Our sprinklers are now automatic...

...and DONE! Yippee! My dad finished the electrical today and I am just pleased as punch. Because there is pretty much nothing alive in our yard right now (besides our 3 big trees) we haven't really programmed the thing yet, but the fact that we can is just plain fantastic.

The newly installed breaker box, sprinkler timer box, & outlet

The brains behind the sprinklers

Oh, and just in case you care, the grass we need to plant is best planted during late August, early September, so it appears as though we'll have to wait another month for that, but we still have plenty left to do until then.

Our first sprinkler repair...

...self imposed, of course.

While John was clearing away wayward roots yesterday, he apparently found our newly installed sprinkler line. PVC pipe is no match for a man and an axe. Good thing he knew how to fix it.

Let me level with you...

Land leveling is harder and more time consuming than you might think, especially with our little root situation. Lots of digging, shoveling, wheel barreling, raking, and stomping, but I know it will be worth it. Grass seed and bender board will be purchased tomorrow and hopefully we will be able to seed the entire front yard over the weekend. My dad spent a solid 6 hours working on the electrical components for the timing system today. Hopefully he'll be able to finish it tomorrow. One thing he did finish for us today was the installation of a garage door opener button. Up until now if you walked into the garage you had to bring the wireless garage door remote with you...very inconvenient. Oh, and now I have a blister...I hate blisters.

the tools

the leveling

the wires

the dog

(Maddie)

More of the same...

We're still working in the yard. Happy anniversary to us. If we've gotten to the point where we're doing yard work on our 3rd anniversary, we must be getting old.

John pulling out 2 more dead plants on the north side of the house

The dead azalea

I spackled, sanded, and repainted the holes from the old faucet. The previous one came up above the railing. The new one is much lower and more discreet.

Because our yard is full of newly filled in trenches there are plenty of deceiving soft spots throughout the yard. I found one, and randomly, John captured it:

We are finished...

...I can hardly believe it. We are now the proud owners/installers of 9 sprinkler lines: 3 in the front, and 6 in the back. It feels like Christmas. My dad will install the timing component next week, along with a handful of new outlets in the garage (right now we only have 1...for the garage door opener). After the sprinkler system can effectively run itself, we will begin bringing in additional dirt and leveling. After the leveling is complete flowerbeds will be marked and then the real fun begins...planting! I'm thrilled.

Not sure if you can tell, but that's wet dirt...from the sprinklers :)

This is probably my favorite part of my dad's sprinkler design. The 2 sprinkler heads (with white caps) nestled in the corners of the patio base are for a patio drip system. The one on the right will be able to water any flower boxes on the edge of the patio, and the one of the left will be able to water the flowerpots on the steps. It's really all about the little things for me I guess.

This is my second favorite part of the sprinkler system. This (and one other) faucet will sit on the east end of my raised bed vegetable garden! So Kelly, I'll be ready for that tomato plant you've been saving for me in no time! :)

I mentioned here that the previous owners left a plethora of flower pots for us...here are most of them, in all their glory (a few of the pots shown below are mine, but there are a few others in the front yard that I didn't take pictures of, so I'd say these pictures are an accurate depiction of what was left for us)...

We brought in reinforcements today...

John and I began our sprinkler work at 6:15 again this morning. My dad joined us at 9:30 and then brother, Ben, and cousin, James, arrived to help at 12:30. Many hands make light work is an understatement. Trenches were filled at record speed and everything seemed to progress speedily despite the heat (although, we did call it quits at about 3:00 due to the temperature). We believe that tomorrow will be the day that we will finally have a fully functional sprinkler system (with the exception of the timing component, which will be wired and installed soon by dad). I'm excited!

Dad with the soaker hose.

If you ever find yourself faced with digging lots of holes & trenches in your yard, I would highly recomend this yard implement. It is basically a hose with tiny holes throughout, that allows water to be directed to your digging area of choice. Very efficient.

Dad and brother Ben

cousin James

Ben with the sledge hammer

John fitting pipe amidst the cement remnants from Ben's sledge hammering.

We're still sprinkler-ing...

The heat has slowed us down a bit, but it hasn't stopped us yet. John and I awoke at 5:40 this morning and were out cutting & gluing pipe by 6:15. We quit at lunch time, but will follow the same routine again tomorrow. We will not be defeated.

the valves

the tools

the layout

the man

Backyard meanderings...

Our backyard is in a current state of disarray. Trenches abound, which is a positive, but the clutter is downright disgusting. Oh well, a few steps backwards before the forward steps commence.

The good news is, my basil is flourishing...not so sure what's going on with the parsley, oregano, and dill, but hopefully they will soon follow suit.

This plant must thrive on abuse and neglect. I rarely water it, but somehow it has managed to survive. It's definitely a keeper.

More trenches

This is our old kitchen sink cabinet...I have big plans for it. I am going to turn it into the base of a potting hutch for the recycled paver patio. A number of men, who shall all remain nameless, have tried to convince me to rid myself of it, but I (of course) was not easily discouraged. I can't wait to reuse it.

Our cluttered patio...it makes my eyes hurt to even look at the picture

I kind of love this little rusty pot. The old owners left us with upwards of 20 pots scattered about the yard, and I think this one is probably my favorite.

Front yard completion...

...everything's finished except for a small section that will run along the north side of the house. Electrical will be run for the timing system next week, so for now, we reach down and turn them on by hand, which, compared to dragging a sprinkler around the yard, is a piece of cake!

Water in the flowerbeds

We're tired...there's no better workout than a pile of dirt & a shovel.

We have 11 new sprinklers...

...for a grand total of 21! Yippee!

Filth

Perfection

Roots

Wait for it...

Water!

We have 10 sprinklers!...

I know, I can hardly believe it either. That happened faster than I ever thought it could. My dad manned the gas-powered trencher, and John and I focused on the hand trenching in the flowerbeds. Dad was done with the trencher by noon, and then we began laying pipe to the grass strip that runs between the sidewalk & the street, and before we knew it, we had our first sprinkler line! I couldn't be happier. Our goal is to get the front yard wrapped up quickly (so the neighbors don't think we're deadbeats) and then work on the backyard at a slightly slower pace (I'm not one for slow paces though, so we'll see). The backyard will require quite a bit of hand trenching due to the various water & gas lines that run through it from the alley, as well as the awkward angles & flowerbeds, but I'm already soaking the dirt in preparation.

Check out those roots my dad chopped through...the one on the left is lifting up our foundation a bit, so we were glad to get rid of it.

We'd be nothing without that trencher

My dad at the helm...although the machine is self-propelled, it still requires quite a bit of man-power to maneuver it, and those huge tree roots don't make things any easier.

John fitting pipe

Our valves...who knew something like this could make me so excited?!

My dad busted out the chainsaw...some of those roots were just too big for the trencher (Good thing we have access to all his farm equipment...I don't know what we'd do without it).

John making a final adjustment to a sprinkler head before we turned them on

Water!

Check out those gnarly tree roots

I'm happy...

...and really dirty. If you can tell I even wore a hole in my left knee. There's something strangely satisfying about purchasing a pair of jeans and then wearing them out enough to earn a hole in the knee. It's fantastic really.

My dad knows his stuff, and he's a great teacher, so it may be that by the time we reach the backyard, John and I will be flying solo on the project. That will be nice because it means that we learned something, but I kind of hope my dad sticks around. I like it when he's here.