Mr. Long Fence

Last year, we hired Mow Cow to build a fence in the backyard.  They did and after lots of problems dealing with their company (DONT' HIRE MOW COW!!), we got ourselves a fence.  They didn't have to build the entire fence because we already had some panels in between our house and our neighbors on both sides - they just connected the dots for us.  Well, it turns out those side fences were just a big pile of rotted wood so Mr. Long Fence aka Ed decided to replace them.

My hubby is a handy guy, but he has never built a fence before. I was skeptical, but he proved me wrong - 100%!!  To prepare, he spent lots of time scouring the Internet for "how to" articles and You Tube videos.  He made sure he had the right equipment (circular saw, nail gun, C clamps, a triangular ruler thing and a step stool which he used as a saw horse), sourced the materials which proved to be a chore (french gothic pickets, nails, string), and got to work.  

The old panels came out really easily...look how rotted the were!  

So it was out with the old...

... and in with the new!

Ed did such an AMAZING job and he really enjoyed doing it.  It was a beautiful day, he was rocking out to great music and he had his favorite foreman on the job with him.

She agrees it was a job well done. :)

Fenced In Part 2

It has been an eventful few days. So eventful, in fact, that I did not have time to sit at the computer and share the details with you fine people. Well that ends now. :) The Mangiaracina excitement started on Friday morning with the arrival of Mow Cow. As I mentioned here, we are installing a fence in the back yard so that we can enjoy some privacy, and have a place for Lucy Girl to run around and do her business. The day finally came and the fence is now up and we couldn't be more pleased. It took 2 guys and about 8 hours to complete the job and I have to say, they did a bang up job. Here is how things looked around 9 am...


...and now an hour or so in.

A slight hiccup occurred when we realized that they had the wrong fence panels. What they had was indeed a spiked plank, but it needed to be a Gothic spike, so off to Home Depot they went to fix the error. Luckily the 2 guys were able to continue the job while good old Matt from Mow Cow made the run. Once the correct materials were in hand, they started moving right along.


Lucy supervised throughout the day...


... and by 4 pm, they were about done. The gate install took almost an hour and after a quick clean up, we had ourselves a fence!


It's been a long time coming, but we are extremely pleased with how it turned out. Lucy is pleased too...she sniffed the place out before finding the perfect spot to let loose. :) Next up is laying sod in the yard and lots and lots of deck maintenance. More on the weekend details to come!

Fenced In

As some of you already know, we are putting a fence up in our backyard so that Lucy has a secure place to run around without being on her leash. We already have a "privacy fence" between us and our neighbors so really, we are taking it one step further and finishing it off. This is how the backyard currently looks:


We used to have slate down...


But we recently removed it because we are replacing it with sod. More grass equals a happy puppy. Plus we weren't in love with the way the slate looked. These photos are actually a little old because we have also removed the brick from the little flower bed on the left. It is now a clean slate...no pun intended. :)


Since we really do not have the tools or skills to build a fence, we have hired Mow Cow to help us out with the project. It's been a slow go as we deal with many factors ie. getting on Mow Cow's very busy schedule, the weather, and our Home Owners Association. We live in a community with an HOA that requires approval for pretty much any project that deals with "altering" your property. We had to get their approval to put in our new windows and we need their approval to put in the fence. Not only do we have to provide them with specific plans of the project (complete with material samples and color swatches), but we also have to get 4 of our neighbors to sign off on our project. Luckily we have very nice neighbors!

After about 3 weeks of waiting, we FINALLY got our approval letter today in the mail. YAH!!!!


We let Mow Cow know of the big news so that we can get on the schedule and get this project moving along. In addition to the fence, they are also fixing some of the wonky boards on our deck, staining it and laying the sod. We are so excited that we have the green light to move forward because we are REALLY looking forward to enjoying our backyard now that the weather is getting warmer. We promise to share some construction pics and the end product once it is ready to be revealed. After that, come on over for a BBQ!

Dinner Done Up Right

I'm feeling a bit under the weather today so please excuse the short post. I started feeling the twinge of a sore throat yesterday afternoon so I reached for my handy dandy Zicam swabs and thought to myself...this time I got it. It's early enough ~ no WAY I'm getting sick. Well, not so much. I woke up this morning with a full blown sore throat, nasal congestion and an ear ache. That Zicam stuff doesn't work!! (sorry if any readers work for them!) Thank God for Sudafed.

But I digress...yesterday was one of the warmest days of the season thus far so Ed and I took full advantage of it by dining on the newly power-washed deck. It was a simple meal of tacos, but we decided to do it up. We whipped out the trusty folding table and chairs (since we have yet to purchase patio furniture), threw a tablecloth on top and voila ~ dinner in great outdoors!




Lucy is a big fan of tacos...well really anything that Mommy and Daddy are eating. She joined us on the deck and was a good girl. We are always nervous that she will slip through the railing on the deck since she is such a small nugget, but her interest was solely focused on taco meat...yum!


It was a lovely meal that we thoroughly enjoy...even if it was only tacos. Our goal is to buy some patio furniture soon so that we can have a proper deck dinner. We have a lot of work happening on the exterior of the house including the deck (power wash, sealing, staining, board replacing), burying of the drain hoses in the front and back of the house, a new fence so Lucy girl can run around in the back yard with ease and new sod to replace the gross old slate.


We will also be tackling our biggest landscaping project to date since we've known each other - The Front of the House!!! I'm really bad at plants...I have a black thumb if that gives you an indication of my track record with living plants. So our taking on this project without any guidance is very risky...but we are up to the challenge. Stay tuned for before and after pics coming soon!

Wow...not so short a post after all!!! :)