Siding

We had some leftover siding from our house that we put up on the playhouse. Unfortunately we only had enough to do the front. But we wouldn't need to get much to finish it off. But that's still undecided right now. Darcy brought home some free fascia wood (for the trim around the window) and I painted it with leftover house paint so today's efforts were free!

I also painted the door and we had a leftover doorknob, too.

Somehow the dog managed to get paint on him, too. He's got a bit on his snout and his back by the tail and I think there's a bit on his other side, too. How he managed to do this, I do not know. But it will wear off. Sooner or later.

Not the House, Not the Play House, It's the...

...dog house! And I think it's the world's biggest dog house, at that!

Darcy put Rachael to work, teaching her to layout walls.Then we turned it into a crib.Next it became the world's biggest tool box.The came the roof.After that came the doorway (it gets bigger in a bit.)We were able to use all scraps of wood for building it and we used leftover paint from the house to paint it. (That way it matches, too!)And finally Uncle Brian donated some leftover roofing supplies to finish the job.Now, how do we move this thing?

Safety First

Since we built the playhouse over a drop-off, building a railing was a must.The girls helped by carrying the wood over (notice the WCB approved footwear!)and by holding the wood while Daddy nailed it in place.They also painted the trim that will go around the top of the playhouse. We had a whole can of paint left over from building the house so why not put it to good use? We're hoping there's enough siding left over to cover most of the exterior walls, too.

The Play House Walls

More progress on the playhouse! On Saturday Darcy and Torrey built the walls for the playhouse.It was a little tricky working in among the wildlife!They also put up the roof. It's going to be a deck up there so the roof is just a sloping (so the water will fall off) floor.Kaitlynand Rachael helped put up the tar paper.This play house even comes with a real window that opens!Rachael and Kaitlyn are all set to move in!We'll finish the outside and put up some railings, a door and a ladder before the playhouse is finished. I think it would look great as a castle, but putting rock on the outside would be a little too pricey! Anyone got a bunch of rock siding to donate?

The Play House Floor

We finally had a sunny weekend to work on the playhouse again! (Well, a sunny Saturday, anyway.) Uncle Torrey came over and helped Darcy build the floor. They built it on the concrete forms they made last time and attached it to the trees at the back.Kaitlynand Rachael helped some, but with all the power tools being used there wasn't much they could do.Jaden wanted to get in and help in the worst way, but he's a little young still. Maybe in another dozen years or so, kid.

The PLAY House That Darcy Built

Now that the house is long finished it's time to get that play house built before the girls get too big!Only a framer would get out the transit to make sure everything lines up!We're building it in the back corner of our yard where it drops off into un-usable space. It will be ground level with possible additions to it either up or down. But for today they just got it ready for the posts.Stay tuned for more progress on the play house - weather permitting, of course!

Garden

Shock and amazement that I actually am posting something here! (I must confess, it's been so long I almost forgot what my password was!)

We just put in a vegetable garden today. I planted some peas and carrots, and am hoping the neighborhood rabbits don't eat them all before we do!Also transitioning between "tame" and "wild" on the west side. We're going to get some hostas plants from my mom today to plant here.And we're planting some more grass seed, as the yard is looking a little patchy. Hopefully third time's a charm! We're putting down more dirt with the seed this time. Cross your fingers!
A few of the plants in the front garden didn't survive the winter, so we may pick up a few other plants from Mom's too.

All Landsacped!

We've finally got all our landscaping in! (Well, except for a bit of bark mulch and a few stepping stones we need to get, but we won't talk about those.)

We put in the plants on top of the rock wall last weekend and I think it turned out rather well.

We've got a border of heather that goes down our driveway and up the neighbours' - alternating three pink and three white - and don't ask me what else we've got because I have no clue! But I think it'll do! It'll be a bit of a surprise over the next year as we find out what each plant looks like in the different seasons.

Half Landscaped...

We have half the plants planted. Well, probably more than half, but we do still need to get a few more for on top of the rock wall and around the side of the neighbour's driveway. But it's starting to look good!

Landscaping!

Thanks to Auntie Shirley's help we finally got some plants so we can finish up the lanscaping in the front yard! No, this is not where they are all going, as one side looks way too crowded and the other side very skimpy. We'll arrange them today and see how it looks. Stay tuned for the final result. And yes, we are STILL waiting for final inspection!

Finally Ready For Final Inspection!

With the last of the rock on and grouted we are ready for final inspection!

John came by yesterday and grouted the rock around the fireplace and it looks great!

Come by and see it for yourselves one day!

Rock On!

John came by this afternoon and put the rock around the fireplace! He's planning on coming back tomorrow to put grout around it and then we're done! I think it turned out rather nice.

A nice anniversary present for us too, to get that rock put on! Yup, 11 years today for us!

Landscaping!

Look, we've landscaped! Well, if you can call planting one tree landscaping!

We finally got around to planting the lilac tree we got in June! It's poor little roots were definitely needing some more room to grow. We're hoping to get the rest of our landscaping done in the next two weeks or so.

Get Ready To Rock!

John came by today and put a coat of concrete on the fireplace which needs to happen before the rock can be added.

I couldn't remember what kind of rock I'd picked out so I looked in the box today and was relieved to see some rock that should look nice. It's so hard to tell from a little one-inch picture in a catalogue! It's the same style as the rock on the front of our house, but one color, a kind of beige-ish not too much unlike the carpet or couches. Hopefully anyway!

Grass

The grass has sprouted! But, I think the weeds are starting to take over. It's still a little patchy in places, but apparently this is how grass comes in.

The back yard looks big and almost ready to play in. There's even a swing set back there just waiting to be assembled and tried out.

We Have Grass! - Seeds, Anyway

Uncle Lorne and his crew came back yesterday to finish unloading the top soil. Then Darcy went back to his place, picked up a final load of dirt, some grass seed and fertalizer.

At 8pm last night Darcy and I planted grass seed. I didn't realize how big our back yard was, but now that there's nice dirt everywhere instead of weeds, it looks huge!

We planted some grass on the side of the driveway, but some of it will be landscaping.

I don't know if I've ever said this, but it was nice to see the rain today! Good for grass seeds, and saves me watering it!