The summer seems to go by faster and faster each year! My freedom will be ending in less than 2 weeks - soooooo sad!
This summer has revolved around making some improvements outside and replacing our shed. It's been a long drawn out process and took most of the summer to get everything done!
The side of our house gets no sunlight and we've tried to grow grass and place walking stones for several years - it was a muddy mess. We decided it was time to put a walkway that would lead to our new shed!
This is what it looked like before the paving stones were placed:
Gravel layer:
Laying of the stone pavers over the sand:
After mulching under the (neighbors) trees I placed disk lights between each tree.
This was our old, deteriorating shed. The wood was rotted and the flooring was weak.
Coming down on the Fourth of July
Wood being taken away in a trailer
Then a shed pad for the foundation of the new shed was the next phase!
The old shed was 8 x 5 1/2 - New shed 8 x 8
The new shed arrived (in the pouring rain).
Base
One by one each wall was placed on the foundation (in the rain!)
The rain finally let up and they were able to start roofing the shed
Yes - they forgot to pre-paint the door! There were so many hiccups with the shed that I would not recommend Tuff Shed to anyone! Even though the structure is solid - we encountered so many issues that took weeks to resolve.
These are some of the issues we had with the shed!
We provided the stain for the shed and paid to have it pre-painted - The entire back of the shed had strap marks across the entire face:
The shelve face was so muddy - I had to scrub and bleach to get it presentable:
As stated, the door was never painted and then when painting it used the wrong paint on the trim
The top edge of the shelves are rough and have wood splinters
The blue paint was slopped onto the white trim
The floor that we paid to upgrade was left with grounded in mud (just like the shelf face you see in the picture).
Exposed nail heads never covered up
New handle scratched and scuffed and gouged
There were other issues like the nameplate with the serial number was never placed on the shed - We were promised someone would come out with it and replace the handle on the door - They showed up without the plate! It took the General Manager and two separate mailings to receive the plate and screws.......over a week later! We were also promised a credit for all problems and aggravation we had (along with the lost gallon of stain). After a week and half, I contacted the GM and come to find the credit wasn't ever processed. The credit did finally arrive on the credit card 2 weeks later - but only because I called and inquired!
Bill fixed the paint and gave it a second coat - I scrubbed and cleaned the interior to make it presentable:
Added lights to the eves
Clean floor and shelve faces
We also added a stainless steel threshold plate to protect the floor edge.
We also had the landscaper put our gutters undergound!
This summer had also been the summer of losing power! Right after I purchased a decorative fence to cover the electric box that's in our backyard - We saw these guys several times throughout the summer!
Added more decorations to the deck
And also had the railing fixed - it was crooked and not under the railing.....
Walah.....
This year we decided to bypass the hanging flower baskets and just invest into five braided hibiscus tri-color trees - They always look so pretty and are usually healthy throughout the entire summer!
Views of our outside decorations and plants:
Love my 1848 Paddington Ave Pillow on the bench!
I purchased a TON of lighting (someone might be able to land a plane in our yard this year!)
I evening we took a walk up to Oberweis and I asked Ryan to pose for a couple pictures on our way there: LOVE how these gazebo pictures turned out - one will definitely appear in our Christmas Card!
Ryan is due to graduate from Lewis University on August 25th with his Bachelor's of Science Degree in Business Administration!!!!!! So Proud of him!
We took a couple "early" graduation pictures since he won't be participating in a ceremony until December (when it's cold and yucky outside)
I was able to convince Herff and Jones to print announcements for an August Graduation!
Three short weeks and they will be mailed:
Where has the time gone????? It may have taken a little longer than the traditional four years - but he completed his degree with ZERO debt!
2013
2016
2019
New Skechers Update!
(It's summer - I've been living in my Crocs!)
Time to soak up the last two weeks before the "reality" hits!
