Backfilled and safety fence up

I'm so happy to get the retaining walls backfilled and the yard to the rough finish grade. I've spent over a year looking at the pit/ditch beside the cabin, and it feels so good to get it covered and ready for landscaping.

The grass seed is planted for temporary erosion control, until I can plant centipede seed next spring. It was rather hot yesterday pushing that rake around the yard to get the seed bedded. 90+ degrees. I was watering myself more than the grass by the time I finished.

I even cleaned up most of the junk that's been populating the back patio! I just need to finish the trim around the garage door and stain the back porch floor beams and the rest will be considered "projects".

All these photos were taken before raking and seeding the dirt, (before I was to be covered in dust), so the ground looks a little rough. It's much better now.

Gerald was kind enough to stain the front deck last week.

Iron Sulfate Block Stain

The retaining wall and basement walls looked pretty ugly as bare block, so I cheated and used 1 part Iron Sulfate mixed with 3 parts warm water to make my own stain. The concrete stain in stores is way too expensive.

I may play with the colors a bit before sealing the blocks, but it is a vast improvement to me already. It has an old stone look I think. Much less glaring than unstained.

I also stained the front deck. Of course, Gerald did most of the work, and it looks great. It will lighten up a bit in a week or two. We were too tired to wait to take the plastic down, so I'll add some better photos later. It should look very nice once the finish grade is established and the landscaping is in.