I'm No Mason

Well- I'm really not...nor am I a gardener- but I DO appreciate a nice back yard to lounge in on balmy days. And I DO appreciate the fact that my once man made pool/mosquito pit (when we bought the house) turned firepit (after removing the pond form) is now, finally, an extension of our patio.

Below is the before picture- pretty sad- an eye sore really. I had good intentions of smores by the fire, and parties outside at night. But, truth be told- the mosquito's in our yard at dusk and beyond make it impossible to hang- and the pit was somewhat of a hazard (although my guys never fell in it, it worried other more cautious visitors to our home).
The main motivator for me was that D got a beautiful grill from my parents for his Bday/Christmas gift and we needed a spot for it to go- and the pit-was it!

Here's how I did it:

The hole required 600 lbs of sand- yikes! Then I started to arrange the rocks (all of which were elsewhere in the yard when we moved in)

I ended up extending the brick patio as far as I could- then adding the rock part onto the corner...

I also decided to plant a couple veggie beds this year- it was a very last minute, somewhat ill planned move- but the kale is growing like a weed- very exciting and satisfying to eat out of your own back yard! and a great experience for the little ones!

After a whole lot of sweat, and heavy lifting of many, many rocks- I finished it!!

Voila!  Perfect little spot for the grill. SUCH an improvement!

And during the whole process- I spotted this totally adorable little friend spying on me- a baby cardinal just out of the nest. SO close to our back door perched in the wisteria vines- that we could have literally plucked it off its perch- too cute!

I start summer classes today- 6 weeks of a whole lotta work!! Wish me luck! Is it terrible that I am looking forward to the end of July already?!