TGI-Friday: Patio Demo, Landscaping & House Video’s
It’s time for another TGI-Friday! We’ve had so much going on these past few weeks, it’s been hard to keep up with everything! A proper update is definitely due!
If you follow me on Instagram, and if you watched my Stories, you saw that last week we worked on demo’ing our back patio for the new patio installation. We were scheduled to have the work done this week, we just weren’t sure when they’d be here, but they started all the prep work today! Needless to say, it’s an exciting day around here! They should be finished next week… we’re both so excited to have a new patio!
In all honesty, demo’ing the patio went much easier than we were expecting. It was still a full day, but it came out in nice big sections, which made the process feel like it was going faster. It also helped that the old concrete was in rough shape, so we used the existing cracks to help tear up what was already there.
While we were demo’ing the patio in the back yard, we had a crew working on installing the new landscaping curbing in the front yard. It’s so amazing to see just how much the curbing elevated our front exterior. It added such a nice touch, and we are so close to having grass! It’s felt like a long time in the making, but we’re finally to that point and hopefully in the next few weeks I’ll be able to share another big update.
With it being close to the end of summer, the majority of our landscaping plants will come next year. Honestly, just having grass will feel like a major accomplishment, and definitely something to celebrate!
In other news:
- In case you missed it, a few days ago we had our one year house anniversary! It’s hard to believe it’s already been a year, but it’s so fun seeing all the progress we’ve made. Turning this house into our home has been so enjoyable and exciting. It’s really transforming into something beautiful, and I made a few video’s to share our progress. The first video is from when we bought the house and it’s the original tour, showing right where we started. The second, is focused on where we’re at today with the house… there’s already such a difference! You can watch both of those video’s here.
- It’s officially canning season, and next week on the blog I’m deeming it “Canning Week”. Our house came with an apple tree in the back yard, and I’m taking full advantage of it, as well as the peach tree our neighbors have graciously shared with us. Canning has always been such a huge part of my childhood and even though it can be time consuming, it’s something I enjoy! Look for a few new canning recipes next week!
- I finally ordered an olive tree for the office. I ended up finding a different one that I liked better than the one I originally chose in my office design plan. This is the one I ended up buying and it should be arriving next week. I can’t wait to get it!
- We’re headed to Hawaii, Oahu specifically, in September and we’ve been searching for fun places to visit, things to do and good places to eat. Do you have any “must” visit places? If so, please feel free to share! 🙂
I’m looking forward to next week… now, off to start canning! It’s going to be a busy weekend!
Look up Funkyjunkinteriors.net out of BC. She has travelled to Hawaii & has blogged about many wonderful places to visit!
Another truly creative soul!
Love how it is all coming together. Your yard is going to be fantastic! Can’t remember any restaurants on Oahu but go to the market in Honolulu. It’s fun to check out.
Love watching the house turn into your home. We love Oahu, be sure to visit Haleiwa, Giovanni’s Shrimp Shack (food truck) Mike’s Huli Huli Chicken near, the crater, Waikiki Beach, snorkeling, Chinamen’s Hat, Ko Olina , enjoy!
Love it! Enjoy your vacation- you deserve it!!
Funky Junk Interiors – a young blogger, would be a great contact for you to make to learn about Hawaii. You would love her blog and get a ton of info for your trip to Hawaii as she goes there a lot.
Sure enjoy your blog.
Do you have a good apple butter recipe, and how to can it? That would be extremely helpful… thanks!
I’ve never made apple butter, but it’s on my list! 🙂
Haleiwa Joe’s on the North shore was great, there is (was? It’s been a few years 🙂 ) a great coffee shop in Haleiwa as well that had amazing fresh pineapple or chocolate chip cookie milkshakes. Outside of the town there is a great little beach where the huge turtles come up onto the sand and you can get very close to them.
Pearl Harbor! So much more meaningful in person than I was expecting. We stayed on the north shore, way more peaceful than Honolulu which honestly reminds me of LA. Our hotel found us a local ranch that did trail rides which was a great way to see parts of Oahu that you wouldn’t normally get to see. Also spent a day driving around the outer edge of the island and stopping every time we saw something beautiful. Have a wonderful vacation!
Our favorites were snorkeling at Hanauma Bay (gorgeous), Dole Plantation has a beautiful botanical garden, and we loved the tour seeing all of the different crops, and you have to get a Dole whip or sorbet. Also, Duke’s restaurant for the hula pie!! I suggest getting the book Oahu Revealed. I used it to plan our itinerary.