New year (and a whole lot of catching up)

If I were one to make resolutions, more frequent blogging would be an obvious candidate particularly because I was just talking to a friend about our paint colors, remembered we had a blog, came over to look up a color and...realized how terrible I've been about putting information up here in the last year or so.  This blog has always functioned mainly as a resource for us to keep track of things but it isn't much help if I don't keep good records!  So, without further ado, here's a whole slew of things we've been doing, hopefully with some information that will someday come in handy (to us, at least).  I'll try to break this into a few posts to keep rooms/projects somewhat together...

First up - an "after" picture of what we call the second-floor living room.  This is the flex space on the second floor that could be an office or kids' playroom but, for now, is simply more living area.  We still need to add barn doors to the exterior but it's essentially complete. 

More living space, yay!

Moving back downstairs, we installed pendant lights over the kitchen island.  The pendants are here.

Getting started with wiring

And up!

Now that's a straight line!

And while we're in the kitchen...we also installed the backsplash.  We used a gray arabesque tile (Pharsalia 2" x 2.25" porcelain mosaic tile in glossy gray, to be exact - and I'll have to go dig up the grout color, which hopefully I'll remember to do at some point).  This was quite a job to install and took a lot of time to keep it straight and level - thank goodness for our laser level and Brian's penchant for detail!

A clean (and protected) slate

Moving along

Still working

Ta-da!  Tile in, grout to go

I honestly can't tell if the tile has grout or not in this picture, but I think it does and the backsplash is, in fact, complete so...we're just going to call this an "after" picture and be done

Variety is the spice of life

In the spirit of catching up on assorted projects in real life and on the blog, here is a rather random selection of projects we've been working on recently.  First up - more landscaping.  We had previously laid sod in our side yard when we did the front yard, but we weren't happy with the slope or the drainage so decided to fix it once and for all (we hope!).  That meant digging a trench to bury a drain pipe from the roof gutter, regrading the yard, and laying new sod over the top.  Since we finished this project several weeks ago, I'm happy to report that the grass is alive and well and, despite the record-setting rain we've had this summer, the yard seems to be draining very well.  So, another thing off our list...and now up on the blog as well!

Getting started, regrading and laying a drainage pipe

All covered up

Since we didn't need all that much sod, we skipped delivery - it's good to own a pickup truck!

New sod installed and ready (and in need of) watering

Next up - we've been working on finishing the Jack and Jill bathroom on the second floor.  This bathroom is very nearly done at this point but we haven't taken proper "after" pictures yet, so here are some in-progress shots.

Working on installing the granite and the sinks

Setting the sinks

This doesn't look quite ready for use yet...but it's getting closer!

We also went ahead and installed hardwood flooring in the room we call the second floor living room.  This is a flex space that can be used for an office, a kids playroom, or a sitting room but, before it can be used for anything, it needed to have flooring and trim installed.  This was one of those surprisingly satisfying and relatively quick projects - we were able to install the flooring and the trim in one weekend.  And since it was the last room on the second floor that was wholly unfinished, with this project done, we're feeling like the second floor is getting much closer to being complete!

Getting started with leveling the floor

That was fast!  Nearly done with hardwood installation

And now with flooring and window/floor trim installed.  Next up - paint and furniture!

Catching up

It's a little daunting to write a post after several month without one...and there is much progress to report on!  I'll just group some projects together and try to keep catching up over the next few days.  But starting with where we left off, we first tackled finishing the fence to completely enclose the backyard.  Happily, the trees that we moved are still alive today and now our yard is dog-friendly!

Getting started with setting posts

So many posts

And skipping ahead - voila, a fence!

From our side - all fenced in 

This was the tricky part - we had to build around a big tree near the property line

So we built a custom frame

And then custom cut the fence boards

And now the fence goes up to, but not through, the tree.  We did the same thing
 on the other side so the fence now goes right around the tree

That left just a gate to build

We adapted a steel frame kit for the big gate

Getting the gate laid out

And setting it up

Skipping some steps to the final product

A little trim work to be done but we are now fully fenced in

And we immediately invited our friend's retriever Charlie over to enjoy the yard!

Moving Day (for trees, that is)

We're still here!  We've been working indoors on flooring and trim but with summer-like weather making an appearance, we moved outdoors to work on the backyard.  Two of three sides of fencing are up but we have one to go - and of course, it was the side with many trees and the ubiquitous chain link fence.  So, after removing the chain link, we had to take out the trees and - because we didn't want to chop them down - that meant putting the bobcat back to work!

"Before" picture - note the tree and large bush/tree to the right

Another before shot - this will be a long stretch of fencing someday!

We were so busy taking down the trees that we forgot to take in-process pictures but did take some once the first tree came down.  We saturated the ground around the root ball to soften it up and then Brian used the bobcat forks to dig up the tree.  It's an unconventional use of the forks but Brian has become very skilled at using them to dig and pop out trees and chainlink fence poles.  This tree (which I'm calling a tree even though it might be a bush - I have no idea what it actually is) fortunately had a relatively shallow rootball and popped right out.

Here it is, laying on the driveway, thinking about where its new home might be

It is very, very large

Just how large this thing is became apparent when we tried to get it onto the bobcat to transport it to the back of the yard.  It is tall, heavy, and unwieldy.  We finally, after a couple of tries, managed to lift it from its side up onto the bobcat forks.  Once it was on the forks, we strapped it to the bobcat so it wouldn't fall over, and the bobcat carried it to the back of the yard.

Ready to take a ride.  I'm still not sure how Brian managed to see around it to drive
but the tree, bobcat, and Brian all arrived safely

Scoping out the new spot for the tree

Another shot pre-tree planting - you can see why we'd like a little more screening

And now with tree in place!  Much more private

Another angle

The poor tree took a bit of a beating with the bobcat forks (which are not an approved tree-moving method!) so we'll keep an eye on it and hope that it survives.  So far, with plenty of water, it seems okay so fingers crossed.

Then it was on to the next big tree.  This one also came out pretty easily and then when it was lying on its side, we realized just how big and heavy it was...

Getting it out of the ground turned out to be the easy part

We didn't want to drive the bobcat across the finished patio so had to come up with a different method to move it.  We settled on a rather unconventional approach involving a furniture dolly, some plywood, and a lot of lifting.  

Tree taking a ride on the furniture dolly to its new home in the corner of the yard

Getting this tree upright and into place was no easy feat and Brian may have come a bit close to being pinned a couple of times as I struggled to help hold up the tree as we wrestled it into place.  Fortunately, Brian's friend Tim showed up in the middle of this process.  Having an extra - and strong - person around made a huge difference and we were able to get it planted and in place.

Tree relocated into corner

The last part of landscaping was to plant three trees that I picked up on clearance at our local nursery - two Zelkova Serrata trees and one 'Homestead' Buckeye.  You can imagine the conversation when I told Brian I wanted to buy three (large) trees that would now need to be picked up, transported home, and planted.  But they were on sale and I couldn't resist.  Fortunately, Tim stuck around and helped dig the giant holes that we needed for the zelkovas - these are not small trees - and then move them into place.

Zelkovas waiting to be planted

And they're in!

It's a bit hard to see but the new buckeye is in back, between two river birches (which are also a bit difficult to see here as they haven't leafed up fully yet) - but the overall effect is that the fence line is quite wooded at this point

And the last thing to do was clean up the side yard to prep it for the fence.  In the next few weeks (or perhaps longer!) we'll start getting the fence up and in place.  But with two trees moved and three new trees planted, we've had a good weekend!

Looks a lot different now - and definitely ready for a fence!