Yesterday kicked off the next major phase of home improvement around here--the landscaping!  We're really, really excited to be doing this, since it's very much a quality of life type of project as opposed to "Well, I guess we really need working toilets.  And hot water.  And heat would be nice too.  Oh, and keeping the water out of the house is a good idea."  like most of the stuff we've done around here for the past couple of years.  In other words, this is fun stuff, not a "necessity". 

In preparation, we have taken down many, many trees on the property.  We lost count, but I think it was approximately 46 trees.  Needless to say, this was a job for the professionals.  We don't really have photos that show the before and after, or any photos that look like anything for that matter, so I will skip showing pictures of that phase for now.  With that out of the way, though, we could move on to the more exciting part! 

The landscaping project will include a lot of masonry, repairing and in some cases extending our existing stacked stone walls; in addition we will be adding two new patios, bringing the grand total of patios on the property to...two!  We are also installing a frontage fence along our front property line, hopefully with an automatic gate (to be determined based on budget), and a lot of other fencing in other parts of the property.  We'll also be burying our utility services, so no more unsightly power pole in our yard, and no wires strung above the driveway.  And the piece de resistance will be a brand new Gunite swimming pool.  Woo! 

So we are on Day Two of this project now--we expect to finished by approx. the end of December, assuming the weather cooperates, permits are all approved in a timely fashion, etc.  Right now, the photos I have basically just show a lot of destruction & debris, but once things start taking shape I will be sure to post some pictures.  Wish us luck!