handrails are in!



they need paint and we have to install some trim, but they are in!

yardwork-ugh!

yardwork has got to be the most difficult, back-breaking work! i would maybe put it in the same category as sanding drywall (which tops our list of the worst phases of rehab), but i think that i would still rather sand drywall!

our neighbors installed a new cedar fence so it was time to cut back the overgrown forsythia bushes-this was the only before photo that i could find...

after removing 2 rows of the forsythia, we found a beautiful lilac bush buried in the back!

you can see in the photo how much area the forsythia took up, so we feel like we took back valuable real estate.

let's file this one in the "it has to look worst before it can look better" category!

here is the scrap pile...what you cant see in the photo is that the pile actually extends about 25' back and stands about 10' tall! (i took the photo from the deck)

nothing a bag of marshmallows and lighter fluid cant take care of!




thinning out the edge of the yard at the new fence already looks cleaner



so this is the reason why it is so difficult to get rid of bamboo, and you dont want it in your yard!

i dug up this small clump of bamboo to find this huge tap root! and the root broke off, so i am sure that it will return!


this is another project on our list; the front walk and side landing- we have picked out the new pavers but dont look forward to removing the existing concrete, so we're gonna procrastinate a bit more on this one!