Finishing Touches
We moved in to the new house in September 2004. Punch list was over two pages long and a LOT of work was ahead of us. Unpacking, sorting and organizing. Planning for completing the intentionally unfinished pieces such as the workshop, landscape, etc.
First thing we did was put in a driveway--concrete ribbon with decomposed granite. Good thing too--with all the rain this place was a mess! The bad news is the d.g. driveway didn't hold up well to this much water. It is unstable when it rains hard here in a couple of places (in other words use at your own risk).
While Shirley focused her energies on organizing how the house was to be arranged and decorated, I started preparing the garage workshop. I worked on that until close to January and then got hit by the realization that the growing season was breathing down my neck, so I switched gears and turned my attention to the yard.
My newsletters detail the ups and downs of my attempt at vermiculture (worm farming). Their castings make outstanding fertilizer and I plan to have 2 side-by-side beds. Preparation of the manure they digest can be quite labor intensive, so after careful consideration I decided to purchase a compact tractor with a front end loader.
It has saved a lot of time and effort and is a blast to use! Recently though I ran into a snag when one of the rear brackets that hold the arm of the front end loader failed and damaged part of the tractor along with it. I'm still assessing the best way to take care of that..
Meanwhile, we had plans for landscaping drawn up by a landscape architect. He did a pretty good design job and except for the initial grading, irrigation and lighting, I think we can do most of it ourselves.
I will have pictures up soon (I hope) of the changes made since moving in. If I ever get my office cleaned up enough to take picture, I'll be happy to post it. :)