Fence installation!!!!!

I had a five day weekend, and it was all about building a fence. Lucky Me!!!! I should say lucky Derek too!!!

I could have never gotten as far as I did with out my "master craftsman" brother in law Derek. We started on Saturday and I finished one full side (the longest side) on Tuesday. It looks really good.

First, we I rented a augar (a big earth drilling device for you that are not savvy on landscaping tools). It took us about 6 to 7 hours to get 95% of our holes drilled. Not to mention we had to set each post..... That was Saturday.

Second, we started laying the foundation for the cedar slats.... Derek pinched a nerve in his hand, so we had to take it easy. We put up the 16 foot 2x4's (big long pieces of wood). Derek put up a couple of cedar slats and then handed the job to me..... I finished half of the job (one full side) today.

Here are some pictures.....

I Won!

Yesterday, I went and picked up a BBQ.......

It took a while, but I finally talked Etusko into letting me buy a BBQ. We grilled on it last night and it was heaven.....

I guess now I have no excuse for not having people over!

It has been really hot, so I installed our AC. Etsuko said it was like a sauna in our house the first hot day. It is cool now! I am ready for the sun, but not 90 degree weather. We should be back down in the 60's next week.

Backyard

Preparing the backyard was the name of the game this weekend.....

I spent 3.5 days on tilling, racking, and bringing in new dirt.... Overall, it was very cheap, but it was a lot of work! Hopefully this weekend coming up I can starting installing/preping for a fence. We didn't realize how big our backyard was until I started tilling and laying dirt.

We almost bought a BBQ grill this weekend, but we wanted to wait until we had a backyard to enjoy first.

We had a great Mothers Day. We celebrated as a family at a Hungarian restaurant named Novak's. It was pretty good. I got Etusko a wooden planters box. She still needs to pick it out. My brother had a working interview yesterday. He is a veterinarian technician. We are crossing our fingers and wishing him luck.

Craigslist

Etsuko is now a craigslist believer!

My parents were nice enough to give us a range for a house warming gift, so we put the range that came with the house on craigslist. Not more than a couple of hours later, we had offers. There is a person coming to buy the range tomorrow.

I am thinking tools, BBQ, Wii games..... She is thinking Shabby Chic........

I wonder who will win!!!!!!

Propery Lines

I believe I found the property line......!!!!!!

I tried going to route with a metal detector, but I had no success. Instead, I did a lot of measuring. Etsuko supported by holding the measuring tape.... Thanks!

I reserved a tiller for Friday. This week I am working a Monday thru Thursday so I get Friday thur Tuesday off. I hope that we have some nice weather this weekend.

Wish us luck.....

Landscaping

We are all moved in......

But!

I didn't realize how much work landscaping is...!!!! I started the prep work for our front yard and back yard this weekend. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I will have a fence installed. We want to go with sod, but it is just so much cheaper to seed....

Either way, we will have a back yard really soon. The weather has been nice the last couple of days, so I got a lot of stuff done this weekend. A couple of my neighbors have came by and said that we are doing a good job with the front yard.... It was pretty bad when we first moved in.

Etsuko is really focusing on decorations. She loves Shabby Chic. I am not to hot on the style, but she will make it look good. I have faith. There is a lots of work, but the pay off is going to be great. Just wish it wasn't sooooooo much work!