landscape dreaming

Ah, a boy and a dream. This corner of my back yard has always been where I wanted to do something really special. Despite my yearnings for landscaping perfection, I had to settle for some basic cleaning up this past summer. I was just completing the latest round of house projects and I had neither the cash nor will to push forward with my vision for this corner.

Way back when we bought this place we'd imagined this would be a good corner for a two-car garage. I designed the yard with that in mind, if it were to ever materialize. But ever since we had permit parking put in on our street the need for parking was a non-issue. So what to do with this available chunk of real estate? A desert garden of course!

As much as I love grass and big old oak trees I can also appreciate the vast beauty of the Chihuahuan desert. To make the garden perfect it would have to be a well defined xeriscape. Lush, but not overdone. Somewhat tamed, yet wild. It should look natural. I had my landscaping master plan approved for the house way back in fall 2009. Much like my windows, I complete piece by piece in stages. Up until a few months ago it was just a dream. I'm knee deep in it and starting to see the light at the end of tunnel though. Updates coming soon..

it's official: we're nuts

We seem to have acquired another project house.

Yes, it's adorable and in need of love. But WTF, didn't I learn my lesson the first time? Apparently not. The timing of that first project happened to coincide with strenuous hours at the office and our first child. It was an all around stressful time. And yet, I think we were able to pull it off for the most part. That house was always intended as a "flip" property. Given the economic collapse that began to materialize not too long after we took on the project, I'm glad we emerged relatively unscathed.

This time we're going in with the intention of fixing the place up as a rental property. It's already a rental, but still maintains it's single family layout. We don't plan to do anything hardcore like we did with the other house, but we will fix misc things (some major, some minor). In the end, I think this will be a place you'd want to rent. To be continued..

Spring!

When my plum trees start blooming I know it's time to start cleaning up the dump that is my backyard. Groan..