When we bought the house, there was a massive banyan tree overarching the house. It was huge. Last year, with Tom’s and his son Richard’s help, we dropped the tree and Tom hauled it off. After hours of running the chainsaw, I was completely covered in rubber goo from the tree but the tree was gone. The stump was still standing though – nearly two feet high. It was massive. We’ve recently changed landscaping companies for our yard maintenance, and they gave us a price to cut it down to the ground as well as to clear out by the lake. We accepted and they came on a Saturday and got after it. They got the banyan stump cut down to the ground, which is awesome! It looks so much better. We’ll figure out what we can plant in the tangle of roots there, but we may turn it into a large elevated planter and bring a truckload of dirt in on top of the stump. We’ll see.
Pocket door hardware
In the bathroom, I got the pocket door latch installed. This included plugging the old handle hole and sanding the patch smooth. Once the patch was done, I was able to cut out and get the hardware in. After I had everything fitted, I removed it and Oceana got it painted up. It looks great.
Bathroom baseboard
I got the pine baseboards installed this week also. I barely had enough baseboard – I had a whole 2″ to spare. More than enough! I got it nailed into place and then put colored filler in the nail holes to hide them. You can’t see where they’re at.
The shower works!
Lastly I got the shower arm replaced. We ordered one online, however, it didn’t fit. The threads weren’t cut deep enough and I don’t have a die that size to re-cut the threads. So we found one at Lowe’s and that one fit quite nicely. I gave the shower a test run this week and I’m happy to report that it works well. I was able to pick up the corian sink this week so my weekend job will be to fabricate the vanity top. Then the bathroom will be complete!
The teak update
Teak is growing. He’s nearly doubled in weight and he’s gotten a lot taller. On Wednesday, he slept through the night without whining or barking. It was glorious. Oceana took him out for a canoe ride. He seems to really like the water. We’ve been taking him down to the lake to splash around. He bounces all over the place in the water. He’s not gone past chest deep on his own, but we like to walk him down the dock and gently set him into the water so he can swim back. He swims really well. Well, that’s all for now. Thanks for following along!
Looking good Jake! I have a raised bed in my front yard that covers a stump & it works well. Maybe add a fountain? I looked at the old pic of you with Teak in the canoe compared to the new one with Oceana and he has grown so fast! So adorable!
When I took Teak out in the canoe, when he sat down he couldn’t see over the rails. His whole head is above the rails now. He’s growing fast.
Teak is adorable! He is really growing fast too. So glad he likes to swim and that he plays nice with Lacey. The house is looking so much better with the new landscaping company…especially the banyan tree roots and the lake. What a huge improvement on the property! We had a great trip to Norway; just returned home in the wee hours this morning. Love, Mom.