New Year, New House: Outdoor Edition

We bought our house in late February 2020 and have been working on improving it bit by bit. Here's a photo recount of our adventures.

Backyard Cleanup, Lock Replacement, and Gutters

The previous owners had three dogs who mostly lived outside in the backyard, which was apparent when we went to do the final walkthrough. There was a bit of back and forth between our real estate agent and theirs about the mess, which our agent referred to as "dog dirt", and we ended up inheriting some cleanup work to keep closing on track. I had a work trip the day after closing, so the trade off was better than delaying the process another week or more. Once I got back, we cleaned up and put pea gravel down in places that were previously open dirt or covered in plywood.

I've learned I really like replacing and rekeying locks! I had to figure out the name of locking mechanism in the photo below. It's a mortise lock! From there, I ordered new cylinders and replaced them on our back gate. The locks on the house were standard.

The gutters on the house were secured by metal straps affixed to the roof. They were full of junk and swinging back and forth, doing obvious damage to the roof, so we had them replaced with a much more stable setup including supports for the gutters to rest against.

Planter Boxes and Raised Beds

We decided to build our own planter boxes and raised beds instead of purchasing them so we could tailor their sizes to our space. It was a lot of fun, though I'm not the biggest fan of pocket screw joints. After we planted our garden beds, birds kept decapitating our baby plants, so we put up netting to protect them while they established themselves. Our first growing season went really well overall!

Shed, Front Bed, and More Backyard Updates

We got a shed to store bikes and tools in the backyard where they'd be more accessible than moving things back and forth from the basement. We also weeded and mulched the front bed and enjoyed the hostas and lilies the previous owners had planted. As we eased into summer, we put a hammock up in the pavilion in the backyard and enjoyed the blooms of our very happy hibiscus plant and surprise morning glories creeping along our south fence. We replaced the light fixtures on the pavilion, and—in preparation for winter—installed a heat lamp. Our outdoor space has been a real gift during quarantine this year. Oh! Rachel also made a cool wreath of twigs for our front door. We'll plan to decorate the raven for the different holidays.