more backyard projects

The weekend after we put our sod down, we were debating whether to start on the floors or try to finish up our backyard and patio...since it was such a pretty day, the backyard project won. Andy worked a good portion of the afternoon on saturday building this planter box to sit in the corner of our back patio. Up until Andy built this, our back patio felt like a really big concrete backyard. We tried to make it look better with a little container garden thing, but it just wasnt quite enough, so Andy came up with the idea to build this planter. He finished the construction two weekends ago, then we sealed the wood and let it soak in for a few days...we were delayed by a few days of rain. Last weekend we bought approx 30 bags of soil and plants to put in. As you can see in the pic, most of the planter is plants, but the corner section is a "water feature". That part isnt totally finished yet. We need some river rock and maybe some water plants, but the pump works--it bubbles out of that green and brown pot. It will be awesome when it is totally finished...and it already makes the back patio look so much better! Isn't Andy talented?? :) We also bought a propane heater for the patio so we can hang out there and bbq or play games even if it is a little chilly outside.