More landscaping

This weekend we (with the help of my Dad and C's brother) cut down 2 more trees and pulled a bunch of weeds.  C's brother, lets call him Navy (he is leaving for Navy boot camp in a few months) lives with us.  So he helped me with my house today.  He didn't really get a choice, he just got a come on, we are all leaving now.  My parents did get a choice, they volunteered, although I'm not sure if they will be volunteering next week due to the amount of work we did.

Below are some before and after pictures. To the left is the house the day we closed on it. :)  In my opinion, its really cute, but I never really liked how secluded the front door was.  Its behind the bushes and trees.  I always thought the front door was a burglers dream.  And, a few months ago we actually had an attempted break in.  The house is currently undergoing remodeling and so when the contractors arrived at the house they immediately called the cops.  A police report was filed and everything.  The cops then called me and told me what happened.

A few days ago I found out that my general contractor thinks they know who did it.  We have had a few plumbers working on the house.  The first plumber had no idea what he was doing and was fired from the job, the second plumber was not licensed in our town so he was let go, and now I think we are on the 3rd plumber.  I met the first and second plumber.  The first plumber was .... interesting.  He had a ton of empty cigarette cases laying around in the house but the house didn't smell like smoke so it didn't really bother me.  I knew eventually the house would be cleaned up.

While the 1st plumber and I were talking, I noticed he had the shakes.  I assumed he was just an alch-y and hadn't had a drink for a while.  He tried to explain plumbing stuff to me; he was all excited about how he found this connection they don't make anymore and I told him I didn't really follow everything because this is my first house.  He said "This is my first house too!."  I'm pretty sure my mouth dropped.  He went on to explain that he normally does flood control and doesn't normally do indoor plumbing.

In hind sight, I probably should have called my GC and told him what I just heard.  But I thought was that my general contractor knew what he was doing!  It wasn't until my project manager went to the house and saw the plumber smoking INSIDE my house that they fired him.  All I have to say is had I seen that, I would have been PISSED.  To make things even more amusing, the plumber started telling my PM that he knew me from high school, and me and him go way back.  The plumber claimed that I allowed him to smoke in the house, ALL lies!   
 
Turns out, the plumber had no idea what he was doing and my 2nd plumber had to come in and fix everything.  Apparently the 1st plumber hadn't vented anything.  (I have since learned that venting is a MUST)

Well,  unfortunately the first plumber got paid, but not by me.  I pay my GC a flat fee, thankfully, except for change orders.  So if the plumbing or framing or whatever has to be done 3 different times it still costs the same for me.

But a few weeks/months after the first plumber was fired from the job my house was broken into.  I guess the GC, PM and some other guys who met him think he is the one that tried to break in.  The house was dead-bolted so the door frame held.  But it was pretty much 1 more good kick from yielding.  The GC thinks the plumber was a coke-head and was trying to break into the house to steal the copper pipes.  Thankfully, the GC also thinks the plumber is currently in jail so we shouldn't have to worry about it anymore.

Anyway, even though the plumber is probably in jail, I still wanted to make the front door less secluded so we cut down two trees. The one tree was pretty much dead already because of the drought we have been having. 

While Navy and my Dad were cutting down the trees, my mom and I were working on the back yard.  There are TONS of weeds and rocks everywhere.  Not to mention the fact that the former owner buried clay pots in the ground.  At first I suspected she just got angry one day and smashed all the clay pots against the fence, but I think she just buried them.  I think I found about 5 different clay pots buried.  Below are some more pictures of the day. 

Dublin enjoying his backyard.

Maggie - My parents Dog

The after picture.  : ) Now we need new lights by the garage