A Lovely Addition

    After talking about it for years, this September we bit the bullet and ordered a hot tub. We could even imagine using it since the heat was finally dissipating. But before it looked like the photo below, there was a bit of work to do.

New hot tub & walkway.

    First was pulling up the the 4' x 4' raised bed frame and digging up the dirt.

Raised bed frame leaning against fence. 

    Doug hauled wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of dirt to the front yard, where it would become a mound.

Mound in the making in the front yard.

But the more he took out the more there was!

So much dirt hauled out & so much still to remove!

Red trowel handle marks sprinkler line to cap off.

A sprinkler line had to be moved--eventually we moved it at least three times--The walkway of pavers had to be dug up.

Pavers from walkway piled up.

    Doug dug a trench for the electrical, but it needed to be further back, so he dug another trench. Did I say the dirt was not only hard packed but full of roots? 

1st ditch for electrical had to be filled in. 2nd soaking in water so it can be dug.

    David, the electrician, sawed out a section of concrete to lay the electrical across to the tub.

Concrete section removed & ditch dug for electrical.

David crawled through the attic with wiring from the breaker box to the other end of the house, where he installed a new breaker box dedicated to the hot tub.

New breaker box for hot tub.

    Then we waited for the city permit and inspector. Since the inspector loved David's electrical work, we passed and smiled. 
    Now for the concrete! Robert and and his amazing crew put in the framing.

Left: raised beds awaiting new plants. Right: framing in place for concrete pad. 

The next day, they poured the concrete.

Robert & his crew kept Doug in stitches the entire time they were working.

They even stamped a pattern into the concrete.

Stamped pattern keeps concrete from being slippery.

    The electrical in and concrete set, it was time for the hot tub! When the delivery truck arrived, the jovial driver unexpectedly offered to help us move the hot tub from the street to the backyard pad. Since David also happened to be there, together with Doug, they maneuvered the tub in to place.

Doug watches as the driver & David roll the hot tub down the narrow walkway.

Driver, Doug, David. A main criteria for the hot tub was a lounge seat, which is on the side by the driver.

Preparing to lower the hot tub.

Voila!

    By a couple of days later, the tub was wired and the pump primed. Marilyn was ready to cool off! 

Marilyn performs first float in the new hot tub, cooling off before the water gets hot.

    But there was more work to do, starting with a new walkway. We bought new pavers that blended with the old.

New pavers & 300 lbs of decomposed granite (DG) & sand in the trusty VW Westy. In all, we made 5 trips.

Buckets of sand for installing new pavers.

    Doug began to solve the Tetrus puzzle--leveling, adding sand, organizing pavers, filling in with DG.

Starting to solve the Tetrus puzzle of pavers.

Once the pavers were in they were not right, so why not just remove them and start over? 

Maybe the last rearrangement?

When Doug got the pavers perfect, he extended the walkway to run across the front of the raised beds.

Ta-da! New walkway, complete with DG. Note new plants in DG beyond end of walkway & pavers in front of raised bed.

    Next was hanging "Big Red," Doug's old longboard.

Big Red hung. Sun moved to the right.

Next came the kayak paddle and canoe oar.

Kayak paddle, canoe oar, & Big Red.

    Marilyn planted our garden in the raised beds: onions, brussels sprouts, and greens. In the upper bed we planted a Matilija Poppy, aka Fried Egg Poppy, Winifred Gilman Blue Sage, and Agastache, aka Hummingbird Mint. And the final touch, Marilyn reinstalled the drip irrigation.

Our new look.

    Doug just got home from an overnight trip to the coast. Guess who is enjoying the tub in a mild rainstorm?