UPDATE: CUTE LITTLE TUDOR

Daughter Hallie called yesterday. She and Nick have been so busy with their jobs and the work on their cute (but sadly out of shape) little Tudor that I haven’t heard much from her. It was good to hear her cheerful voice. We talked for half an hour or so – ironic since they’re coming next weekend for Elderberry Fest. (Such is the way of mothers and daughters.)

They’re enjoying the work on their house, she said. They had just had a consultation with a landscaper who will help them establish a rain garden. The City of Seattle encourages that with grants, I think she’s told me. I don’t know the status of that program. At any rate, the landscaper showed them how to pull the downspouts out away from the house. Hallie says they don’t plan a cistern. I suggested a rain barrel.

I'm reminded of washing dishes at the Gilbert farmhouse in my youth. We had no plumbing, remember, which means that we also had no drains. We carried the dishwater – soapy as well as rinse water – a few steps out the kitchen door to Grandma Ina’s rosebushes. (Deer love roses, but in those days we didn't see so many.) Even today, with better access to water in that place, it’s so dry that gardening is difficult. Still, I could do more with drought-tolerant plants if I would but try.

But -- I digress. Hallie took the photos here of a recent project to remove the deck from the back of their house. They’ve been saving brick – and searching for more – to reconstruct the back wall when the slider is removed. A contractor will do that work.

I guess a poorly constructed deck outside their bedroom was not what Hallie and Nick envisioned. Hallie prefers a private bedroom. The steps at the back door paralleling the deck are also roughly constructed and actually separate from the deck. 

Meanwhile, don’t open the slider and step out. KW