Smoother sailing ahead….

After 11 months of staring at chaos, I can finally look outside and believe that this journey through the aftermath of the tornado is nearly complete.  Over the past three days, we've moved the shed a few feet forward and a few feet over; this placement is more "pleasing to the eye" than the when it was placed along the back fence line. We moved some fern to soften the hard lines of the pump house and shed. The shed will only be used until we begin to build the new structure next spring so I'm just using planters along its edges instead of any kind of permanent transplanting.  The planters are filled with newly purchased flowers that will soon brighten up the view.  Soon the Gazebo will have hanging plants placed….

The shed's new placement allows for the kayaks and boat to be hidden from the view of the back patio, gazebo and not be what one is staring at driving up the new driveway.  The Kayaks will be hung from the back of the shed or perhaps from 6 ft fence sections that will be brought in later; the boat will actually be where the trailer is now. Three of the four sides of the fencing is now moved/repaired; this back line of fencing is the last to be replaced.  We've been using the sections of the kennel temporarily as we can take it down to bring in heavy equipment. (That kennel has come in really handy as fencing as we completed work on each section of the back yard.)

We pulled up edging from the rock path that will be covered with sod and while we didn't yet get it placed to mark the edge of the new parking area, it is lying roughly where it will be placed allowing us to visualize the final result.  

We'll dig up the grass from there and put it in the old pathway (not shown) and then bring in gravel rock.  Extra pieces will line the boxwood gardens that line the patio (making those gardens much easier to maintain in the future).

We placed six fence post solar lights up the north boundary fence to light up the new gate and driveway.

And we liked the look of the solar lighting so much that we have decided to place them on top of every other post along the front as well to point the way to the new driveway. (The sign is placed on the ground to stop folks from driving through the wire fencing at night now that it is lit up.  The gate will be built this weekend.)

More solar lighting will come in along the bulkhead when it is built and along the top edge of the culvert when we've completed breaking up the old slab and placing the pieces to help mark the edge of the culvert.  The wood for the bulkhead is stacked ready to begin that build.

We can now walk out the back door and actually visualize the final result; no more staring at a design on a piece of paper and hoping that it will look good.  We've had to do a lot of practicing patience and adjusting during this long road out of chaos, but finally, we are reaching the finish line (for this year anyway.)

On our way to the year anniversary of the tornado, our project to "do list" finally fits on one page; from pages of "to do" items that took up the front of the fridge to just one sheet of paper that sits on my desk…

Build Gate

Build Bulkhead

Hang Kayaks on back of shed

Break up slab

Bring in gravel rock for parking area

Complete transplanting, fencing and lighting

Go fishing and kayaking again!
Go On Cruise!

Can't wait to cross off that last one!  Half Moon Cay, here we come!