Yard Stuff: A Sunny Saturday

Recently, a request from a VIP reader came in wondering what we were up to in the yard (real time). On nice days, I typically do some weeding after work in the yard. I can never keep up! We've been shorted on sunshine the last two or three weekends, but today we finally got lucky. It was a perfect day to spend outside.

Evil Bluebells have taken over our side yard. These are especially hard to eradicate because you have to dig deep to get underneath them and grab the bulb. Even the gentlest tug on the top part will separate the leaves from the bulb. It's very frustrating, but today I was up to the task!

Side yard: before.	Side yard: after. What should I put here?

Last fall we purchased a bunch of thyme to plant in the joints of the stone patio. The thyme isn't very happy there and isn't taking off. We had extra in reserve for the walkway that we haven't finished yet. The poor things were suffering in their little containers, so I planted them around this maple tree. Nick doesn't like it, but I think they'll do well there and I doubt he'll get the gumption to change it.

Do you have the thyme?

I bought four watering bags to put around our trees. These Worplesdon Sweet Gum trees in the parking strip have hardly grown in the last two (maybe three) years. I gave them some fertilizer intended for rhododendrons and azaleas, because they are supposed to also like slightly acidic soil. It's hard to keep them watered because they are out of reach of the automatic sprinkler that we set up in the summer, so I thought these drip bags might make them happy.

Watering bags at street. Stupid grass isn't doing well there.

We have a dwarf rhododendron in each bed on either side of the walkway. This is the first year this little guy bloomed! His friend on the other side still hasn't bloomed, but maybe it will like the fertilizer I put near it. The dogwood was very happy with the fertilizer and the watering bag. He (she?) didn't bloom last year, which made us sad. I think things would be improved with a fresh load of compost to put everywhere. 

Dwarf rhododendron. So pretty when it blooms!	Blooming dogwood. Get bigger!

Bathroom Accessory: Towel Bar

Not so long ago, I showed off our finished bathroom. One of the challenges with such a small bathroom is how to store the things we use every day. The medicine cabinet holds toothbrushes, lotion, perfume/cologne, hair product and eye care. The sink cabinet houses my hairbrush and dryer, toilet paper, and not much else! We installed a little shelf above the toilet so that we have a place for cotton balls and swabs. We probably could have fit those in the cabinet, but the little shelf also gives us a place for the hand towel. Where would it have gone otherwise? We originally considered a light that would go over the mirror and a hand towel bar that would go on the wall to the left. When we decided to do this shelf, it meant that we had room for the more desirable sconce lighting. Yay!

Sconce light.	Shelf with hand towel bar.

Towel storage was a real challenge. There really wasn't any wall room left for a towel bar. Plus, there are two of us using this bathroom, so we wanted to accommodate at least TWO towels. And what will we do when we have guests? We first installed this double towel hook on the wall behind the door. It's suitable because 1) it can be reached from the shower, 2) it is small and fits on the wall behind the door, and 3) it can accommodate two towels. We knew this wouldn't be our final solution because towels don't dry as well on a hook. We thought the perfect solution would be a hotel rack that we'd install in the shower alcove. However, we couldn't find one that would accommodate two towels.

Double towel hook (at right in photo).	Double towel bar (at left).

In the end, we went with this double towel bar that comes from the same line as the sconce lights and the double towel hook. I love it! It's working out really nicely and the towels are drying quickly. This leaves the hook on the wall free for guests.

Patio: A Place to Relax

Fall came quickly after we finished the deck. We began dreaming of our patio before realizing that there just wasn’t time. Although September in Seattle is typically a mild month in terms of weather, the days get noticeably shorter and the evening air starts to bite. We were tired, anyway. So, the next year we set our eyes on the patio! We had a good idea of the materials we liked and where to get the best price, so it only took a quick refresh of our memory to finalize our purchase. Unfortunately, it was a several week delay for the granite we wanted. Not to worry! The amount of excavating and back-filling with gravel took every bit of the three week delay.

Excavating.	Screeding sand for pavers.

The materials were delivered in pallets by a big truck with a fancy machine attached to the back. Our good friends offered to help us carry the materials from the driveway to the back yard. We were so grateful for their help, especially on the big granite pieces!

Weird machine.	Materials.

Laying the paver patio was relatively easy. You’ll notice that we dug holes and poured concrete footings for our future pergola. The hard part was laying out the big granite pieces and fitting them together just right. We didn’t want to cut the stone, preferring a more natural look. That said, we still wanted to minimize the gaps between stones. We lifted, turned, flipped, lifted, moved, turned, and lifted. I am famous at our house for ending a weekend by saying, “I’m so tired. I’ve never been this tired before.” On this day, when I laid down for a short rest on the work site and feel asleep, it might actually have been true.

Figuring...requires lots of staring.	Will this work?
Man kills wife in epic patio project.	A miracle!

I never could have imagined that we’d be able to put the puzzle together, but Nick figured it out! I love the way the patio curves at the left. We just happened to have all the right pieces and a guy who could see how it would go together.

Falling in Love

Well, we are almost at real-time with the house projects, which means there’s less to write about. However, I have some ideas for smaller projects/topics to share with you, so stay tuned for those.

Perhaps you’ve wondered what happened to me these past couple of months. In addition to starting a new job, which brings a new routine, I’ve been falling in love. My new love and I are in that place where we find each other endlessly interesting. As soon as I get home from work, we spend every minute together until it’s time for sleep. He watches me garden, follows me up and down the stairs while I do laundry, gazes at me while I cook. Perhaps more than anything else we take walks together. Rain or shine, we go out and explore the neighborhood. The fresh air is so good for our health!

Meet Primo.

And here we are together:

Pucker up!

Nick loves him, too.

Good boys.

We’re a family.

The family.

If you know me, you know that I’ve always loved dogs. It took a long time to feel like we could give a dog a good life. We spent more years than planned in a small apartment and then once we bought the house we were always destructing, creating dust, and then painting. At first it was jarring to have to climb out of bed and go for a walk in the cold, dark, early morning. This little soul was bossing me around! Then love took hold and I stopped minding the time together. If he doesn’t rise as soon as my bedroom door opens, I creep down the hall in the dark and listen for the thump of his tail on his pillow. Awake…and so happy to see me!

Deck: Part II / Exit Through the Back Door

Despite the thumb mishap, Nick prevailed and was back at his work almost immediately. He was not without pain. It was satisfying to see the skirting and the steps take shape.

Skirting and steps.

Nick carefully planned how he wanted boards to meet at 45 degree angles on the railing tops and along the perimeter of the deck floor. The boards for the steps had to go on in a specific manner to accommodate the railing supports. These things may seem like trivial matters but they all require patience, precision, and math. I am grateful for these strengths in others.

Top of deck - finished.

The final detail of the deck is the addition of a door made out of a section of skirting so that it is hardly noticed as a door. This feature allows us to use the space under the deck for storage. It's a slightly awkward and dirty space, but it's nice for storing buckets and plastic plant pots.

Finished - nice railing!	Finished - neat little door.

I love the new deck! Greatest of thanks to my husband for his hard work, craftsmanship, and physical sacrifice.

Deck: Part I / All Thumbs on Deck

I think a year went by that we had no access to the yard via the back door, having torn off the rotting deck during the back bedroom project. Nick and I sat at the kitchen table and brainstormed different design ideas. I drew little sketches to help us imagine the deck and once an option was selected, Nick worked out all the dimensions and an exhaustive supply list.

Possibilities. Maybe a covering over the door?	Idea: a door leading to storage under deck.

Although you don’t see me in the photos, I promise you I did more than my fair share of digging for the anchors. We dug each hole to a depth of 36” and buried cardboard tubes that we then shoveled concrete into. While the concrete was still wet, we pressed a metal post strap into the center. This hardware securely holds the deck supports above the ground so that won’t sit in water and rot. We probably have more supports than necessary, but it was important to us to have a safe, sturdy structure that would last.

Boys helping dig while I take photo.	Anchors installed. Landscape cloth and gravel laid.

The design called for skirting, which we made using lattice carefully cut to size and attached to framing. Nick pried a lattice section apart in the basement while I worked on the deck outside.

Creating the structure.	Joists.

“Hallie. I need your help,” he called. There was something in his tone that gave me a chill. I dropped what I was doing and bounded down the basement stairs two at a time. His right hand was wrapped tightly around his left thumb and he explained that he had cut himself badly. I directed him into the bathroom where we huddled around the sink as he loosened his grip. There was too much blood to determine anything except that stitches would be necessary. I gave him a rag and ran upstairs. “Don’t panic!” he shouted at me. “I’m not panicking,” I defended. “I’m HURRYING!” From the car I called the nearby urgent care and described his wound. Since we weren’t sure if he hit the tendon, they instructed us to go to the ER. It was a several hour visit, but there was no tendon damage. The doctor stitched up Nick’s thumb and we were left along without any further instruction. After 30 minutes of waiting, we wandered into the hall and discovered that a shift change had occurred and we were free to go. We were unimpressed.

Landscaping: Rain Gardens

Rain gardens are encouraged in Seattle to help reduce the amount of water going into the sewer/storm drain system, which can become overloaded in heavy rains. A significant rebate was being offered to homeowners to have rain gardens installed by approved contractors. We wandered our neighborhood to get design ideas. Sometimes rain gardens just look like weed trenches and sometimes they meld nicely into the landscape and are hardly noticeable. Rebate eligibility is determined by adherence to a set of rules and we determined that 1) we didn't want to follow the rules and 2) it would actually be cheaper for us to do it ourselves even though we'd be passing up the rebate.

Nick calculated the necessary grade, which meant a lot of dirt movement. Our neighbor helped cut down an overgrown cherry tree that was planted on his property line and we gave a mature camellia bush/tree away to someone who showed up with an excavator to dig it up and move it. In the process, the excavator tipped and the man dislocated his shoulder. I took him to the emergency room, which was especially interesting because he didn't speak English. We were happy to not get sued.

We discovered the most effective way to tear out the lawn was by using a mattock ax and working away at it by hand. Oh, the blisters!

Grading.

Next, we dug a trench around the perimeter of the house (in the pouring rain no less) and laid irrigation pipe and catch basins under each down spout. Again, Nick figured out the precise slope so that everything would drain properly into the rain garden. We tested the drainage of our soil which provided the needed value to plug into an equation to determine the dimension of the hole needed for the rain garden. As we graded the back yard, we picked out river rock that we would then use in the rain garden. No rock was purchased in the making of this rain garden!

New rain garden.

The pieris was transplanted as a focal point of the garden, but speaking now from the future, I'm not sure the transplant will succeed. Our rain garden looked a little silly when all of the plants were small, but we've been pleased with how it's come together now that the plants have grown.

Can you see where the drain pipe is hidden?	March 2018.