Company's Coming

The fridge is stocked.

Supplies are aren't in the house....yet. (Yup, you guessed it...more house projects.)

Floors are swept, beds are made, towels are folded. Lawn is mowed and pooper-scooped.

And Montey is on the lookout. He can't wait to see his cousin Vinnie.

Front Yard Fix-Up

Last weekend my mom and Brother came out to help me with a few projects around the house. My main focus was the front yard...its hideousness was driving me crazy.

Remember last summer when I when a small army ripped out those giant bushes in front of the house? Sometime after that we added lattice to the bottom of the front porch, but it was later in the fall and I didn't have time to get it painted. Anyway, that's how things sat for some time.

And this is basically how things looked:

It's OK, you can cringe. It wasn't pretty. You can't tell from these pictures very well, but the sides of these flower bed planter things basically didn't exist. The sides sort of just stopped and the ground sloped down, which was causing a lot of erosion, especially on the driveway side. 

The other thing you may notice, in the pic above...there is a line of big stones in the middle of the bed. At some point, I'm guessing that is where the original bed ended, but because the bushes got SO big, someone added another layer in front and filled it in with dirt. Nice. 

So our task was to dig up as many of those as possible to build up the sides and to provide more room for plants. Fun stuff.

I dug up a lot of stones while Brother worked on the sides. You can sort of see that in the pic above, but the pic below really shows his handiwork! Good job Brother!

After running to Home Depot and a local hardware store for some topsoil, mulch, and some select Garden Weasel tools, we started breaking up the soil and worked in peat moss and fresh topsoil. 

Nice, right?

Somewhere in there we went to the garden center and I spent WAY too much on plants and flowers.... but I bought mostly perennials because I am NOT doing this every year. Homie don't play that. 

We got the plants home and laid them out first, to make sure I liked how it all looked. Mom and Brother also put the flowers and things they picked out in the planters up on the porch. 

 

Once everyone was satisfied... the digging re-commenced. And then the mulching started. And then we ran out of mulch. 

The end. 

Not really. We ran to the HD again for more mulch. Mom insisted on buying a couple hanging ferns for my porch. 

So we finally finished the job and took a few minutes to admire everything. Doesn't it look amazing!? What a difference a hard day's work makes!!

 

I love it! Since this pic was taken, we added (at Mom's insistence) two hanging flower baskets. They're also very lovely. :)

And now I'm just trying not to kill everything!

The end. 

Sweaty Weekend Fun!!

Get your minds out of the gutter! My sweaty weekend fun involved a lot of hard, manual labor and this:

Cypress Mulch. It was as though the Fates knew I'd need some because it was on sale at Home Depot! Wahoo!

But this little project is going to take some time and a few more pictures to explain and give it the attention it deserves! So I hope to be back very soon with the full scoop!

Oh, the fun didn't stop there... my Rockstar Team (Mom and Brother) helped with a few cleanup projects in the back yard, gutter cleaning, and got me started on my bedroom overhaul (finally!). More on that later too!

Did you work on any big projects this weekend??

Easy Peasy

I've been thinking a lot more about small changes that make us happy (happier?) in a big way. I'm guessing it's because of all the great ideas I've seen out there in blogland, but I think it's also a bit related to the book I just finished. {More on that book later, I promise.}

I knew buying a house and making it my own would be a process, but I don't think I expected I would sometimes sort of "forget" that it's my house and I can change things, darn it! But every once in a while I will catch myself thinking, "grrr, this drives me nuts" or "I don't like that" and every once in a while I will realize, "Oh yeah! I can change that!" Does that sound crazy? Any other somewhat-new homeowners out there feel similarly?

For example...how long did I live with this hateful door before I took it down? Or the ugly-floral-print-swag-thing draped ever so carefully over the curtain rods in my bedroom? What about those dark curtains in the bathroom I recently mentioned?

I mean, my DIY Homeowner Heroes certainly do not wait to change things around!! I've been inspired ... and I am giving myself permission to start changing things I don't like! Especially when the changes are relatively simple things I can do in a short amount of time!

I made a very quick, very minor change today...really it was more of a rearrangement...and it made me smile. And again, I thought, "Why? Why didn't I think of that sooner?" It's too boring to explain, but basically I rearranged the curtains on the patio door/window so that they would no longer get in the way when I opened and closed the door (it's not a sliding door), plus without my make-do quick-fix, it doesn't look so ridiculous.

It's with a tiny amount of embarrassment that I share this next easy change...The other day I took out a shelf in my small bathroom closet so I could fit the garbage can inside. See, my dogs are the type that will get into the garbage, even though they've been disciplined for it countless times. So after I was entirely fed up, I just started leaving the small bathroom garbage can on top of the back of the toilet. It didn't really fit elsewhere and in the moment it was easy to do...yet...a little embarrassing. I mean, my garbage can was on top of the toilet. {In my defense, other people don't use that bathroom too often.}** Finally, I rearranged a few things and took out a shelf so the garbage can would fit neatly inside the closet! Voila! No more surprises when I get home and the dogs don't get yelled at! Now...if I could only keep them out of my laundry baskets...

**{OK, OK, if I'm being totally honest, I ended up with the garbage basket on top of the back of the toilet in my half-bath downstairs. I've since removed a lot of random crap from the teeny cabinet under the sink and stored the basket there.}

Small Change, Big Improvement!

I was reading one of my favorite blogs the other day, Mabel's House, when this post got me thinking about the small changes we often put off making for whatever reason. And how sometimes those tiny things make the biggest difference and we wonder, "Why the heck didn't I do that sooner?"

Raise your hand if that has applied to you at some point. Yup, I thought so.

Long story short... I have a bathroom that needs a few changes. For now, things will basically stay the same... but there will be some updates in the future... and probably a moment or two when I need your help and suggestions!

But first, a quick fix I did so long ago that I practically forgot this post existed a while ago and haven't talked about yet! My bathroom has a window, which is very nice for natural light! Though it was covered by the green curtains you see below. The previous owner left them. And yes, they do match the shower curtain. So it was like a giant wall of green.

Quite dark...and yet... as you can see, the curtains were a bit see-through.

My bathroom is right across from a window in my neighbor M's apartment. Always felt a bit weird, especially at night, when I'd change and whatnot. But after a few bucks and a little time, I had this!

Yes, more window film! Problem solved! And I can even keep the curtain open (though it still weirds me out at night). It's so nice having natural light!! You can't tell in this picture, but trust me, it makes a huge difference!

But this was months and months after I recognized the problem. It took me forever to do (and even longer to blog about)...I'll admit money was a bit tight in the beginning, so I did spend it on more important things. But seriously, window film isn't that expensive. 

It doesn't stop there though... once again, months later I came across some extra long shower curtain liners at TJ Maxx for about $7! I needed some new extra long liners, but hated to spend $15 or more on each liner at places like Bed, Bath, and Beyond (I need 2). It wasn't as though the liners I had were all nasty or anything, don't worry. But they were an off-white and opaque. Combine that with the dark curtains and minimal room at the top (I have this weird track system, more on that in another post) and you can imagine how dark it was in the shower. Seriously. I was practically giddy about finding extra long liners so cheap!

When I got home, I took down the old liners and curtains and put the new liners up...of course I chose translucent liners this time... they let lots of light in! And I decided I was not putting those hateful curtains back up. Sure, maybe right now not having a proper shower curtain looks a little...ghetto-chic...but I'm OK with that because I absolutely LOVE having more light in there. While I was at it, I took down one of the curtain panels on the window too! I definitely didn't need that much fabric for that size window. Again, HUGE difference!

Sadly, no picture. :(

'Fess up...what relatively easy or small changes have you made in your life lately that you've been happy about but also made you wonder why you didn't do it sooner? House stuff? Life stuff? What?

BushGate 2010: The Sequel

Last Friday evening, after BK and I finished up, my reinforcements arrived- Mom and Brother. Our rough "plan" for Saturday was to dig around the stumps and cut them as low to the surface as possible and then cover them up to rot. Then we were going to buy some new plants.

Rrrrriiiight.

We got a late start because we were all tired and it was an overcast morning, so I think we were all surprised to realize how late it was when we got moving! I fixed a nice breakfast for all of us and then we decided to check out my local garden center. Call me overwhelmed! I had a couple of rough ideas, but that's about it. But the woman was very helpful and really urged me to take things slow, to think about waiting until the end of August to plant anything, and to make sure I added some peat moss to the soil to...well...do whatever peat moss does. I did end up buying a few perennial Hibiscus plants at a great price (I think anyway) because they wouldn't be there if I came back later.

We dropped Brother off to get started digging while we left to get some peat moss and some topsoil to try to fill in holes and whatnot. Before we left, my neighbor, M, suggested we just pull the stumps out with his truck. That he'd be happy to help and it would save time and energy. I nearly had a panic attack at the suggestion. I really didn't want to do that because I didn't want the grass torn up more, was worried where the roots went and what damage they'd do...etc. I told M thanks, but no.

By the time we got back (and it was a pretty quick trip) Brother was already sweaty and tired...and apparently had talked to a few neighbors. I guess the feedback was positive and a few people had opinions to offer. Funny! It was then we realized this was a HUGE undertaking. M offered to help and I accepted...soon my other neighbor, G, arrived with a shovel and axe. And before long, this woman two houses down showed up with a big jug of ice water and cups. So sweet!!

After what seemed like only minutes, M, covered in sweat, approached me and really encouraged me to let him pull the stump...at least the GIANT one they were working on. I finally relented- part peer pressure, part fear that my help would get mad and leave! I ran to buy a tow strap. I wasn't sure I could be there for the actual towing....but I stayed. It took a number of tries... and to his credit, M was very, very careful and deliberate in what he was doing. Between pulls with the truck, the guys would dig, chop, and pull on the stump. It was a big ordeal...and that stump was STUCK. Finally...

 Isn't it huge?! I learned from a neighbor that these shrubs were there when he moved in ... 40+ years ago!

Not all of the stumps were as difficult to remove, but they did require a lot of work. Shovels, saws, sweat, maybe even tears.  I have the best neighbors.

Those men sure worked their butts off! Thank goodness it was overcast and a bit misty at times! 

I took G and his wife, and my mom and Brother out for dinner... M didn't come out with us. But he has my eternal gratitude. I will definitely be doing something nice for him at some point.

So this is basically what things look like at the moment. Bare. A little hole-y. I'm OK with that right now. But really... I'm taking suggestions for landscaping ideas. :)

BushGate 2010

 As you know, my weekend plans involved yanking out those blasted shrubs. It was an epic project. But first, I wanted to show you what just how tall those bushes were and what a difference removing them made!

This first picture was taken looking out the two front windows. On the right side, you can  barely make out the top of a jeep parked out on the street.

By Friday morning, after BK and I worked, this was the view-- please excuse the trash and recycling bins. Oops.

What a difference!!

We got back to it Friday after work. K-Dog (my supervisor) even came out to help! Really he just wanted to use his brand new reciprocating saw that he loaned me. We didn't use it Thursday night, if you can believe it.

The weather was pretty nice- not as hot as the day before. We actually had a lot of fun working- these two guys crack me up on a regular basis and with countless "bush" jokes going around...well, you get the idea. Fun was had by all. I'm not kidding when I say that my neighbors two houses down were also amused. I could hear them laughing on the front porch, enjoying the show and our antics.

We ... and by we I mean BK... got a dead branch out of this tree in the front yard. BK also attempted to shake the windsock out...it's been stuck there since last October. Really. Stuck. And yes, it's still stuck.

After we got the branches all cut off, K-Dog left and BK and I moved branches to the curb and to the giant pile on the side of the house.

And voila!! MUCH better, yes? It's funny, BK were sitting on the porch swing, taking a break before we cleaned everything up and two women were walking by. They said it "looked great!" and that they were friends with a neighbor across the street who had been wanting the previous owner to trim the bushes way down or remove them all together!! I can't tell you how good I felt to hear that. I have often felt that everyone many people in my neighborhood loved the previous owner. One particular neighbor seems to make comments every time I see him about how she "used to keep things so nice" and how she "spent a lot of time" on things. HA!

Maybe that's petty and not very nice, but I felt good that maybe, just maybe, she wasn't perfect.

Later the neighbor that wanted the bushes trimmed or cut down was outside and he yelled that it looked "great"! He did so right after that one particular neighbor yelled, "Your house looks naked." Not nice, not good, but "naked." Sigh.

Anyway, BK and I were proud of our hard work....but the hard work wasn't over yet...

Stay tuned... 


**PS- I really wanted to try to get this in one post, but I have so many pics and such a story to tell that I just couldn't do it! Plus, I'm tired!

"Just for Fun" He Says...

Last night my friend, BK, and I were going to have a "strategic planning meeting" to discuss how to approach a massive project: taking out those hateful shrubs in front of my house. The bushes that couldn't be taken out because of these little guys.

We looked (again) at the job waiting for us...we planned to get started after work today (Friday) and then work most of the day tomorrow (Saturday) after our reinforcements arrived. I'm not going to lie, both of us were panic-stricken.

BK wanted to just cut a branch or two "just for fun". Clearly we didn't stop.

I cannot describe how much I love those bushes being gone. After we were finished for the evening, we sat on my porch swing and for the first time, I could actually see the street! Love. It.

We're going to tackle the other side after work today and see how far we get - though I bet we can get through the others, especially because we might actually use the electric reciprocating saw this time!

I also cannot describe how grateful I am to BK!

More pictures to come, stay tuned!

Happy weekend!

A Trip Down Memory Lane

I'll be honest... I meant to have this up 2 days ago! But I've been busier than I thought I would be this week. Yikes.

With all these projects going on at my house...which sometimes seems to create more projects...it's tough (for me anyway) not to feel overwhelmed and sometimes discouraged by all of it. Sometimes I even wonder what the heck I was thinking buying a house...this house...all by myself. Yes, I have lots of awesome help from family and friends, for which I am eternally grateful. But still. I'm just callin' it like it is.

And then I look back at where I was one year ago and I can't help but smile and think... gosh...progress...

My living room, one year ago (almost to the date!)

I liked to call it Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

What a surprise that floor had been! To read the full horror story go here.

Check back soon and I'll show you the other changes to my living room! What a difference a year makes!

Mission Complete??

Is home improvement ever complete? I'm starting to think N-O.

In spite of that, Mission Home Improvement was pretty successful. As I mentioned on Friday, the water heater was put in Thursday night. After my family got in, took some measurements, planned things out a bit, and unpacked tools, we got to work. My dad and I left (I think it was close to 8 pm) to get the water heater, but since I hadn't been able to price out heaters ahead of time, we stopped a 3 different stores! Thankfully they were in close proximity to one another. We ended up going back to the first store for the heater, since they had the best price. Go figure. I knew my mom and brother would be making some preparations while we were out, but I wasn't expecting this when I got home:

My mom and brother managed to get the door-shaped hole cut, plus some, drained the water heater, and dug out some old carpet and crap that was in the tiny space behind everything (left by the previous owner). Whoa. 

 

{Note: the above picture is terrible and wobbly and I'm mildly embarrassed to have it on here, but it does illustrate the full extent of the wall carnage. Oh, for those of you who haven't been IN my basement, I have low ceilings, the door isn't really 8 feet tall.}

Soon after we came home, Dad and my brother got the old heater moved and the new heater installed and running. I ended up moving paint and shelves and pulling out soggy carpet and helping where I could, which included ordering a pizza for a late night snack (actually my dinner). :)

Friday morning I helped make some lists before I left for work. Apparently my crew had another productive day without me! They got the door to the "green room" rehung, 

my bedroom door removed - sorry, no pic...like I'm going to show you my not-so-tidy bedroom!! They also dug out the door in the garage rafters so I can start sanding it.

They got the lattice put on the deck, though apparently my silly Lilly managed to squeeze under the small hole left under the deck steps...so a couple pieces were added later.

But this was the scene when I pulled in the driveway on Friday after work...

my mom and brother hacking away at the gianormous lilac bush/tree/monstrosity. It had been damaged in the blizzard this winter and has never been the same since and I was worried a overhanging branch would fall on my neighbor's car in a storm, so it needed to be yanked out. 

This was what was left when my brother's saw battery died. Poor Mama Bird flew over and sat on one of the remaining branches and seemed confused. Aww. Although I don't have a picture, trust that there's now nothing left but a freakish stump.I'm sure Mama Bird is really confused now. 

No picture, but my brother put some caulk on the outside of the patio door, which will hopefully take care of the leak.  Also, the easily accessible cold water pipes in the basement were insulated! No more drips!

Aside from all of these projects, some other things came up that needed attention...

*my front porch light went out at the most inopportune time (i.e., right after ordering pizza) and is quite tricky, so my brother also took care of that, 

*my AC had a clogged hose somewhere, which also contributed to the watery mess in the basement {still don't understand all that, but it seems better now, so I'm OK with that}. My dad and brother removed the rubber hose and replaced it with PVC pipe, which won't kink and will hopefully not clog,

*the old-school metal weather strip that was on my balcony door was removed and the door planed so it closes (and opens) more easily,

*air vents were cleaned, filters replaced, 

*sewer cover...or plug...or whatever it's called, was a rusty, gross mess and fell off when we were pulling carpet off the basement floor. Now replaced!

Whew. What a busy weekend. My crew worked really hard and I am very grateful for their help and expertise. Much to my brother's chagrin, we {Mom & I} were already planning more projects. I feel like I drove around a lot, spent a lot of money, and helped where I could, but my crew did the tough stuff while I was gone, it seemed! Thanks again, y'all!

Status Update

Water heater??

Check!

Thanks Dad & Todd for all the hard work & heavy lifting! Mom, you did a great job wielding that mop and moving stuff around! Great team effort y'all! 

We decided the bathroom exhaust fan would be a project for cooler months, since it's approximately 300 degrees in the attic. Ugh. So, that's off the list for now! More pictures and details later...

Happy weekend everyone!

 

Mission Home Improvement

I thought yesterday was Thursday. Really. All day. I even looked at the lunch menu and thought to myself, "Darn it! If only it were Wednesday I could have a crab rangoon with my lunch special instead of an egg roll." I figured out it actually was Wednesday when I heard the woman express happiness over getting the same crab rangoon I thought I missed.

Did I mention I had "realized" it was Wednesday about 13 times before lunch? Not kidding. Yeah, it's been a long week.

It's not over.

In a couple of hours my parents and older brother will be in town to help me work on some projects around the house. Some big, some small, but many in number. The list includes:

*putting a door in the basement- as in, cutting a door-shaped hole, framing it, hanging the door, etc.,
*patching up previous demolition work I did all by myself (hmmm, did I even blog about that???)
*replacing the water heater,
*maybe tearing out some soggy basement carpet,
*putting a door back on its hinges upstairs,
*taking my bedroom door off its hinges so it can (at some point) be sanded, patched, primed, and painted,
*trying to get an old door out of my garage rafters so it can be assessed and potentially overhauled (more on that later),
*attaching lattice to the bottom of the deck so the dogs will stop playing, lying, digging under there,
*trimming the out of control lilac bush,
*assessing my patio door as I just noticed it appears to be leaking,
*hopefully installing an exhaust fan in my bathroom....there isn't one (!!) and there is a definite need for it,
*maybe replacing the toilet in my bathroom- somehow, before I bought the house, the bowl got cracked and should really be replaced at some point but I'm not sure it's high on my priority list this weekend.

Whew...I think that might be all. Wait!

*finishing the trim work in the renovated spare room/office-- because the windows got sealed/covered for the winter with that weatherizing shrink wrap stuff, the trim couldn't be painted and quite honestly, I just haven't gotten to it.

OK... maybe that's it. What?? My mom told me they wanted to get as many things completed as possible. Honest. I have the emails to prove it, if you don't believe me. 

Anyway, it's going to be a very busy, very expensive weekend (for me). And I couldn't even get the whole day off tomorrow! Thankfully, I've got a good crew to help me out! I'll try to remember to take some pictures along the way, and fill you in on all the details later, but don't be surprised if you don't hear from me until Monday!

So, what about you? Any big plans (home improvement or otherwise) for the weekend???

Furniture Shopping

So. K-Dog and I have spent part of the last few days furniture shopping for his office. He needs something new to replace a chair or two that have taken a beating. And the end of our fiscal year is approaching and we can either spend it or lose it. At first, furniture shopping was kind of fun, but today I was just tired of the whole thing. And then, I saw this...

How cute is that!?!?! OK, I know the colors don't show up so well, after all this was just quickly snapped with my phone, but it's a pretty grey and a not-so-obnoxious yellow. And the couch.... so pretty, yet sturdy... K-Dog is actually considering it for his office. You can't really see it well, but it has a gentle curve to it. This chair literally made me say, "If only I didn't HATE the yellow in my bedroom. If only I was keeping the yellow..." And then I clapped because in all honestly, I've been considering a lovely grey for my bedroom! Wouldn't that chair be awesome?! It's super comfy too, and the guy said that this brand is "top tier." Love, love, love it. Sigh.

What I don't love....

Gasp. And no, the ottoman is NOT included in that price. However, they do have a 40% off thing happening right now...

So what do you think? Thumbs (way) up? OR Thumbs down?

Milk Glass

I'm developing a thing for milk glass. I'm pretty picky about the stuff I will even consider buying, so I can't imagine I'll amass a giant collection anytime soon, but it seems my little collection is growing.

It all started with a sugar bowl. I was tired of having my big container of sugar on my kitchen counter to have with my morning coffee and wanted a sugar bowl. I finally found a cute milk glass sugar dish while out thrifting one day (sorry no pic). Then just recently I found a plain milk glass saucer to put the dish on. I know it's just a simple thing, but I love having a sugar dish I can leave out!

Now my collection has grown to include these pieces. The two on the left I got yesterday, the one on the right, a few weeks ago. 

I got the first one because I thought it would be a great little planter. You might not be able to tell from the angle I took the picture but the one on the left is bigger than the one on the right. Again, I was thinking it might make a nice planter... it might actually be perfect for my Lipstick Plant...

...who just keeps growing and will soon need a new home!


But then I put them up on my favorite windowsill and saw the light coming through and wasn't sure I could fill them anymore. I like the way the light comes through...

The vase will, of course, be filled with freshly cut flowers this summer. I love the scalloped, frilly edge on the top. But the other two....
what do you think? Do I bite the bullet and plant something? Keep them on various windowsills? Put them in the kitchen and fill them with fruit? What would you do?