House Updates-Batten the Hatches!

The newly trimmed slope

Fresh paint and repaired roof

We are heading into the fall with full force now; we have done a lot of playing this summer...okay, pretty much all playing all the time (at least for me, though sometimes the parents do still go to work), but I think Mom and Dad have finally had something kick into gear because the last few weeks have been full of house and lawn updates to get ready for the winter coming.

Copper gutters would have been awesome
if they weren't so beat up!

To summarize all the changes:

We got a new coat of paint on the wood surfaces of the house,

as well as some repaired/replaced tiles on our slate roof,

and a brand new set of gutters and downspouts that have been redirected from the old crumbling footer drains to a dedicated PVC pipe (bypassing our basement, where the water used to go) emptying into the storm ditch.

Fresh paint and the asphalt shingles
were changed to slate over garage door

I have never seen Mom and Dad so excited about our dark, scary basement as they were after the first big rain when we didn't get water in the house anymore!!  Unfortunately, our yard all around the house got dug up for that project, so we will be getting some brand new grass soon in those areas.


Speaking of disappearing grass, we got rid of some grass (on purpose) on the hill so that we could see better--Dad trimmed the slope to remove some of the high grasses that spread too much and can cause problems and block the view.

New gutters and downspouts

We also have some ginormous trees right around our house that got trimmed up to improve our view and avoid any big limbs being blown into our's or the neighbor's house during the winter storms...that wind can howl sometimes!!

Dad used some of the logs that came down to make some seats to go around our fire pit, which means that now we don't have to haul a bunch of chairs out every time we want to lounge around a fire next year!


Here are some relatively boring pictures of our updates for your viewing pleasure...and just to reward you for making it through all of these, there is one at the bottom of Sammy in his big boy bed that he transitioned to this summer!!  Isn't my annoying little brother so cute when he is quietly sleeping?

A giant hole near our front door

A trench that went all the way around the house

Our new seating arrangements by the fire pit

Sleeping Sammy