2008: A Year in Review

Here's a quick executive summary on the projects we tackled this past year. It's exciting to see all the progress we've made, yet a teeny bit overwhelming with what's still to be done.

Spruced up the atrium.

Gutted the kids' bathroom

Cleared out the backyard

Installed new exterior lights

Planted bamboo

Installed new house numbers

Fixed downspouts

Installed more exterior lights

Painted exterior

Built new flower beds

... and nearly finished the bathroom! The drywall is done, cabinets are ready to install, tile is up. Just need to get the floor installed so we can put it all in.

Good, Fast, Cheap... pick 2

We are do-it-yourself-ers! (With some help from our trusted contractor, Randy!) But I've got to admit I found a excellent work crew that I plan to use again. They were good, fast AND cheap. They needed a lot of supervision, but were eager to please and completed the job on time and within budget.

The project: Living room window flower beds.


We cleared out the shrubs from the beds and fixed the downspouts (see previous post) when we painted the exterior trim. Now is was time to rebuild. After visiting the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon Plant Sale on September 20th I formulated a quick and easy plan for the beds that included shade grasses, rock (lots of rock) and a little punch of color!

The materials: Landscape fabric, white rock, shade grasses, pots and colored rock!


The process: Secured the landscape fabric in place with large fabric staples then spread the white rock evenly over the bed.


The crew at work: Max with a couple of neighborhood friends attack the project with muscle and enthusiasm.


The cost: 3 juice pouches!


The final touch: Aquarium Rock! Gotta give credit for this to McDonalds. Yeah, that's right... we took Max to breakfast and noticed the colored rock in their outdoor ashtray. In seconds we all had the same idea.

Paint: Before and After

We all like the before and after shots... so hope you're not disappointed!

Front:



Back:


The rains have hit, so we put the old white downspouts back up. New gutters and downspouts will be installed next month.

Why can't it just be simple?

We cleared the back flower beds and removed the downspouts to have better access for painting. We took one downspout out and noticed standing water. Thought it was plugged up so Steve snaked it. Water did not drain... but we heard the snake hitting the downspout about 10 feet away. Took out that downspout and saw no standing water, but the one with standing water definitely drains into it. Huh?

Time to dig up the flowerbed and expose the pipe to find out what's going on. The two downspouts are connected! BUT the first one is lower than the second... a funny fact about water—it will not drain uphill. It's a silly gravity thing. Steve repositioned the first drain and propped it up about 6 inches then cut back the deck pieces to make it fit. We packed in the dirt and filled in the ditch. The water drains beautifully!

Unexpected project... nothing goes as planned.