2016 Backyard "Before"

As anyone who has ever spent more than 30 seconds with me knows, I hate winter. Specifically, I hate being cold, being snowed in and wondering whether or not our plans will be scotched because of weather. I have to admit that this has been the most painless winter I can remember, but I'm still glad it's (mostly) over. I'm turning my attention to our backyard and making plans for cookouts, gardening and more and I can see that we have a lot of work to do. The last couple of years I've pretty much neglected it entirely, since I was so busy, but this year I'm turning over a new leaf. I want to plant veggies, in addition the herbs we always grow, and I want to create a nice outdoor seating area on the now mainly empty deck, complete with mosquito protection. The witch hazel shrubs, which are completely dead right now, will fill in and give us privacy and you can just barely detect the irises in the back corner, which are beginning to come to life.

Here's what it looks like now:

I hope to be able to show progress very soon! I have to admit to still being traumatized from our powder room renovation last fall, but I'm gung ho for this!