Around The House

New Foyer Bannister and Driveway

Hello Everyone!  Today's post could be named, "How We Spent Our Time During The Covid-19 Quarentine."  We have been trying to use our time wisely by accomplishing many tasks around our house that we have had on the "to do" list for a very long time. So, since the Mr. likes to keep busy anyway and we couldn't go out and do other things, he decided to work on creating our new bannister for our foyer. And, I know it sounds like I'm bragging, but I must say he did an incredible job and they look wonderful!! He bought the newels unfinished and then finished them before installing. Then he added the iron balusters to the handrails and steps. Do you remember the picture I showed you from the earlier post that showed what we were trying to emulate for our steps? If you've forgotten, here's a reminder.

I think the Mr. did an excellent job!  It was a lot of work along the way.

We decided that the new bannister looked so good that the foyer needed to be painted!  So everything was covered up for the painting. It always makes me nervous to see him on such a high ladder!

Luckily, he could use an extension wand for parts of the painting. The Mr. is quite particular about how he paints so, as usual, I was the gopher helping with drips, covering items and keeping a watch over him! I also am an excellent taper! I also devised the paper towel roll around the metal chandelier chain. What would he do without me to assist?!  Seriously, though, we are both quite pleased with the results in the foyer. 

Now, I shared in an earlier post the massive job we were having done on our front driveway. Adding a brand new culvert to replace the broken and clogged old one that was over 40 years old. 

But, what I didn't share is that we are also having a gravel driveway installed to the back of our house!  And what a job it has been.  Although the Mr. and I are excited we are also a bit dismayed by how it has changed the footprint of our backyard. Our poor bears are a bit confused as their playground does not look the same!  We are saddened that a couple of trees had to be removed. The Mr. had planned that trees would remain untouched but after talking with our paver, we realized they needed to be removed. 

This guy was hired to take down the trees. I called him Rambo because I could not believe how he put on the equipment, grabbed his chain saw and shinnied up the tree like it was nothing!

He had a huge knife attached to his leg to whack off smaller tree limbs but mostly he used the chainsaw and would cut right down to where he was hanging on the tree. When the sections fell it was quite loud!  So, it's a done deal for the trees and we are sorry for that. 

We did discover, however, that we have a plentiful supply of huge and beautiful rocks on our land and we were able to use our own native stone for the retaining wall and for other uses. The huge slab you see in this pic we chose as a "sitting rock" on the back of the driveway. I'll show you a video of this stone being moved into place. 

It's hard to believe that the slab weighs as much as a car!  I know we will enjoy using it. 

So, at this point, this is what the driveway looks like.  It isn't quite finished as the pavers need to add the finishing stone.  We still have lots of green woods but the look of the backyard has definitely changed.  We just felt that this driveway would be a good idea for us as we age and we can use it for other folks who can't climb stairs easily now.  Plus, bringing groceries into the house just got a whole lot easier! We are going to work on landscaping around the driveway area and the torn up hillside will grow back with greenery. Change is always hard. 

Garden asked to help me with this post.  She says that she can be an "Ace Cat Reporter" just like her Great Aunt Gracie was! 

So, that's the news around our house!  What's going on around your house?  Hope you'll leave a comment and let me know.  I love hearing from you!  And, if you would like to read more about our house renovation, check out my previous series, "The House That Love Built" to read all about our 17 year renovation of our home. 

Until Next Time,

Debbie