Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Ikeahacker!



Here's a cool website for those looking for creative ideas utilizing Ikea products. My workstation made an appearance a couple weeks ago:

http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/2008/10/how-about-this-for-workstation.html

Sunday, October 19, 2008

updated pics of backyard

Hi all - here are a couple new pics - some plants are in and the outdoor bar is almost done . . .





Wednesday, September 10, 2008

FIRE!

The firepit is now operational! Now we could use some cooler weather


Monday, September 01, 2008

landscaping continued, sod, but no plants yet (too hot)

Irrigation and sod have been installed, plants are due in a couple weeks. Fire pit has been completed from the outside, but still waiting on the fire glass and fire ring for the inside. Here are random pics . . .





Saturday, August 02, 2008

Pool update - we have water!

The pool portion of our backyard project is complete - landscaping begins this week, here are pics:




Future firepit in foreground -

Sorry for the lack of posts, just returned from a European tour . . .

with 75 of my favorite UT students. Here are some pics:

Switzerland -



London -



Spain (modern) -


The new Opera House in Valencia, Spain - still under construction . . .



This is THE BEST sounding (and one of the most beautiful) Hall in which I've had the pleasure of conducting, located in Zaragoza, Spain. Carnegie Hall, eat your heart out!


Saturday, July 05, 2008

concrete . . . and lots of it!

The Concrete guys poured the patio, planting beds, and firepit area last week. here are pix:




Sunday, June 29, 2008

Patio Forms . . .

The concrete crew has been hard at work once we finally got the gas line inspection taken care of (several issues there, but won't bore you with the details). We're still refining the final layout as the slope of the yard is even more severe than anticipated and the concrete guys are working hard to keep water running away from both the pool and house - which is very good, but may make us compromise on the design a bit.

Here are some shots . . .

Firepit in the foreground -


Opposite view (and there's Josh's house in the background being built next to us - good thing we like the design of his house!) -


Overhead shot, firepit on the left -


Overhead shot, BBQ/Outdoor kitchen slab on the far right


Just as a reminder (I have to keep reminding myself) - here's where we're heading with all this . . .

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Shed is done and pool stuff still moving forward . . .

Here's the finished shed - I think it came out very well (just like my rendering!) . . .



The pool guys have reached the point where our other subs come in- plumbers to run gas lines for BBQ and firepit and concrete crew to build planting beds, firepit area, patio and pool decking. We've made a few alterations to the original bed design due to how high the walls in the back come out of the ground.

Here's a couple quick pool shots . . .




And here's a shot of the progress of the back beds . . .

Friday, June 13, 2008

more great pool progress . . .

2 weeks after breaking ground, we have what is beginning to look like a pool . . . of course it looks like an ugly pool in the middle of a war zone, but hey, we're gettin' there!



The coping crew just started today and should have all their work done by Monday, then comes the concrete patio, fire pit and planting beds.

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

pool and shed are both flying along . . .

Both crews, pool and shed have been hard at work even in the 100 degree heat. Here are a couple quick shots of the pool - the shed should be done tomorrow, pics to come later . . .



Sunday, June 01, 2008

pool construction . . . and shed

Cody pools has begun the pool (codypools.com) - they got a lot done in 2 days, this is good!! We also hired Shawn Somerville (www.craftsmanshed.com) to build our shed. Here are s few shots of the pool . . .






And here are a couple shots of the shed in progress and what the final version will look like. Shawn has been great to work with and open to my ideas on how to dress up a shed in somewhat modern clothing.