Normally in May, I’d say spring has sprung. But this year, we are still working on spring. That said, I think we are now more then a full week since our last snowfall, and we actually had some rain the other day, so spring is definitely trying to spring.

And so, it’s time to think about all things springy. Starting with our backyard.

Our backyard has always been on our to-do list, but it was never a top priority. Until last year, when we discovered that Little MPB absolutely loves being outside and we found ourselves spending hours upon hours outside in a really not so nice backyard.

So, last year we began the process of doing some major landscaping. We hired a landscape artist to help us plan our front and back yards. We also took out multiple trees and lilac bushes and planted some new trees in locations we actually like. All of this means that right now, half our backyard is a muddy mess without grass (which while unpleasant to look at, has actually meant fun times for a little puppy and a toddler too).

This year, the work is continuing and we are focusing in on the back yard (the front yard is probably at least a few years off). As we are planning to completely do the backyard this year, our entire home renovation budget is going to our back yard. On the to-do list is:

• remove existing deck and planter beds
• build a new safe deck
• put in an at-grade stone patio and pathways
• add new raised vegetable garden beds
• finish the softscaping by adding new shrubs and new sod.
• underground sprinkler system (we are really torn on this one)

Over the last month we have been getting a lot of quotes, and are close to making a decision on who to hire, for the parts of the work we plan to hire out. Of course, we still have to decide what work we are going to hire out and what work we are going to do ourselves. In the past we would have done almost all of the work ourselves, but now, I’d rather use my spare time playing with Little MPB then building a deck. So, a lot will depend on the final budget (it’s moments like this where I wish money grew on trees).

All of this means that while everyone else starts planting their vegetable gardens in the next few weeks, for the second year in a row we will not be planting a vegetable garden (last year we decided to skip summer planting a vegetable garden simply due to a lack of time). Mr. MPB is more sad about this then I am as I am completely fine with not having to maintain a vegetable garden. And so, while we may not get into spring the normal way, we are going to enjoy the warmer sunny days with visits to the park with Little MPB. And then, we will spend the summer months camping and hiking in the mountains as much as possible and enjoying our new backyard during whenever we are at home.

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