The Man with a Plan (and a chainsaw)

One of the most important sources of help in the process of both purchasing and renovating this property has been my parents. They have been amazingly supportive in almost every manner conceivable, from financial assistance to blood, sweat, tears, and an amazing amount of time and effort. They have driven here from Lafayette nearly every weekend since this project commenced, and that fact that I have not yet highlighted what they have helped me accomplish is really a bit embarrassing. To give you an idea of how incredibly generous they have been with their time, I can tell you that they were both down here on both Mother's Day and Father's Day this year. Thank you, thank you, thank you Mom and Dad for being so supportive, generous, and wonderfully helpful.

One of the first things Dad did when he donned his working overalls was to remove the Japanese magnolia from the front of the house. The tree was sure to bloom beautifully, and offered some shade to the porch, so the decision to remove it was a difficult one. However, the fact that it was leaning against the house was an invitation to disaster; termites, moisture, and/or wind-related damage were eventually going to result from its position, and pruning it was simply not going to alleviate those risks. Furthermore, the thing was planted directly over the water main which supplies the house with water from the street, and I was afraid that damage to this pipe from its roots was inevitable.

So, the weekend after the first big plumbing push, Dad drives down from Lafayette and starts to tackle some outdoor projects, chief among these being (so he thinks) the removal of the tree. It was a Friday, and he was able to come in while I was still at work. I called him from the office early afternoon to see how it was coming along, and he said with the most casual emphasis, "Well, the tree's down." Not half an hour later I got an email from Jean-Paul, who had driven by to retrieve his "SOLD!" sign. He was *very* complimentary of the new look, so I was dying to get home to see it. When I got home, here is what I saw. AWESOME!





The difference is, in fact, pretty amazing, as the gingerbread and front porch are, in my opinion, quite nice looking. With a new pain job (somewhere down on the list of things I plan to do) it's going to sing. Here's another, more recent picture after a little yardwork and the addition of the ficus trees from my old apartment.

The other big outdoor project Dad tackled that weekend was the fence in the backyard. To be perfectly honest, that fence is somewhat of an enigma. It was built using a large amount of treated lumber (read: expensive), but its design leaves a *lot* to be desired. The fence was built in odd sections, with a small, 1.5-2 ft section at the bottom and maybe a 6 ft. section on top. The fenceposts were treated 4x4's, which with age have leaned, warped, and in some cases fallen down.


There was a big pile of lumber in the backyard that had apparently come from the downed sections of the fence, and Dad was able to use these to basically reconstruct the fence along the entire back property line. He even did battle with banana plants and helped reconstruct the neighbor's shed in the process, and I think even he was a bit surprised at how much effort this fence took compared to the earlier tree removal.



I am embarrassed to say, I can't find a picture of the completed fence. Here's a shot of the work in progress; I promise to add a picture of the finished work soon.