Changes ~ outside

Our house has been a hive of activity lately with work being done both inside and out.  A couple of weeks ago I decided to have the house power washed and the window trim painted as it was in desperate need.  Well once the house was washed it looked nice and clean but honestly, just staggeringly dull.  So I decided that not only did the trim need to be painted but the stucco too and while it was being done I wanted to change the color.  Thankfully my color choice (Sherwin Williams “Green Sprout” for the stucco, “Fiery Brown” for the front door and a color match to the new gutters for the trim) was quickly approved by our HOA and two days later the house was taking on a new look.

The back of our house today.  (We had the deck & dock reconstructed in August 2007 and new roof and gutters were installed Nov. 2010)

Back of house in 2004.

Front of house today, view from the street.

View from street in April 2011

View from neighbor’s yard today.

View from neighbor’s yard in April 2011.

Well you may have noticed that not all the trees and shrubs in the before pictures are in the current pictures.

That’s because a few days after we had the house painted a storm came rolling through.

The storm took out a good part of one of our trees near the water, with part of it landing in our yard and part in the lake. 

Thanks to our neighbors Gene & Steve as they helped Eammon clear up most of what fell. In the end though enough of the tree was damaged that it had to be taken down completely.  Funny thing is, I had previously scheduled for some landscapers to come and do some other minor work in the yard and they were scheduled for two days after the storm so they helped to bring down what remained of the tree. 

Between the downed tree, the other minor landscaping that I was planning on doing and then the “while they’re here and working why not get a bit more done… and oh yeah lets pull out some of that old, tired ugly landscaping… and why don’t we do this & that too…”  We ended up completely filling a 30 yard dumpster.  The pretty white dogwoods that had been in front of our home were previously removed as the city did some drainage work and took them out and the weeping cherry that was in the island in front of the house was diseased so that was part of what ended up in the dumpster above. 

View of the garden in July 2010 with the storm “lost” tree still standing.

View of garden today.

You can see the stump of the downed tree off to the right of the picture.  I think my neighbors Anne & Steve are happiest of all with the tree being taken down as they now have a beautiful unobstructed lake view from their home.  Eammon’s happy too because the tree shaded so much of the lawn it was difficult for grass to grow so now he can have the lawn that he’s been wanting.  Now I have to trim the remaining bushes and start planning some new landscaping for the front of our home and hopefully this autumn, once the weather cools down and plants have a chance at surviving, the house & yard will have a brand new finished look.

While all the work outside was going on, we also were doing projects inside, that post will coming up next.

Since no post is truly complete without a bit of my sweetie Maisie, here she is enjoying dinner tonight after gymnastics practice.

Okay so I fed my daughter, by her request, a spiral hotdog, carrot sticks and french fries but this is not a common meal in our home.  More typical and perfect this time of year is my Watermelon Tomato Gazpacho which is just filled with fresh from the garden fruit and veggies and even better, doesn’t require any cooking!  Click on the link or the picture to be taken to Cook Lisa Cook and the recipe.

Other recipes posted on Cook Lisa Cook include: Mango Lassi, Stir-Fried Asparagus with Water Chestnuts, Ginger & Cashews, Curried Roast Chicken Pieces with Spicy Sweet Potato & Carrots, Grilled Corn & Bacon Pudding, Oriental Chicken Salad, Potato Salad with Bacon, Coffee Crusted Steak, Home Style Chicken Curry, Watermelon Frosty,  Mango Gazpacho, Toll House Double Stuff Oreo Brownies, Long Beans with Walnuts, Blacksmith Pizza, Rhubarb Crisp, Laksa, Math Book No Bake Cookies, Aloo Gobi, Mint Lassi, Red Curry Chicken, Lamb Curry, Grilled Corn, Avocado & Tomato Salad with Honey Lime Dressing, Baked Egg Cups Two Ways, Thai Peanut Salad, Holy Guacamole, Cantaloupe Agua Fresca, Wallaby Darned, Piggy-Out Cookies, Wicked Good New England Lobster Roll, Long Beans with Garlic, Super Simple Summer Shrimp Salsa Salad, Grandma’s Teriyaki Steak, Watermelon Tomato Gazpacho, Red Chinese Long Beans with Peppers & Red Curry, 24-Layer Crêpe Cake, Fig & Watermelon Salad, Grilled Chèvre & Fig Panini, Spicy Asian Cucumber Salad, Grilled Prawns, Spicy Brown Sugar Bacon, Kicked Up Piggy-Out Cookies, Pesto Pita Pizza, Cilantro Lime Chicken, Nutella Crêpes, Mango, Lime & Chile Spiced Ice Box Pie, Roast Beef & Garlic Herb Cheese Sandwich, Layered Crespelle with Bolognese, Fresh Mozzarella & Basil, Jamaican Jerk Meat Pies, Nutella No Bake Cookies, Velvety Mac & Cheese, Welsh Cakes, Tom Yam Ghoong (Spicy Shrimp Soup), Lime Jewels, Southwest Pasta Salad, Walnut Roca Squares, Uncle Bubba’s Shrimp & Grits, Chocolate Chip Gingersnaps, Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies, Copycat “KFC” Coleslaw, Happy 6th Birthday Maisie Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies, Thin Mint Irish Coffee, Caramel Apples, “Rotisserie” Chicken, Pulled BBQ Chicken Sandwich, Mummy Hotdogs, Mango Upside Down Cake, Pork Belly Soup with Collard Greens, Aloo Tikki, Pink Strawberry Cake Balls, Praline Pumpkin Cheesecake, Apple Dumplings, Rum Cured Salmon, Apple, Cranberry & Rhubarb Crisp, Hasselback Potatoes with Garlic Sour Cream, Crunchy Oat, Almond, Cashew & Pebbles Granola Bars, Texas Chicken with Lime Butter, Biscoff Fudge, Eggnog Popovers with Cranberry Butter, Creamed Corn with Cheese and Cilantro, Potato Crusted Pork Chops, Oatmeal, Cashew & Chocolate Granola Bars, Texas Chicken Sandwich, Seared Scallops with Creamy Pesto & Lemon Pepper Pasta, Thai Chicken Noodle Soup, Glazed Lemon Squares, Chang-Style Brussels Sprouts, Maisie “safe” No Bake Cookies, Ponderosa Lemon & Sour Cream Tart, Pork Dumplings with Rice Wrappers, Sweet & Spicy Apple Pork, Dark Chocolate Dipped Candied Lemon Peel, Crunchy Fudgy Heart Bites, Double Chocolate Meyer Lemon Mousse Cake, Malted Pretzel Crunch, Shrimp & Avocado Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing, Apple Pancakes, Baked Egg & Avocado, Health(ier) Peanut Brittle, Crab Cake Stuffed Mushrooms, Broiled Sushi, Tomato Sauce with Onion & Butter, Loaded Potato & Buffalo Chicken Casserole, Slow Cooker Chicken Curry, Slimmed Down Loaded Potato & Buffalo Chicken Casserole, Baked Meatballs, Skinny Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins, Fruit, Nut & Poppy Seed Chicken Salad, Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars, Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese Sandwich, Hearty Sausage, Mushroom & Cheddar Mini Quiche, Strawberry Soup, Chicken Tenders, Mango Melon Banana & Chia Smoothie, Lacy Cheese Crackers, Dried Cherry Almond Tart, Thai Cucumber Salad, Grilled Thai Chicken, Chili Maple Mustard Ribs, Curried Grilled Thai Chicken Salad, Copycat “KFC” Original Recipe Fried Chicken, Double Chocolate Mousse Cake, Cauli-Rice, Cauliflower Crust Pizza & Fritos Crusted Pollock.

Enjoy!