Very early iterations of our house design had this cool metalwork running down the front of the house, forming the balcony railing for the roof deck and then continuing down the facade.  The architect was into it and it seemed like a neat idea to me and Ash. We decided we wanted an overlapping circles design (which we later decided to mirror on the kitchen tile), and we didn't think much more about it. About a year later - a few months ago - it become clear that the builder had no idea how to execute it.  He keeps calling it our 'artwork'. But it's more than decorative. It also needs to be a code-compliant balcony railing. Which means it needs to be rigid and secure, and not more than 4" off the front of the roof deck, and with no holes larger than 4" in it. The builder points out we could just use a glass balcony railing to meet the code requirements, and then mount our 'art' on the front of the house without worrying about its functionality. But what...

 You win some, you lose some. We are winning a lovely new wall, to replace the chain link fence - which replaced the DIY wooden fence that used to be there. The old fence (backdrop to the 2020 Easter egg hunt). Unfortunately it turns out the former owner had sneaked his way onto city land, and his boundary fence was situated several feet outside his actual property boundary. Our builder, honest as the day is long, is bringing us back in line with our legal limits. The chainlink is where the yard used to end. The blocks are where it will now end. I know we didn't really ever own that land but I do feel like we lost something. But the City of Hermosa gained back something that was rightfully theirs, that extra foot of land around the path down to Clark Field. I suppose they're welcome to it. The former owner was no stranger to encroaching on city land. About a decade ago he planted what our neighbours describe as a 4' high stick in that same patch of dirt, by the path down to...