April Showers

April has been a wet month.  According to weather.com, the average for Woodinville is 3.77".  The rain gauge on our deck in the backyard measured 5.85".  That is quite a bit of rain for "April Showers".  That's okay though, we are being told that it might get to 80+ degrees this weekend, and if that's what it takes for Spring to arrive...we will patiently wait.

More good news is that the grass we planted is doing fabulous!  We fertilized it and then it rained some more this past weekend and earlier this week.  Once the sun comes out and really starts shining on it, it should look even better.  Stay tuned for more pictures of the lawn...

Fireplace Phase 2

Jason (our contractor) showed up Tuesday around lunch time to do the gas line work at our house.  He has done a lot of work at our house during various phases (kitchen, new heat pump, etc...) and we have always been very pleased with his work.  And again, that continues to be the case.  He got the gas line and electrical outlet easily installed in the fireplace, so we should be ready for the gas insert to be installed on the 29th.  Here are some shots of his handy work...

 

The funny part of the story involves Indy (of course).  Indy gets to meet everyone that comes over to the house to do work, however, we usually keep her outside or locked in another area of the house while they work.  Mostly for her to stay out of the person's way, and to keep her from darting out of an open door.

Anyway, Jared met Jason at our house and introduced Indy.  They were fast friends and in no time she was right there with him in the hot water area looking at what Jason was doing.  After Jared got everything all worked out with Jason, he left and asked Jason to lock up when he was done.   When Jared left, Indy was outside -- and when Jared returned later that afternoon, Jason had left and locked up, but prior to leaving Jason apparently let Indy back into the house because Indy was waiting at the door for Jared when he arrived home.  Everyone loves Indy!

The Harp Parents

Mom and Dad Harp came to visit us after their long winter's nap in Yuma, AZ!  Actually, they had been back in Idaho for a couple of weeks and then came over for five days to visit with us.

Jared was off Thursday and Friday to take them around to see a few sights.  The weather forecast stated that it wasn't really going to be too nice; rainy and cool, even for April.  However, Thursday we got a bit of a  surprise!

We made our way up north to La Conner which lies on the Swinomish Channel which separates the main land (near Mt. Vernon) with Fidalgo Island (which has Anacortes on its tip).  It's a quaint little town with lots of neat, unique, shops.  We ate lunch at the Nell Thorn Restaurant & Pub (as seen above) and it was DELICIOUS.  As you can see, we had some great sun, and not just for this shot, but pretty much all day long.  Apparently it was cloudy and a bit drizzly all day in the Seattle area though!

After doing some browsing around, we jumped in the car and headed across the channel to Fidalgo Island and then out to Deception Pass State Park.  We parked near an ocean bay (Bowman Bay) and hiked out to Rosario Head.  Rosario Head is a "head-shaped" peninsula that houses some fairly famous tide-pooling when there are really low tides.  Well, today, no low tides, but we still got some great scenery, sun, and wildlife viewing!

Mom was pretty excited about spotting some Harlequin Ducks which apparently are a bit rare to spot.  (picture below was not taken by us, but gives a good idea of what they look like)

After that, we headed down across the famous Deception Pass Bridge and stopped just briefly to go take a look off the Bridge.  Mom and Dad had crossed this bridge a few times in the past but had always been in too big of a hurry to stop and really enjoy this beautiful area.

Then, we were off, back to Woodinville.  It was a glorious day!

Friday was a bit more like the forecast had stated.  So, we kept it a bit more close to home.  We just ventured over to Carnation and in particular, Tolt-MacDonald Park.  The park is at the confluence of the Tolt and Snoqualmie rivers.  There are a lot of really nice trails and great swimming holes for the dogs!  We also ventured out across the suspension bridge and over to the hilly side where we did some nice hiking up the hill.

This too turned out to be a pretty nice day overall!

Saturday we decided to head over to Seattle to enjoy some big city livin!  Kristina could join us this time since the weekend was here!  We showed them around Westlake, which is central downtown Seattle.  We rode the monorail to the Seattle Center (Space Needle) since they had never done that before.  The highlight, of course, was eating at Serious Pie.  Serious Pie is a "Seattle-style" pizza place with some odd-sounding pizzas on the menu, but don't let them scare you... they are GOOD!  As is their unique salads.  And, of course, there is the coconut cream pie.  Serious Pie is a "Tom Douglas Restaurant".  He's a very famous chef that owns several restaurants in Seattle, and one thing he is most famous for is the Coconut Cream Pie.  Yeah, its that good.

After wandering a bit, we headed to North Seattle (Ballard to be specific).  We had dinner reservations at Ray's Boathouse, which is right on the ocean's edge.  You get great views of the sun setting as you eat your dinner.  We all had a great meal!

Sunday we just relaxed and decompressed, getting ready for the upcoming week.  Mom and Dad were able to stay through Monday, so they got to do a bit more relaxing on Monday while Kristina and I were at work.  They were off on Tuesday morning and headed back to Idaho.  It was great to see them!

Next Up -- The Fireplace Phase 1

We have been wanting to update our fireplace ever since we bought the house.  You can tell by looking at it, that it is the original 1984 fireplace with a wood burning insert.  In addition to it not looking good, it was questionable as to whether it was safe to burn anything in it.  That being said, we have just let it sit for 2 1/2 years, waiting for an opportunity to have it re-done.

For those of you that haven't see it, here's a before picture.  Now keep in mind this picture was being taken as the new carpet was installed.  In addition we had just ripped out the built-ins on both side of the fireplace - which is why the drywall looks "wet".  That being said, just ignore that and look at the fireplace itself.

BEFORE

So we had the old one ripped out and removed (insert too), and then we had the fireplace completely rebuilt.  The plan is to put a gas insert into it fireplace so we can avoid the mess of wood.  Additionally, it looked like someone had ripped out the damper (prior to us).  So this is what the fireplace looks like now...

AFTER

We wanted something with texture so that it gave it more depth.  We also wanted it elevated a bit so that you could actually sit on the hearth.  The team of people that came in and did the job, did a GREAT job.  Here are some up close shots so you can see the details.

And last but not least a side view. 

Next up is the gas line...we thought it was already ran over there, but not quite.  We have a contractor coming in on the 23rd to remedy that.  The gas insert should then be installed on the 29th.  Or at least that's the story, we'll see if it actually happens.

Yard 2013 -- Phase 3 Completed

Well, the final phase of the yard is done (or at least for now).  Jared had 6 cubic yards of rock delivered to the house on Friday afternoon.  You would think after moving all of the dirt and bark the previous weekend that he would take a weekend off -- not Jared!  He is a glutton for punishment.

The yard's "stream bed" was basically a mud hole and needed the rock after being cleaned out.  And unfortunately, the weather wasn't as nice this weekend as it was Easter weekend.  We ended up getting more than 2" of rain in a period of 3 days.  That being said, it just exacerbated the mud even more so. 

Jared did most of the shoveling this time by himself.  Since Jared's parents are coming for a visit this week, Kristina had to spend most of her time inside cleaning, washing, and preparing for guests.  She did come out and help later in the afternoon after she took Indy for a walk.  She filled up several wheelbarrows of rock and had Jared rest while she did that.  Jared very much appreciated the needed break.

The stream bed looked great!  This is prior to being done completely, but you can see the BIG difference.  WOW!  Jared also build a little "bridge" across the stream bed so that the riding lawn tractor can easily navigate it.  Kristina thought of the idea of using cinder blocks.  Jared wanted something strong, but it couldn't dam up the water though either.  Kristina suggested cinder blocks and Jared implemented them beautifully!

After completing the stream bed...we continued our path gravel out into the stream bed and then had it meet up with the more coarse gravel.  This way we have a nice path to walk on, but water doesn't carry away the smaller path gravel.  By the way, the remaining dirt patches are supposed to be there...they are filling holes and grass seed is currently planted on those spots.

 

In addition to completing the stream bed, we carried it further back towards the Tolt Pipeline Trail where the water drains.  It looks much more finished now. 

The coarse gravel was also added to the barrier of Indy's fence.  Grass likes to grow there and she likes to eat the grass, so we are hoping to alleviate this by adding the new gravel.  We think this will provide more separation between her and grass.  She LOVES to eat grass.

And here's a shot looking from the shed in the back and "up stream".

We added some of the new gravel to the mailbox area as well and near a water valve box.  Again, it just gives it a more finished look (hopefully). 

And, the empty driveway!  YAHOO!  All of the gravel was actually done and moved by Saturday evening!  Way to go Jared!