$$$ FRENCH DRAINS ARE IN $$$

Ok, really I've been told that it was a pretty decent price.

The yard was a disaster for for the 3 weeks they were working on it. But really, it has been a mess since we moved in.  The longest stretch we had of dry weather was in December for 11 days of no rain. However, the back yard stayed a muddy mess the whole time.  It never dried.  Water pooled up against the house and just sat there.

Some sort of drainage system was in order.  We had a couple of options, but due to the owner of the home next door (not his tenants), we decided that as little disruption in that yard as possible, the better.

Day 1

Day 2

And now we wait.  It needs to do a lot of drying out before the equipment can go back and try to flatten things out.  Otherwise they would just be putting ruts on ruts in the mud.

The first 2 days and night, the water was just flowing out like an open fire hydrant.  It tapered to a slow trickle, but then the weather was due to be bad for a couple days.  All those tornadoes in Alabama missed us and so did the rain which was good for drying other than 3 days of mist.  Then 3 more days of freezing sunshine (weather is crazy here) and they came back but needed it to dry more.  

Nearly 3 weeks from the start, we had 6 glorious days of warm and sunny weather.

They came back and flattened out the back yard and fixed the side and neighbors yard.

They put down seed and straw to get the yard restarted.

And Canyon can get to his swing!!

The side and neighbors yard looks pretty good too.

Now the test.  Rain in the forecast tomorrow and more rainy days in the week to come.

I still need to do something over by the storage building because that area stays muddy and Hippie loves to dig under the fence there.  I put bricks in his escape ways, but he just wants to dig every and anywhere along the fence. 

Crossing fingers this helps us with a usable yard!!