We drove out to Congress today to have a look at the finished courtyard gate at Mike’s studio. Mike called this morning to advise that he would be finished shortly and to come have a look if we wanted.
When we got there, we were both amazed at how good this was looking. I took photos of the gate on the workbench and Bob put this slideshow together. Mouse over to stop and out to resume.
We completed our landscape and sun screen milestones yesterday and today, respectively. The landscape crew finished cleaning up the vegetation and spread the rest of the rocks yesterday. They also lined two small washes that run through the west side of the lot with river rocks to avert erosion. One of the washes runs across the RV pull through, so they dug a small ditch across the road and leveled it out with large river rocks.
The sun screen man came out this morning and installed the screens on all exterior windows. He was done with the job just a couple hours after he arrived in the “screenmobile.” He constructed all of the screens on site.
Although it wasn’t a milestone we named before, Damsel’s unique rural mailbox design is also complete and installed. We got our first mail delivered to it today.
Watch the slideshow below to see the entry arch (gate coming soon), one of the sixty six rosemary shrubs planted on the “wall” behind the house, the new mailbox, both washes with river rock, the RV pull through and one of the newly-installed sun screens. Roll over the image with your mouse to stop the slideshow and roll out to resume.
We were relaxing in the back patio today when this young Harris’ Hawk made a low pass over the house. Harris’ Hawks range in desert scrub and mesquite woodlands, which is exactly where we are. It was hunting for wood rats, rabbits, lizards and some birds. Sorry, no larger image available.
We made a deal and signed a landscaping proposal yesterday. That afternoon, a dump truck brought 50 tons of river rock and another 50 tons of Sedona red crushed rock. The former will go on the slopes around the front part of the lot and the latter will cover the flat places and the RV driveway. Eight more tons of quarter-inch gravel will cover the non-paved portions of the courtyard and dog run.
Damsel’s image – River rock on slope behind a trimmed-up native palo verde tree – inset is the Sedona red crushed rock – click on the image to enlarge
This morning, the landscape crew showed up and immediately started clearing off the area, installing the irrigation system, removing unwanted vegetation and trimming up those trees and shrubs we want to keep. This afternoon, they began placing the river rock on the sloped areas. When they left this afternoon, the front yard had been transformed from scruffy to presentable.
We drove down to the Phoenix Metro Area today to do some furniture shopping. We have gone furniture shopping before but haven’t seen anything we liked. I mentioned that we were going to do our interior with a southwestern theme to the man that installed our shutters. He has a friend and associate that handles a lot of the southwestern styles, so we drove down to Mesa to check him out.
We found several pieces that we liked and placed the order. In all, we bought a dining room set, a sofa and love seat, a coffee table with matching end tables, two southwestern style table lamps and a sofa table.Southwestern Sofa – click on the image to enlarge
Next week, we’re going to shop for bedroom sets for the master suite and office – we already have queen bed for the guest bedroom but need a headboard and night stands. Stay tuned!
Damsel and I drove to Congress, AZ today to work with the artist who is building our custom courtyard gate for the archway. He presented several sketches on tracing paper from which we were to select the art to be carved on the gate. We furnished him with some photos and ideas based on the southwestern motif of our house and furnishings. He did the rest and today we made the choices.
Image – rough layout of the lumber with the sketches placed at their approximate locations – click to enlarge
Damsel made the choices for the artwork. At the top of the gate, just above where the saguaro ribs are going to be, is an image of a quail. Below the ribs, in the center of the door, there will be a kachina. The bottom panel will contain images of a bear and the famous dancing piper, Kokopelli.
Other features we negotiated were to install iron straps for strength, wrought iron above the top of the wood, antique hinges and gate latch and, as previously mentioned, saguaro ribs at eye level to allow us to peep through the gate.
In a week or two, we will have the gate installed in the archway. We will certainly post about that when it happens.
Our town has a sense of humor. The old route 60 bridge (in the image) used to have a sign that said “No fishing from bridge” despite the almost completely dry riverbed. I remember seeing the sign when we first came to Wickenburg a couple of years ago. When the town converted the old bridge into a walking path, the sign disappeared. AZDOT built the new bridge and Hwy 93 bypass within the last couple of years.
The inset in the image has a digitally-altered addition to the Hassayampa River sign courtesy of Cap’n Bob. Click on the image to enlarge.