And then the situation changed

So after Jay prettied up the hill in the back yard and we built the wall, we decided to get an estimate for a final grade/topsoil.  So we asked the landscaping company that is doing our next-door neighbour's place.  Turns out we can get everything (except the sprinkler system, which we already got a buddy to design and order) for less than half the other quotes we got.  Half - this is doable.  We're going for it.  After spending a day and a half on a skidsteer, Jay was more than ready to sign his life away, and for that price I'm okay with it.

In other news, the inappropriate slate tile on the front of the house has been replaced.  See:

Before

After

The new look kills me.  It looks like someone took a picture of some coloured pebbles and then photoshopped it onto our house.  It's definitely an improvement, and we both like it.  But I'd say at least some of my liking comes from being amused at it.  We also like it better than the replacement rock that both of our neighbours chose, so that's also a bonus.  Especially considering that we didn't particularly like the sample that we chose this from, it really didn't look like this at all.  I'm calling this a win. 

It's been raining a lot here, so everything is green.  Here's the most recent view from the backyard:

 Isn't it purty?  Reason I wanted this house, right there.  Unfortunately, I'm worried that it may not stay that way.  A couple weeks ago, I realized that what I thought were bits of garbage in the field below here (kind of near those trees in the bottom center) are really flags, marking something.  Maybe a utility line (hopefully, but why), or unhappily maybe a line marking another row of houses to go in?  It's bottom land and floods (the water there is from the recent rains), but since it's been a few years since the big flooding here, people seem to forget that it could happen again.  Plus the soil here drains really well, very sandy.  I hope I'm just being paranoid. 

The piles o' rock are part of the green space owned by some people on the next street over.  It runs behind the curve of our street and doesn't quite touch on our yard.  And they're throwing a small fortune at landscaping it.  The other end already has a ton of brickwork, some trenching for a pond/water feature, and a small forest of trees.  I'm hoping they don't leave the trees as they currently are, a lot of them are only about 5 feet apart and most of them are 15-20 ft tall already.  Lots of money, no sense, and from the prairies - not the greatest combination.

And without further ado, here's a picture of a slightly rumpled sleepy Gizmo: