIY, Exterior, Featured Articles, Landscaping | 0 comments

Yep.  That’s what we started to build last weekend.  When you live in Likely you have your own well for your water and your own septic tank.  Ours is right there in our back yard, and it’s really not buried that deep.  As you can see from the photos I took this weekend, we have two green tank lids that stick up right out of the dirt.  They’re made of plastic and plastic + sun = brittle plastic.  We didn’t want the tank lids to get sunbaked because that would be downright dangerous if something (or someone – eek!) fell through.  Fortunately the septic tank is only as old as our home ownership journey (which is about 16 months), but we didn’t want it to be left out there in the elements any longer.  So a few weeks ago, Glenn dug some holes, poured some concrete and set some recycled wood posts in, which was the beginning of our new septic tank box.

Although we needed to build a box around the septic tank, we still needed to be able to access the tank for pumping, etc.  So when planning the design we decided to make the box do triple duty: protect the tank, act as extra storage, and built at seat height for a little extra seating outside.  As I said before, Glenn used some scrap posts that we had around and he set them in concrete around the box.  He then purchased some brackets and framed it in with 2×4′s to reinforce the box and add strength.

Here’s a photo, admiring the new window in Harper’s room.

But it reminds me that we still need to paint the trim on the house…..

Harper was a big help, too…and you can see that the green plastic lids are right there, sticking up out of the dirt.  Perfect size for a little girl I know to fall through if they somehow got damaged..  Not good!

This (above) is right after Glenn cut the tops of the posts off with his chain saw.  Good thing that Glenn is married to an interior designer, because I knew right off the top of my head, exactly what height to build the top at for a standard seat.  Or he could have just walked inside with a tape measure and measured a chair…

It’s approximately 18″…in case you were wondering.

Does your man own a chain saw? Mine does. And he uses it…a lot.

Almost done! Doesn’t our new grass look nice? A little patchy still, but at least we have grass now.  We should be able to fix that this winter while there’s snow on the ground.

Finished! With the frame, anyway. Now we just need to put the sides and top on. Hopefully it will be finished this weekend, but you know us…fishing might be a little more important while the weather is good.   Isn’t this a beautiful November so far? Here in Northern California it’s been sunny and in the 70′s!  Love it!  Not looking forward to the gloom and cold.

Happy Veteran’s Day! Go thank one you know tomorrow…or every time you see them.  I’m giving a shout-out to my cousin, Matt, who is stationed in the army in Hawaii (poor guy, right?) but he’s also recently home from his 2nd Iraq tour and he’s only 24.  He’s also my hero and I really hope that I get to see him over the holidays!

xo, L.

PS – My giveaway for 3 Rosebud cards is still going on through this week!  Head over there for the details!!

Backyard Update: Gravel and Grass!

Posted by Lindsay on Sep 25, 2009 in backyard, Featured Articles | 0 comments

You might remember that this summer has been about landscaping for us.  Be sure to visit update #1 and update #2 to see how far we’ve come, but this post recaps it all nicely too.  The first year in the house was about the inside, and this summer we’ve been working on the backyard.  What a job.  To reiterate, we started with a backyard full of dirt.  Then out of the dirt grew a jungle of weeds!!  We also had a half-dead pine tree that we cut down.  I wrote about it here. Well, we finally have a backyard that has been basically landscaped.  And by basically I mean that it is usable.  By no means “done” (is anything ever done as a homeowner??) but at least we have all of the ground covered with SOMETHING.  Well, the grass is a little patchy since we just grew it ourselves and having 2 big dogs doesn’t help, but this winter we should be able to re-seed the patchy parts and have a beautiful lawn next spring!!  Now if that didn’t attract killer mosquitoes around here…

Move-in, July 2008:

March 2009:

June 2009:

July 2009:

August 2009:

September 2009:

And I think we are going to fully rip the overhang off of the house.  We were debating on keeping it and fixing it up, or just ripping it off and we’ve decided to rip it out.  We want to build a new patio and the overhang won’t be the same size.  We’d also like to paint the huge metal eyesore…I mean shop/woodshed.  We also need to get rid of the weeds in the grass and re-plant.  Next summer will be about accessorizing the backyard – I love outdoor rooms!  Oh, and fix the fences…

Now we need a nice deep freeze to make the mosquitoes to go away…and the news is saying it might be next week! The end of September is my new favorite time of year I think!

Backyard Update!

Posted by Lindsay on Aug 14, 2009 in backyard | 2 comments

Just a quick post to show off new pictures from our backyard — and it is coming along!! Well, at least the grass is. It’s a little patchy, but we were able to take the plastic fencing down and we had to mow, and we were pleasantly surprised when it was all cleaned up. I blogged about our progress here if you want to see the original “before” and I took the picture below not even 2 weeks ago!

And these pics are from TODAY!!!

We are finally planting the 3rd section, we kept it bare so the dogs had a little more space, and I really wish it was done because it is finally starting to feel like a backyard…

And here is what Harper did while I went outside for 2 minutes to take the pictures.

Watching grass grow…

Posted by Lindsay on Jul 22, 2009 in backyard, Environmental, Exterior, gardening, Landscaping | 1 comment

Update: I’m linking this post to Julia’s Hooked on Fridays blog party at Hooked on Houses, and the Frugal Friday Linky Party at the Shabby Nest!  Thanks, ladies!!!!

We have finally gotten back to the backyard project — although the mountain of gravel is still there, ugh. We do have someone who is going to come get the rest, so hopefully they’ll come do that soon! Anyway, we’ve fenced off the sections that will be grass, planted, fertilized and watered, so now we’re waiting…and watching the grass grow! Yes, we have grass!!!

Here is what we’ve been up to:

I cannot wait to 1) get the gravel out of there, 2) have enough grass to take the fences down, and 3) actually like my backyard. It hasn’t happened yet, which is unfortunate during the summer!! Patience, Lindsay, patience…