Rock of Ages

We've got a lot going on house-wise this month, and yet it feels like nothing's happening at all. We're just waiting...and waiting...and waiting.

Back in August we had a few quotes done on some soffit and eavestrough repairs.  The contractor we hired has been really busy and keeps pushing our little project back, which was fine.  But now that colder weather is arriving, animals are starting to look for winter homes...in our attic.  Not good.  Apparently he's going to be starting next week.  We'll keep you posted!

We're also having some work done on getting some heat to our bedroom.  Currently we don't have any ducts running to that section of the house.  It was fine for the summer, but with these cooler nights, heat would be nice.

But on to a more exciting project!

We've been wanting to install our wrought iron fence (kijiji find!) along the side yard to keep the dog enclosed.

But when we went to start that project this summer, we realized that something had to be done with the retaining wall that currently divides the upper and lower yards.  

Although it doesn't look too bad in this photo, it's really leaning and not put together too well.  We also feel like it doesn't suit the style of the house.  So we decided that it should be replaced before going to the work of installing our new fence.

We spent some time this summer looking at rock.  Rock shopping sounds really boring...but it was actually fascinating!  Who knew that there were so many different types, styles, and colours of rock?

We looked at the Armour stone that many people are having installed in their properties around us, but in the end we fell in love with this Quebec Blue stone.  

Finally, after many week of waiting, we came home one day last week to find this in our driveway:

Our rocks were delivered!  They're not all facing "out" so it's hard to see what they will really look like once they're in place, but I know it's going to be awesome.  Much better than the falling-over, pressure-treated wall of 6x6s. Now we just have to wait some more.  We're expecting a load of gravel any day now, then installation can begin.  

One thing that I'm definitely learning through all of this is that even when you hire the pros, renovations take time.  A LONG TIME.  Hopefully I'll have some finished pictures to share with you soon!