New Front Fence

This week we built the front fence from the corner of the house to the sidewalk between our house and the neighbors (with special thanks to Josh R. for helping with the staining on Thursday night).

Here are a couple photos of the old fence:




And...the new fence (with neighbor Leah in the background):




Nephew Tyson is coming over tomorrow for the 3rd Saturday in a row to help us again. He gets full credit for staining the side yard fence last Saturday and many wheelbarrow loads full of dirt, gravel and concrete chunks. Nephew Cody was here the 2nd weekend of this project and also deserves credit for moving many wheelbarrow loads of sod from the side yard all the way back to the ravine.

This is a rundown of the schedule so far - I'm highlighting the weekends but we've also been spending several nights each week on these projects:

May 23rd - 26th (Memorial Weekend): Concrete removal and building the raised bed above the retaining wall.

May 30th & 31st: Digging sod, cleaning up the side yard and tearing out the old fence (Nephew Cody helped out)

June 6th & 7th: Building the new fence (Watson had to go to the kennel since the back yard was open to the neighbors)

June 9th - 17th: Building the arbor, gate and side entry fence, started side yard path (Nephew Tyson helped out)

June 19th - 21st: Finish the side yard fence including staining. Also completed the side yard path and flower beds (Nephew Tyson helped out)

June 23rd - 27th: Front Yard fence installed, stained - start to finish (Josh R helped out on Thursday)

June 28th....: Back Deck installation including hot tub (Nephew Tyson helping out again!)

And that's just the start of it all.....we have many more projects up our sleeves over the next several months so stay tuned!

20 years ago

I found this photo a few weeks ago and since several of us are facing our 20 year high school reunions this year I decided I just HAD to post it. This was taken at our annual "graduates picnic" usually organized by Carol H. if I remember correctly - graduation year 1988. (88 RULZ, 88 is great....yikes, did we really write that on our pee chees?)

From left to right...

Back row: Galen G., ?, Andy S., ?, Kristin E.

Front row: Donna W., Kim W., Yours Truly, Donnita S.

If anyone remembers who the two mystery grads are in the back row - let me know. All of us girls definitely had the '80's bangs going on but I have to say that Galen wins the prize with those rainbow shorts!!

Enjoy!

Yard Makeover in Progress

Here are some before and after photos of the yard projects we've been working on.

First is the side yard..., this was a project that REALLY needed to be done as you'll see in the before photos. The side yard had pretty much become the dumping ground for lawn clippings and other debris from the front yard and was full of weeds etc. We also had a really terrible fence between us and the neighbors that was about to fall over in some places.

BEFORE:



Notice the mostly obscured window well on the bottom right corner of the photo above - that is the same window well in the bottom right corner of the photo below. We had to search for the "right" kind of hydrangea and the nursery where we finally found them only had 6 of the 10 we need. You'll notice some upside down pots saving the spots for the remaining 4 that are on order. It is a "Pee Wee" Oakleaf Hydrangea - a relatively new variety. The other plants include 3 Fargesia "Giant Panda" clumping bamboo plants that will get 6 - 8 feet tall, "Irish Silk" Lady's Mantle, and "Birch Hybrid" Bellflower. We also planted some wave petunias to fill in the gaps until the perennials are more mature.

AFTER:



BEFORE - view of the side yard from the front of the house:



And AFTER:



Here is a view "in progress" before the fence and path were in:



We have a retaining wall above what used to be a patio and sidewalk area. We have removed the patio and sidewalk in preparation for installing a ground level deck at the back of the house. We used some of the concrete to build a two tiered raised bed above the retaining wall. Eventually there will be a dining area behind these new flower beds.

BEFORE:



IN PROGRESS:



AFTER:



And just for fun, here are a few photos of the flowers in our front yard in full bloom. I just love this time of year!









And this is one of our dogwood trees:



Here is the front gate with all of the stain completed:



And to top off a 10 hour day in the yard, Darin washed my car for me. I came around the corner and caught him in the act!!



Here is our "baby" Watson - he was pretty good all day and even managed to stay out of the newly planted flower beds!



And lest you think we won't have anything to do for a while....here is the "before" of the next project. Darin jackhammered out our old patio and cut out the sidewalk in sections (those sections can be seen in their new home in the side yard path in photos above). We will be installing a ground level deck in this area - that project starts next weekend.





Also on the list for this summer is to finally get rid of the unsightly blue trim!! We will be painting the house a really nice "cactus" green with a creamy white trim. A preview of the new color scheme can be seen here in this previous post.

New Gate

Here is another project that has been keeping us busy. The photo below is the old gate and fence to our side yard.



We have now removed all of the old sod and defunct herb garden and installed a gravel path. The old fence between us and the neighbors has also been removed and replaced with a 6 foot cedar fence. We haven't put the finishing touches on the side yard and fence yet but wanted you to see the new side yard entry gate. We will hopefully finish the fence and side yard over the weekend and be able to post those photos next week.

Drum Roll Please......



Thank goodness for Darin's carpentry skills - It would take MUCH longer to afford this type of stuff if we had to pay someone to do it. I get to come along behind and do the easy parts like staining and hauling gravel and mulch in the wheelbarrow. Although, I have learned out to hang fence boards and will be doing some of that this weekend after we finish staining the top rafters of the side gate arbor.

Sadie Subaru Joins the family

Yes, it's true, we bought a "new" car. Her name is Sadie and she's a 2004 Subaru Outback H6 VDC Wagon. This is MY car but sometimes I let Darin drive:-).

Watson loves the new car so much that he has taken to "asking" to go along whenever I leave the house. He runs around and waits at the back and jumps in as soon as I open the hatch.