Landscaping.

Even though we practically blew our budgeted amount for landscaping on the retaining wall and fence, we came in on/under budget - the final numbers aren't quite in - for the whole house build and because of that we decided to outsource the yard. We also waffled between whether or not we should get a sprinkler system. Our lot is kinda sunk down and with the copious amounts of rain Washington recieves, we really would only maybe need irrigation in the summer. Well, we decided to go for it. We got bids to do it for $3700 plus $1000 for the yard prep, seeding and finishing a portion of our retaining wall we added and we had a deal. Multiple guys worked everyday, nearly all day and it took them 6 days to get it in. And they know what they are doing. Imagine, us trying to do a complicated sprinkler system on the weekend. We would finally get it done in time for rainy season to kick in again.

The yard looks so awesome - and there is not even any grass yet. They did a great job and it looks huge. There was zero buyers remorse handing over that check - partly because it's still coming from our construction loan account but still. Next purchase - lawn mover. Any suggestions?

Grass Pavers

Dilemma - Do we put gravel on the side of the house so we have extra parking (for guests or if we ever want to get an RV ;)) or do we make it pretty and more enjoyable for the kids by putting in grass?

Resolution - I was thinking we could do flagstone, cobblestone or a "Hollywood Drive" (two strips of concrete where the tires go and grass everywhere else) but Ben found something more technologically advanced - interlocking grass pavers that protect the roots so the grass can be driven on.

The idea was Ben's but it was going to be pricy ($1700) so my contribution to the plan was instead of covering the whole side we could cut it to fit the area that would most likely be driven on, basically two wide strips. So that's what we are doing. We rolled out the material and have filled it with sand, now we just need to cover it with topsoil and then plant grass. So come on over and drive on our grass!

Grading

Since we are getting pretty good at this DIY stuff, we thought we should just go ahead and tackle some of the bigger machinery. Ben's gotton pretty good with the circular saw so this dozer shouldn't give him too much trouble.

Haha. Yeah, Avery thinks it's pretty funny too. The asphalt/grading guys were nice enough to indulge Ben's boyhood fantasy for a few minutes. Luckily he didn't knock over any endagered tree species or our retaining wall.

Drainage Thing

I don't know what this contraption is for exactly (It's a drainage system of some sort), but I do know that it is costing us $1800 that wasn't accounted for in our original budget (thank you city of Lakewood for this requirement) and worse...no never mind the $1800 is pretty bad...no the next part may be worse...that green thing might be sticking up in our yard even after grading and grass is put in. What!

The price of beauty

It has been four full weekends now for this husband and wife team trying to complete our wall/fence project. Progress has been steady but the finish line has eluded us yet again this weekend. Hampered by sub-freezing temperatures and the seasons first snow fall we fell about 4 hours of hard labor short of completing the job. We’re anxious to get it done to add security to the lot. Right now we are exposed to a fairly busy road and we get several random strangers poking their heads over on a daily basis to check out what is going on. I don’t mind the curiosity. I often do the same. But I have heard from multiple people since starting the process that construction sites are often targets of theft with frequently available big ticket items (tools, appliances, lumber, etc), minimal security, and a guarantee that nobody is home. On a more positive note, the framers sure are making short work of their duties. Estimated completion of framing is just one week after they started.

Finished Product

Many hands make light work. Or many hands make heavy work more fun. Six additional hands to be exact, which made up for one of our wheelbarrows losing a handle. Kind of. Thanks to Gavin, Jess and Jay (and thusly thanks to Sarah, Damaris and Jerilyn for lending us your husbands for a few hours), their shovels and brawn, we completed the wall. Now on to the fence.

…by the sweat of your brow

Intent on contributing more to this build than my signature on a check, Lynn and I took it upon ourselves over the extended holiday weekend to tackle a 110’ x 4’ retaining wall on our property. This had been scheduled for the previous weekend when I had the help of multiple friends available, but the work was postponed due to unstable dirt at the wall base. A rented plate tamper helped solve to problem of the soil so all that was left was the manual labor. I’ve been reading up on the various projects I plan on undertaking (perimeter fence, tiling, network and speaker wiring for starters) in my free time so I felt confident in my ability to build a structurally sound wall.

Though we didn’t quite finish in two days, (partly because we didn’t have enough gravel on site and partly because our aching muscles refused to work by the end of day two) I am quite proud of the quality and quantity of work Lynn and I were able to accomplish. Props to our kids who spent the bulk of two days watching videos in the fort Lynn made in the back of our station wagon so our full efforts could be devoted to the wall. Our contractor made a cameo in the afternoon of day two. He lavished us with praises on our work and couldn’t believe that the two of us had done as much and/or as well as we had. Outwardly we both played it cool with a kick in the dirt mumbling, “no big deal.” But inside we were stoked that 1. an experienced eye would be so impressed with our efforts and 2. to hopefully destroy his unverbalized reticence at our insistence to do some of the work ourselves undoubtedly questioning our skillz.

First of all, when I said I wanted boots and gloves for Christmas, this is not exactly what I had in mind...

But anyhow, they proved indispensable in our post-Thanksgiving activities. Nothing like lifting 70lb bricks and shoveling gravel to whittle the waistline after a delicious calorie laden turkey dinner.

As the grand-daughter of a brick-layer* and having "helped" on many a wall in my time (hey, cranking the radio is helping) work such as this is in my blood. Luckily that is the case because I was Ben's only available assistant, so take me or leave me. After hitting the stores at 5am for some Christmas shopping, I picked up our tamper and was on the job site ready to go a few hours later.

The kids were the real troopers in this. On day one they spent 7 hours in the back of a station wagon, which I had stocked with pillows, blankets, snacks, crayons and coloring books, toys and the real life saver - a DVD player and movies. They played, napped, ate and watched movies all day (they also went through every nook and cranny in the car - glove box, change holder, center console). Day two the weather was beautiful and the kids were released from their lair o' fun and ran wild on the building site. Gathering nails, sliding down huge piles of dirt and romping through gravel. I now know why in old movies parents remind their kids to wash behind their ears etc. Those instructions were for back when kids roamed free outdoors.

I also realized who the Sabbath is for - folks who really work. Until now, it's always been a nice day to regroup as a family (of course motherly obligations never cease so it makes it tough for a mother to get respite on any day) but after a Friday and Saturday of hard, back-breaking work, I have never been so excited for a day of rest. It also made us go to bed way earlier than usual. I don't think I have ever been too tired to watch TV, until now. Sad I know.

(Prepping the ground. The machine offered quite a hand/foot massage. The guy on my back is the foreman.)

*Grandpa is in his 80's and has built two retaining walls himself in the last month. Of course that is when he is not substitute teaching... Did I mention that grandpa paid his assistants a lot better than Ben does?