May Day 2009

It has been over six months since we last posted to this blog about our little house on the hill. The biggest event was the birth of Evan on December 26, 2008. Evan, Mom, and Dad have all settled into a nice rhythm.

We have enjoyed watching everything in the lawn and gardens green and grow throughout the spring, and we have done quite a bit to help Mother Nature. The work outside has been all about cleaning up after what were probably years of neglect. As it has warmed up, we have been planting in the refreshed garden beds, work that is ongoing.

Earlier in the spring, we had to rake and seed much of the front lawn. We had significant work done on the septic system shortly after the snow melted off the lawn, and as a result we were left with a dirt yard. The grass is starting to grow in as the weather improves.

In the next couple of weeks we hope to finish the planting. That will probably mark the end of the outdoor projects for now. Much work remains to be done on our old house, both inside and out, just like any 70 year-old home. All will happen in good time.

October

It's October, there is frost on the pumpkins, and the leaves are changing and falling. Things continue to roll along at our home in Bedford Hills. The gas pipeline is complete, and gas in running in the house. Everything is running on natural gas except for the heat. We hope to have the new gas boiler installed in the next couple of weeks.

The pictures show the outdoor improvements that have happened in the recent past. We had to level the dirt and plant new grass in the front lawn, because most of the lawn was destroyed by the installation of the gas line. (Photo 1) We put up a small fence to keep out the neighbors' dogs, and we had some of the trees along the fence replaced because they did not make it through the summer. (Photo 2) We planted bushes along the fence at the back of the property that we hope will grow up to be a privacy screen for the back yard. (Photo 3) And we bought some new furniture for the patio so that we can sit and enjoy all the new foliage. (Photo 4) The trees and bushes are small and the lawn still has some bare patches, but we are looking forward to seeing everything grow tall and green.

Recent projects not pictured include the completion of the garage and work on pipe insulation in the basement. Upcoming projects are completing the basement organization and pipe insulation and some minor remodeling of the sun room in order to turn it into an office. The new family member is scheduled to arrive in two months, and we want to have the house ready when he comes.

September Morn

Almost two months later, the gas company still has not come to finish installing the natural gas pipe, but at least the grass is growing in nicely. As the end of summer nears, we are finishing up the yard projects so that we can return to all the indoor projects. Plenty of work has to be done in the next 3-1/2 months. We are looking forward to the end of December. More updates on the house will be forthcoming.

July Updates

We have been busy working on the yard and have again neglected the blog. It is hard to believe it is already over two months since the last post. Very slowly but surely, we are getting a natural gas line put in. Eventually we hope to make the switch from oil heat to gas. Because of the patio in front of the house, among other things, we have had to do a lot of the preliminary work ourselves. That work mostly involved a 2' by 2' trench almost 50' long from the house and around the patio. Eventually the workers from the gas company are going to come and run the line the rest of the way to the street.

While we had the yard dug up and had some extra soil, we extended the terrace on the south side of the house to make the relatively flat area next to the house larger. That terrace is all the bare soil and wall of rocks in the pictures. The grass is planted, and hopefully we can coax it to grow in the hot summer weather.

The lilies seem to be enjoying the summer weather, probably all the recent rain more than the current heat. The bulbs we planted in one of the new flower beds have grown into sturdy plants, some over 3' tall. The flowers pictured were cut from those plants.

With the current wave of yard work complete, it's back to the garage. We're going to start putting up the new drywall to cover the new insulation. We can't close the walls yet because the plumbers still need to get to the gas lines going through the kitchen. Depending on the gas company, hopefully the plumbers will be able to do the gas work inside the house by the end of August.