We've been FRAMED!

So we're back from our adults-only vacation, most of which I spent shooting photography. Arriving home tonight, I couldn't help but chuckle about the title of our blog post- a witty pun on the newest development in the pool that ties into my last 5 days. Have I lost you yet? Anyone get my dumb-dumb humor? Hello? Crickets? I must be losing my touch...

In any event, the back yard has been transformed into a working template of what will soon become the patio deck, pool and hot tub. Woo Woo!!!!!

I've got to admit that over the past few weeks, any time that I looked at the back yard or drawings I kind of thought that our pool wasn't going to be *that* big. Upon looking over the back yard tonight, I'm thinking it's looking a lot bigger!

The choo-choo train has left the station and is beginning to pick up speed! Hopefully the summer storms will keep away for a few days so that the guys can have good weather to start digging in. Stay tuned!

Standing in the hot tub!

And So It Begins....

Dude, it's ON! It's so on like Donkey Kong! I think I've said this before, but this time I really mean it. Dreamscapes showed up today to start work. 

And guess what? Dave and I are in freaking MILWAUKEE!!! We're not even there in person to see the fun go down.

Luckily, not much happened today, other than general grating. Take a look at the video grandma sent us today. I know that we're on vacation and all for 5 days, but I cannot wait to get back and see the progress. I'm sick, I know this. 

Going Down For Real

Looky look what came today!!!! It's on like Donkey Kong :)

Dreamscapes will be here by the end of the week to start the big dig. OF COURSE we'll be out of town for the next 5 days and miss the first few days of work. Murphy's Law, I guess.

But I should be happy- we're getting a pool! SOON!

Stay tuned, folks....

It's getting hot in here... SO HOT

Let me put it this way: Our house is a HOT MESS. It's been 10 days since the back yard became a blank slate... and in those last 10 days, we've not had any forward progress. I can't tell you how many people ask me on a daily basis if we had a giant hole in our yard yet. To these folks I emphatically respond: NO.

Dave did some digging last week at City Hall to check on permitting, and they said that permits had indeed been filed, and were in the final stages. Yippy! Since it seems that local government works at slower than a snail's pace, Dave made another call to the pool company today to see if THEY had any news. Yes, they do! Permits are all done, approved, and they'll be coming out either later this week or next with the equipment to start digging.

Now let's take a moment to talk about that 'HOT' part... We were noticing last week that the back of the house (our bedroom, mainly) was feeling really warm all of a sudden. A couple of days went by, and it dawned on me like a smack to the head- now that the large oak tree behind the house is gone, there's little shade on the back of house!!!!!! Our house faces east, with the back of the house facing directly west.  Oh damn. 

Now the question begs to be asked: How are we going to fix this!?! Oh, and for those of you who actually read this blog and don't live in Orlando, we've been having temperatures in the mid-upper 90's the past week (some of the hottest in decades). Even as I write this, I walked to the back of the house, and it's got to be at least 10* warmer. Oy! An unexpected plot twist... which I'm sure is just the first of a lot!

The good news is that Dave and his friend Bill put the back fence all the way back up, so the neighbors won't be treated to me walking through the house sans pants anymore. 

Until the next update, stay cool my friends. 

A Blank Slate

It ain't pretty, folks

It is done. The back yard has officially been torn down enough to bring it back from the dead. I think I shall call the back yard Lazarus...

The past 2 days have been all tree work. Seminole Tree came out on Wednesday and cut down the rest of the two trees we *originally* planned to take out. As Dave and I surveyed the damage that evening, we agreed to take down the dying orange tree at the back fence line and the half-dead ligustrum in the corner. Let's wipe it all out and start clean we said.

Yesterday they came out and finished the job. The other 2 trees came down and all stumps have been ground. Anyone need some oak or camphor mulch? All I could smell this morning as I let Alani out is the camphor shreds- yes, my back yard has been turned into a pit of Vick's Vaporub.

The irrigation guy came out a day early as well. The back yard sprinklers have been capped and the main controls have been moved in order to put the pool pump goods where the once stood. What does this mean? WE ARE READY TO GO! Like a surgeon preps a patient for an operation, our back yard has been prepped for its 'surgery'.

The only difference is that we now wait until the big 'surgery' starts.... Still waiting on permits to be finished. Apparently the city of Maitland can be somewhat difficult with permitting and whatnot. Hopefully this gets wrapped up soon, we are chomping at the bit to swim!

Check out some more photos of the carnage, and let me know if you want any of that oak mulch :)

 Well hey neighbor! Can I borrow a cup of sugar?

"Feats of strength"

Oak mulch for sale!

Day One... COMPLETE!

The madness has begun! Dave texted me about 9:30 this morning to say that Tom from Seminole Tree Surgeons had arrived, and he was loading the tractor in the back yard to start the tree demolition. As you can tell from the picture above, demolish my back yard they did! I cannot get over how big the back yard looks without the shade of these two trees. Interesting.

Lucky Dave got to work from home and watch the progress first hand as they slowly started to pick away at the large oak tree. Since the entrance to our back yard wasn't big enough to get his cherry picker truck in the back yard, Tom actually had to climb the oak to take it down limb by limb. As a gal that's wicked afraid of heights AND electricity, this is beyond my comprehension. You see, part of the oak was very near the major power lines that run across the back of our fence line. One wrong cut, and Dommerich would be powerless. Luckily, he's a pro, and no one had to sacrifice their cool A/C.

As I write this and look over the pictures, I still cannot believe what our back yard has turned into! Although it looks like a F2 tornado ran through our property, I know that in a few short months, this landscape will be gorgeous. Dave and I even lent our hand in taking out a couple of bushes in anticipation of the irrigation company coming over on Friday to move the system. We're going to feel that in the morning!

Enjoy the following pictures- there will be more tomorrow as they come back and finish the land clearing.

 Reef contemplates a life of tree climbing

My little guy and the big tree

 Back yard shenanigans in the tractor

 What a mess!

Reduced to just a trunk!

The Johnsons are at it again!

Well, here we go! We've decided to put in a pool. Well, let me clarify, Dave agreed to shut me up and put in a pool. Sounds a bit more accurate. But I know once this is all said and done, he'll agree that we should have done this a LOT sooner.

AND, here I go again with the blogging of our next adventure. I've done a few blogs with our past house and car remodels, and apparently 'My People' have spoken that they demand another blog of the process (yes, read this with thick, dripping sarcasm). I honestly didn't think that many people have read my posts, but... If the people want it, the people get it!

When we bought our Camelot house in 2012, I had really wanted to get a home with a pool, but that was not on the table. Flash forward to 2015, when we have two small kids who are practically amphibians... And I can't help but think of any other way to make Casa Johnson the ultimate party palace.

We finally decided to pull the trigger in April of 2015. I put a blurb out on social media asking friends to send recommendations of good pool companies in town. And yes, I said, please tell me of the bad ones- companies I'll know not to even waste my time with. I had 3 main criteria for the pool: hot tub, sun pad and no bird cage. These options were not up for debate. I didn't really need any fancy water features, rocks or fancy lights. Just make sure I can lay in the shallow end with a margarita in my hand and get some sun, ok?

We identified a couple of companies, and my wonderful salesman of a husband agreed to start making calls (I'm not a cold-calling type of gal). You would not believe how many companies didn't even respond back to Dave's inquiries- whether they were online or phone inquiries. It's kind of overwhelming the number of pool companies that are in the greater Orlando area. It's even more overwhelming to realize how many of these companies have less-than-stellar sales departments.

Without getting into some online bashing of named companies, I will simply refer to the two who lost our business as 'A' and 'B'. Anyone who reads the blog and has a further interest in knowing these company names can contact me directly. Anywhoo... Guy #1 from company A met with us at the end of April. He said all of the right things, was personable and knowledgeable enough, and seemed like a good quality businessman who stood behind his work. Only downside was that he couldn't start until after the start of August. He shook our hands and said he'd get back to us within 5 days with a drawing.

THREE WEEKS passed without hearing from Guy #1 from company A. Seriously?? And when he DID get back to us, it was a rough hand-sketch. Sorry pal, you're out of the running. Buh-Bye.

Guy #2 came by the house a week later with a slicker-than-oil salesman pitch. I despised him, Dave said the guy wasn't that bad, but I disagreed as I headed for a shower to wash his slimy sales-pitch off myself. He actually got back to us within 3 days with a computer rendering. NOW we were getting somewhere! It wasn't the full 100% definite layout we were looking for, but it was a good start.

Guy #3 from Dreamscapes Pools came by in early May, and while I wasn't able to meet him, he (and his company) ended up being our guy for the job. YIPPY!

Here's a rendering of what he proposed for our back yard. It's got a hot tub, sun pad, swim out along the back edge, two small waterfalls (didn't anticipate needing this, but looks cool!), two fire bowls (how cool!?) and some sweet LED lighting. Although I've not seen the lighting concepts, if Dave is excited for it, then I'm all in.

We met Mike, our sales guy, a couple of weeks ago to pick out decking, pool flooring and tile to go around the inside lip of the pool. This is actually starting to become a reality, and getting quite exciting. But OMG, the to-do lists....

• ~Remove 2 trees
• ~Call irrigation company to move the sprinkler controls and cap the back yard sprinklers
• ~Pull permits for the pool (concrete, electrical, etc.)
• ~Have the utility companies come out and mark their lines

As I type this, things are about to FINALLY begin! Our back yard is prepped and ready to lose the 2 trees. A few 'Before' scenes for your viewing pleasure:

Rest easy tonight, back yard. tomorrow everything changes!