I REMEMBER - The backyard ribbon cutting

...getting the house on Calla Lily Way and although the front yard was landscaped and with a sprinkler system, the backyard was elegantly styled with a small concrete pad and hard packed clay dirt (kind of like concrete, but dustier). After vowing a no-lawn existence, we have toiled in the soil for years and are finally coming to a finalized resolution to the original plan created on the back of an old envelope. Fountain, trees, garden, patio, pergola, playhouse, shaded deck, shaded bench etc. later, we are having a professional put in a sprinkler system (mine spring a leak somewhere and lost all the pressure) tomorrow and are getting bids on finishing the patio extension and a sidewalk through the gardens (no more weeding the path). We had tea on the back deck today under the shade of our 25' tall faux pear. Nice. Lise has no vacation time built up in her new job, so the finishing of the back yard is our vacation. I remember that when we finished building the back redwood deck, we even had a ribbon cutting celebration ceremony...ha.