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 . . .

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 . . .

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.

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 . . .

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.

landscaping . . .

We've been in heavy thought and meetings with landscape companies and pool builders trying to come up with a plan for our back yard. The vast majority of the back lot will eventually be planted with native grasses and wildflowers, but we do want a nice manicured and very usable space right behind the house. Here are a couple sketchup rendering I made of our basic plan (the plantings pictured are not necessarily what will be actually used as there are only so many things to choose from in the Google Sketchup Warehouse).

family portrait . . .

We splurged last xmas and got DNA prints (from www.dna11.com) of our family and finally got them framed, from left to right oldest (me) to youngest . . .