The Great Outdoors

It's come to my attention that we haven't done much here on the old blog to introduce you to our exterior, so without further adieu:

Listing Photo- April 2010

Here's the front of the house which you've seen before.  It's funny to me that these photos were taken back in April of 2010, when we were comfortably living in The Bungalow without the faintest desire to move to a new house.  A lot can change in a year.  As you can see, the plants in the bed to the right were  running a bit wild.  By the time we moved in in April of 2011, all that was left was 7 lawn bags full of dead grass and weeds. 

Here's what it looks like today.  Not too much different,  but a few weeks ago, Super Dad showed up with a trailer full of mulch and a slew of plants, and while the Hubby and I were at work he proceeded to plant them all for me.  Before you go telling me how lucky I am, you should know that while he was outside doing that, my mom was inside the house cleaning all the sawdust, concrete dust, etc... from our tile floor removal.  Oh yeah, and they brought a casserole for dinner.  Luckiest girl ever.  Ever.

The name of the game in 2011 is "Wait and See What Pops Up."  We're not really sure what we are going to find in this big mulch bed up front, so we were pretty conservative and didn't want to plant too much or move anything too quickly before we really see what this space has to offer.  We did transplant 7 lilies from a side part of the yard that isn't really visable to help fill this space up (I can say "we" since I got home from work and immediately through on my jeans and gardening gloves), and Super Dad planted a few big Elephant Ears, as well as a couple rows of Calalilies that should come up later this summer.

I also threw in some Impatients in the top most box for a little color, and there is another row of Calalilies planted behind them that should pop up soon and help fill the space. 

There were also a few great surprises on the left side of the driveway, like these three Peonies bushes that just bloomed this week.

Also this beautiful White Lilac bush.  Jay and I did a little celebratory high five when we found this guy, as we had a little Lilac that we planted at The Bungalow which we could never really get to grow.  Lilacs are my favorite flower to bring inside in vases because the scent is so incredible, and white will work perfectly with all our decor.  Score!

But let's move past the front yard to the stuff you haven't seen.  The side of our house boast 3 different decks and 2 patios.  Sort of confusing, so here's your visual:

Listing Photo- April 2010

 At the very top is our Master Deck, and directly below that is the Screened In Porch that you can access from the Kitchen.  A half a floor down, more towards the front of the house is the Living Room Deck.

April 2011

Below the Screened In Porch is the Exercise Room Patio, and below the Living Room Deck is the Family Room Patio.  Square footage wise we have a ton of outdoor space here on the side of the house, which is good, because there isn't a lot of lawn space in the back yard.  We are completely okay with that though, because as the Hubby says, "You don't have to mow a deck."

Listing Photo- April 2010

The Screened In Porch in the listing had this great sectional, and I hope to build one of my own sometime yet this summer/fall from my hero Ana White's plan which you can see here and here.
So for now, this is one example of the "Before" looking way worse than the "After," as ours currently looks like this:

Yep, empty.  I did take some time to repair the screen the other day though by buying a new piece of 8 foot long screen molding and sandwiching the screen between it and the side wall with my staple gun.

Don't mind the huge bottle of bug killer.  We're usually pretty environmentally conscious with our pesticides, but in this case we had huge nests of Boxelder bugs in our walls, and something had to be done.  They've learned their lesson now.

The Living Room Deck doesn't look much better, as we're currently in the process of taking apart the warn and broken deck boxes.  I'll move one up to our Master Deck, and re-tool the other into a smaller bench for extra seating.

April 2011

June 2011

Doesn't their set up with the natural gas fireplace look cosy?  We need to get one of those. (Or DIY one!)

Listing Photo- April 2010

Here's a closer shot of the Exercise Room Patio.  Unfortunately all those rocks are a part of a pretty intense drainage system for the house, so they'll have to stay.  We're thinking of incorporating in some stepping stones so that walking across it can be a little easier on the bare feet.

April 2011

Here's another view of the Exercise Room Patio from the Family Room Patio with all that retaining wall brick work. 

April 2011

I wasn't sure what to think of this little planter space between the Exercise Room Patio and the backyard at first, it just looked like a bunch of weeds.

April 2011

Happily, since then it has greened up and we're pretty sure that these are three Hydrangea bushes, which is sort of like winning the landscape lottery.

June 2011

Unfortunately, while the Exercise Room Patio is accessible from the backyard, the Family Room Patio is about 4 feet down, with no stairs or access from the outside.  This is a huge problem considering that balls tend to roll down the hill of the backyard and funnel into this little spot.  Let's just say the Family Room Patio and Ryder are not friends.

June 2011

June 2011

I'm thinking of building Ryder a little slide and step system back in the corner for his birthday that would give him an easier, and super fun access to this space. (Where the random piece of lattice that the previous owners left behind is and the space just to the right of it)  We could even hang a couple swings down in this space to take it from boring concrete patio to "Ryder's Fun Land."  His birthday is the end of July, and I think getting him a present that makes him feel more at home in his new home would be just perfect.  We'll have to find some sort of outdoor floor that is padded over the concrete though to protect his adorable little behind. (Yes 16 year old Ryder, I just told our friends and family, and a few complete strangers how adorable your tush is.  Deal with it.)

I'll give you the skinny on the backyard tomorrow, as this is getting long and I'm already at a pretty high risk of you guys getting bored with me.  (Who would blame you?)  In the mean time, what type of outdoor space do you all like the best?  Would you rather have a lush green lawn or a deck or patio that you can set a few potted plants on?  I'm a huge fan of the Screened In Porch, although it would be a whole lot better if I had a place to sit on it.