I had been wanting this tree in the front yard to be cut as well, but Craig said we can just trim the leaves and the branches obscuring the view from the road. The tree can still be a good shield from the hot sun during summer and can help shield the house from gusty winds and rains as well. So, I think he was right, and so we agreed to trim the branches.
I was thinking of replacing it with a dogwood tree with either white or red color to make it more attractive during the fall, but it would take a while to grow one, I guess. Besides, we won't be staying long in this house when Craig retires.
So, here are the photos of the transformation out from the trimmings. It's much better, don't you think? It would still be a lot of leaves to rake during the fall, but at least the branches are no longer hitting our heads when we tend to go under it, lol!
By the way, we paid the same guy (Ken Walters) to do all the yard work. It so happened Craig (and I) aren't fond of doing it, lol!
This berry tree beside the garage has been growing like crazy to the point that the leaves and branches start hitting the wall and the roof when windy. The leaves also left a greenish stains on the walls which are eyesores to passersby because the wall is being seen directly from the road when someone would be coming towards the house. So, we thought we have the reason why we have to remove it.
Mr. Walters did the tough but wonderful job in removing the tree entirely.
The roots were not removed but he placed some stuff on top of it to prevent the roots from growing out of the soil. The remains were all the dried and old leaves. Just imagine the time and effort we would always do when we rake those leaves every fall! {sigh!}
Today, our fences on two sides of our area property were removed. As you can see on one of the photos, it looked so odd with double fences back to back with our neighbors' fences. We are not sure whether the previous owner of our house or either of the two neighbors put the idea of a double fence. It was just a hassle on us because in between the fences is a very narrow area that is so difficult to mow when grass grows like crazy! So, that made us decide to remove our fence. With the fences now removed, our area looks wider and so much easier to mow. We just had to connect a few fence posts to the neighbors fence to close the gap in between.
We finally managed to contact a guy who will take off our old screen windows and install new ones. The old screen windows are so badly torn and they were like that ever since we moved into the house. Too bad, the previous owners of the house didn't change them. So, this time, we got the chance to do it before summer finally ends. There are 10 window screens that needs to be changed, so today, they were taken off.
I took photos of our windows without the screens and they seem to be looking bare. Although the glass windows are thick enough to protect us from extreme temperatures, it was looking like they are barely nude, lol!
There has been a missing piece of siding that went off that we saw right after we came home from our Caribbean cruise! As you will notice, one piece is missing from the topmost portion of the circle window on the right side of our house when you're facing it from the road. We thought the siding gave in due to gusty winds some nights while we were away. There were some rains and there were windy nights while we were in the Caribbean, according to the news.
This was also the side where we had to hire a power wash company to brush the sidings due to algae forming on the walls. We tried to ask them if they could bring the piece of siding back to place but they told us they are not authorized to do the job. {sigh!}
As of this writing, it is still unfixed. Another repair guy saw it but he told us his ladder isn't high enough to reach it. Well, we just have to find one that specializes in it :(.
On the other hand, there is also a hanging piece of steel that needs to be straightened on the lower portion at the edge of the ceiling. You will notice it on the other photo. I think these are just signs that we really need a full house repair of this house! There are actually lot to be done both in and out of the house....the porch, the windows, interior paintings, carpets needs to be changed!...etc. Plumbing is also needed as well.
Oh, what a life! LOL.
This should have been posted too soon, but better late than never...so here it is. Couple of months ago, Craig had been seeing this little poor thing at the basement. He said, at around every midnight, it comes out from somewhere behind the stairway and just gets closer to Craig and they would have eye contacts while the little guy would move its nose at the same time, LOL! I then quickly told him to get a mouse trap. He said it's cute though and he couldn't stand catching it in the trap. Well, I don't find it cute, hahahaha! So, no more arguments, and we bought 2 mouse traps. After 2 nights of unsuccessful attempts, it was finally trapped on the 3rd day! The poor mouse isn't sleeping...it's now dead! I took this photo through my iPhone and it was clear. We couldn't seem to get it clear from our camera no matter how we tried the zooming feature of it.
 Craig, getting ready for step# 1  Angle 1 after cleaning of surface dirts  Angle 2 after second cleaning for molds  Staining begins...go, go Gingster! :)  Shirts & shorts were total mess! Yikes!  Our deck fully transformed! After the deck staining, we thought of getting a swing and placed it on one side just so we can have a place to sit and relax and get some fresh air from time to time. The swing has a removable top cover and a removable foam just in case it rains or winter comes.
Obviously, one perfect hobby that we would enjoy doing together once a year..."digging the snow". LOL!
Here are some older photos of our home below taken during late spring and early mid-summer. It's during these seasons where you can see nature becomes colorful. God really created everything perfectly, don't you think?
Our home's front yard in spring:
Our Home's Terrace and Backyard Lawn: These photos were taken way back 3 years earlier (2004). The fences are bare, but since weather can be too harsh for the paint at certain point, we thought of letting it that way. We did some painting on our back deck however, summer of 2007. Would you believe, it was almost like more than a month of doing it since we only had time to do it during weekends amidst our busy schedules for travels. But seeing our deck being transformed into a brand new look was worth fulfilling. Watch our deck transformation on our post " Deck Cleaning & Staining :).
Barely 9 days after her arrival, a snow storm came. (February 11, 2006) It was the first time Ging saw snowfall in America. She got the chance to roll over and bury herself in a 4-5 inches of thick snow, after which she said..."I'll never do it again!"...well, she had almost locked her knees out almost freezing and couldn't move them, LOL! The 15 minute play in the snow was of pure fun for a short time, and that was it :).
After some hours of catching sleep from the long flight, I finally managed to get good rest. I can say finally...I am settled in :).
Here are my poses inside and outside our house which I call home!
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