Bit by bit it's getting there

Haven't had much to update lately - boo - (not for lack of wanting) however there's been a bit of activity over the last week or so!

I last left off showing the finished deck out the back.  'B' has now given it a sand, a wash down and oiled it - and wasn't that a job and a half!  Would have been easier & quicker to hire a floor sander but 'B' was happy to do it to save a few $$$.

Here it is in it's pre-oiled glory

"What's taking you so long?" I'd shout through the glass intermittently when walking past...

(kidding haha)

But I'm jumping ahead of myself.  First he built up the BBQ area and hooked up our barbie to natural gas.

 Here's the deck all sanded and freshly scrubbed.

And here it is after 3 coats of oil!

All the rain we've had lately has really helped to establish our lawn.  So nice seeing something green outside!

Turn away now if you're a BBQ snob because this little beauty only cost $148 on sale from $380 at Bunnings!!

Cannot wait to get some plants in!!!

And then there was grass...

The backyard is really starting to take shape now!!

Since my last post we have continued the merbau up the retaining wall on the bottom level to give it more of a finished look and we're so glad we did.

Much nicer than before!

Ready made bench seating all the way round or as the boys see it, a ready made road for their cars!

Our new outdoor setting looking all sorts of awesome in it's new home

But of course before there was turf, there was turf underlay and a whole lotta levelling going on.

And here is Sir Walter himself!  Doesn't look like much does it?

Daddy's little helpers!  Bless.

Love being able to see the whole backyard from inside

So, what's left for out the back?  We're letting the merbau sit for about 4 weeks before we sand and oil it.  Apparently this lets the excess tannins bleed and stabalise (or is 'B' just feeding me a line to have a break haha).  The remainder of the treated pine retaining walls need to be stained to blend in a little more. Some plants are desperately needed and then some nice outdoor lighting and that should just about do it! Oh, don't forget the BBQ!  Need one of those too, we ditched the old I've-seen-better-days one when we moved.

I must add that for all the "we's" going on in this post, it's actually all been 'B' and my Dad.  Thanks guys for working so tirelessly to create such a beautiful space xxx

It's all coming together - A back yard update!

Remember the pit of misery our backyard when we first moved in?

Well now it's looking a little more like this...

'B' has outdone himself putting up 8 billion all the retaining walls!

Backyard came complete with 2 superheroes.  We decided to keep them.

Now that the decking is down, the alfresco looks so much larger.

'B' was stoked to have Dad's amazing carpentry skills on hand when it came to this area.

Main deck with pathway to deck outside the playroom.  Garden of some description will be going in under the window to the right.

Looking back towards main deck.  We extended the length of deck by 1.8m and a BBQ will be built into the section straight ahead at the end.

Outside the playroom.  Will put a nice feature pot & plant in corner.

Looking a bit messy but we've been letting this area settle before putting some good quality soil & turf down.  It's settled quite a lot, so we're glad we did wait.  

So the plan from here is to sand & oil the merbau timber, stain the retaining walls, lay the turf and plant some kind of a garden (feeling a bit lost in this area - any advice would be definitely appreciated!)  We'll most likely line the bottom retaining walls with merbau too as they're looking shabby right up next to the nice timber.

I'll leave you with an action shot!  This was at the very beginning when Dad & 'B' were realising exactly how hard merbau is and many a screw had been snapped.

Oh and apparently it's not funny to comment the deck is feeling a bit springy (it wasn't).  'B' just rolled his eyes and groaned (apparently I'm predictable. Pffft) while poor ol' Dad looked momentarily horrified. Hahaha gave me a good chuckle anyway.