Very Architectural-Digest, Bryan! A job well done! Glad you could finish before winter set in.

Everyone should know that from top to bottom, this is Bryan's work. He came up with the concept, did the research, formulated the design and, as can be seen, did an incredible amount of work to make it happen. As I relook at some of the earlier pictures and compare them to the end result, I'm amazed that someone with no prior landscape (especially hardscape) experience can pull of such a detailed project. He worked his butt off! (He wore me out sometimes just watching from the sidelines.) And to be sure, he is meticulous ... sometimes redoing very difficult things in his 'relentless pursuit of perfection,' if I can borrow Lexus's tagline. I'm reminded that some things seemed fairly difficult to work through at the beginning (grading comes to mind,) but as things got accomplished, things that followed became ever easier.

I'm sure some neighbor's WISH Bryan could redo their yards! : )

I don't want to redirect the thread, but will mention why I haven't posted in over two years. The short answer is: burnout, which caught me somewhat by surprise. My mom had died (one week shy of her hundredth birthday.) My sister had come for a month and we were busy taking care of all kinds of things, which got me out of my routine of daily posting. I had fully intended to get back to it. I had already started helping Bryan and wanted to continue with that mainly because I thought he would need the help, and because he seemed very appreciative of the advice. But as time passed I began to re-evaluate if I wanted to return to the forum, since I had pretty much said the same things over and over again about a thousand times, and didn't think that repeating myself more would make much difference. By the time my sister left, I was already focusing on other things. I fully intended to stop by at some point and mention my re-direction, but the time to do that never seemed to be "now." I guess I went into avoidance mode. And working with just Bryan, since I was becoming ever more lazy, then seemed to be the perfect amount of advice-giving it took to satisfy my needs. It took about a month to realize I had burnout, but when I did, it was already upon me. Anyway, I'm sorry and apologize for the wordless exit. With that, I hope not to distract from the glory that Bryan should be basking in, with the completion of his outstanding project. I'm sure there are going to be some nice parties in that back yard.