update 2010

although my blogging has slowed considerably (okay - come to a complete halt), our work on the house has certainly not stopped. and although there have been a measly 4 posts since may of 2009, when i look back at photos from last spring, i am reminded of all we have this year that we didn't last year.

- a deck

- a finished master bath

- a completely renovated hall bath

- trim and paint in several rooms

- a full grown dog (who i still call my puppy)

- curtains up in the living room (sorry, no pics... yet)

and the most recent work: the exterior of our little house.

to give you an overall sense of how it will look in the end, here is a site plan.

first up was the front porch. i decided i wanted the option to add rails to the porch, so the aluminum columns that were merely leftovers from the gross vinyl column were not going to work. (there wasn't a way to gracefully add railing to 4" round aluminum columns... or not that i liked.) so we went the simplest route possible: 4x4 pressure treated columns. then we moved forward with the plans to add new wide sitting stairs and a planter box to announce the entry a little more. the planter box has been a huge hit with friends and neighbors. so i think it was a good choice...

here are the photos of the work to the front of the house.

we used what we could afford.... re-dried treated decking boards. robby ripped them down to give the square edge (no rounded edges on a modern planter box). and we had to go through and hand pick boards to get grain that i was happy with. (it was a struggle at first to convince robby that this was necessary, but in the end he agrees it looks a lot better)

from there we turned our attention to the backyard. the attempt to plant grass last year on the hill that divided our yard failed. (the incline was too steep with a puppy that likes to run laps in our yard) so we cut the hillside and robby built a retaining wall out of 6x6 heavy timbers. (yes, it is true, he can build just about anything and make it look good) we then seeded the yard (again) and this time have had more success than last year. spring is really not the time to try and grow grass, but i think we will be able to make it through the summer with what we have and then seed again in the fall.

voila.... beautiful green yard! and please check out the shrubs along the fence... notice how much bigger they are this year than just one year ago. (and since this photo was taken they are probably two times bigger)

new rhododendron planted along the other fence.

next up we've got our first ever vegetable garden, along with the beginning of a new fence along the south side of the house with a gravel pathway.

the vegetable garden as of May 5th.

the beginning of the fence - which will match the planter box in its design - and the new pathway which will eventually get pavers.

the pathway continues around to the back of the house.

the view from the back looking to the front.

and the vegetable garden as of today... may 23rd. and check out the hydrangea! it was TINY last year.

SO, as you can see, we have actually been very busy... just all on the exterior. the house needed major help in the curb appeal category, and hopefully we are getting there. in a few years when everything has finally grown and gotten full i think it will be a lovely house and yard from front to back. here's a nice reminder of what it was on april 1, 2008. and the photo below from april 17, 2010.