Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Bucking the Funk

I have been in a serious funk this winter. Perhaps you've noticed, as the blog entries have gotten simpler and farther apart.

Doug has been doing all these wonderful projects, for example...unclogging the sink. I know this is silly, but after months of waiting...and waiting...and waiting...for this dumb sink to drain, I had to film a video of the sink clearing right after the water is turned off.
 

Moving a cabinet door so that it swings the right way (this is the last of these, finally):


Adding on the bottom of the oven, left off by the last owner, just tucked into a cupboard for us:

Screwing in this strange screw, making the kitchen a bit safer:

Before...and I did try to screw it in myself with no luck...

After. Doug made it look easy.
Moving rocks in the backyard to loop around our maple tree:


And other projects, such as cleaning out the garage and working on his mill.

Meanwhile, I have been doing very little on the house front. I've been dealing with kids, reading books, and planning our family vacation this year. I'll have to blog about that, too - it's been quite a process (a fun process).      

Monday, March 25, 2013

Building the Foundation

The first year we were here, our focus was trees. We needed to get trees in so that they could grow, since it takes quite a few years for that to happen. The orchard was the result: a whopping 12 trees, only one of which came with the house. There are now also three maple trees, an eastern redbud, a magnolia, three crabapples, and the original honey locust and blue spruce. Oh, and five arborvitae.

We rocked our goal that year. Woot!

Last year, the goal was for shrubs. While doing trees, we had added a few bushes: a weigela, four boxwoods, a few ferns (only one survived), two spireas, and five eunonymous. Eunonymous-es? Anyway. So we had a pretty darn good start on our "foundation" planting.

Now, how many shrubs do you think I put in last year? Not that many, let me tell you - and I waited until the very end of the planting season. I snagged nine rose bushes during fall clearance and put those in.

Very pathetic. So this year, we're working on shrubs. Again.

To give myself some momentum, I ordered a few shrubs while it was still snowy. That way, I would have to put them in the ground when they arrived. Ordering shrubs from catalogs hasn't worked in the past, but I am nothing if not an optimist. So I went for it, using SpringHill Nursery, since they have sent me lovely seeds in the past.

The plants arrived last week in fabulous condition, looking like I picked them up locally. Four lilacs and four goatsbeards. The lilacs are fun varieties, one with pink and white flowers, the other with red flowers edged with white. The goatsbeards look a little like ferns, but they bloom white all along these long white stems. Amazingly enough, seven of them are already in the ground.

Looking a little worse for wear after a few snowstorms...one of the pink lilacs.

A baby goatsbeard. Isn't it cute?

And there's still snow around another lilac. Melt already!

You can hardly see them, but seven of the plants are along this wall.
Eventually, they will shade the side of the house during summer.
So wish me luck...hopefully I won't get sidetracked with just perennials this year. And of course, I will keep you updated (especially when those rose bushes bloom!).

Friday, March 22, 2013

Letting in the Light

Doug has been busy (even if I have not)...he decided to put a "found" window to good use. The chicken coop is as dark at 12 noon as it is at 8 pm. Yup, never any light in there. We added a light during the winter, because chickens won't produce eggs in the dark. They won't produce as many eggs anyway, because it is so cold, but the dark really slows things down for them.

So Doug went in and added the light to the back of the coop.


The chickens are probably much happier, although they won't give any sign of it until probably next winter. Right now, they are enjoying digging up the yard. As soon as Doug fenced the backyard, he let those little suckers loose. They have already destroyed one of my sage bushes and are trying to get the garlic out of the ground.

So we may be missing a chicken or two if I ever catch them at it. Then we'll never know if they like their new window. Priorities! Garden over eggs? Eggs over garden? Which would you pick?

Actually, I'd just like an additional fence...to keep them out of my garden. I'd ask Doug to do it this weekend, but it has started snowing again (sigh). Hope the weather is spring-ier in your neighborhood than it is here!

Monday, March 18, 2013

What's Bloomin'

Hooray! There are blooms popping up again!


The crocuses are adding color and telling us loudly (as loudly as a small flower in a large yard can) that spring is coming. And did you notice? No snow on the ground!


Purple ones are coming up on the other side of our fence...sometimes I am locked in the backyard with the kiddos, so this is the photo you get. Yes, I know that I need to cut back that brown perennial...that's actually what I've been doing over the past week in the backyard. The front yard is a little more problematic, since I can't go out there with any small children. They like to run in front of cars, go figure. Since my heart wants to keep beating, I've been focusing my energies on the fenced yard.

Any blooms popping up in your neighborhood? My sister in Maryland has seen daffodils...and my sister in SoCal has noted that it is over 100 degrees already. Guess I'm glad we had snow.

Have a great week!

Friday, March 15, 2013

Opening the Front Door...

Welcome to my home! Let me open the front door so you can come in...

Oh, it doesn't actually open all the way. This black bookcase is getting in the way. You can tell that it is not actually centered - well, the door is why.


There are only eight inches between the door and the wall, which is not a lot when you are looking for a console. Or a bookcase. Or anything else to "fill up" the wall.  I finally came up with the bright idea to put a shelf there - shelves do come in seven inch depths, which is perfect. Doug even put it up for me...after a week or so of just letting it sit behind the couch.

The next item: decorating it. I wanted something big and bright. Well, this arrangement is certainly big, but it is not bright. Doug says it is too big.


This was Doug's suggestion. I think it's too small. Also, this particular rose plant (which Doug bought me for Valentine's Day!) requires sun. Not gonna get much right there, let me tell you.


I also tried this little potted plant. It is fake, but it isn't much bigger than the rose. Hm.


Apparently, decorating this little shelf is still on the agenda. Rats. At least the door now opens. All the way.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

That is Our Life, Not Our Style

We're still messing with that evil front door. Well, perhaps the door is not evil, but the acts that shattered the window certainly were.

Anyway.

Doug took it apart. Wanna see? First, let's remember what it used to look like. White, with simulated oak trim.


Then we went for white trim and a cranberry red door.


After it is taken apart and the glass is removed, the front of the door shows a flange still in place. Fascinating: the steel door has a cutout for the flange, which holds the glass. The whole thing is held together by a top flange and the trim.


Here's the unbroken glass...thank heaven it was double-paned and only one side broke.


 And the front part of the flange.


Both together, with the shattered glass all around the base of the pieces.


And here it is back together.


It lacks a defined style without the leaded, separated glass. Doug says that only broken things are our style.  And I say, "That's our life, not our style!"

Doug does not want to purchase a new door since they are very expensive. I think we're going to end up buying a new door at some point, why not with our tax refund this year?

Ah, but Doug has decided to use that refund to finish the basement. I guess I can wait on the door, since the downstairs will become usable space. For some reason, I really just don't like using an unfinished basement. We do, but not often. So here's to another year with this door!

Monday, March 11, 2013

Tra-La! It's Spring!

It is close enough to spring to start celebrating.

Look what I found coming up today:

Tulips!

Garlic!
Ha! The winter cannot last forever! It may come back to haunt us in the coming weeks, but it will be gone for sure very soon.

Winter used to be my favorite season. No, seriously. This is because I telecommuted, padding through the house with my stocking feet, cuddling up in a blanket as I typed away on the computer. Very cozy.

Then I had kids. Winter is not my least favorite, but it is no longer my buddy. It means lots and lots of laundry, as the kids tromp in mud, then snow, then mud again. It means being stir-crazy, because there are several small people bouncing off the walls. It means being very cold. Difficult to curl up in a blanket when you are running after a two-year-old - the blanket severely hampers my response time to the hourly crises.

So I was very happy to start sending the kids outside last week. Doug is happy, because he has started planting his garden. The neighbors actually stop their cars in front of our house, puzzled. But it is time for hardy seeds to go in the ground.

Spinach, sugar snap peas, carrots, and parsnips
Seedlings are also pushing their way up inside. Although they aren't looking so happy this year. Doug put them on a heating pad, hoping to make them a little warmer and grow a little faster. Personally, I'm about ready to give up on them.

My sad tomato plants, started in January. Shouldn't they be bigger by now?
Are you seeing spring in your neighborhood? Have you had it with winter this year, too? Let's all give a huge "Hurrah!" for spring!

Monday, March 4, 2013

Lockdown!

The pantry is downstairs, next to the family room that contains the family television. You know what that means: the pantry is the main food source for those watching TV. Primarily, the kids.

Here's how this works out: whenever Doug or I go downstairs, there is a HUGE, unauthorized mess. Wrappers, crackers, popcorn, and many, many dishes. That room is in a constant state of disaster.

We've been talking a long time about locking that pantry door, but it would have to be a keyed lock. Our kids, after all, are very talented about circumventing any effort to keep them out. And, in cleaning the garage today, Doug found just what we needed: a deadbolt.

A few minutes later, he crowed that we were now the victors. The pantry is now secure. Sad that we have to go to such lengths, isn't it? Such is life with five intelligent children.