Paths less traveled.

MORE PHOTOS OF MY YARD! Just what you wanted right?!

So at this point everything is pretty much done except planting. Now that the summer heat is starting to break that will be happening soon. Jon and Caitlin have done an amazing job so far. If you need anything built inside or outside of your house or some amazing design work be sure to holler at these guys. They are simply berries to work with - http://www.greenlightcustomhomes.com/

 The blue stones are all in and the gravel has been laid for the area right off the deck and the path through the planting beds. The pergola roof has also been put on and looks great. Blue stones were laid with a layer of fine gravel underneath to prevent shifting over time.

A tiny rock wall gives a little more shape around the large tree next o the fence.

 Pavers off the back of the deck lead around to side yard and front porch side steps.

 This will all look much neater once mulch and plants are in but it's looking great so far. Nellie and I buried an incredibly long drainage pipe that ties in three gutter down spouts and runs under this path. I LOVE watching water gush out of it when it rains hard. We dug trenches for about 100 feet of black pipe for that little project which was an accomplishment for people as lazy as us.

WWI re-enactment

Digging drainage trenches isn't nearly as much fun as it sounds.

Diggin' in the dirt.

Jon and Caitlin got busy digging around the back yard this past week. A lot of the work they did this involved moving dirt around and grading the yard. They also laid the ground work for paths and plantings to come. This type of work isn't as showy as installing a deck or building a shed, but it's important nonetheless and, once again, the Sloops did a fantastic job. If I haven't given a link to these folks home page yet, here it is: www.greenlightcustomhomes.com. Caitlin and Jon are a joy to work with and do a fantastic job on projects large or small, indoors or out. Can't recommend them enough.

 Lots going on here - Coming in from the right a retaining wall that levels off the yard so that part of the grass will be relatively flat. There is more drainage behind the retaining wall. In front of the railroad beams, will be a mulch path with blue stone stepping pavers. We'll have gravel in front of the deck steps, which will lead into a path through the planting beds shown in the left of this photo against the fence.

 A better view of the retaining wall and leveled yard with two steps leading up to the shed. On the next visit, Jon will install a tin roof on the pergola which should make for a nice covered area to hang out in the back yard.

 The gravel here is a base layer for a blue stone path that will lead to the shed.

 Slightly wider shot.

From the patio. The triangle area is another planting bed as the east side of the yard gets the most sun.

Next up will be more paths. In the mean time Nellie and I have a lot of trenches to dig for drainage on the east of the house before the paths can come around to the front.

Patio and Pergola

Two weeks ago the patio and pergola portions of the yard were completed. Through rain and heat Jon and crew managed to knock this part out very quickly as always.

 The big picture.

The patio is a poured concrete square patchwork. Between the concrete blocks we will likely grow something like creeping thyme.

Men at work.



Gravel was put down to keep the slabs from shifting over time and a form was used for pouring the concrete.



Eventually we will likely have some sort of fire pit on the patio on the portion that is not under the pergola.



The pergola was built at the same time and will provide a nice covered sitting area in the back yard once the roof is put on.



We debated doing some sort of vine growth in the pergola but have decided to go with a metal roof that will likely match what we have on the shed already.



Here's the finished product for now with the dirt filled back in around the slabs. Next steps will be planting beds to the right of the patio / along the fence and a retaining wall/path that will run parallel to the house and raise the level of the lawn up to be a flatter surface.



Patio start

Work has begun on the patio!

Decked Out

Through the soaring temperatures this weekend Jon managed to finish the deck. I was honestly a little worried that we would find him dead in the back yard but he's a champ and pulled though. We couldn't be more pleased with the finished product and the back yard is really starting to come together.

 The built in bench is finished and will get use this week for a small 4th of July cookout. Now we just need to get a larger outdoor table for the space. I'm thinking of building one myself - maybe some sort lattice of wood or even poured concrete with steal legs? MORE PROJECTS!

We also need to put down a protectant for the deck now. We'll wait a few weeks for the pressure treated wood to completely dry out, but that won't take long in this heat. Likely we will go with an oil based semi-transparent deck stain. This seems to give the best bang for your buck in terms of how often you have to re-apply and protection.

Ludo is such a good model. I didn't have to give him any direction at all.

Next week Jon will begin work on the pergola and patio. Can't wait!

Organizing

With Nellie's mom in town this weekend we got busy finishing up some projects and organizing.

 We painted and hung a board for a coat rack in the entrance way. Fancy hooks (that you will never see once they are covered by coats) are from Restoration Hardware. 

 We're pretty happy with the final result. The entrance way is now complete.

I got busy organizing the inside of the shed while Nellie and her mom went to town finishing the painting detail work on the outside. We used an old peg board from our last apartment. Obviously the blanks space on the board indicates that I need more tools in my life!

Happenings Lately

 Some quick photo updates. GO!

We had the old crown molding taken off the front of the house and bumped out the trim around the roof of the porch to make way for gutters which should be happening soon. The new trim has since been painted by us.

Cleveland and Ludo are BFFs.

The cats vowed to vote Republican in protest of our household now owning a dog. Jerks.

Ludo's dog training is going very well.

 We painted the shed and it took FOREVER! Ludo was bored.

 We finally got it done (sort of), and it looks fantastic!

The deck is being built as I type and is looking great so far.

More backyard excitement soon to come.

Trench

The trench has been dug for the French drain that will run under the deck. Not all that exciting but it happened.

Shed

We got a shed! Now we just need to paint it. Jon did an awesome job and banged this out in a week. Next step is some backyard drainage and the deck.

New couch and dog name.

New couch from Room & Board is awesome. Ludo (official name) likes it too. Do a google image search for "Ludo Labyrinth" and you'll see where this guy gets his name. Although at first it was just Nellie mispronouncing "Lando" as in Lando Calrissian from Star Wars. Ludo seems to fit this sweet faithful little guy.

Dogs and Chainsaws

Well the big news is I think we finally have a dog. Nellie's been wanting one for a long time and, when this little guy came along, it was hard to say no. He's house broken, crate trained, very submissive, and doesn't seem hell bent on eating our cats. He already knows to sit, stay, and sometimes shake. He's great at fetch, quick to calm down when we come in from playing, and seems to have the bladder of a blue whale. We're currently working on leash-walking.

A very laid-back dude.

Sampson and Frenchie (our cats) are slowly warming up to him, but are not thrilled. Sampson has stopped obsessively stalking the dog and there are only occasional scuffles when one surprises the other. Frenchie has come out of hiding and delicately floats through rooms trying to remain unnoticed. All in all, it's been an interesting week here at the Petty Home. Below are lots of gratuitous dog photos and some shots of the work we got done this weekend.

Pre-yard work playtime. We finally removed all the leaves from this past fall!

We had Jeff Bracken and crew of JB Tree Service take down a tree that was precariously leaning over our neighbors' power lines. They also removed several large dead or dying branches from the big Willow Oak tree. J B Services did a great job at an amazingly fair price. Can't recommend them enough.

This large pile was what was left over. It would have cost just as much to have them haul off and mulch the limbs as it did to have them taken down.

Luckily my parents came to visit with chainsaws-a-blazing and helped us remove and cut up the brush for the curb. We also took down three small remaining trees in the corner, one of which was dead and full of ants! Gross.

What seemed like a daunting task was accomplished with a lot of sweat and only a minor amount of blood.

My dad was a beast with the chainsaw. All this work was basically prep for some forthcoming landscaping. The first step is making room for shed construction that should start on April 16th.

So much wood.

So many branches.

We have a huge pile of mulch to move. We're about halfway through and should finish this weekend. We were pretty pooped from hauling trees and only got halfway through on Sunday. Nellie moved most of it herself and had back pain to prove it. This mulch was left over from the GIANT tree stump that Miles took down and ground when we were renovating the house. It should be a great base for planting beds when the time comes.

We were left with a nice little pile of wood that we'll either give away or save for a future fire pit.

The new fam. Nellie couldn't be happier.

More dog photos!

We still don't have a name for this guy. He came to us as Phredy, but we feel like a new pet needs a new name as initiation into our home. We've had lots of great suggestions including Karo (sweet and brown), Malcolm Reynolds (Mal - from Firefly), Lando (as in Lando Calrissian from Star Wars), Argos (the faithful dog of Odysseus), Sprocket (from Fraggle Rock), Leroy (from Jim Croce's "Bad Bad Leroy Brown), Boba (as in Boba Fett from Star Wars), and countless others. Naming this guy is really hard. Thanks everyone for the suggestions!

Who am I?! Petey?

Slowly warming up to each other. It's getting better every day.