Small progress makes for big morale boost...

The main accomplishment for today is the completion of the travertine wall where the sheer descents are.














I love the diamond look. Now for how to show it off with plantings in the background. This also needs to block the fence so maybe evergreen with Crape Myrtle in the back?? A row of 4 or 5 ??














Here is the long end of the pool. Still need the coping on the end as well as the pool cover and accessories.













This is the planter on the back side. The steps are to the jump rocks and this is where the paver path will end.

So what about here?? What to plant??

O what to do about landscaping....

So here is the status after come of the hardscape is in place for the most part. The plan is to complete all the decking and stonework next weekend once we get our wet saw. But what is the real question is what to do about landscaping... The path to the barn will be moved to take advantage of the other door in the back and there are no more plans to extend the path way to the gate. So what to do...There are five main areas... one is the spot above the pool, shown here to the left. The second area is the far side of the pool infront of the fence.














The third area is along side of the fence going around the pool.














The fourth area is the space behind the bbq area and finally the fifth is the ares next to the pool equipment.













We have some ideas on what to do but would love some more input...

We have a great blue print which we would love to expand a bit.

Update on Patio

This was a weekend of some awesome progress... We have finally started some of the finishing on the back yard....

Here is a picture of the rough gravel we started with on Sunday morning...














After a good days work we have a significant part of the patio covered with the pavers but all the curve cuts and edge work still remained..














And here is the close to finished product. Patio in front of the future outdoor kitchen.














Here is the view of the outdoor kitchen and patio from the family room.














And here is the inspector looking at the work approvingly...















The entrance into the backyard and looking out towards the walkway.















We ran out of pavers to finish out the back walkway so one more weekend and then we start landscaping...

Updates after a summer of inactivity

Not much has happened until this weekend so not much to write about... But













Here is one of the brightest spots this summer... We did have quite a surprise with good Asian Pear fruits...















Just showing my love to these wonderful trees... I did not water (irrigate) this year but I definitely will be next year. Since we had a pretty wet spring it was not as necessary to water.














We finally excavated for the deck around the pool and the walkways.














Here is the area that will be the patio with the gravel in place...













Here is the area with the BBQ. I hope to have a small sink and fridge along side of it as well














We were able to get the dirt excavated, the gravel placed and compacted pretty good. Its going to sit for a couple of weeks to make sure its nice and hard. We are going to use concrete pavers on most of the patio but on the pool deck we will use travertine which will be good as it is cool on the feet

Slow progress but its in keeping with our plans

So most of the project has been put on hold while we were working on the orchard... We had to plant about 250 new trees which was quite an undertaking....

These are pictures from about 2 weeks ago when the coping was installed.














They are setting a gravel and cement base for some flat rock boulders... The intent is to break up the formality of the travertine coping and also plan for future water cannon balls when the kids are older...














Some of the boulders were pretty heavy and quite an effort to get them in place...













Checking out the level.













And the final product... The boulders came out pretty nice I think..














Here is looking at the fence which I just finished today... Now will come the energy and heavy finish work of landscaping and finishing work...














I view of the house, barn and the cherry blossom













and finally a true signal of spring.... The Cherry blossom... It is very nice....


I don't know what we are going to do next but it will be a few weeks... After all its tax season....

Finish work started....

Progress is happening .... Now that we have the retaining wall, step up completed, we have the waterline tile installed. Its called Durango something from NPT













Here is a picture in progress....













And final ..













The cover people will install the cover rail pretty soon and then goes the coping... We are almost there now....

Winter is on the way out... Some new stuff

There has not been much progress on the house or the barn and definitely nothing on the pool over the winter.... Hoping for a good spring push to get some of them completed but as the saying goes its a never ending process.....














Here is the view out of the family room... The immediate deck will be covered by flagstone or tile, depending on some of the other choices.... The gravel will remain with a fire pit at the end where we have the stone bench. To the right where the dirt lies will be a patio using travertine pavers. The block wall was needed to handle the transition from ground level to the pool. It also gives us a nice seating area, being between 8" and 16" above grade. We will face it with stone. The wall to the left inside of the pool will also be stone faced and will have two waterfalls. And finally in the back side of the pool, we will have four water spouts arcing into the pool as well...
















The pool equipment is finally in place. I think it does fit pretty well but more importantly we are making progress to completion...















Not that it does a good job, but this picture does capture the pool, relative to the barn and the master bedroom wing.

Other updates

So this is the newest addition to the project. We have a 30x40 pole building in the back of the house now. It will be the home for the dogs, who have already happily settled in out of the snow and the wind this winter. I still need to get electricity and plumbing figured out so we could have a small 1/2 bath in the future. I am also planning to store apples in the future...














The pole building is an interesting construction in many ways... The structure is pretty much the same as most timber frames, with posts at 8 foot spans... They are buried in a 24" round 48" deep hole with cement. The poles are then tied laterally with 2x6 dimensional lumber and the roof is standard trusses. It goes up fast, is significantly cheaper than a regular garage, because of the reduced cost of footings, foundation etc... The skin is powder coated metal as is the roof, but the flexibility of the interior is remarkable....














And finally here is a picture worth everything in the world to me... The Big Bosses all dressed up for Xmas Mass....