Sunday, June 20, 2010

Halfway Home

I'm about halfway done laying the new floors now.  I've done the kitchen, living room and most of the hallway.  I just need to do the master bedroom, walk-in closet and the other bedroom/office.  The floors look AWESOME, we're super stoked.

Once I'm done laying the flooring, I just need to install the new electrical outlets/switches, install and paint the trim and do a few small things, then we're pretty much done with round 1 of the remodel...FINALLY.


My work area:
Looking down the hall towards the master bedroom:
Looking from the dining area to the living room (if you click on the picture you can see a bigger version):
The kitchen:
We can't wait to be done!

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Sneak Peek

I've been working on getting the house ready to lay the new flooring this week in the evenings after work. I finally laid the first planks last night and I'm off to a good start.

So far, so good!

Monday, June 14, 2010

Excitement builds

Our flooring has finally arrived! We are now this close to being done with round 1 of the remodel. I'm hoping to be done installing it by the end of the week...

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Not quite a putting green yet

The front yard is almost finished now.  The rock walls are built and filled with dirt, the sprinkler system is installed, Sarah planted the flowers and I've spread 4 yards of topsoil in the flower beds and where the lawn will.  Now all I have to do is lay the sod this weekend.

The wall turned out pretty well, I'm very pleased with it. I only ended up needing to buy about 20 bricks on top of the ones my neighbor gave me in order to finish it, so that worked out really well (thanks again Barry!).


The sod goes in this weekend, and once it's established I can pressure wash the walls to make the bricks look new again.

More pics soon!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

May is such a TEASE!

Spring is here...I think. May is such a teaser month. Sun one minute, drizzle the next. As a Washingtonian, I can only dream of waking up in the morning and it is already 70 degrees out.

As a kid this happened a few times each Summer. My older sister Autumn, our neighbor Kim and I would throw on our swim suits at my parent's lake cabin and hop into the lake for a morning swim. Memories of this resurface when Darrick and I join our friends Chad and Stef at their lake cabin in the Summer. Hopefully July and August will provide us with these opportunities again.

BBQ'd breakfast sounds like a delicious alternative to cooking inside this summer as well. =) A friend just told me recently that even Pop Tarts can be BBQ'd. I think I will have to try that as I need no convincing that good old bacon and eggs is simply scrumptious from the grill.

Back to what I'm posting about...our garden. The rain and spontaneous spurts of sun have really boosted the growth so far. Along with a few doses of Miracle Grow, I can say most of the plants are looking quite green and bushy. This makes me happy. =)

The sweet peas have grown to about 5 inches tall. It is amazing how they wrap their tiny terminal tendrils ( I looked that up) around twine or anything supportive so that they may climb their way to creating a breadth of color and scent in the upcoming months. I am excited to open the door to the patio on a hot summer day and smell their wonderful scent.

The veggies all seems to have taken flight, but their engines have stalled. Lot's of leaves but not many signs of fruit to come. I think heat and sun in the next few months will allow them to really soar. Patience is a virtue.

Sadly, Leroy snapped my basil plant and killed it last week. Hot Fiance Darricko bought me a new plant yesterday and gave it a new home in the original spot of the deceased. A sweet present to a girl who had just gotten home from 36 hours of hospital work. Thanks Darrick. I will make you some kind of basil yumminess soon.

The corn has definitely taken a liking to the soil I prepared for it. At first the starts were looking spindly and sad, but over these last couple weeks they have perked up. Same for the raspberries and strawberries I was given by a few friends.

I would say the flowers are what I am enjoying the most right now since most of our plants haven't actually produced yet. The snapdragons are blooming and I officially love the look of them in a simple glass jar; see below. Notice that I just had to take a few shots of the dogs with the flowers...hehe! Bentley is the black lab in the pictures. He is our friend Austin's dog and has been staying with us for the past week. He makes me want to get a third dog. Maybe a yellow lab. D says "NO". We will see.

For those of you planning your own garden this year, check out my homemade signs. They were very simple to make and you can use any color of paint that you want. I chose to have Darrick cut up a board for me, spray paint the wood black and then we nailed the wood to stakes. Last, I wrote what kind of veggie the sign would represent with a pale purple paint pen. Easy as pie and it makes the garden look loved that much more.

The first pictures you will see are what the back yard looks like right now. All fill dirt. Sod to come.

TTFN, Sarah