Plans and more plans

Not much action to report, other than we finally have a usable garage, thanks to Ellen's labor during my business trip to Austin last week. However, we have fleshed out a few plans that will have some impact.

1.) The little house that we had considered for Mom to rent when she moves here is no longer available. The owner was extremely gracious to call us before agreeing to lease it to someone else, but since Mom hasn't sold her home, there's no way we could make a commitment. The owner, Kevin Haslag of Haslag Steel, is one helluva a good guy. I plan to contract our custom railing for the parking deck steps with him. I'll also put in an unabashed plug for the guy to any single women in the area. He's a 50 year old widower (looks 40), fit, smart and trustworthy. Anyway, this means that Mom will definitely move into our basement when the time comes. We plan to visit her on Labor Day to show her the draft sketch, so she and Ellen can figure out the details.

2.) Visitors have complained about the parking deck, because there's no visual to indicate where the edge of the wall lies. Some refuse to park there for that reason, particularly at night. Therefore, we'll install three lamp posts to provide light and a cedar post and rail fence along the top of the wall. Plan to have this done by summer's end, and yes, this is my project, although I may seek some help with the electrical piece.

3.) Ellen has picked out her new, customized sofa and we're waiting on the quote to see if I agree on buying it at this time. The designer we worked with backed off the budget figure we agreed upon, saying that her original figure was just an estimate. That means things will likely cost more. I told her that the figure we agreed upon was THE figure, meaning that's all we're going to spend. We may or may not have a new sofa. I will say that we don't ask anyone to sit on the floor today, so it's not like we must do something, but on the other hand, the furniture we have is 12 years old and beginning to look like it, in no small part because of all the moves we've had. I agree with Ellen that we should get some new seats in the place, but I don't know if you'll see them this year.

4.) I'm rethinking the landscaping plan. We were going to plant a ground cover called Vinca in the areas where you see mulch today, with fescue grass planted in the large dirt spot and down the side of the house. I kind of like what we have now, so instead I'm considering keeping the mulch and locate a few perennial beds in the open areas instead. The Vinca idea was to carry the natural look near the road down to the house, but you can't see our yard from the road anyway due to the parking deck. Tempting as maintenance free ground cover may be, we probably do need some sort of grassy area, so the fescue will likely stay. The downside of this is a substantial mulch investment every couple of years, since there's such a large area. I'll have to buy it by the truckload, not the bag. The upside is the opportunity to create beds with our favorite flora. Things aren't totally decided, but I'm leaning hard that way.

5.) We still plan to fix our runoff problems in the backyard this year. I don't think it's wise to ignore it until next year. We've solicited bids from our landscaper and another firm for the hardscape, but haven't seen anything yet. That may be because I made it clear that cost was going to be a paramount concern, so I advised them not to get carried away trying to create something extraordinary. With a 'just fix the problem' mandate, they probably lost interest. It's been weeks since we solicited their designs, so it may become another project for me this fall. I have some trepidation around that. Building a decorative retaining wall is one thing, but these walls will have considerable pressure put on them from water and the soil runoff. I've seen what water can do, so I'd be more comfortable with a professional design. There'd be no need for this quandary if I weren't screwing down the wallet, but I really would like to use the rest of this year to recharge from the tremendous (for us anyway) cash outflows we've made. At some point, you have to hunker down and say 'enough' for now.