In our last posting, I mentioned "WOW, two postings in one week!". And that was because the major part of remodeling had ended and Ideal Building had moved onto their next great project. Well, it has been over a month since our last post but we have made some progress in the deck addition to our front yard.

Gary called around to quite of few places to get bids on a deck, some never showed up, others gave a bid but then could not follow through. However, Gary found a small company called Remodelling Specialists in the West Seattle Herald. A one-man outfit run by a guy named Clyde Wear, who's been doing small projects for years.

We are really happy with what he did too. As you can see, Clyde ripped out the existing fencing around the front yard and then built up a deck over the same area leaving the garden exposed near the house. What was the fence has been rebuilt as deck railing and we think it adds a lot to the house.

From the front door, there are two steps that lead up to the deck and eventually we will have a small seating area here so that we can sit and enjoy the wonderful Seattle weather during Spring, Summer and Fall.

As you come down the driveway, the deck welcomes you to our home and will be finished off with a new gate under the arbor. The arbor is the only remaining piece from our original fence that Gary and I built a few years ago. The new gate is being built by Clyde off site and we hope to have it installed in the next week or two. Then we can have the dogs out here with us and not have to worry about them running off.

Also, this is a good time to mentioned that the house next door has sold. Michael put the house up for sale a couple of weeks ago and a couple from North Carolina have bought it and will be moving in on July 5th. Several times while showing the house next door, potential buyers and real estate agents were all thinking (or secretly hoping) it was OUR house that was for sale, not Michaels. (OVER OUR DEAD BODY!) Gary and I will be on our vacation to Upstate New York (for my cousin's wedding) and to places unknown on two rented Harley's - so we will come home to new neighbors. They also have a two year old adopted son named Diego. It should be interesting to have a little kid running around, and Gary is hoping that I can get the whole 'wanting to adopt' thing out of my systems if we have a little kid next door. We'll see...