looking good!

Over the last two weeks, the backyard has really started coming together! We are finally starting to see some payoff for all of our hard work!

One major milestone is that we completed the masonry and soil prep work for the second planter. Ryan finished up the third course of bricks and gave them a good cleaning. After that, Ben sealed them against water, and then lined and insulated the inside of the planter.

We had a little bit of leftover soil from the first planter that we were able to fill the second planter with. Anxious to get the apple tree into a more roomy environment, we planted the tree first thing. We are going to get the remainder of the necessary soil this Tuesday, and then the plants will finally be able to go in! You can see some of the staging already – those are grape vines that will climb up a wire trellis that Ben is going to build. Across from the planter, you can see we also built a pot shelf out of the leftover pavers from the front yard. How wonderful to find a nice use for leftover materials!

The last big achievement to report is that we have just about finished the garage door. Yes, we know it was installed months ago, but we'd put it on the backburner to focus on the planters and fence. This week Ben and Ryan finally got around to painting and installing most of the wood trim around the edge of the door. Katherine and Christina also installed the door handle and lock – they are fast becoming old pros at this.

You can also see that we installed another fence panel – this one was very gratifying because it actually starts to cover up the view from the street. The last bit of the opening will be covered with a gate which we still have to build. Once we do that, our backyard will feel much more intimate and secure.

Once the second planter is all filled, we are really going to enjoy hanging out in the backyard!  It's already so much nicer, we have a good time just hanging out, sitting on the planters, and grilling back there. Ah, summer is so great in Chicago!