House Crashing

I'm blowing the dust off my blog again...I'm just not into it lately. Every other post has been about Shelby or my mom and dad's landscaping, and now that the project is done, I'm really scraping for material.

Shelby is doing better since her latest trips to the vet, but unfortunately the news isn't the greatest. She has chronic kidney failure...basically, she's an old dog and her kidney's are starting to shut down. The good news is that it's not an immediate death sentence...animals with kidney failure can live weeks, months, even years. Right now, she doesn't have any pain, and other than incontinence (um, yeah, that's a doozie), she looks and acts like her normal self. So hopefully this disease doesn't progress terribly fast and she can live out her senior years to the fullest. (I'll have to post a pic of her in Puppy Pampers...as sad as it is, it's really quite funny.)

Beyond that, I was cleaning out my digital camera and stumbled across these pics I took a few weeks ago of Jay's aunt and uncle's house (a different aunt and uncle than the one that hosted his cousin's graduation party) , so I thought it would be fun to do a "house crashing" post. The pictures really don't do it justice...the house, landscaping, and views are just incredible. Check it out - click on the pics to make bigger.

Love the slate roof and stucco exterior. The stucco is something you don't see too often in our area.

They live on a golfcourse with views of a bay that leads out to Lake Michigan in the background.

Jay's aunt said the plan came out of a catalog. I've searched online trying to find it, but haven't had any luck. Mom - click the pic and look next to the rock wall...that's a Harry Lauder Walking Stick, LOL.

This is the main-level laundry room. There's a second in the lower level for guests to use.

This is the butler's pantry and side foyer entry.

Three-season porch with gas fireplace.

This was my absolute favorite part of the kitchen/great room area...the ceiling above the dining table.

This is the lower level game room and wet-bar. All of the guest suites (each room has it's own bath) are on the lower level...the master bedroom is on the main floor.

This is the lower level guest laundry.

The house is in a new development and there are only about 10 houses or so right now. This is the neighbor's house, which is a short walk down the road and is right on the bay. Amazing, isn't it?!

The Dog Drama Continues...

Off to the vet...again! My sister's internet sleuthing seems to point to a urinary tract infection, possibly a side effect from the antibiotics Shelby was taking for her leg surgery. Should know more tomorrow...fingers crossed!

The Big Reveal

Let’s call it like it is…the before is a hot mess, plain and simple. I dug up this pic from 2005 and thought I was confusing it with my Photoshopped masterpiece. The sad thing is that we all thought it looked good at the time. Um, no. We were wrong.

It didn’t start off that way. Some nineteen years ago, the trees and shrubs were little. Over time, everything grew together. Big trees blocked sunlight and the smaller plantings began to look bare. After some selective editing a few years ago, it began to look like a “plant-a-bush-here, plant-a-bush-there” strategy was used.

For the new landscape, the final design is a hybrid of my drawing and the landscaper’s. The garden walls, lighting, annual beds, and boxwood hedge in front of the garage stayed from the landscaper’s plan. The type of shrubs and overall layout is from mine. The landscaper did nix the Magnolia tree…there wasn’t enough room. And I lost out on the Hicks Yews versus Dense Yews for the hedging in front of the windows. But you can’t win ‘em all.

Now, for the big reveal: Ta-da!

Dramatic, isn’t it? Maybe I’m a little biased, but it sure doesn’t look like a 20 year old house to me.

I have to admit, even without a tree to anchor the space, I love it. More importantly, my mom and dad love it. It’s neat, organized, and low maintenance. And the maintenance it will require my parents can do without hanging off a ladder. The cool thing is that they can enjoy the landscape from inside the house as well. From their foyer, there’s a nice view of day lilies, silvery-blue grasses, and the Japanese Maple. Even better, from inside the bedrooms, you can actually see out. What a concept.

One of the best features: The landscape lighting. This was a splurge, but after seeing the dramatic results, it was definitely worth it. This image is pretty true to what you see when driving by at night.

Here’s one taken with flash.

Mom and Dad...it looks beautiful!!!! You should be proud of the end result!

Progress...

The beds are dug, the edging is in, the electrical is complete, and the garden wall was started. Then the rain set in. If the weather cooperates, everything should be finished tomorrow.

Promises, Promises

We just went up to Traverse City for Jay's cousin's high school graduation party. His name is Marty and he had plenty to celebrate with school being over and going off to Michigan State for college. However, it was his girlfriend, Stefani, that stole the show.

When Stefani was young, she caught a virus that ultimately resulted in her needing a heart transplant. So at 8 years old, she went to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota to undergo the operation. Before she went into surgery, she asked her physician, Dr. Mike, if she was going to die. Dr. Mike looked her in the eye and said something along the lines of "not only are you going to live, but I'm going to dance with you at your senior prom."

Stefani and her parents never forgot that promise. When it came time for senior prom, Stefani's mom sent an e-mail to Dr. Mike. And guess who showed up at senior prom to steal a dance away from Marty? You got it...Dr. Mike. Marty was very happy to oblige, LOL.

The CBS Morning Show caught wind of the story and had Stefani, her parents, and Dr. Mike on their show. We watched a video of their appearance at Marty's party last night. I don't think there was a dry eye left in the house.

I wish I would have gotten a picture of Marty and Stefani together, but unfortunately I didn't. You can read more about Stefani's story here.

I Call Dibs

For $88.5 million dollars, I can overlook the hideous shirt. This just has Brokeback Mountain written all over it. Lucky guy.

Photo from Associated Press

And yes, ladies, he's single...

Getting Closer

The landscaping plans are getting better, but the latest still isn't "it." This design incorporates two garden walls and uplighting...some cool features that will definitely make it stand out, especially at night.

My mom and I were on the phone tonight thinking of how to tweak the design, so when you look at the house and landscaping, you just think "wow". I think my biggest heartburn is over the fact that there is no "tree" to anchor the landscape. I don't like some of the shrubs that were selected either.

The funny thing is that I drew up a plan of my own before we saw this latest design, but the two are very similar. I used this picture as my inspiration. My parents called this company to quote the job, however they canceled at the last minute. It's a shame because I think this is beautiful work, but this company is already off to an unreliable start.

I'm not a fan of the "put-a-bush-here, put-a-bush-there" approach - I like groups of the same shrubs planted together because I think it gives a much bigger impact. My OCD is really coming out...even landscaping has to be orderly. Here's what I came up with:

And this time with pictures so you can visualize the various shrubs and bushes.

Whatcha think?