"Fatso"

The small carport to the left of the house is what we removed.

Acknowledging our recent weak home improvement efforts Jonathan and I stepped it up this weekend and were quite productive.  We started Saturday morning by tearing down the aluminum carport which stood to the left (when facing) of the original carport.  Jonathan has loathed this structure for quite some time and we needed to remove it to be able to finish painting the side of the house..

Demo required a little more problem solving than expected but after many a screw was removed we connected a tow belt from the structure to the truck and with a little acceleration most of the structure came down like a charm.  Two steel posts that appeared cemented beneath the dirt remained. We connected the tow belt to the first post and with a little tug, managed to bend it the point where Jonathan and I could twist and bend by hand to break it free. The final post was another story.  Same belt maneuver, but this time it fought back.  Keep in mind there is no top to this post so as the belt started to slip up, following in the direction of the truck, Jonathan attempted to hold the belt in place with his foot.  Truck torque vs. foot pressure.  Truck won.

I inched the truck along until I heard "STOP, oh sh**".  The belt flew loose of Jonathan's foot pressure and went sailing through the air like something catapulted toward the street ahead.  We both held our breath while it flew overhead and signed in relief when it hit the ground instead of the windshield.  Somehow on its journey the hitch managed to hit Jonathan's pinky causing quite the nasty injury.  Quite a bit of blood and a bit of pain, but no stitches required.  All of our efforts and Jonathan's injury were rewarded with an appreciated cash payment from the sketchy scrap metal yard's cashier.

The stones and brick surround were removed Sunday.

After a very tasty lunch at Sack's Sandwiches we returned home and tackled some much needed rock removal from the front yard.  Long story short the rock is rather unattractive and does not fit in with our eventual design. With flat head shovels in hand we loaded up the wheel barrel load after load and managed to clear about 1/3 of the rock from the "yard". We were both surprised at how much we were able to clear in a mere two hours.  We rewarded our days work with drinks and sushi with friends.

1/2 of the river has now been removed.

Sunday we were not quite as ambitious but still did quite well.  First we made a stop at a massive antique mall and bought another owl to add to our owl collection.  Quiet the buy for $2.75!  I picked up a new office plant at Lowes and we finished our shopping for the day at the Western Boot Outlet.  Embracing our wild west lifestyle we both bought two shirts complete with pearl snap buttons.  After we arrived home we divided to conquer our random tasks.  I primed the closet door frame in the living room while Jonathan re-grouted our main bath's shower.  After we finished our respective tasks we united to remove about 1/2 of what used to be a rather non-functional rock river that wound across our front yard doing nothing for drainage or appeal.  We should be able to clear the remainder of the river and red rock as well as paint the side of the house (and perhaps the back) in the next few weekends.  Hooray for revitalization of home improvement!

PS. Meet Fatso.  He is a piece of robot art created by a local Phoenix artist that we bought during an art show at Red Hot Robot.  Because of his art status we actually had to wait two weeks before we could officially bring him home.  Cute as a robot button.