The Laundry Room!!

Ok so I know I am way out of order since the laundry room was finished in February and I just worked on my garden last weekend... but here it is anyway!Here is a look at the room totally stripped and we are adding the beadboard walls.
Here are our helpers. Morial and Abby, very good spectators.
Here's Lance skim coating the existing concrete floor so we can make it look pretty and new!
Here is the final product!! Yeah, a laundry room and full size appliances (Thanks Papa)!! So here is a list of the details you may not see. Lance Hammer Coated the washer and dryer because they were stark white and it didn't go with our decor. I added a section of wine corks for visual interest between the upper cabinets. The new concrete floor has been acid stained (thanks DJ for all the advice!!). Man am I glad we did this small concrete project before the mammoth kitchen and hall project!! Best to start with 50 sq ft versus 400 sq ft!! Yes the walls are purple and I love it!! It has a utility look with a feminine flare. hee hee! There is also a pocket ironing board in the wall on the left, man that thing is awesome! It even holds my iron and it is all nice and tucked out of the way!

The Continuing Landscape of the Backyard

Here's a look at our pond now that it is a bit more landscaped! Thanks Valley View Nursery!! So here on the left of the pond you will see Scotch Moss (the bright green little mounds), and 2 varieties of Canna - one is redish and one is green, they are still small so I will have to post againg when they are larger and in bloom! You can also see the clumping Bambo peeking out from behind the waterfall - that will get 6-10 feet tall. I can hardly wait!!
On the right side you will see Heather (the purple flowering shrub), a Crocosmia (the tall grass on the right that will flower), an Evergreen Bonsai from Lance's brother Cory (Thanks Cory!) on the right by the grass and a rare Birch to the left overhanging the waterfall.
These are my new planters with Happy Chappy Roses in them, they are just beginning to bloom and they are sooo pretty! Man I love Spring! Ignore the deck that is pulled apart... Lance was rigging all the drip and sprinklers to all my new plants!! YEAH no watering by hand!!

My very own Vegetable Garden!

Here is the herb side, starting with Rosemary, Basil, Cilantro and Red Onions. You can also see my Strawberry planter on the deck.Then we have green and yellow Bell Peppers, a Cantalope, 3 Cherry Tomato and 2 Pear Tomato plants.
And last but not least we have a Lemon Cucumber and a regular Cucumber along with 6 varieties of Lettuce.
So this is my very first vegetable garden, wish me luck!!!

The Main bathroom Remodel

So we pretty much had to gut the whole room and start over. We removed the sink and cabinet and the toilet and replaced it all! We also torn down all the old sheet rock walls and installed greenboard (sheetrock for bathrooms) and tile backerboard for the shower area.
The only way to get the tub into the bathroom was to cut a whole in our kitchen wall and slide it through... we then had to replace that whole wall because the texture would have been impossible to match without it looking "patched".
This is a pocket we put in the wall to inset the towel rack behind the door so the door does not hit it every time you open it.
Here's a finished look at our bathroom, it's small so it was hard to get a good picture. We finished this in September 2006.

Insta-Lawn - No more mud!!

In the Fall of 2006, Lance and I decided it was time to end the mud pit in our backyard, the dogs tracked in enough mud our first Winter to last us a lifetime!Abby is always at lance's side.
As per usual, our projects last late into the night.

Gabe is onsite to help more things along faster.
The final product!

A Backyard Water Feature

Just the beginning...Abby checking out the depth.
Abby again, spectating to make sure the underlayment is installed properly.
Yeah!! A Pond!! This is July 2005.
This is our pond in April of 2007.

Back breaking cobblestone

Here's the beginning of our cobblestone drive and walk way in the front of our house. This is June 2005.View from the front door looking towards the driveway. We just love maxing out the springs and shocks in trucks... do you know how much a pallet of those cobblestone weighs? Me either, but trust me... it was A LOT - riding on bump stops baby!!
Here's Lance diligently creating a straight line... at this point I was like "good enough"!
Morial the digger, lending a paw. Go Morial, Go!
Wow, look at how beautiful those curves are! Hmm, wonder whose idea those were...
Even though this was more work than I care to remember, I would do it again if I had to (only if I had to) because I absolutely love how it looks!