Thanks to Achu, a very nice panoramic picture of the front of the house...





and the back....

And the enjoyment....

Here we are ... actually in the pool... Happy we got to enjoy it since the day was hot and the pool was friggin cold... Be we wanted to get in this weekend for sure...















The boss is inspecting the cover and what would happen if one of the inspectors did walk out on the cover...




















I like this view...















And the real reason we got the pool... Ya... you can say that again.... shuuuuuussssssssshhhhh

Aha..... Here it is......

The pool is physically completed... We have quite a bit of work to do on landscaping but that said it is done... Of course there is the chemical blah blah blah,,, and then there is the few odds and ends left ... But at least we can say we can see what its suppose to look like,,,














Here is the pool fully plastered... The hose in the back is to keep water flowing overnight while we wait for the water truck to come in the morning...















Here the whole family is watching as the water is being pumped into the pool from the water truck... He had to lay out 400 feet of hose to get the water to the pool. It took 2 loads which amounts to about 25K gallons... Plus leaving a hose on overnight probably put in 5K. The pool is estimated at about 30.9K gallons














And finally here is the pool...all filed with water...looking pretty clean after a week of brushing... Now comes the time for all the chemical balancing etc..

Plaster Plaster.... We got PLASTER

The end is near, the end is near.... we are getting close to the end.....
The plaster went on this afternoon and water will be delivered tomorrow... We are running a hose into the pool while waiting for the truck.




















I am amazed how quickly you can cover an area with a soupy mix of white cement and marbelite. Wish we could have done pebble tec but alas too pricey for now...




















The water was sucked out using a sump pump but I believe it helped that I spent most of yesterday evening using the power washer to get all the loose crud out...















Here is a hard working clean up man... glad I had the power washer...

The Excitement is Building...

The whole family was out enjoying this wonderful Sunday... Even the CEO put on the gardening gear and help plant some ground cover...





















The members of the executive board also lent a hand...














and were able to get a Lot done...














We are definitely nearing completion... Major milestone this week with completion of the electrical and finished the pool deck and most all major construction...














Here Valentino is grouting the sheer descent wall... One of the tasks we had to complete before pool gets plastered hopefully next week...

The final push to get the pool done is on now....

We started by getting the deck on the side of the pool completed...Originally we were going to use a sand base but it was just not strong enough... So cart off the sand and pour in concrete to give the pavers a good base...














It was back breaking work... 60 bags of 80 lb concrete mixed in a wheelbarrow and dumped and screened... Just the way to spend a Saturday.. And this after finishing up with the fence.















And after all of that, here is the pool deck with the travertine. The electrician was out today finishing with all the controls and wiring the pool lights..

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....