Finally, after a brutal summer the temperatures are reasonable again in Tucson. We’ve tried every method of training possible to stay in shape over the last few months and it’s been tough. With the last few weeks still in the triple digits motivation has been low. However, now the evening temps are cool and the woody is near prime. Let’s just hope it stays fall-like in Tucson.
posted by pjv
We took a break from the woody construction last weekend to party it up in Las Vegas for April’s Aunt’s wedding. It was a blast. We linked up with Joe and Holly, toured the strip, lounged by the pool and had a great time visiting with family, new friends and partying in the Luxor. Congratulations Aunt Sarah and Uncle Tom!!!
After returning from Vegas we’ve decided to lay low at home for a little bit and not risk having to deliver a baby in the middle of the desert (where we usually find ourselves on the weekends). Now, I’ve focused my attention on finishing the new addition on the woody and April…well…I’m not going to say much but she’s secretly working on our full length DVD featuring Rocklands, South Africa. Soon…very soon…it will be available and in HD!!!
Posted by pjv
I know the blog has been very quiet the past few weeks but we’ve been busy trying to get back in control of our house. If you’ve followed this blog over the past several years I’m sure you’ve seen the Porch Project updates from time to time and wonder what’s up. Well…we are in the home stretch of the most massive do it yourself, do it with family, do it with friends and do it with hired help project. Over the last two weeks April and I watched as Clark’s Custom Landscaping took over for us and easily laid brand new bricks throughout our entire courtyard. They built two planters, added flagstone to “the coffin” feature, making it a nice seat and added all the necessary special touches that helped maintain the rustic look we’ve been trying to preserve. Steve and Jason (of Clark’s Custom Landscaping) were awesome! I would recommend them to anyone. They were extremely kind and took over after we gave them the general idea of how we wanted the courtyard to look. They understood exactly what we wanted and they added their own artistic touch. Their attention to detail made us trust their finished product so we just sat back, relaxed and enjoyed seeing the quick progress. So, after putting our readers in suspense for long enough it is now time to unveil a few pictures of the massive “Porch Project/Courtyard.”
Also, I would like to thank all who helped us. At first, this was a project we were hesitant to tackle ourselves but after having learned a lot from family, friends and hired help we got past major hurdles and the final result is something we are going to enjoy for a long time. Thanks!
Click on any picture to page through the entire set of photos:
Posted by pjv
I thought I’d share my view of the western sky as I drove home from work today:
posted by pjv
My family sent me a Terrible Towel in the mail and gave me strict instructions: As a Pittsburgher I must display it proudly. LETS GO STEELERS!!!
posted by pjv
The bathroom in our main house is done! Check out the pictures. We haven’t moved all of our stuff into it yet so I’ll have to snap some pictures after we use it.
Here is a view from the entrance. We had the light switch moved since everyone had trouble finding it.
Our talavera sink, tile counter top and new cabinet
The talavera sink up close. We purchased this one in Tucson, not Mexico.
Our tile design for the top of the shower.
Soap/Shampoo dishes!
That window that was rotting.
Big use of little space.
Check out our progress building a shade roof over our hot tub.
Click on the picture to see the slideshow
Here is a quick look at the bathroom and the shade roof progress…
The shower tiles are up. Needs grout.
The sink and cabinet are in place. Needs grout.
Extra Shelves. Needs painted.
It was a cold morning when we started working on the shade roof.
Posts are finally up.
Here is another view with the woody in the background.
April nor I got any Legos for Christmas so the next logical step to occupy our time (away from that climbing addiction) is to tear up our house a little more. The next couple of items on our long list is our main house (as opposed to the guest house) bathroom and the re-building of the shade structure over our spa. Seems like a lot huh? YES! So, we hired some help. Thanks to a friend’s good recommendation, the bathroom project is underway by a really nice guy we can trust will get the job done, for the right price and to our precise level of detail. As for the shade structure, well, April and I took on that job ourselves. Check out our progress…
Remember the “porch project?” We sure do. In the background of the first picture is a nice reminder to me that our major porch re-building is done. The picture is also scary because here we are again, painting round wooden posts. Luckily these posts have nothing to do with the porch. They will be used for the shade structure over the spa.
In the back of this picture you can see the original shade roof over the spa. Dale’s hands frame it well. In a monsoon storm over the summer that entire roof fell! Luckily nothing was damaged and nobody was underneath it! Now it’s time for us engineers to overbuild it so that it stands the test of time.
Here is a picture taken in bad lighting of what our bathroom looked like before work started.
Here is a view of the floor looking into the shower. We thought the tiles were really ugly in the shower but regardless of how they looked, they were totally impossible to clean.
April looks into the bathroom and thinks, “So much for those tiles in the shower. Bye bye.” Or, “What did we just do to our perfectly functioning bathroom.
Our chance to put a light in the dark ‘closet of a shower’ that once existed.
The window in our shower before the demolition.
The window during demolition. Notice the rotten window ledge.
The window, starting to take shape.
We hope to keep up with posting some pictures of our progress. In the meantime I better get back to training. We’re off to Hueco again, soon….
