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We started out the day with a delivery of 2-1/2 yards of garden mix soil.

mmmmmm...... manure

Katra brought wheelbarrow loads to the back and began filling in the beds where they were still low. We never had a chance to fill in behind the new garden wall last year.

The flower bed by the pergola, before the new soil

The same bed after Katra moved some plants, installed some other plants, and filled up the beds. We still have to mulch.

During lunch and later in the day, I began widening another bed over against the east fence. We decided to do this to make the bed blend more with the play center area, and because it was too narrow in parts.

After lunch, with the sod cut back part way. If you look closely, you can see the cut line extending towards the back of the yard

The final product, with the whole bed tilled and a few plants moved in from other locations.

The sargentina crabapples are in full bloom. The smell of these flowers fills the entire yard.

Katra and I realized we were in danger of actually finishing a few of the projects we’re working on, so we decided to add a new project. A BIG new project. For several years now, we have been talking about installing a play center (swings, slides, etc.) for Kyle and Ian in the back yard. With this year’s tax refund, we decided to pull the trigger. Costco has a new set this year made by Rainbow that fit the bill, so yesterday we rented a truck from Lowe’s and hauled home the 7 boxes (4 of which weigh 200-300 pounds each) and installed them in the half of our garage that wasn’t already occupied by miscellaneous detritus from other projects.

More screws than the crew of This Old House has installed over their entire careers

Ship's wheel, telescope, swings, etc.

The play center will be installed in a mulched area of our back yard, so we also bought some concrete blocks to do edging around the mulch.

Today we plotted out the play center area in the back yard, brought in 600 pounds of topsoil to level the area the play center will be sitting on, and dug a small trench around the play area to install the blocks in. I plotted out the play area in the computer, then we transferred the measurements out to the yard. We’re still trying to figure out to do with the sod we dug out of the trenches (anyone need some 4″ wide strips of sod?)

Incidentally, you can also see our redbud and cherry plum trees behind the play area, which are currently in glorious full bloom.