One year!!! And counting......

So, we've had the place for a year and even though we've made a lot of progress, we're not as far as we hoped we would have been.  Oh well, that's life - especially at our age!  Ha!

So, to celebrate you'd think we'd do something special in the house, but instead we went on a little trip (funded by our recycling and garage sale efforts).  We visited Cannon Beach, OR, which after recalling all the places we've stayed there, seems to be one of our favorite places on earth.  It was a great trip.  The weather was divine - sunny and warm, not too windy.  The dogs LOVED running on the beach and hanging out with us all day - we LOVED walking on the beach and hanging with them.  We also napped, read books, ate well and just relaxed.  Under our friend Harriet's advice, we didn't talk about the project or it's to-do list.  It was great, albeit a bit short.

And now we're back, starting on the second year.  Fall is in full color. We had a garage sale just before we left so that was a good way to clear out some things.  After cleaning the garage, we may have a place to park at least one car in there.  We have to wait until the book shelves are done in the den (that's been moved to #1 on the cabinetry list) to have two spaces - the books are in the garage for the time being.  There's plenty more to be done, but it looks doable at this point, so.......

Love watching Bill and Minnie walk!  She prances and
I know he's smiling!

Ah, the ocean!  We all love it!

Our neighbors' Japanese Maple is perhaps the most beautiful tree I have ever
seen.  We get to walk under it every day when we walk the pups.

Okay here's the majority of leaves our neighborhood needs to
rake.  Ever tried to rake Doug Fir needles?  Now wonder those
leaf blowers have been going a lot lately.

This is the Japanese Maple just off our patio.  Last year it matched the
orange shag carpet that was in the house.  This year is it the focal point.
The picture doesn't do the color justice.

Bummer!  I love the looks of this shrub and thought about using it as a border
only to find out that it is considered a noxious weed!  And poisonous
to people, dogs and cats, as well as invasive, you get the picture!
It is call Spurge Laurel (Daphne laureola).

Red door, green door and more!

So, we've been busy with little jobs - getting the finishing touches on the outdoor work before it turns cold (okay, cool for all of you who live in Wisconsin, Idaho and Vermont) and the rains begin.  We have had a beautiful Autumn - lots of afternoon sun and the leaves are turning orange and yellow and red!  Oh yeah, red! We painted the front door red and it pulls the place together!  Whew!  The "walk in" door to the garage is now the same as the base color and I think our neighbors are thrilled that it is no longer bright white......

Well, for the time being the front door is red and the walk-in door to the
garage is 'Rockvalle' - whatever that is.  There is great discussion as to whether
it is brown or green.......

My sister, Pat, asked me to include a different view of the porch off the dining
nook and den. So, here it is.  It's a nice area and we hope to fix it up some
more next summer.

We planted our first trees and ground cover  - 2 hinoki cypress, a smoke bush and
some dogwood. The grass is starting to come up in the back.  The guy who sold
me the seed convinced me just to spread it by hand and NOT buy a "spreader."
Now I wishI had - it is pretty spotty, but, hey, it's grass, it will fill in.

Ah, to have the help of two 20-year olds who worked landscaping all summer
and have stamina!  Thank you, Madison, for spreading all the soil and bark,
and thank you, Patrick, for removing the sod.   We weren't planning on doing
anything with the front planting areas until next year, but we had to do
something with the piles (yes, 2) of extra bark we had in the
driveway and out back.

The planting beds along the edge of the property and to the north of the house
look better with the new bark also.....    Now to get some plants in place....

Minnie and Sam keeping an eye on us as we work... They are great
supervisors!

They are also great at taking us on two walks a day.  Ahhhhh, the colors
are starting to change.  Fall has arrived!

Yahooo!!!!  Okay, now I know most of you will look at this picture and go
"What the*#$&?", but you  have to understand this shows that one of the two
humungous piles of bark that we were left with when our regrading took place,
is GONE!  Yahoo!  The one out back is even larger!  Who knew what the
guy was thinking?!?!?

Today's work included sorting out stuff in the garage and getting ready for a
garage sale on Saturday and finishing the upstairs deck!  Well, almost,
the weather turned and we have a little more to do, but at least the beams
and big corner post got stained and one of the railings coated.
It looks much better than before.

Here's another exciting photo!  We are making lasagne in the upper garden!
Okay, we are trying to build up the soil and beat the weeds by covering
it with cardboard and then compost/bark.  We are going to cover the other 1/2
with a "winter crop" and then compare the two.....  Hopefully, we'll have some
veggies in there next year - if we can beat the deer to harvest!

The vanity is in!!!!

Yesterday was a great day inside, not so great out.  We finished and installed the Douglas Fir vanity for the powder room after a small length glitch we discovered the day before!  It looks great.  The doors still need to be made, but that will come with time.  Now for the plumber to come and hook up the sink.

Outside I discovered the topsoil that was supposed to be 4" deep is all of one in many places and that it is not the compost rich stuff we asked for.......  Big sigh, unhappiness and then time to pick up the rake and get to work fixing it.  I wasn't feeling up to the job (Bill's back is not doing so well so he was out of commission), but the time outside was good for me, so.......  Listening to the book The Crazy Ladies of Pearl Street - a semi-autobiographical book by Trevanian - helped pass the time.  Great read if you are looking for a book.

More outdoor good news - the grass seed started to sprout and peek its' tips up through the soil!  Maybe we'll have some after all!

The powder room as it has been operating as a water closet......

Bill placing the base of the vanity.... getting closer!

Yay!  It fits!  The vanity body just waiting for the top. We designed it, Bill built it and I
finished it.  It was made from a combination of Doug Fir recycled from the house
and a new board  - finished with ZAR!

And the top is in place!  Yahoo! The big opening is
waiting for doors, but......  that will come with time.

And the IKEA sink fits, just as it should.  Now we need
the plumber to come connect it, a mirror over the sink
 and some art work on that wall over the toilet!  Almost
ready for a party!