~~~The BIG Reveal, Deck, Patio and Pond!!!~~~

Good Friday morning!!!!! At long last I am able to reveal our new deck, patio and pond!! It has taken forever to get this done, but it IS done and we love it all. It is a wonderful spot to sit and relax but also a great entertaining space!!!! That was our goal. I didn't really care if we did a pond but Joe REALLY wanted it so we got it and I love it too!!! So, without further ado, I will show you around. Come on out!!!! We go out the door in the morning room to the deck.....

We went with Trex because we do NOT want to have to maintain a deck at our advanced age:):) The deck was not allowed to be any bigger so it is just big enough for the grill (which stays on the other side, to the right of the door as you come out) and a small table and chairs.

Oh dear, the pictures are a bit out of order but I will guide you through this:) The pond is off the patio. The sound of the waterfall is wonderful and somethibng we have missed.

This is still a work in progress, we have not planted this area yet, except for a couple of things. We plan to wait til next Spring to finish planting around the pond.

As you can see, Joe bought a few things yesterday and they ARE planted now.

I love having my cranes out here, I think they missed the pond too!

And my Asain guy and pagoda will live out here too. That big old ugly black filter is going to be camoflauged somehow, probably with paint:)

The gold finches love the feeder here and play in the water too!!!

So, here we are at the patio. This is the right corner as you come down the steps. This firplace has gotten used on many nights now, and we love it. However, I will probably move it to the other corner as I want to have a round table and chairs in this corner. Next year though:)

I moved my bench from out front to back here. This is a wonderful spot, I love to have breakfast or lunch here or just relax and read.

The neighbors are loving it all and don't want us to plant anything to block their view:) So sweet.

Of course I had to DECORATE!!!!! This cutie came from Lowes.

Joe is trying to get one of the fish out of the filter:( Poor little thing was scared and wouldn't be caught, but later Joe got him and put him back in the pond:)

My Joe never stops working. As all this was being done, he also was building a bar in the family room downstairs. That, too is ALMOST done so I will show you soon!!!!

For now I have some FAUX waterlilies in here til the real one can bloom, next year. Just to the right of the cranes is where we pakn to put another bench.

We plan to put a bench in this spot so you can sit and see the waterfall.

We got one cut leaf Japanese maple and plan to get another for the other side. It is losing its leaves already.

I took some shots at sunset since it was SOOOOOO beautiful!!!!! Everything is lit up i a beautiful PINK!!!!

The little rock piles we did with the extra rock that was left over.

JOE built this rock wall. There was a BIG drop and we worried about erosion and runoff to the neighbor so Joe built the wall, backfilled it with dirt and then we mulched. So far we have had 2 or 3 pretty good rains and it is holding up!

Reflection of the setting sun on the water. You can see here in these shots that the railings were not done yet. It took FOREVER for them to get the darn railings!!!

Joe also installed lights in the patio walls, it is SO pretty at night. They are on timers and come on at dusk, so that means earlier every night now.

GLORIOUS!!!!

Reflection on the neighbors house.

Hope you have enjoyed seeing our latest project. We so love living here, and it was one year on Oct. 1st!!! Now, if the old house would just SELL we would be in great shape. I would appreciate any prayers or good wishes you can send up. Thanks so much for visiting!!! As you can see they are building a house next door, this is a shot from out front.