Before and After is Fun for Everyone (Part III)

Damn, two posts in two days. I'm on fire! Someone stop me! Seriously.

Backyard before:

Backyard After:

Overgrown trees & bushes look so much better when you have grass leading up to them. We were amazed with the improvement!

And, you know what the punchline is to the backyard after picture?

Wait for it...

The dogs aren't allowed to step foot on it.

I know, right?

Dick has already filed several complaints with his union representative. Don't worry, the pups being banned from the yard is not permanent. We just need the sod to take root before we let them loose. (Mom let them "walk" on it after the guys were done and Dick took of running and kicking up some of the strips of sod. We were able to put all of it back, but it was a good lesson in appropriate sod behavior.) In the interim they have access to the patio and they get about 4 walks a day.

In addition, we left "Dick's alley" without sprinklers or sod so that he will still have an area to dig and get dirty and just be a bad boy dog generally. Dick's alley is the area of the yard that parallels the patio. Its one strip (not seen in the picture) that has never had grass or sprinklers and yet a few bushes have lived on. In fact, it was a favorite haunt of our retriever Maggie. She would clear out a spot under the bushes for a cool place in summer. Dick has decided to revive this tradition and not only has hiding spots for toys under the bushes but has a few digging holes he likes to nap in.

With all this evidence, the union has declined to press formal charges against us.

Before and After is Fun for Everyone Part II

Ok, so when I said tomorrow, I really meant a week.

Here's the part of the patio I didn't have the after pictures for.

Before:

After:

And, for clarity, here's the during:

Yeah, those pipes, that's where the concrete was and where the tile now is. We had to take that whole portion of the patio down to the ground. Its kind of amazing that they made it look original to the house again.

Before and After is Fun for Everyone! (Part I)

Now that we're embarking on a new adventure at Chez Radomile, you can see the before and after shots of the last adventure. 'cause, you know, that's how I roll. I mean, you can't have real time updates of the home improvement projects. That makes way too much sense!

As you may recall, back in December we embarked on our first major construction project, complete with porta-potty. Our patio wasn't doing too well so we had to rebuild it. I mean, it was built in 1928...can't people make stuff to last! Oh, right, it made it 90 years and through countless earthquakes. But, it was time to take the patio down and start new. I mean, when a part of your house gets to the point that you stay away from it and try to keep the dogs away from it, that could be a sign that you need to do something. I'm just sayin'. Our contractor agreed and ripped that bad boy all the way down.

The funny thing about this project is that as guests come to the house they think this is how it looked all along...or at the very least, we had new tile put in. They either don't realise or think we're lying when we say, no, really, this became a big empty space and we completely rebuilt it. You, dear blogsphere, can be the judge....

Before:

'complete with dog ghost silhouette.

Here you can see Jane inspecting the damage to the patio. Can't you just feel her disdain for those cracked stairs in front of her?

And here's the glamour shot of the whole patio. I know, you're jealous and wondering how we could possible improve on this.

During:

Both sets of stairs are gone and they've started removing the patio.

Can I get a "woot! woot!"?

Now I will confess that I didn't get any shots after they removed this remaining portion of the patio. But, seriously, there was nothing here. They took it all. Seriously. Tomorrow I'll show you the before and after of the rest of the patio that you can't see in these pictures. (Right before you get to the Pedigree bag in the back of the picture, turn right and there's more patio.) And, for that portion, you can really see that they took everything out and started completely new.

Here's the after:

This is what happens when you point at the photographer...you end up on the interwebs!

Here's what those very intimidating pointers were keeping an eye on while I was taking my glorious after pictures of our patio.

mmmm, Kalbi....

So yeah, Part II tomorrow and hopefully next week you can see before and after pictures of the rest of the backyard. I swear, after 30 years, our house is finally coming together!

So I asked Santa for a New Car..

and there are new cars in my driveway, they just aren't for me. They belong to our nice contractors. It seems to be an unofficial rule that if you're a contractor, you have to drive a big white pickup truck. They're all super nice trucks and the boys really know how to drive them. I mean, the way they all fit in there, is impressive.

So yeah, For the next three months we are without a driveway. You'd never know how much you'd miss a driveway until you lost your driveway. And, might I say, I have a mighty nice driveway...three car garage with room for at least 4 cars at the base of the driveway, not counting the ones that could park on the slope leading down.

Ah, no more.

Mom'n'I are on the street, well, at least our cars are on the street. All of our guests' cars are on the street. Your car is on the street. You get the idea.

Now, as you know, I went and did the official permit thing so I don't have the wrath of the parking doGs on me. However, I didn't count the wrath of my neighbor. And, when I say wrath, I mean mild chiding from an 80+ year old man. Apparently he doesn't like people parking on the street in front of his house. Ever.

Hmm, I don't have a driveway and I can't park in the spot closest to my house because someone wants to always leave it empty.

Yeah, not so much.

We discussed the situation and he accepted my offer of always parking in the spot across from his house when it is available. But, if that spot is not available, he would find it mildly acceptable for me to park in the spot in front of his house.

You see why I'm afraid of condo life people? These are the sorts of issues I have living in a house. I can only imagine the weird things people come up with when you're sharing walls and roofs and such what not.

What a beautiful morning....

IMG_1607.JPG
Originally uploaded by radomile

Ah, the sight of the morning sun over your very own porta-potty on your front lawn.

Isn't she pretty? I think I'll name her Betty.

Betty moved in on Monday. After months and months of permits and fun obtaining the proper permissions to fix a patio that's broken and put it back exactly as it now, only not broken, we have begun. And we began with Betty.

I'm so excited about adding Betty as a temporary member of our household. I've been staring at her cousins on front lawns on my street for about 2 years now. We had one cousin next door staring at us for about 18 months. That cousin was replaced with a sibling who came to visit the house up the street just for the summer. And now that those kids are gone, we have Betty.

Like any house guest, I'm sure I'll be sick of her before she leaves. But, for now, I'll enjoy her company.