home improvement

September 21st might’ve officially marked the last day of Summer, but this past weekend signalled the real end of the season — the final grass-cutting of the year.

And so it was with a heavy heart that Liam & I dragged out our trusty lawnmowers and gave the yard what’s likely to be the last grooming for the season.   For those who know us, you’re probably all too aware of just how much mowing the grass has quickly become one of Liam’s most-treasured pasttimes since Dede & Karen bought his bubble mower back in July.

Liam always lights up when mowing time comes around and toils with unflagging resolve to keep up with me even in spite of the thick St. Augustine turf that bogs his little mower (and feet) down.   Even with sweat rolling off of his little brow, the tireless tot just keeps going — it absolutely breaks his little heart when the job is done and we have to put away our equipment.

He’s so enamored with helping with the yardwork that he’s still reeling from the trauma caused when Clems borrowed our (real) lawnmower last month and we were out of commission for several days!   And Clems still gets a sound scolding from Liam (including some fierce finger-wagging) anytime the topic comes back up!

I can only hope that leaf-raking will be a suitable substitute…

The combination of old shingles and some recent storms with very high winds led to many of Permian Basin area home with roofing problems.   Although we couldn’t detect the damage, it seems that we were among those.

But it seems that the timing was fortunate — having just finished our master bath renovation about 3 weeks ago, our ever-reliable contractor Truett was available to tackle another project that Dede has wanted to do for several years.   We decided that this would be a good time to cover our patio so the roofing work on that could be done at the same time as the new shingles are being installed on the rest of the house.   Yup, so even while we’re still rebounding & cleaning up from the bathroom redo, we’ve launched into yet another large home improvement project.

Here’s a pre-construction shot of our back yard with the then-uncovered patio:

And here’s a peek at the first day’s progress:

It’s at odd times like these that my inner nerd kicks in and I start wondering about silly things like the term "patio."   A little Googling revealed that patio is a Spanish word originating in the 1800s that typically refers to a courtyard or paved area adjoining a house.   I also learned that, since we’re covering our patio, it’s now more appropriately considered a "veranda."   While it sounds like a Spanish word — especially when I use my best Antonio Banderas voice — veranda is actually a term imported from India that refers to a gallery or porch with a roof supported by columns.

I like the sound of that.   Veranda.   Who knew we were so multicultural?

I’ll post more photos as this project progresses, but in the meantime, you can peruse our 2Dolphins Resort & Spa page for revealing looks at most of the other areas of our house & ongoing home improvement efforts.
 

Our much-needed, perpetually-delayed master bathroom renovation project is finally underway!

Our master bath’s step-in shower developed a slow leak into an exterior wall, so we’ve been planning on gutting the tiny bathroom and remedying the problem before it could cause any real structural damage.   We’ve been working towards this for well over a year, saving our pennies, assembling materials, & finalizing design choices while our trusty contractor Truitt has been tied up on another job that kept expanding.

The layers of construction dust settling throughout the house and the mess are a challenge (to say the least!) but since this is a room that sees heavy use everyday, we’re excited to finally have the makeover in progress!   We’ll update the Master Bath page soon, but in the meantime, here’s a teaser glimpse of the new glass block shower stall:

Be sure to check out our 2Dolphins Resort & Spa page for revealing looks at most of the other areas of our house and our ongoing home improvement efforts.