Planting Strip

Remember when the boys dug out the dirt in the planting area?  Well, here is what it looked like after all their hard labor.

Now we're going to fill it all back in with rocks.

See?

Over here too.
The white pipes are irrigation lines for the trees.

Here's the first concrete coming down the chute. 
Of course we're using concrete.  You didn't think we'd just lay the rocks in the dirt and leave them did you? 

Here's Chris filling the form.

Chris and Sport.

All full.  I'm not sure about this.  Maybe it shouldn't be so full?

Dan pulling the chute over to the next form.

And more concrete .

Dan's using the scraper thing to pull a little more concrete down the chute.

Dan

Dan and Chris moving concrete.

Ever wonder what the back of a concrete truck looks like?

More filling.
What follows this photograph is a frenzied period of placing the rocks in the concrete, shoveling out some of it (yes, it was too full) and just general high stress.  I was placing some of the rocks, so no photos.

BUT, after all that, here's the final product.

See?  Rocks in concrete.

No weeds to pull, no landscaping to try to maintain.  Nice and clean.

Oh the Cabinets!

The garage has been emptied of cabinets except for these two drawers. These beauties will go in the kitchen.

Inside, Chris starting to install appliances.  Here he's preparing the cabinet for the microwave.

See, there it is.

Meanwhile, lets take a stroll around the house.  This is the downstairs bath.  Like the new lights?

When I got back upstairs, the microwave was in!  Its like the magic of television, only on blog.
Also, those shelves on this side of the peninsula cabinet are bookshelves.  Pretty clever.

The kitchen is coming together.

Here is my usual vantage point.  Oh look, the giant drawers are in.  More blog magic.

I don't know what Dan is doing up there, but I see the trim is on the top of the big cabinet.

The doors inside the refrigerator space go on that cabinet to the right.  Look at all those shelves!

Looking back at the dining area, the ceiling light is in.  It will hang down farther, the guys just have it up so they don't bump into it while to-ing and fro-ing.

The entry way is shaping up nicely.  I love the door.  And the light.

This is the hall bath, with its new lights.
Oh, and the shadows are from the skypipe.  Its sort of like a skylight....its a long foil lined pipe that runs from the roof to the bathroom ceiling and brings in an amazing amount of light.  I highly recommend them.

And here's the master bath.  Lights yes, sink, not yet.

Cabinets! Cabinets! Cabinets!

The kitchen is coming together!

Ha!  Walk right into my photograph, will you?  I will thwart your "no photos" policy, my pretty.
Oh, also, they managed to get the big cabinet inside, as you can see.  They removed the threshold in the garage door which gave them just enough room to bring it in.

Dan's not really just leaning against the cabinets, he's pushing up the corner as Chris screws the cabinets together so they'll be perfectly level.

We also have a new cabinet in the living room.  I don't think I've pointed them out before, but Chris put 2 outlets above the mantel and an outlet and cable outlet on the wall above the cabinet for the TV.  He thinks of everything, that Chris.

This is the hall bathroom.

And this is the master bathroom.  Don't worry, it will have a sink too, they just haven't cut it in yet.

This is the downstairs bathroom.  I like all the drawers.

Also in the downstairs bathroom is that swell new cabinet on the wall.  Medicine cabinet?

Nope, its a full linen closet!

I'm not sure if we've looked at the TV room since it was all painted, but here it is.  Looks nice, don't you think?

Some Digging, Some Cabinets

Here's ole Caser keeping an eye on the neighborhood.

And Sport digging out the dirt in the planting area between the sidewalk and the street.  He and the Big Dog have recently instituted a "no photos" policy.  Look at that face.

And look at that face.  I'm beginning to fear for my safety.

So I'll go inside and snap the men for a little bit.  Chris and Dan don't glare at me - they just ignore me.
Here they're starting to install the kitchen cabinets.

Dan is setting up the transit.  Because we don't just throw cabinets in all willy nilly.  They must be exactly level.

Here's the kitchen again, sans men.

And here it is from another angle.  Thats the wall where the big cabinet will go.  See it still out in the garage?

Thats okay, there are plenty other cabinets to install first.

Now I will surreptitiously photograph the boys through the living room window.  Heh, heh.

You'll notice the ground is so dry and compacted that Sport has to use a pick to loosen it before they can shovel it out.  Watching that, I'm about to break into a rousing round of "I've been working on the railroad".....maybe my humorous asides are why I'm no longer allowed to photograph them?