Meet Larry

It's been a busy 4 weeks since we moved into the house.  There's been a steady stream of contractors in/out and still a lot to be done.  The hall bathroom has pretty much been completed (today is the last day they will be here for last minute touch ups).  Pictures are coming!  The yard has been a challenge--so many overgrown plants.  We hired landscapers to get the back yard cleaned out, but are in the process of clearing out the front and side yards by ourselves.  The hardest part is getting rid of the plants because our yard bins are only picked up every other week.  Scott & I decided we needed to get a pickup to aid in our renovations--both inside and out.  I see a lot of gravel & bark hauling in our future as well as multiple runs to Lowe's and the dump.  On Saturday we brought home Larry, a 1990 Ford Lariat.  He runs pretty well and is in decent shape.  He has a big bench seat--it will be interesting how the puppies like sitting in front with us.  We will be selling our CRV to Scott's nephew Connor who lives in Spokane.  We will all miss Lucy--she's been a part of our family for 12 years.  Both girls learned to drive in her and even took her to college with them.  It will be bittersweet, but at least she will stay in the family. 

Elandan Gardens and Washington Park Arboretum

Last weekend for Jennifer's birthday she, Clarissa and I went to Elandan Gardens which is just off Hwy 16 right before you reach Bremerton.  It is a bonsai garden built right on the spot of an old landfill from the 20's and 30's.  There were some bonsai that were hundreds of years old which were amazing.  Yesterday Scott & I took the pups up to Seattle to walk with Gabby & Ethan at the Washington Park Arboretum.  No fall foliage yet, but it was a beautiful day and we had a great walk.  Afterward we went to check out their new apartment, which I had not seen.  It's a great place & they have a nice outdoor patio.  

Yard Pictures

Forgot to post the pictures from last week when we had the back yard cleared out. We hired a landscaper to take down the fruit trees (so the dogs would not get sick eating all the fallen fruit) and overgrown vegetation in the back yard. The lady who lived here before was quite elderly and had a lot of plants that had not been maintained, so they became way too big & unruly. We kept the hedges in the back for privacy, the bushes on the right side of the house where it's just chain link fencing (they did get trimmed) and a large lilac bush, but everything else had to go. It looks so much better and the dogs are loving all the extra space to run around. Here are the before and after pictures.

The lilac bush.  I wonder what color it will be next spring?

Jungle no more!  Oh and we kept the honey suckle bush on the trellis as well.

Update

It's been a long week in our new house. Move in day went fairly well although the movers did damage some of our belongings and also broke Scott's desk so we had to go in search of a new one, which turned out to be much harder than we expected. We finally found one at Costco but had to drive to Silverdale to retrieve it. Now our office is all set up for our return to work. We have had tons of people come by to give us bids on landscaping, electrical services, remodeling, window replacement and pest control. We have had some setbacks with the number of issues that have crept up as well as some sticker shock, but overall we are happy that we moved here. We are loving the area and have met some neighbors. One couple even brought us a lovely bunch of roses from their yard. Yesterday afternoon we took a break from unpacking to take the puppies for a long hike at Pt. Defiance which they loved. I love that it is only a 9 minute drive from here. Today Scott went up to Seattle to help Gabby and Ethan move into their new apartment. Meanwhile, Jen and Clarissa came over and helped me yank out a ton of overgrown plants. There is still a ton to do, but we accomplished a lot and I have the sore muscles to prove it! Tomorrow we plan on doing more unpacking and also get in a little rest as well before having to go back to work on Tuesday.