Um . . . Progress?

So my mother, God love the woman, says to me this morning, "Did you guys get any rain last night?"

Of course it rained last night. We're doing a landscape project!

And I can almost pretend that we're making excellent progress. See, it started out like this:


And then we made it to this before the first round of rain:


And now? Now it looks like this:


Let me tell you, raking the rock and sand to get a mostly level surface is darned near Zen. And then hefting a 40+ pound paver and trying to get it lined up takes that Zen moment and grinds it into fine particles. There is no Zen when you're trying not to herniate or crush your toes and fingers. None.

Anyway, we're just some sod away from having a perfectly normal, lovely back yard, right? (That's not snow - thank goodness - but white petals from our cherry tree. I love our cherry tree, but the rain sort of stripped the blossoms this year, darn it.)

Until you turn around - and see this:


Did it rain last night? DID IT RAIN LAST NIGHT???



Yes, Mom, it rained last night. Almost two inches. Again. Will I have a patio before July? These are the questions of our time.

Side note: Can you see Jake the Three Legged Wonder Wiener up there on the porch? You want to know what he's thinking? He's thinking mud to the left, lake to the right - Where's a fellow supposed to "go" these days?

Thanks to everyone who passed on their condolences for the yard. While parts of it are still really, really dead, it will always live on in our hearts and minds. Or not.