97%..!!!!!

Okay...I'm dancing around and grinning like a monkey.  I passed my written Oregon Drivers' Test with a score of 97%...totally cool...!!!  Oh, and Alan passed his actual drive-the-car test, too, so, we are both officially legit, and what a flaming relief it is to get that hurdle out of the way.

On a different note, and related to the remodel:  The guys came this morning and began tearing up the back deck.  I was in the shower and before I could get out for the "Before" photos, they already had half the deck on the truck..!!  Chris said one entire piece of railing came off with just a hard pull of his hand.  Is it any wonder we are replacing decks..??  Honestly, the elderly couple who lived here clearly never used either area--thank goodness--though I'm not terribly happy inheriting their lack of maintenance.  Oh well.  That's how things played out and we'll just have to deal with it.  At least we'll have two brand-new decks at the end of all this.

Miguel, strapping down the deck pieces to take to the dump.

We had another Chris help out today, so we had Miguel, Original Chris and New Chris.  Here is New Chris cutting through the support beams underneath the deck--about the only part of the deck that wasn't falling apart.  Have you ever seen such a horrible backyard..??  I loath bark dust, plus the gravel pit steps, down the slope, were so dangerous, Alan shoveled all the stones into a pile in the center of each step so no one would walk down and kill themselves.  And don't get me started on the neighbor's looming house.  I can't wait to get some plants growing between his house and ours.

This is the little walkway that leads from the back door to the deck.  Not much left at this point.  Notice the lovely bark dust--again--and the "scorched earth" effect lawn.  (That would be the burned out, crackling brown stuff near the pine tree in the distance.)

By lunch the guys were done and dusted.  This is what we're left with.  Bare ground, a small cliff face, bad gravel steps, and a looming neighbor.  Sigh.  So much work to do.

So, to cheer myself up, here's a lovely photo of my new Crape Myrtle which I will plant in the bare space next to the steps in the front.  Supposedly deer resistant, and hopefully that's true.  So far, the deer have just wandered by and not nibbled it to oblivion.  It will grow to 10' which will look really good against the wood and the staircase in front, and help hide the under porch space.  In theory.

I seem to be in a flower mood.  I also changed the Meandering photo.  Alan and I went to Kew Gardens on one of our forays to London, where I took the photo in a greenhouse with gigantic lily pads; the flowers were blooming, which was really lucky, and I got several photos between wiping the condensation off my camera lens.

The guys are taking a day off tomorrow, so no remodel photos until probably Monday.  Ozzy has a "hair" appointment that he will absolutely hate, but he really needs a good grooming session, so too bad for him.  He'll no doubt feel ever so much better to get rid of some of his hair while it's still so hot here.  And yes, since you've asked:  It's still HOT.  I'm going to have to make a serious attempt at a Rain Dance soon.