The Epic Fence-Building Weekend

When we bought our house, the fence was an issue. It was incomplete, poorly built and took winds like a sail, bending and flapping with every storm. In short, it was an ugly liability. That was three years ago. Last weekend, while the house was getting painted (I'll detail that in a later blog post!), we finally tackled the fence. Here are the results...

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

I started the demolition of the old fence on Thursday night after work, which only took a few hours.

Amanda jumped in to help when she came home from Seattle.

We dumped the old fencing and picked up new wood on Friday morning before work.

I set the new posts on Friday night so that we'd be ready to build on Saturday morning.

Scott was my partner in crime for the construction on Saturday. Sun's out, guns out!

The Tacoma shirt and Home Depot utility belt is a fashion statement.

Scott cut the 2x4s while I set the brackets on the posts.

After the 2x4s were set, we put the 1x5s on in a "shadowbox" design and completed the bulk of the work in five hours.

You can pay most friends in beer for manual labor. Scott required an ice cream sandwich.

Here's another view of the result!

I built the back gate on Monday night and now (before Fall)  just need to cut off the top of the posts to call this job done. The fence has made a huge difference in the look of our backyard, and I'm glad it's finally done!

Bastille Day 2012 in Ballard

Amanda and I caught up with Katrine last weekend for Bastille Day 2012 in Ballard. We started off walking the Seafood Fair, which had more vendors than seafood, and then headed to a community space on Old Ballard Ave. to play a game of Pétanque (French version of Bocce), sponsored by a local restaurant appropriately named Bastille. (Amanda took the photos that I'm in.)

The community space.

Look at that form!

The (illegal, foot-lifting) form of our foe/Katrine's boss.

Talking trash.

Katrine throwing like a lady.

More trash talking.

This guy was the judge. He was a serious dude.

We beat our opponents, who had held the court for the first three hours and claimed to have been undefeated for the last two years (not so sure about that). Katrine and I decided to retire after our win and drink. I think that's what the French would do, too.

New Zealand in Photos: Part 1

These photos are long overdue, and there are still some in reserves.

Back in February, Sergio had a wedding in outside of Auckland, New Zealand, and I took the opportunity to travel with him and second shoot at the wedding. We spent half a week consumed in wedding activities and the other half getting lost around the greater North Island, roaming from our base in Stillwater between beaches and towns, only limited by my terrible driving on the wrong side of the road. Here's were some highlights:

A view at the winery where we stayed.

The beach at Orewa, the town nearest the winery.

Driving on the right side of the road on the right side of the car was something I never got used to.

A typical view on the roads around Stillwater.

We ventured to the west coast of the North Island to see some beaches famous for their beauty and rip tides.

The view above Piha.

Touchdown.

The view from our feet.

The rock at Piha.

Here's a lot more from Piha.

We drove a little further south to see a less frequented and allegedly more dangerous beach (note the correlation) called Karekare. Apparently Eddie Vedder nearly drowned here surfing. The walk down the stream to the beach was just as beautiful as the beach itself.

Sergio walking into the ocean.

Looking back from the beach.

We took a trail to a waterfall where we learned a scene from The Piano was filmed.

I jumped into a small waterfall pool along the trail and Sergio was convinced it was an old pterodactyl nest. He was probably right.

The falls.

Sunset at Orewa.

Driving into Auckland. The "big city" of the north felt a little bigger than Tacoma but smaller than Seattle. Maybe more like Bellevue if it had a port.

I'll post Part 2 when I grab the rest of the photos from Sergio.

A Long Road Trip to Little Stanley, Idaho

Last weekend, we drove 22 hours roundtrip to attend the wedding of a friend in Stanley, ID. Yes, 22 hours. We saw A LOT of Washington, Oregon and Idaho in a short period. We left at 3 a.m. on Friday and arrived at beautiful Redfish Lake Lodge at 3 p.m. (We lost an hour to the timezone change). The lodge, and "greater" Stanley, ID (population 63) is a gateway to the Sawtooth Mountains and some great river and lake recreation. I don't think we ever got over the drive-time hangover, but the scenery, sun and good company kept us rallying through the weekend.

When we arrived at the lodge, we went straight for the dock.

Wearing glasses on the dock is totally trendy.

Redfish Lake Lodge is like the Disneyland of Idaho. Kids were everywhere!

At the recommendation of a friend, we went to the Stanley Baking Company for breakfast before the wedding. GOOD CALL.

On to the wedding at Idaho Rocky Mountain Ranch.

I can't take Amanda to a wedding without catching her double-fisting beers.

Two can play that game.

It was nice catching up with our friends Mat, Whitney, Doreen and Kenny (left to right).

Here comes the bride.

The view wasn't bad.

I just think the dress pattern in this photo is fun.

How to end this blog post? Like our trip back, with hot springs.

Meet Rufus Ballew

Rufus is my dogphew, or Nina and Jeff's new dog. His talents include sitting, staying, laying down and playing dead.