The Never-Ending Backyard Project Just Ended!

In honor of the occasion, I propose a little song, sung to the tune of "MacTavish is Dead" (or, in other common variations, "O'Reilly is Dead" or "O'Leary is Dead" or "MacKinney is Dead". This little ditty seems to have more variations than most Praise songs....)

Ohhhhhhh, the money's all spent and my back is all spent
And my hands are all spent and my knees are all spent
And my weekends are spent and my patience is spent
And my tools are all spent and my shovel is bent.

Ohhhhhhh, the digging is done and the forming is done
And the mixing is done and the pouring is done
And the laying is done and the sealing is done
And the filling of expensive holes is all done!

Yup, after nearly a year and a half, I finished up the backfill this afternoon, so the project is officially done, done, done. Now, that doesn't mean it's pretty yet; the grass still needs to grow up to the edge of the walk, and all. And there will be future landscaping to be done, especially around the patio. And while I don't think there will be any drainage problems, we'll have to see what happens after the first really good rainfall.

But it's done.

Anyway, Here are some pictures I took today:







So, now that the walkway and patio are done, what am I going to do with myself?

Well, I'm going to do all the other stuff--much of which I've been ignoring for the last year and a half. For one thing, I want to have a nice lawn this year, and it's the time of year to put down the fertilizer with the crabgrass preventer. We still have a pomegranate tree that needs pruning. And then I need to till and level the garden for my wife. And I need to get the drip irrigation system fixed before the dry season hits us again. And a little later out, there are all kinds of bushes and vines that we want to plant around our new patio, so we can enjoy sitting out there.

...

Now if you ask any engineer, "Do you really have it the way you like it? Are you satisfied?" you'll typically get lots of equivocation. (Actually, you'll usually get, "well, that depends on how much we have left in the budget.") Truth be told, there is still lots of stuff that could be done. The repeated sprayings--to clean all that bird poop off, for example--have washed out some of the sand. And it really could use a couple more coats of sealant.

But, as far as I'm concerned right now, all that falls under the heading of "maintenance", and can be handled at later dates. There was time pressure to get the backfill done (as the dirt for the backfill was occupying the garden, which was thwarting my wife's schemes).

I can certainly relate to Leonardo da Vinci's dictum that "A great artist never truly completes a masterpiece, he merely abandons it." But, it's now time to abandon this project...

...and start another one. :-)