Surprise... Landscaping!

Well, in my last post I mentioned that I had a landscaping pro coming to work on our yard soon.

I guess I misunderstood when we spoke--I thought he was coming a week from this past Friday. I was wrong. He came this past Friday. It was so cool.

When Avy, Xavier and I arrived at home, we obviously noticed there was a strange truck in the driveway. Everything became clear to me right about then...

And we were happy.

Here's the newly cleaned-out back yard.

I don't know if this picture does the work he did in the yard proper justice.... there were a lot of branches and left-over leaves laying around, making the yard look smaller and messier. He also cut the grass.This is the top of our driveway. I don't have a "before" shot right now, but take my word for it--that area was full of debris. Now it's clean and neat. It's so much nicer.


These are the bushes in front of the house. I was frankly kind of embarrassed at the amount of leaves that were underneath these. Landscaper dude got 'em out of there. Nice.


This is the tree in the front yard. Landscaper dude didn't do anything to the tree, but it's pretty, and I actually was incorrect in identifying it in previous posts. I thought it was a Japanese Maple. It is not. This is a Dogwood. And it's pretty sweet.

This is the front of the house. The grass is nice and neat, but, if you look off to the right, you can see a big pile of leaves right near our neighbor's house. Those were all in our backyard. I wish I had taken a picture of the landscaper's truck--the back was almost overflowing with leaves. He said he'd been there since mid-day. He finally left around 8pm. That's a lot of work for one guy.

So, what have I learned? Well, I really need to pay better attention--I need to listen when someone tells me a specific day they'll be showing up. That way I won't be surprised by stuff like this. I have learned that gas-powered lawn implements beat the crap out of electric implements. Big time. The drawback is that nasty gas smell. And I have learned that sometimes it is pretty satisfying to pay someone to do a job that you want done well. I walked around all weekend saying, "I love this yard."

Odd side note: It seems like every one of our neighbors took a cue from our yard work--for the rest of the weekend, all you could hear were lawn-mowers, weed-whackers and leaf-blowers on our block. I must say, it's pretty nice to live in an area where the folks really take pride in their homes.

Paying for Green?

I park my car next to this loveliness every evening. Honestly, things could be worse. As the weather continues to warm up, we're seeing more and more color popping up around The Serpico House. Some of it is almost startling--I need to take a picture of the enormous number of green stalks popping up next to our front steps. Mrs. Serpico, my hat is off to you... so many plantings!

Something I've been considering lately... it may make sense for us to hire out for our first lawn-cutting and Spring clean-out... mainly because we don't have a lawnmower yet, and it's a hell of a lot cheaper to hire someone to handle that than it is to buy a lawnmower. It already sort of looks like our front lawn is getting a little crazy... we can't let it go for too much longer. Ugh.

Another thought... a "Green Lawn" guy stopped by our place yesterday, trying to sell us his service. Dude doesn't cut grass or work on flower beds. Nope. All he does is come around about six times per year to fertilize the lawn, put down weed-killer and spray some kind of insect repellent. OK, I guess that flies with some of the other folks in the suburbs, but no. Not me. First of all, I don't care if my lawn is perfectly green and insect free. I don't mind crab grass. That shit is in nature, and I'm fine with it showing up in my yard. It's really no big deal. I was polite to him, and I told him we felt our money was probably more wisely invested in a landscaping company. I can throw down fertilizer and grass seed on my own. I wonder how many of my neighbors are going for this? I think it's like $50 per treatment. Screw that. I'll pay that to some kid every other week to cut my grass.

Spring Sprung

See them thar things above? Yep. Flowers. In our yard. Pretty, huh? As the weather gets nicer, it's becoming evident that Mrs. Serpico really liked to plant things, because we're seeing little sprouts and full-on flowers popping up everywhere in out yard. I'm bad with flower/plant names, but I know we have tulips and forsythias. So that's cool.

And remember the ivy-removal project? I got a quote from a landscaper on that--the dude says he needs $350 to get it all out of there, mainly because it's all wrapped around the fence, and it'll be a lot of work. I think I'm going to get another estimate on the job, but I think $350 isn't too bad... it really does look like a lot of work. Having said this much, I can't help thinking I might haggle with this guy a little and see if his crew will add a leaf clean-out for that price. I also think I'll want to get a second estimate from another landscaper. Someone else might come in a little cheaper, and there's pretty much next to no way that they can mess this up.

Another thought, though... I really need to discuss this whole thing with our next-door neighbor before moving forward with the full ivy-removal plan. The ivy is growing heavily on the fence that separates our yards, and he may want it there for some reason. It definitely gives his yard more privacy, that's for sure--I actually can't see into his yard at all from ours. I really hope he's OK with getting rid of it. Obviously, if he doesn't agree to this, the ivy on his side of the fence will just creep back over into our yard in time, making our efforts and expenditure in vain.

So... we shall see.

The Yard

After making yesterday's post, I realized it makes no sense to just say the yard needs work without actually showing what I mean....

So this is one of the flower beds towards the back of the yard. I've swept out enough of the leaves to show the nice shape. It's cool, right? If we pull out all of the weeds and truly clear out the leaves, it'll look really lovely. But we've got to do battle with stuff like this first...

First, you can see the massive amount of ivy and overgrowth. There's actually a raised bed with a short retaining wall around it, but it's covered with ivy, which is also covering the entire back stone wall. And, as a testament to Mrs. Serpico's failure to maintain the yard diligently, perhaps you can see the "mystery lawnmower" under that bush... alongside a plastic trash bag of... something. These items became visible only after the leaves fell off of the trees. I'm guessing we'll need to get them out of there eventually.


This is the corner of our yard next to our neighbor's yard. They obviously don't mind the ivy, but the amount of ivy in our yard is ridiculous. It's out of hand. Too much. I don't think we can pull all of that ivy out of there without some serious help. Hell, I don't want to pull that ivy out of there.
Yes, somewhere back behind that ivy is a nice stone wall.

OK, I've convinced myself. I'm calling a landscaping company.

Leaves, Gutters and You.

Yesterday, Avy worked on the house by herself for a while, since I was at work. She tore up some more carpet and whatnot. The place is looking better by the minute, and that funky smell is slowly but surely disappearing--thank god.

Funnily enough, Avy says the smell didn't seem too bad to her until she started working on the floors by herself. She says it hit her kind of suddenly when she pulled up a chunk of carpet in the bedroom.

But never mind that... let's talk about leaves, shall we?

This new neighborhood is full of trees, which is really quite lovely, especially in the fall/winter, with the leaves changing colors and falling, etc. But you know what's not so great about leaves? They fall on your house and wind up in your rain gutters, especially if your house is old-school, like The Serpico House. Long story short, I snuck a peek at the gutters over the weekend, and I was not pleased. The gutters are in fine shape, actually, but they're full of leaves. This is bad.

Leaves are the enemies of gutters--they clog them up and cause water to go places we don't want it to go... like into the house or the foundation of the house. Not good. I was able to sort of quickly push the leaves out of one gutter over the weekend, but most of the roof isn't too accessible without a ladder (and I ain't got one yet), so I had to accept the fact that I will not be able to to clear the gutters completely for a while. It sucks, but I have to think that if the gutters were OK thus far, they will be OK for a while longer.

I'm thinking it would be pretty sweet to upgrade our gutters to these bad boys...

I don't know what these things cost, but I'm gonna guess it's expensive--whenever they don't list the price online, you know it's not cheap. Damned if this doesn't look like a really good idea, though, but I'm going to ignore this option for a while. I can clean gutters until I can afford to add the snazzy, self-cleaning kind.

I really don't like the idea of climbing around on the roof, pawing leaves out of the gutters, but it's obviously not beyond the realm of my abilities. It's obviously not a complex activity, but it's not pleasant. And paying someone to do it? Well, I don't mind paying for a valuable service, but I also don't have money for that kind of stuff.

Of course, there are other options. Like this thing, for example.

Seems pretty straight-forward, right? We just received a lovely leaf-blower as a gift from my folks (they no longer have a yard since they live in a high-rise condo now), so all I need to get would be the additional kit in order to make this happen, and then I could stand on the ground to do this. I like that idea. No ladders. Yes.

The Goods.

So, you've got the back story, but let's face it... what you really want to see is the actual place, right?

Well, OK. Let's have a look. This is "The Serpico House" as you arrive at the driveway.




Pretty respectable and grown-up, right? Avy's pretty grown-up. Xavier's kind of respectable. I am neither of these things. Oh well, every neighborhood has one house that lowers the property values for everyone. I can't wait to litter that yard with car parts and an old refrigerator!

Kidding. I'm kidding. I will mow the lawn and trim the hedges like a good neighbor. Nobody will have any idea about the many depraved, low-class things happening behind closed doors at The Serpico House. Muahhahhahah... or something.

Let's walk in...




Yes, I see it. The corners of the steps need fixing. I'll get on it. I've already looked into the proper methods for repairing broken concrete steps, and I promise to get started as soon as possible. We haven't even signed the papers yet, OK? Sheesh.

Let's skip the front door (it's a door, ok?) and check out the living room.



As you can see, we used a wide-angle lens to capture as much of the room as possible, but I think you get the general idea here. The furniture may or may not be left behind when we take possession of the place. If it hangs around, we'll pick and choose, and then... hello, Craigslist. We are not too proud to make a few bucks online. Nope.

The carpets are as dismal and generally foul as they look, but we have reason to believe a nice hardwood lies beneath these gross, smelly things. And, yes, that's a real fireplace.... a gas fireplace with a remote control. Yep. I think that's gonna be pretty sweet once winter comes around, which, by the looks of things, is probably tomorrow. What happened to fall?


This is a view of the living room from a different angle. The fireplace would be behind you and to your left if you took this picture.. but you didn't take this picture, so stop taking credit for it. Oh yeah, those people in the picture? That'd be my dad (Bob) on the right and my mom (Shelly) on the left. That's the realtor in the middle, holding the toy truck. Just kidding. It's Xavier, the Smallest of Bears, leading the tour. He walked in there like he owned the joint from the very beginning. I think he knew something we didn't.

Right off the bat, I can tell you we are gonna try to sell that fugly mirror on the wall there. I'm pretty sure the owners aren't taking it. I will hope against hope that they will, but I doubt we will be so lucky.

Next, the dining room.



Pretty standard fare. More stinky carpet. I am, once again, hoping the furniture will be leaving, but, if it stays, I think Avy wants to keep the hutch thingy. Personally, I don't like those things, but she likes it, so... happy wife, happy life, right? I really hate the chandelier. I want that gone immediately... I'm thinking recessed lighting, or, if we can't do that, at least something that will sit closer to the ceiling. Call me odd if you want, but I don't like the idea of some big dangly wood and metal thing hanging from a chain over my head while I am eating. Oh yeah, you can't see it, but there's a bay window to the right. Pretty sweet.

Here comes a horror show. The kitchen.

Why, yes, that is, indeed, carpet. In the kitchen. What the hell? And... um.. yeah. A drop ceiling. And shiny wood paneling. And coral-colored counter tops. Don't ask me why the Serpicos wanted their kitchen to look like an office building crossed with a log cabin crossed with.. um.. something coral-colored, but it probably has something to do with sticking it to the man. Anyway... this is what we've got, so we're gonna see if we can make it work somehow. Avy says she will learn to tile. I say... YAY. Because I don't think I would be any good at tiling at all. And, yeah... you are seeing the washer and dryer at the end, there. On the plus side, everything in this room is absolutely immaculate, and we've been told that everything works perfectly. The Serpicos apparently took very good care of their things. I believe it. Aside from the rug being nasty, the place is immaculate.

There's a little half bath next to the kitchen...




Nothing earth-shattering... but there's frickin' carpet in there, too. Ugh. And I think we want to see about getting some different lighting, a different, non-medicine chest mirror and possibly a smaller sink. And ditching the carpet. So yeah, you know... not a lot of stuff to change here, right? Ugh.

But this is nice...



One thing Mrs. Serpico did correctly was build a nice patio and take care of her yard. She obviously loved the outdoors, and you really get the idea that she spent a lot of time out on this lovely little patio. The back yard is pretty large, and Xavier already loves it. He's only visited it twice, but he's checked out every corner already.

OK, we'll go upstairs tomorrow.