Face Lift and Refresh of the CASA..

Its been 14 years and the home we live in is due for a nice refresh look...   Both the inside and outside has been painted and looking very nice...

Before:

After:

 

  

I am really proud of the way the kitchen turn out during this face lift...  Its brighter and more welcoming.

Getting Ready for 2019 Farming Season

I cant believe its already time to think of planting but needed to clean the junk from last year and get ready for the new season..

Panoramic view of he farm. 
Planning to plant an acre.

Looking at all the tilled parts.. 

Best gift I ever got was this 6 ft. tiller

Had to squint because of the sun.
Happiness is.....Yeah...

So long and so much change... Now its Solar Time !!!

The crew from Solar City arrived early Saturday and have been at it for over eight hours.   Very nice bunch of guys doing an awesome job...

Panels are on the South and West facing Roofs...

Hoisting up the panels...  Total of 30 x 300Watt Panels for a 9 KW system

Crew arrived and immediately started getting materials together..

The material is staged and ready to go.

There are 21 panels on the West side  and 9 on the South side

The power panel with the ATS for the generators and the two main disconnects.  Solar is connected to the right panel from the inverter below.   There is an inside solar disconnect as well as an outside disconnect. 

Spring Flowers

So I love when the spring flowers start coming in.   For us it starts with the lilies in the back but nothing like seeing the American Dogwood and the Irieses come blooming ...  Here are some pics of the front of the house...

The American Dogwood 

The Dogwood in the sun.

The front of the house

The Japanese Maple  

 Closeup of the American Dogwood

And last but definitely not least are the Cherry blossoms...

The Cherry Blossom coming down the Driveway



The Weeping Willow in the Wind

My boss offered to help out while I was mowing the front lawn.. 

 The Boss and I

The Boss Driving..

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..