The Patio Project

When we first moved in, the yard was a clean slate. Really. Everything that had ever lived there was dead and gone and the previous owners had never attempted adding to their outdoor living. . . which was really great for us and our imaginations. 

For months we pondered what could possibly fill the space outdoors. We searched for inspiration in garden books and magazines, while ambling down aisles in the local home improvement stores, and on neighborhood walks to see what other residents had chosen.

Patiently, we collected ideas and concepts and made a few attempts of improvement.

We knew there would be a walkway on the left side of the house, so an afternoon was spent notching out the steep hill in the backyard and gauging the grade of the yard.

We moved on to other projects inside, still mulling paver options and how to move forward.

Then the wet season came.

Before we could even bother with sidewalks and patios, drainage needed to be handled.

Once the skies had cleared and the last bit of standing water had evaporated, a trencher was rented to start the tedious task of burying pipes.

 

Unfortunately, we waited a bit too long after the floods and our ground had turned into concrete. Three long days were had hauling the trencher around the yard and moving dirt out of the shallow trench cupful by cupful.

After that hard lesson was learned, we put our heads together and finally decided on what we wanted. Ced whipped up a schematic so we would be armed with our plan when contractors came calling.

 (Blue indicates drainage pipes, red indicates concrete)

We were lucky enough to find a great experienced contractor who answered all of our annoying questions and got to work.

After four long days, a broken trencher, and a confession that we have the hardest soil ever encountered in fifteen years of business, the drainage was finally installed.

The guys then moved on to setting up the forms.

This process went much smoother, since no digging was involved.

Ced and I helped coerce the arc into something smooth and pleasing and adjusted the transition points to our liking.

There was a minor hiccup when we discussed the expansion joints with our contractor.

We had wanted a large diamond pattern cut into the concrete. Although this was indicated on our plan, our contractor had forgotten this and argued that it would be more work than he anticipated. After an awkward conversation, he agreed to do the work if we laid out the pattern.

Being the giant nerds we are, we quickly agreed and strung out the pattern. This visualization of the pattern confirmed the awesomeness to be.

Then pouring day came.

The truck pulled up at 5:30 and they began pumping concrete in at 6.

The crew quickly worked the concrete into the forms and our dreams of concrete goodness came true.

After all the concrete was in place and smoothed, the expansion joints went in.

When it was time, the patio and gate walkway were stamped with a rough slate pattern.

I was really surprised by the amount of work that went into stamping the concrete. I had assumed the stamps would be applied when the mud was still soft. Turns out, they wait for it to almost set up and pound the stamp into it. I still don't quite get the process, but am thrilled with the results.

Although only the gate side yard and the back patio got the special treatments of expansion joints and stamping, the rest of the concrete looks great.

We opted for a simple side entrance that transitions to the fancy stuff right past the gate.

Our "midyard" has become a breakfast nook, of sorts.

During our initial planning, we weren't going to invest in adding concrete down this side of the house. When the contractors came out, they convinced us that it'd be worth it in the long run. I'm quite glad we did.

I'm still not thrilled with the strange wall that came with the house, but I'm trying to warm up to it.

We think the patio looks great in its natural color, but we really wanted that extra punch, so we're having it stained.

Now don't judge the color by this photo. This acid stain allows varied coloration, which is really what we had in mind when designing the patio.
The plan was to have the patio stained all one color, but our color guy brought in some photos of an alternating color design that we both drooled over.
Although this photo is of freshly stained concrete, it's lacking the glossy sealer that will really bring out the color.
Unfortunately, the sealer cannot be applied for a few weeks, so I won't have a finished product to show any time soon.

The finished product will look similar to this wet area. Oooohh, shiny.

We've only had the patio/sidewalk/midyard for four days and it has proven to be an excellent addition to our home.

I believe our furry friends agree.

Life in the Mountains

We're working our way through the ninth month in the new house in the mountains and discovering ourselves along the way. Although things have been slow to get going, what with all the procrastination on furniture buying and decision making, we're making some visible progress turning this neglected homestead into a warm and inviting place to live.

For weeks now I've documented major changes, but kept putting off sharing our adventures. I've decided to do a quick rundown of the past few months of changes with the hope of revisiting some of the more exciting learning experiences in greater detail later.

First up, the office rundown:

• We painted the walls and marked out furniture spacing. 

• While furniture was being designed, we had bamboo floors installed. Mmmm.

• Next came baseboards.
  

• Then came the office furniture build. Ced did a great job building two sets of these deep drawers (for filing and tucking away office supplies) and an open shelf unit of the same height. We're still holding on the wall mounted shelving, mostly because I've yet to find the proper hardware to mount them.
  

Next - front door makeover. The dusty purple and tiny gold doorknob of the front door wasn't doing much for me. The door went glossy red and I installed a big brushed nickle door handle that fit proportionally to the door.



In March/February we installed two raised flowerbeds. Lots of digging and earth moving ensued, but we still had time to take silly pictures.

Working clay filler into something usable is a long, hard process. I do not recommend this unless you enjoy insanity. We do, hence the pile of dirt.



Somewhere over the past few months, Ced built a giant workbench (not pictured here) and found himself a fancy CNC machine to stick on top of it. When I first saw all these parts laying on the floor, I thought he was a little daft.


Then I saw the machine work and thought it was fantastic.

We thought these dry summer months would be a perfect time to put drainage in. (Remember the pond in the backyard?)

Turns out, this really isn't the perfect time to put drainage in. The ground is like concrete and we inhaled so much dust I thought we'd be hacking up mud pies for weeks.


I finally found a giant, unfinished bookshelf and had it shipped over. (Hooray, furniture!)




We also adopted a Cozy Mark IV.



During the Cozy adoption weekend, we watched this hot air balloon land from the cool interior of the house. Turns out they have rides every weekend or so. Neat!



Also during the Cozy adoption weekend (last weekend), we figured if we were ever going to epoxy the garage floors, this would be the time to get it done.

• Before:
  

• After:
  

To make room for the Cozy project, we had to store the KR somewhere. It really adds to the decor of the single bay.

Found a GIANT spider and screeched the girliest screech of all time.

Still due to the Cozy adoption, we epoxied one half of the double bay yesterday.


And finished up the other half today.




I really think we're becoming weekend warriors, which is great and trying all at once. I love accomplishing something over the weekend since the weekdays are usually a wash.

Then again, when we're constantly on the go on weekends it's hard to relax from a stressful week.

That's why I've discovered the wonders of a long bubbly soak in the tub.

Planting Tradition

My mom is a big plant person, therefore it was commonplace to have plants everywhere growing up. I didn't realize how important plants were to me until I went to college and lived in various drab apartments for years. The last apartment we stayed in had a great patio and backyard area to keep plenty of potted plants.

It was great.

Then I moved to California where they confiscated a number of my plants and we ended up in the desert with an asphalt backyard. It was a little depressing.

Now that we're in a house in an area that can sustain plant growth, it was imperative that we have things growing. Unfortunately, we're in a relatively new neighborhood where the soil is clay filler. Planting directly in the ground as is will result in very sad plants, so I was a little bummed when "planting time" rolled around. Planting time? Yep. It's always been tradition at home to do your planting on Good Friday to ensure a good harvest.
Lucky for me, my mother sent me this nifty little herb garden (I've always wanted an herb garden). I ripped open the package and planted the parsley, chives, and sweet basil seeds. After a week or so of germination, little delicious herbs began popping up.
These herbs were planted on Good Friday, so I know they'll be delicious when the time comes to harvest. Unfortunately, I'm not too sure I'll actually be able to use them when they are ready to harvest. They're just so adorable.

What's your condition?

Last week I introduced Mimi as a means to point out that having a "young" vet is a positive thing.

This week it's only fair to introduce Mister Delicious to point out that both of our cats are neurotic.


Mr. D and I got to know each other during the Fall of '03. He was maybe a year old and had been neglected by his initial owner, my coworker at the time. Our boss took in the little fella, got him healthy, and called him Fattie. Fortunately for me, she had a handful of pets and was looking for a forever home for "Fattie." I gladly offered to be his Momma and we haven't been parted since.

Mr. Delicious got his name through a combination of girly squeals exhibited by both my mother and me. I had not laid eyes on Mr. D until he was brought to me on adoption day. I instantly fell in love and excitedly drove home to show him off. As I pulled him out of his carrier I squeaked, "He's like peaches and cream! Isn't he just delicious!?" My momma simultaneously squealed "He's gorgeous! He needs a 'Mister' name!" The overlapping squawking from us both resulted in a merge of "Mister!" "Delicious!" and hence it was set in stone. Mr. Delicious was doomed to be a ladies man and have the best name ever invented. (I'm biased, of course.)

Mr. D showed his love for me on the first night he slept in my room. He rolled on his back and exposed his belly, letting me know he was comfortable. He begged for pets and scritches. And he promptly urinated beside my head on my pillow.

I knew we understood each other.

The Big D loves hair. He lays on your pillow and paws and pulls at hair. His favorite toys are dirty earplugs. He only eats out of the left side of his bowl (spin it around and the left side is magically full!). He sits on your chest and stares at your face whenever it's most inconvenient for you. While you sleep he aims his drool drops at eyes, nostrils, and lips. It's really gross and annoying, but I love him. (How could you not?!)

When we moved to California (everything changed in California), Mr. D began to pluck at his fur. I initially thought it was the asphalt dust we tracked into the apartment and tried to keep clean floors and kitties. When we moved into the house I imagined the fur plucking would stop, but it appears from time to time, mostly when he's not being fed what he wants. It's definitely not as noticeable as Mr. D's odd habit of eating weird stuff off the floor, though.

He loves circling little lint balls that appear on the floor, stopping in front of them, making sure I'm watching, and diving in for the kill. This usually results in me flailing my arms and screeching something about weird kitties and their obsessions.

I like to pretend that Mr. D has a condition known as Butthead. Having this particular conditions means the pet knows every which way to drive their caretaker up the wall. Just the other day while Mr. D was helping make the bed, he noticed a lint ball and dove on it like he'd never eaten before. It was weird. I lint-rolled the sheets.
You see, if Mr. D doesn't have the condition known as Butthead, it means he probably has a neurological condition known as Pica. I'd rather he not have a true medical condition and just be the sly fluffernutter that keeps me on my toes.

So, Mr. D, if you're reading this, please continue to eat things only when I'm watching so I can confirm that you do things purely to annoy me and not because something wasn't wired correctly.

Thank you.

An Interesting Case

This is Amelia "Mimi" Earhart. Obviously, she's a bit furrier than her namesake and not so much interested in flying as she is in catching flying things.

Mimi and I were introduced in the Fall of 2003. She was incredibly shy and had scratched off half the fur on her head due to a nerve-wracking home life full of furry bullies. She and I patiently figured each other out while I coaxed her out of the shadows to tend her wounds.

She's now a vibrant, ten pound kitty that's as dark as night with strong vocals she's not afraid to use.


Mimi's been rather healthy until we moved to California. A few months of living in the desert she began to have seizures. We were hesitant to bring her to a vet simply because we didn't know who was a decent doctor. After a few referrals, I chose a vet and went. He was a distant doctor that was knowledgeable enough, but simply told me "when she starts having more than one a month, come back to see me." No explanation. He talked around answering any questions I had and shoved me out the door. I wasn't very impressed.

Now that we've moved to the mountains and Mimi's seizures have gotten more frequent, we bit the metaphorical bullet and tested out a new clinic. This time we hit gold.

Mimi's doctor is fresh out of college and eager to learn. Although an "unexperienced" doctor may be a turn-off for some people, this particular newbie is willing to spend a long time talking to us about the case as he learns to develop doctor-client relationships.

Of course, he probably wouldn't be so attentive had Mimi just had an ear infection. He point-blank told us that she's his most interesting case and is keeping a close eye on her status. I'm quite alright with him calling every few weeks to see how Mimi's doing even if it's for his own personal gain. I also like knowing that if there's an issue, I can leave him a message and he will get back to me within a few hours to address it.


Despite his off-color humour about boring cases and advice including "never get a chihuahua, they're a lost cause," I'll happily continue to see my new kitty doctor for as long as necessary to work on getting Mimi healthy.

A typical day

During a meeting last week, I was asked what a typical day was like for me. It caught me off guard, like usual, so I tried to outline what I work on in a day. The explanation was jumbled and complex and left my audience asking more questions than answering them.

I was hired as a multimedia librarian/office services assistant for Scaled Composites, LLC. This was a new position they created, so no one really knew what to expect. When I was hired, it was explicitly said that I would be focusing more on the office services assistant side of my job title than I would the librarian portion.

Looking back, that statement was quite incorrect.

My initial tasks were to assess all assets, find a solution for organizing them, and implement that plan. Scaled's assets happen to be 28 years of collected papers, publications, drawings, photographs, and video tapes. Some items are labeled, some have been organized-but the organization system has long been forgotten, and much is waiting to be digitized and properly placed.

Aside from those main goals, I was to take over the task of video editor, book librarian, and camera check-out.

A few months into the job, I was asked to film a step in a fabrication process. From there it became nearly a daily task to monitor video cameras and cut the film down later to create a running progress video. Among the film processing and asset sorting, I was asked if I'd like to try my hand at some design work. This opportunity led to a few more small design projects, which I happily accepted, and helped flesh out a new role for myself. The requests for graphic design work and filming rolled in so much that my initial tasks of organizing the company's assets were pushed to the background. Despite not fulfilling the duties I was hired to perform, my peers and supervisors were happy with the work I was doing and encouraged me to stay on track.

It's nine months since I was hired and although several items have been accomplished, my growing list of things to do can be overwhelming. Now that a background of my job duties has been given, I'll attempt to describe a "typical" day in the office.

When I get in, I'll start working on video editing/sorting/filing, unless there is an item of immediate concern, which there usually is. An item of immediate concern tends to be either filming a flight/manufacturing process; formatting, printing, binding updated aviation checklists; labeling/sorting new images; scanning documentation for various reasons; writing/editing text for various documents; searching for new processes/hardware to catch up with documentation demands; editing/manipulating images/graphics for various projects; answering questions about various software; preparing for the next big thing.

Despite my best planning, my days are unpredictable. I can assure anyone that I will be either filming, editing, scanning, sorting, labeling, or designing at any given moment. I am responsible for Scaled's assets and am tasked with knowing where things are so I may make others' lives more efficient.