Foster Puppy

On Tuesday, we started fostering a 7 week old sheltie puppy for the Northern Virginia Sheltie Rescue group. We've been involved with them for many years but haven't fostered since we moved to West Virginia. Here are some pictures of the puppy, he's really cute and a lot of fun (and work) so far. He was turned in to NVSR by a breeder who wasn't able to sell him because he is deaf. Enjoy the pictures. He'll most likely be a quick turn around to a permanent home but will be with us at least 2 weeks.

Aren't I Cute?

Tired Out!

Play Time

Plants added to Patio Area

Lots of progress on the front patio so far this week. Most of the plants are in place and this morning, the concrete block base for the pizza oven was built. Here are some pictures showing the plantings. Landscape fabric is down in all the areas that will have some type of rock cover. The wiring for the lighting is in place and you can see one of the copper lights in the first picture.

The path ways will be pea gravel with some stepping stones and then about half the ground area under the plants will be covered with river rock. Looks like we'll have a nice mix of plants that promise to do well in the area. The landscaper used some of our alpaca poop compost for the plants and seemed to be quite impressed with it- very close to the consistency of peat moss.

Patio Pavers and Plants Started

Some serious work last week on the patio area. Pavers are nearly completed, would have been done but the saw the contractor was using gave out- should have something to work with in the coming week to get finished up. Since they weren't able to continue on the pavers, they started prepping and digging holes for the plants. They're not all in but what a difference! Although we are on shale which makes it very rocky, there does seem to be some dirt mixed in. We had a number of plants in the same area that we moved that were doing quite well- contractor is hopeful and is supplementing the dirt as he plants. We're using mostly hardy varieties of plants that should work in this area. Here are some pictures of the progress.

From deck by front door

Firepit almost done

View towards driveway

Dome over patio!

 

 

 

 

Next week we should see most of the work completed. Roofing metal is cut and ready for install and then the 1x6 pine ceiling will go up in the pavilion. Hopefully, the rest of the paver work will complete and then the final plantings and ground cover can go in.

I finished running the water and electric in to the pavilion and the contractor also has a low voltage wire ready to go for some accent lights that will be on the support posts. I'll use the electric for a utility outlet and a ceiling fan. Water will only be used in warm weather, have a valve in place to allow the line to be drained once freezing temps set in.

Hopefully more to show next week.

Patio Work Continues

Making progress on the outside patio despite quite a few days lost to rain. The framing is up for the pavilion and hopefully it will be completed early next week- the metal roof and tongue and groove ceiling are left to do. The fireplace and fire pit look good, should be fun when the fire season comes back this fall. Most of the pavers are in place and waiting to be finished after the pizza oven base is done on the left side of the fireplace- that should be ready early next week as well. Here are some pictures of the work as it was moving along.

Framing for Pavilion

Roof work starting

Roof rafters almost done

Ready for roofing

Fire pit pavers nearly done

Fire pit in place

And finally, here's a picture of the overall site.

Looking down from the top of the driveway

Fireplace Finished

Here's a picture of the fireplace that was finished yesterday, looks great and we really like how large it is. Work also started on the pavilion that will cover the fireplace and pizza oven. The contractors are pouring the concrete for the footings. Enjoy.

Outdoor Fireplace Build

Our contractor continues to work on the outdoor patio area and has made progress on the fireplace. Here area a couple of pictures of the fireplace under construction.

There will be a counter to the right of the fireplace with a sink and the contractor will build a stand/support for the pizza oven to the left of the fireplace. It will be from the same pavestone as the fireplace. Once the stand is completed, I'll be able to start with the pizza oven build.

Here's a picture looking over the entire area, you can also see the astronomy dome has been moved from behind the house on to the new deck area.

Work on the pavilion that covers the fireplace area will start later this week or next, here's the white pine lumber that will be used for the support structure. The roof will be green metal.

Looking forward to seeing it all come together.