View allAll Photos Tagged sideyard
We have a few cats that hang around the neighborhood every so often. We call them "Interloper kitties." Oranjello and Lemonjello always get excited when they can see the interloper.
You can tell we don't use our yard much...
balcony, brick wall, cat, grill, kudzu, leaves, oil drum, patio, solar light, trees, window.
flare.
side yard, living room, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.
November 12, 2012.
... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com
... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com
Southernmost House ~ Key West, Florida
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southernmost_House
www.southernmosthouse.com/photos/pictures-historic-beachf...
South side yard. Mouse over for notes.
This narrow side yard faces southand sits on top of a 3-foot retaining wall. The sandy soil retains very little water and the brick wall of the house relfects a lot of heat, so the plants I put here had to be both heat and drought tolerant.
Up until 2005, this was my best (in my opinion) Photographer's Shadow pic, not so much because of the shadow but because of the total composition. Now, however, it has some serious competition. You'll have to wait, however. It's going to be part of your Christmas present.
They broke my trim while installing the window. Given that I had waited an additional month past the original install date due to their mess-ups ... I was pretty insistent that they go down to Home Depot, buy replacement trim, and install it at no cost to me right that second. They sent a higher-level guy over -- he actually arrived within 2 minutes of me calling (!). I ultimately got my way. Even if, in theory, they weren't the ones to break it....The least they can do for keeping our living room in disarray for a whole month is to actually make the final product look right. After all the trouble we've had with contractors during EVERY possible home renovation, it's increasingly hard to get me to take no for an answer, and I've increasingly come to understand why "bitchy customers" are the way they are. Asking nice doesn't work.
The replacement trim wasn't an exact match, but nobody's checking that. I'm quite happy with the results, especially after Carolyn painted it.
Look outside the window. See the solar light sitting in the bricks? LIFE TETRIS.
bricks, house maintenance, kudzu, living room window, replacement trim, solar light.
side yard, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.
... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com
... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com
BACKSTORY: So our homeowners insurance (Farmers) got dropped due to having peeling paint on our window sills (among other things). Weak. It was a LOT of work AND money for us to repaint all our sills. Wood windows SUCK!! Modern vinyl windows are MAINTANENCE-FREE!! Wood windows... You gotta re-glaze the panes when they fall out, and then the wood itself is always going to slowly rot away. We already had our cats knock a pane out, so we already had glazing compound for pane repairs. This came in handy when we painted our various window sills, as some also needed glazing compound.
So the largest window in our house -- actually 3 windows -- was a major pain, and one of the few single-pane windows in the house. It would leak heat/cold in the summer/winter, and looked really bad compared to the new siding we had installed 6 or so years ago. So we decided to go ahead and replace just this window (actually 3 separate windows). Man was it expensive! $2,350! Thompson Creek had the best pitch and data, whereas Home Depot required $30 up front for an appointment they never showed up for and a list of 4 phone numbers to escalate (all 4 failed). So we had Thompson Creek do it of course! They did it, said they did it wrong, made us wait a month while making a new window (pro: they are all custom-made just for you; con: they are all custom-made, so a screw-up requires waiting for a new one to be made), then installed the new window, and finally everything was good and we were satisfied.
It was just kind of a pain because it cost so much money and had our living room in disarray for so many months, and the whole insurance basis for the situation was pretty bullshitty in the first place. We're not going to make a property damage claim due to moisture that occurs because our paint was peeling! Ridiculous...
Well! Much better now! Still bad, but at least now it looks like a bad paint job instead of a door about to fall apart. And the DSL line is much better now too.
Our utility room door. Not opened since the 1990s -- had to be pried back shut. Used to have a wooden storm door, until one year it just collapsed and disintegrated from the elements (which is why there is a piece of wood attached to hinges on the right). The cinder block wall to our patio (left) is in crap condition too -- but maybe the paint will help keep out the moisture and make it last a bit longer.
You can see where the cats ripped open the blinds so they could look open the window. This is an orange cat thing; our other cats didn't do this.
You can see our DSL line hanging down. Originally it was worse, with cracked/missing wire insulation exposing inside wires all over the place. Combination of what I can only assume was cheap wire, combined with snow, ice, rain, and kudzu twisting the wires taut all the time. I used many many feet of electrical tape to patch up the outside of the water, and to preemptively cover up cracks that were going to end up getting worse later ("a stitch in time saves nine"). I wedged it behind various trim pieces whenever possible, with the extra slack hanging around our electric meter. DSL saved! The internet and phone companies will NOT fix this line for less than $180 per visit if it breaks. Last time it took them two visits because I wasn't there to point at where the wire was broken. COVAD are dicks. This shit is important. It shouldn't be considered inside wiring, but it is. Once it's past your junction box, it's all "inside" wiring, even if it's outside! Typical corporate doublespeak; outside becomes inside in the world of profiting off your consumers. I am the 99%, goddamnit.
Damn kudzu is already climbing up the door again, despite us weed-wacking the hell out of it just weeks before.
Home Depot's color-matching skills with Behr paint-with-prime vs Behr paint-without-prime leaves a lot to be desired. A LOT. Our color mis-matching here is what you get when you take the same paint back and ask them to match the existing paint. They, er, uh... don't. No refunds! $40 a gallon paint-with-primer, $25 a gallon paint-without-primer, tons of brushes, paint thinner, rags, elbow grease -- And you get this! Mis-matched color!
DSL line, Home Depot color matching, cinder blocks, concrete wall, house maintenance, kudzu, mismatched paint, utility room door.
after painting.
side yard, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.
July 20, 2011.
... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com
... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com
BACKSTORY: While dealing with Farmers insurance & Progressive/Homesite insurance's dropping our policy for us having peeling window sill paint (among other things), we had to do a bunch of house repairs. While painting our window sills, we also painted other surfaces that needed painting, such as doors, railings, soffits, stairs, gutters, pipes, and cinder block walls.
Apparently, this old house in downtown Alviso has been sold as I saw a relatively new BMW parked at its sideyard. I wonder who has bought it. Would the new owner tear it down and build a new house? This charming old town is slowly disappearing its characters. Some old buildings I have photographed in the past no longer exist anymore. So when I walked past this house, I decided to capture it with film.
Film: Cinestill BwXX
Camera: Nikon FM2n
Lens: Voigtlander Ultron 40mm F2 SLII Asph
Hoping this one gets submitted to ThereIFixedIt ...
One thing not mentioned by the insurance companies was these wobbly wooden steps. The concrete had eroded away around the nails that held these to the wall. One of the vertical support boards was rotting away. Things didn't quite line up. They were getting downright dangerous, rocking with each step. I feared they would completely collapse! To me, this is the one valid thing that truly had to be fixed -- and it wasn't even on the insurance companies' lists!
So I replaced the rotting board with another board from my attic, which I had found somewhere years ago. It was rotting, too, but I flipped it so the rotting side was on top. I left the extra part up there as sacrificial material and/or something to hang something on. For less than the cost of a single board, we used a TON of wood filler (which you can see--the yellow stuff on the unpainted brown wood) on all the rotting parts of the wood. Nailage was doubled on most of the boards. I bought concrete nails at Home Depot (THEY ARE AWESOME) and re-nailed the vertical support boards to the concrete well. I used a caulking gun full of Liquid Nails behind the vertical support boards, as an additional kludgey hold should the nails get loose later. Then we painted it all. The stairs have no wobble and are like new! Only one board doesn't look so hot -- the top-most board has split horizontally into 2 separate boards, as this is where the water trickles down during storms -- probably due to me deliberately changing the water flow to go down these steps many years ago; see recent flooding video at www.flickr.com/photos/clintjcl/6166790798/ ... But since each sub-board is properly nailed, it doesn't matter that it split. It's just like using 2 smaller pieces of wood. I was so positive we'd have to replace these stairs 5-10 years ago! Now I think they very well may last 'til 2020! We'll see!
You can see the divot I axed out of the concrete stairtop-barrier during a storm 10+ yrs ago in order for water to drain more quickly.
barbecue, cinder blocks, concrete, concrete wall, house maintenance, oil drum, shed, stairs, well, wood filler.
after painting.
side yard, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.
June 14, 2011.
... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com
... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com
BACKSTORY: While dealing with Farmers insurance & Progressive/Homesite insurance's dropping our policy for us having peeling window sill paint (among other things), we had to do a bunch of house repairs. We dealt with these stairs while doing the other repairs. This is the part of the project where I hammered Carolyn's fingernail, turning it black for about 4 months. BTW -- kudzu can climb these stairs in less than a week.
Well, I spent most of the day exploring through the front yard and side yard. I guess I'll camp here for the night and make sure I have everything. Let's see...
1. My neighbor let me borrow his horse for a few days. Our neighbor doesn't have a name for his horse, so my son, Max, calls him "Spot" for some reason. I told him that this horse doesn't have a spot and that "Spot" is usually a dog name. But, anyway...
2. I have carrots and apples for Spot
3. Binoculars, to spy for rock monsters and other things.
4. Telescope, just in case there's some cool stars out at night.
5. I have mint gum in my shoulder bag. (Max says the shoulder bag is a purse.)
6. A special Indiana Jones whip to get Spot moving.
7. A backpack which holds my sleeping bag, a first aid kit, and lots of unhealthy snacks.
8. A scared face I can put on in case I meet up with some giant spiders.
9. A crossbow and extra arrows for hunting or defending myself against rock monsters or giant spiders.
10. And if the crossbow doesn't do me any good, I've got a lightsaber.
11. A starburst candy that will hopefully last me a couple days.
12. Max wants me to call him on my cell phone in case I see any dinosaurs.
13. A shovel...hmmm...I don't remember why I packed a shovel...maybe I'll find out later.
14. My Indiana Jones outfit.
15. My very important camera to take lots and lots of pictures with its awesome 2mm lens!!
And...OH NO! I forgot to bring my night light! oh well...there's probably no outlets out here anyway...
Well, tomorrow, I'll be in the back yard! Hmm...I don't even know if I have enough room to carry HALF of this stuff...
I took 2 videos that are essentially the same thing in different order, one without narration, one with. They're both one of a kind in terms of weather so I was unable to choose one for deletion.
Incidentally, with our old windows it wasn't possible to see the creek from this window, because you couldn't open them and stick your head out of them. Plus we'd blocked them off so well that longtime guests were unaware we even had a window there. It's neat being able to see the creek out of a new window!
Peapod guy interrupted the end of this video. (He was already in the house and I didn't realize it, front door was proppedopen.) We normally do unattended delivery, but in this weather the food would have been ruined. Our deliveries ALWAYS come after 4 hour window. Very late. Usually when we're watching TV or a movie. Always in the dark. It came early today -- they probably gave people the option to cancel, and most did. So we got ours at 5PM instead of 9-11PM. But our walkway had 4 inches of water in it. This dude had to have gotten wet. We tipped him $5. Normally we do unattended with no tip and such. But this was a real help. Didn't want to reschedule grocery delivery. Wanted fresh fruit without leaving the house, dammit! But anyway, considering how bad Peapod usually screws up their deliveries... This was an AWESOME delivery. They saved SO much trouble. Can't imagine going to the grocery store in this crazy rain.
draining, flooding.
creek, drain, drainage, flood, kudzu, patio, steps, trees, water.
side yard, yard, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.
September 8, 2011.
... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com
... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com
BACKSTORY: Hurricane Irene was a hurri-lame. But the storm AFTER it? That was a doozy. Not nearly as much wind, but way, way, way more water. Fortunately our house has been around awhile, so previous landowners already shaped the property in such a way that it's almost impossible to flood our house. The crookedness of the foundation alone would mean that any flooding would go out our back kitchen door instead of standing in the house. (Except for the fact that the door is currently painted shut...grrr.) Sometimes weakness is a strength.
Entertainer on stilts at Side Yards at Yards Park, 11/2/19, as the sun sets over the Anacostia River
The wooden barrel contains a batch of vinegar. The barrel had to be prepared to contain wine by being soaked in water for days until it expanded and closed. Then a starter and cabernet wine was added. I found the jug on the right in our sideyard and brought it in. We have a number of artifacts hanging about the place.
The picture is taken in the butler's pantry, a beautiful cherry-wood room with lots of cupboards and drawers. This small room sold me on the house.
A side garden design makes the whole landscaped design come togetherCheck out Rainbow Landscaping's Services on our Website at www.rainbowlandscaping.com.
--
We have three maple trees in our yard. One has green leaves that turn bright yellow in autumn. The one shown in this photo has dark red leaves that turn this lighter red/orange colour in autumn.
The other, we believe to be a cross between the first two. We discovered it many years ago as a tiny sapling growing against the fence between our driveway and our sideyard, midway between the first two trees. We transplanted it into the backyard and its leaves are a red-tinged green turning an orange-tinged yellow in autumn.
So I have a fewww things to say! First off, my neighbor, Mrs. Jo, is home from the hospital. The bleeding in her brain has stopped, BUT she's having hearing problems and severe headaches. She doesn't know yet if the symptoms are permanent or just an after effect from the damage. So, thanks SO much everyone for all the prayers. It could've been SO much worse. But continue to keep her in yours prayers for a FULL recovery! Anything is possible with God. <3
I'm sorry I haven't gotten to this sooner, but thank you to these LOVELY photographers for the sweet testimonials! Check out their pictures please! :)
The weather is so beautiful. The ONE thing I'm waiting on is all mosquitoes to DIE. I'm so annoyed by them. One bit me in the MIDDLE of my forehead. I look like I have a tumor. -__-
This is in the bamboo "forest" in my sideyard. There's SO much bamboo there. hahaha :D I hope you all like! <3
Not much to rant/discuss/talk about, so I'm going to leave you all with a question.
Outdoor or indoor photography? And why?
I'm gonna have to say I LOVE outdoor photography. BOTH are awesome, but I love bokeh, nature, and natural light!
The final product. They said the bottom left can't be made straight, since my house itself is not straight over the course of the dimension of the window. That fact is true, but it still sounds like an excuse. Anybody know the truth?
We picked the trim color, which of course does not match vinyl sills on the addition of our house, or the repainted wood sills on the rest of the house. But it's not like you can see any other windows while looking at this one anyway, and this side of our house is 10X uglier than the rest anyway, due to the utility wires (see next picture).
house maintenance, living room window.
side yard, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.
August 22, 2011.
... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com
... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com
BACKSTORY: So our homeowners insurance (Farmers) got dropped due to having peeling paint on our window sills (among other things). Weak. It was a LOT of work AND money for us to repaint all our sills. Wood windows SUCK!! Modern vinyl windows are MAINTANENCE-FREE!! Wood windows... You gotta re-glaze the panes when they fall out, and then the wood itself is always going to slowly rot away. We already had our cats knock a pane out, so we already had glazing compound for pane repairs. This came in handy when we painted our various window sills, as some also needed glazing compound.
So the largest window in our house -- actually 3 windows -- was a major pain, and one of the few single-pane windows in the house. It would leak heat/cold in the summer/winter, and looked really bad compared to the new siding we had installed 6 or so years ago. So we decided to go ahead and replace just this window (actually 3 separate windows). Man was it expensive! $2,350!Thompson Creek had the best pitch and data, whereas Home Depot required $30 up front for an appointment they never showed up for and a list of 4 phone numbers to escalate (all 4 failed). So we had Thompson Creek do it of course! They did it, said they did it wrong, made us wait a month while making a new window (pro: they are all custom-made just for you; con: they are all custom-made, so a screw-up requires waiting for a new one to be made), then installed the new window, and finally everything was good and we were satisfied.
It was just kind of a pain because it cost so much money and had our living room in disarray for so many months, and the whole insurance basis for the situation was pretty bullshitty in the first place. We're not going to make a property damage claim due to moisture that occurs because our paint was peeling! Ridiculous...
The kudzu is always growing in our yard in the summer. It's a constant battle to keep it at bay. But at least we don't have grass to mow. We don't even own a lawn-mower.
brick wall, kudzu, oil drum.
side yard, Claire and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.
August 10, 2018.
... Read my blog at clintjcl at wordpress dot com
... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL at wordpress dot com
OMFG my neighbor actually removed the kudzu from her deck! You can actually see that it exists! There used to be a 2nd level deck, but it had to be removed to get the house un-condemned after a post-hurricane landslide. She unfortunately doesn't have the retaining walls that me or Tim do. (Repairing/adding to a retaining wall I did not even realize existed is one of our projects for next year.)
deck, house maintenance, kudzu, living room window.
side yard, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.
October 14, 2011.
... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com
... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com
BACKSTORY: So our homeowners insurance (Farmers) got dropped due to having peeling paint on our window sills (among other things). Weak. It was a LOT of work AND money for us to repaint all our sills. Wood windows SUCK!! Modern vinyl windows are MAINTANENCE-FREE!! Wood windows... You gotta re-glaze the panes when they fall out, and then the wood itself is always going to slowly rot away. We already had our cats knock a pane out, so we already had glazing compound for pane repairs. This came in handy when we painted our various window sills, as some also needed glazing compound.
So the largest window in our house -- actually 3 windows -- was a major pain, and one of the few single-pane windows in the house. It would leak heat/cold in the summer/winter, and looked really bad compared to the new siding we had installed 6 or so years ago. So we decided to go ahead and replace just this window (actually 3 separate windows). Man was it expensive! $2,350! Thompson Creek had the best pitch and data, whereas Home Depot required $30 up front for an appointment they never showed up for and a list of 4 phone numbers to escalate (all 4 failed). So we had Thompson Creek do it of course! They did it, said they did it wrong, made us wait a month while making a new window (pro: they are all custom-made just for you; con: they are all custom-made, so a screw-up requires waiting for a new one to be made), then installed the new window, and finally everything was good and we were satisfied.
It was just kind of a pain because it cost so much money and had our living room in disarray for so many months, and the whole insurance basis for the situation was pretty bullshitty in the first place. We're not going to make a property damage claim due to moisture that occurs because our paint was peeling! Ridiculous...
little over 9 feet wide, I smile at what I can fit into this small space:)
Now that the greenhouses are down, I have to post a little documentation for what my little sideyard looked like this Winter from the front & back angles.
Our utility room door. Not opened since the 1990s -- had to be pried back shut. Used to have a wooden storm door, until one year it just collapsed and disintegrated from the elements (which is why there is a piece of wood attached to hinges on the right). The cinder block wall to our patio (left) is in crap condition too -- but maybe the paint will help keep out the moisture and make it last a bit longer.
You can see where the cats ripped open the blinds so they could look open the window. This is an orange cat thing; our other cats didn't do this.
You can see our DSL line hanging down. Originally it was worse, with cracked/missing wire insulation exposing inside wires all over the place. Combination of what I can only assume was cheap wire, combined with snow, ice, rain, and kudzu twisting the wires taut all the time. I used many many feet of electrical tape to patch up the outside of the water, and to preemptively cover up cracks that were going to end up getting worse later ("a stitch in time saves nine"). I wedged it behind various trim pieces whenever possible, with the extra slack hanging around our electric meter. DSL saved! The internet and phone companies will NOT fix this line for less than $180 per visit if it breaks. Last time it took them two visits because I wasn't there to point at where the wire was broken. COVAD are dicks. This shit is important. It shouldn't be considered inside wiring, but it is. Once it's past your junction box, it's all "inside" wiring, even if it's outside! Typical corporate doublespeak; outside becomes inside in the world of profiting off your consumers. I am the 99%, goddamnit.
Damn kudzu is already climbing up the door again, despite us weed-wacking the hell out of it just weeks before.
DSL line, cinder blocks, concrete wall, electrical tape, house maintenance, utility room door.
before painting.
side yard, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.
June 14, 2011.
... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com
... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com
BACKSTORY: While dealing with Farmers insurance & Progressive/Homesite insurance's dropping our policy for us having peeling window sill paint (among other things), we had to do a bunch of house repairs. While painting our window sills, we also painted other surfaces that needed painting, such as doors, railings, soffits, stairs, gutters, pipes, and cinder block walls.
The view of the completed back yard from the patio showing the island bed and the main garden wrapping around the perimeter of the yard. The large rock was relocated from the lawn in the front yard because it didn't make sense in the original placement. In the back yard, it will separate an area for annual planting and a spot for an Autumn Crocus. The rounded corner of the lawn is a great spot for an additional secluded seating area for the client, and once the shrubs mature, it will give the feeling of being surrounded by the garden while still giving an open view towards the patio.
I had nowhere else to pose, so I thought "What the hell! Let me show you how hillbilly my sideyard is!" I got a lot of compliments on my outfit today. Those shoes are super fun.
Nicely raked.
That damp spot in the middle was where the big pile of leaves once were.
The "trees" overhead are actually an overgrown hedge plant (Xylosma) pruned to be trees.
Technically evergreens, they shed vast quantities of old leaves in late spring as the new crop is coming in.
Stop on by Henry and Toby's blog: bzdogs.com - The Secret Life of the Suburban Dog
Nicely swept and tidied. The hedge trees (Xylosma) have shaded out everything below them, leaving me to ponder what to put there now.
Stop on by Henry and Toby's blog: bzdogs.com - The Secret Life of the Suburban Dog
Yeah - its snowing!!! Tempted to rush to the mountain to snowboard - but patience is requried - its only snowed 1cm so far. No word yet on final totals - hoping for 20-40cm - yeah that will cheer me up : ).
Finally we gave up with the scraping. A bit later, we had painted some parts of it in case we were inspected, but had also decided that it was going to be replaced. (So we got to waste money painting a window that was being removed in a few weeks. Our thinking was that it was a sign of good faith towards our insurance overlords that we were indeed in the middle of "dealing with" this window, so don't put it on an inspection report.)
scraping.
house maintenance, living room window, peeling paint.
side yard, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.
May 27, 2011.
... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com
... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com
BACKSTORY: So our homeowners insurance (Farmers) got dropped due to having peeling paint on our window sills (among other things). Weak. It was a LOT of work AND money for us to repaint all our sills. Wood windows SUCK!! Modern vinyl windows are MAINTANENCE-FREE!! Wood windows... You gotta re-glaze the panes when they fall out, and then the wood itself is always going to slowly rot away. We already had our cats knock a pane out, so we already had glazing compound for pane repairs. This came in handy when we painted our various window sills, as some also needed glazing compound.
So the largest window in our house -- actually 3 windows -- was a major pain, and one of the few single-pane windows in the house. It would leak heat/cold in the summer/winter, and looked really bad compared to the new siding we had installed 6 or so years ago. So we decided to go ahead and replace just this window (actually 3 separate windows). Man was it expensive! $2,350! Thompson Creek had the best pitch and data, whereas Home Depot required $30 up front for an appointment they never showed upfor and a list of 4 phone numbers to escalate (all 4 failed). So we had Thompson Creek do it of course! They did it, said they did it wrong, made us wait a month while making a new window (pro: they are all custom-made just for you; con: they are all custom-made, so a screw-up requires waiting for a new one to be made), then installed the new window, and finally everything was good and we were satisfied.
It was just kind of a pain because it cost so much money and had our living room in disarray for so many months, and the whole insurance basis for the situation was pretty bullshitty in the first place. We're not going to make a property damage claim due to moisture that occurs because our paint was peeling! Ridiculous...