Stumped

Our yard has been such a project, and we are getting so much closer to having a wonderful clean slate!  After Michael took a chainsaw to our out of control trees in the backyard, he had someone come over to grind down some of the larger stumps.  I can't even explain how giant our yard is with all the random trees out!  I really think we could fit a pool over by the garage.

A few before shots:

It was so wonderful to tear this down!

This is right before we moved in, the structure being torn down is a Japanese Tea Room.  Doesn't everyone have one of those in their yard?  All that's left of this is the cement slab.

This picture was taken after we had chopped away lots and lots (and lots) of plants and hauled them away.

And this is how the yard looks now:

No more ugly palm!



I really think there is room for a pool!



Can you even tell there used to be giant stump here?

Really, this pictures don't do the yard justice- it looks so much better without all the random plants cluttering it up!  And I'm realizing just how huge the yard is, what are we going to do with all this space?

Back to Work!

We used Labor Day weekend to get some great work done in the backyard.  Did you know you can rent some pretty dangerous tools at the Home Depot?  Michael rented a wonderful chainsaw to help us clear away some of the larger plants.

Michael was a pro at using the chainsaw and clearing away all the overgrown trees and bushes in the backyard.

Michael was able to quickly turn all those plants into small stumps!  Notice that there are no pictures of me with the chainsaw, I think we all know it would not end well if I tried to use it.

Back when we first moved in, we couldn't get the cable turned on because of the giant tree and random plants in front of the telephone pole- they are now all gone!

The three overgrown ficus trees are also gone!  Sadly, the orange tree also had to go.  After so many years of neglect it just wasn't growing.

The previous owners of this house really like to decorate the yard with large rocks, bricks and other heavy objects.  This is just one pile.

Toby and Charlie are wondering why humans would put so many rocks in a perfectly good yard.

We always seem to find interesting things in the yard- this is by far my favorite!  I just hope it wasn't a gravestone marker for the family's former pet duck!

The yard is looking so great!  Once we jackhammer up the cement, we can start with a clean slate!

Disneyland!

We have some pretty crazy yard projects coming up, so Michael and I decided to use our free Disneyland passes for a little mini-vacation before we tackle the yard! 

Somehow Michael beat me on Buzz Lightyear :)

We had a really great time, and were surprised by the lack of strollers in the park!  In fact, we were surprised by the lack of people in the park considering it was a weekend in August! 

We were able to check out the newish Pirate's Lair, which was Tom Sawyer's Island when I was little.  It was much nicer than I remembered Tom Saywer's Island, but I probably would have enjoyed it more if I was an 8 year old boy.

What trip is complete without seeing Captian EO?  If anyone can undertand the plot of this movie, please let me know :)

We ended the day on my favorite ride, the Mark Twain.  You know you are old when this is your favorite ride at Disneyland!

Living Room!

The living room/dining room is finally (almost) done!  We went with a blue color on the walls, which I think turned out great!  We wanted a green color but couldn't find a green paint that didn't look like mint ice cream.

View from the dining room, the curtains were from overstock.com and two panels on each side of the massive window worked out perfectly!

Slightly different angle, I love that the Kermit lamp found a home on the bar next to the front door! 

This awesome lighting fixture was original to the house, Michael found a lamp store that restored to it's former glory!  It looks amazing over the dining room table.

View of the living room and dining room.

I'm SO happy with how this room turned out, such an improvement from when we first moved in!

Skunked!

Is anyone suprised that out of all three dogs, Toby was the first to meet up with a skunk?  He got sprayed right in the face by a skunk that was hanging out in our backyard the other evening.  This was the one time that he gladly jumped into the bathtub!
We took him to the groomer's to get a professional bath, and they had to clip off most of his cute facial hair.  At least it will grow back!  Hopefully he learned his lesson, because this was an experience I never want to repeat!

Humbled

This is not a house update, just musing on the weekend.

This past Friday, a lost dog found us.  Michael made every attempt to talk to all our neighbors to find out who this dog belonged to- no one knew but had seen it wandering around for the past month or so.  I come home from work to find a sweet, friendly, adorable fluff ball in our backyard.  Michael had somewhere to be and asked me if I could take it to a vet to see if she was chipped.

After talking to a few people, it seemed better to take her to the shelter- that way it would be easier for her family to find her is she was not chipped.  I dropped her off at the shelter, which was beyond heartbreaking in itself as this dog was amazingly sweet and well-mannered but I figured her owners were most likely frantically looking for her.  I stuck around to see if she was chipped.  She wasn't.  And the little things that I noticed about her (lump on her belly, swollen eye) caused some alarm in the shelter staff and they whisked her away to be looked at.  I gave them my number just in case they needed more information and I wanted to find out what happened to her, I assumed she would quickly be reunited with her family.

Later that afternoon the shelter called me.
She was much more sick than they had thought, likely mammary cancer which may have spread to her lungs.  An eye that had been infected in the past and never treated.  Did I want her?  Most likely her owners would not be looking for her due to her medical needs. 
The family has until Friday to claim her, after that the shelter is going to turn her over to a rescue organization to see if they can help her, but really they just aren't so sure.
The day left me shaken, and made me feel that I should have rushed right down and picked up that dog.  Let her live out her last few months in a loving home, off the streets and out of the cold shelter.  I am still feeling so guilty over the fact that this wonderful creature is alone in the shelter, sick and most likely confused.  What does one do in this kind of situation?
It also made me feel incredibly humbled.  We have been given three absolutely amazing dogs of our own, mostly by chance.  They are home with us (all snuggled up on the bed right now) because we happened to be at the shelter on a certain day and noticed these dogs (or in Toby's case- he noticed us).  It is such a huge responsibility to me to be their mother, and it makes me sad that some people do not share that same feeling of responsibility. 

I'm feeling pretty lucky to be a mom right now.

Betty White to the Rescue!

Ok, not the real Betty White- I should explain.  Our neighbor "collects" cats.  She feeds them and houses a few, so there are many cats running around our neighborhood.  One of which has stood out to us (mostly because it loves to sleep in our driveway).  Everything about this cat is crooked, she even walks a little crooked and looks like she is about 90 in cat years.  I have taken to calling her Betty White, she is a sassy old lady cat.
We were awakened one night by Toby, who was barking like crazy at something outside.  Turns out Betty White was in our trash can, digging around and making a HUGE mess all over the street at about 3:30 in the morning.  We go out to get everything cleaned up, and think that we have cleaned up all our trash.  Until the next day, when a neighbor brings over a check that has been mistakenly thrown away and brought out of the trash can by Betty White!
Michael and I have been sneaking her treats whenever we see her, I think she may be hanging outside our house for awhile and we are more than happy to have her!