Backyard Fire Pit Complete

This is what our fire pit looked like at the start of  the 2017 non-snow season. Cute...but I am a quilter that loves big borders and this little circle needed more.

A new outer border was slowly added.

Then, of course my mind kept wanting to add a connection to the rest of my landscaping. So I marked an additional area to dig up and add rock.

I'm calling the fire pit officially complete. I am not good at making beautiful, lush lawns. My current thought is to bring in top soil next spring, level out the lawn and reseed. The dirt around our house was sprayed with hydro-mulch five years ago but was left to go wild so there are plenty of weeds in the mix. Any advice about cultivating a lush lawn is greatly appreciated.

Our summer is turning out to be cloudy and cool which is pretty much normal. We are spending quite a bit of time sitting around the fire pit in the early evenings. 

So my next summer project was to stain the new awning extension over our deck door. We had it built in March and we are so happy to have it. We didn't realize when we built the house how often we would use the deck door. With two dogs, it is our main door and when it was raining or snowing we were getting hit with moisture whenever we opened it.

Before the new awning was stained...

After!

 Just took a few hours.

The day started out sunny but almost as soon as I started working on it the dark clouds began to gather. I stained the areas that would be exposed to the rain first and hoped the stain would set enough before the rain came...if the rain came. 

Oops...I see in this photo that I left some of the blue painters' tape where I need a ladder to reach it. Most importantly...it is done and looks great. We had a few light sprinkles but nothing that was bad for the new stain.

I don't think the "garden boxes" are going to get much action this summer. I did plant raspberries in one section. I still have some rock work to finish around the two bottom garden beds. You can also see our lovely and important generator that powers half of our house when we lose power. My studio is hooked up to the generator so the quilting can always continue. We do lose power in the winter time when there is heavy snow or high winds.

I have had a little success with one of the unique plants we can grow in Alaska, a blue poppy. They are pricey plants, about $15 for one plant. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it winters over for many years to come.

Breakfast club is this Thursday so I hope to spend some time at the sewing machine. I have two existing projects I am planning to take instead of starting the official new project...but I just might change my mind.