Been awhile, stranger. Whatcha been up to?

The usual, really. Working, of course – the end of the quarter is always filled with various piles of paperwork that have to be filed, the accountant has to be given all the things necessary to file taxes (plus a check, of course), and we’ve been making near-daily visits to the house.

Ah, the house.

Where the gutters are up.

The pools guys got the coping done…

…which looks fabulous against the tiles we chose.

The cleaners have been in.

We were originally scheduled to close on Monday. That was held up because of the pool: the pavers had not arrived, so couldn’t be laid, the fence could not go up until the pavers were down, the safety inspection on the pool could not be done until the fence was up which could not go up until the pavers were down, and so on and on.

But the pavers did arrive, and the crew did start laying them and the fence guy did show up and start putting in the posts for the fence.

A view to the neighbor’s property, across their fence, where they laid a bunch of sod square in the middle of the upper part of the back area.

A funny (not ha-ha funny, but strange funny) story about the neighbors, whom we have yet to formally meet: my mom, sister, and I were out for a walk around the place one Saturday. A woman – we presumed her to be the wife – was out in a chair by their pool. We walked over toward the property line, as I wanted my sister to get an idea of how one piece of the garden area would be set up. As we did, one of the neighbor’s dogs came trotting over, yapping. The woman got up from her chair and yelled at the dog to get back. My sister and I, bemused by the rather rotund hot dog running our way, were talking to the dog, and my mom waved at the woman and said hello.

Nothing.

The kid that was outside with the woman ran after the dog and chased him back up toward the house. My mom waved again at the woman.

Nothing.

The woman turned her back and sat down in her chair without a word, a wave, or even a go to hell.

So, we’ll be putting up a privacy fence on that side of the property, since they used a post and slat fence.

Oh, that trailer and lumber and posts? On our property, along with a flatbed trailer that contains all the wood for the fence. Why? Because around that glob of sod smack in the middle of things, they put down grass seed. And it wouldn’t do to be parking trailers and whatnot on the grounds where they’ve put down seed when our property is available, eh?

Still, with the fence up, it gives a better impression of just how freaking huge the lot is for people who have a difficult time visualizing it without boundaries.

From the upstairs room, looking toward the front and neighbor side of the property.

From the upstairs again, looking toward the side and rear of the property, neighbor side. This is where the larger part of the garden will go, and I plan to mount a webcam in this window to watch over it.

The side from the ground, looking toward the house, near the property line.

The rear of the house, taken from about halfway or so back on the grounds.

It was a lovely day for walking around.

We went back yesterday, to see the almost finished fence and pavers, before the rains and the wind came. But that’s another entry.