Some more tasks completed...

Well, this week I have accomplished the following:

1. Got the old chain saw out and pruned some tree branches.
2. Re-tilled one garden and helped wife create raised beds for veggies. (This is hard work!!!)
3. Kids & I removed sod and some dirt from an area we are planning to put pavers on in the previously mentioned private hot tub/garden area. (This is also hard work!!!)
4. Got window screens out of basement, washed them and put them back in the appropriate windows (first floor). Still have 2nd floor to do.

Reason for posting this is for my own record. It is easy to forget how hard you have worked and how much you have accomplished. This provides a written record. Also provides documentation for the self-professed slave driver.

Another Gate completed

I just finished building the 2nd of the 3 gates for the private/secluded hot tub area. Since this gate opening was approximately 48" wide, I built a double in-swinging gate. I previously had built the south (more of a back entrance) gate. The double gate is on the north side and is one of two main entrances. I may design/build some type of arbor for this entrance. The east entrance is arbored and enters from the driveway.

Next comes leveling off the tops of the fence posts and capping them with decorative caps. Will get this done this week.

More tasks checked off

Although I haven't posted since April 22nd, that doesn't mean I haven't accomplished anything or have run away. Although not knocking off "a task a day" I have done the following:

1. Installed a 36" louvered door to separate a living area from a laundry area.

2. Completed another 16 ft of fencing around the hot area. The hot tub is on a low cedar deck that I built for it. I will be adding to this deck (to make it larger). Surrounding this is a privacy fence (which is near complete). The other plans for this area are to install some atmospheric outdoor landscape lighting, landscape the area, perhaps install an outdoor fireplace, several seating areas, and generally make it a pleasant place to escape to. I was thinking of naming the area after my wife: "Ilona's Secret Garden of Delights". When complete we can post some pics. My wife has already been working on the gardens/landscaping in this area. Really looks nice...but the best is yet to come.

3. I also built one of the 3 gates for this area. This one was for a rear entrance. The other two will be for the front & side entrances and will be more architecturally/aesthetically designed and pleasing and inviting to the eye.

4. I started cleaning and straightening up the garage (which includes my work bench/tool area).

Another small job done.

Today I replaced 3 electrical receptacles in the living room. The old ones were no longer making proper contact with plug prongs. Plug would be loose, almost to falling out. Anyway, this took about 30 minutes to complete. Cost for the receptacles: $8 at Lowes (I got the heavy duty, quality ones - you get what you pay for in most cases). Now I can remove this post-it from the job board.

My goal is to knock off at least one small job per day. By whittling away at them daily, I should be able to gain some ground on the backlog which has accumulated due to various excuses. And getting something done gives you a sense of accomplishment and acts as a motivator.

Also, by keeping a log/journal, it is easier to look back and see what you have gotten done. Sometimes the tendency is to quickly forget about the accomplishments and go negative on yourself and others. A record shows the evidence.

By the way, my wife said they have needed replaced for 25 years. We have only lived here 23 years. I actually installed a couple of the outlets a mere 20 years ago. They have only needed replaced for maybe a short 10-12 years, not 25.

The Slavedriver: AKA The Wife

Reposted from an old Ilona's Garden Journal post.

I don't know how it is at other people's houses, but at my house I am the idea person/slavedriver. That is right..... they run when they see me coming. All except that poor guy, AKA my husband, who has nowhere to run. So what is it this time? A new porch.

I brainstormed this idea - and it really is a good one- last week. You know how they say you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear? ( They do still say that, right?) Well, I decided it applied to our front porch. We shored it up and patched it when we first moved here, yon long time ago, but it always makes the house look like a sad man's countenance. Just sort of droopy, and on the outs.

So! I got to my trusty library and got old house plans, and old house books, and country house books. You get the picture. My husband leaped at the good idea and then realized how much work we are talking about. Talk about the sad man's countenance. A little verbal wrestling and we jostled out the plan: it can be done. I have two alternative designs to show him tonight. He, on his part, got his own slew of library books on the nuts and bolts of "building your own". Yay. Sign of actualization.

For the landscape, however, this means major work for me, lest I lose the plants that are presently in the dooryard part of my garden. I will need to do this soon. I have to figure where to put the plants. I have a major investment of hostas that I do not want to lose. They are not going to like getting uprooted again. I will have to move a small Mockorange, Philadelphus coronarius 'Aureus'. It has taken years just to look like it mattered, but I think it should be placed in a better position anyway.

Much more difficult will be a good sized birdsnest spruce. Maybe it will be alright if I c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y dig up the roots as painstakingly as I can. I don't know if I have the patience. Maybe thinking about the price of a new one in an approaching size will inspire me. I believe the porch vines will be able to be trained from their area up the new porch; their roots will just be somewhat under the porch. The only other things are new hydrangeas I put across the front gabled area. They will be fine... just additional work in moving them again.

Well, it was my idea.

I help with demolition work, but I never had to handle hammers, etc. I think my husband would prefer I paint when it comes times for that, anyway. He finds that tedious and I think my novice work as a carpenter would make him flinch inwardly ( the "no one does as good a job as I do" sort of flinch, the " I 'd rather not have your help" sort of flinch) . If I took joy in that I suppose I would be a passive aggressive. As it is, I am glad we divide the work between us.


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Continuation of old project: building a trellis arbor and fence

Really, the Handyman has had a continual stream of projects since we moved here twenty or so years ago. Of course there was the the pouting that took place for, oh I don't know, five years? I know you will read this, but you know it is so. That was a particularly bad conjunction of marriage stress, a workload that was more than anticipated.... and ( remember?) the too true admonition of "measure twice, cut once". Be warned young oldhouse admirers.

I'm not trying to discourage anyone from handyman work- far be it from me, but I do think everyone benefits from a reality check.

Back to the project. The wiser, more experienced, and more ( surprise!) motivated Handyman had to take out some work done a few years ago. Things change. Plans change. Go with the flow of it. Or plan carefully first time around. Whatever. Anyway, the fence and arbor are starting to look nice. and soon the entire enclosure for the side yard will be done. This is just part of the side yard...oh well, I'll take some pictures! A thousand words could be spared;) Handyman can write the details.

Amazingly, the clematis has survived , although in none too good shape. I will coddle it once the work is done. I planted it a number of years ago in anticipation of the arbor, and it was thriving. That is, until last year's mishap with the teenage angst and mower. Then covered with the sods I asked same named teenage boy to remove. You can get the picture... but it sprouted out of its undue burial this year. Plants are the one thing that survives being buried alive. Usually.

If I had the strength to do the work myself I would.

Anyway, the posts are all in, the front side is fenced with dog ear boards closely spaced, topped with lattice and finished with boarding that Handyman had best explain. Well, I guess I've outlined his next post for him! Sounds like our blogging is reflecting RL.
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Do I really want to start another major project?

Actually, yes, I would like just one more for sure: the front porch. This old farmhouse has gone through numerous "updates" and exterior architectural changes over its lifetime, but the present porch was just a slapped up silly job after they removed the porch that wrapped around the corner. They reused some of the former porch supports, etc, but put them together in the most nonsensical way.

The above picture is nothing like the actual style of my house, but the porch is representative of what I want: a pedimented simple, but sturdy porch. The pillars would necessarily be more of a farmhouse type and not as numerous, but I like the fact that they have presence. I hate skimpy porch pillars- it just ruins the visual proportions.

Although one of the first jobs here was to shore up that old porch- it has always looked rather ramshackle. It is the only thing I am truly dissatisfied with enough to want to have just one more remodeling job.

I've looked at a lot of homes and styles of porches that would be in harmony with the house- I think it would make the house look more than commensurately better- I think it would make a world of difference. But Handyman has been overworked and I am not eager for any new projects, so we will see. Still, that is one desire really percolating in my thinking.

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Making Work Stations

The Handyman is serious, totally serious, about getting a handle on life. This includes organization around here, and I am on board with him 100%. We are tired of misplacing tools and looking for hours when ready to start the job now. We are tired of wasted money on multiples because we can't find something. We are tired of frustration in trying to find things. And the last straw came when I was mowing with the tractor and Whomp! Loud sound and dead tractor. Turns out someone last season left a shovel...a shovel mind you... in some overgrown grass. And yep, I mowed over it. We went to the Hardware store for some tool hangers that evening.

Furthermore, Handyman has set up his work station in the garage. My father had made his own intricately organized workbench- I remember it from when I was a little girl- and we inherited it. It is now ensconced in the garage with a large pegboard area. There is room to saw and do all the odd jobs that Handymen do; very impressive. He will work more pleasurably knowing where things are, and it makes it better for us to know where to put things - no more shovels in the grass, or in this case, hammers under the couch or whatever ( ok, I'm now exaggerating). HOPEFULLY.

I have the tool hangers and my favorite garden tools hung on the tool rack and there is a piece of pegboard waiting for me- it will go up between the toolracks and hold my handtools etc. I can't tell you how often my slave garden helpers leave my tools all over the place. At least now there is no excuse.

Since we painted that dining room, I am now in the process of setting up everything in more organized manner for the fine dining and hospitality I hope to work into this year. We have had things so wrecked with all the remodeling work we fell out of the habit of having people over. No More Excuses. And much more organization. Yay us!

I am hopeful...very hopeful that we will keep true to our resolve; and with proper work stations in place, and a place for everything, we will accomplish the uncluttered lifestyle with time to enjoy our life plans that we have.

Getting back to that workbench. I wish you could see how nifty it is... oh yes, cameras. I'll try to take a picture or two and post it.




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"Sorry, HandyMan" OR What I (actually) Did Today

Last time I posted I said I was supposed to paint this weekend. I meant to paint, honestly, but instead I gardened. See the post on my gardening efforts. So the dining room is still wrecked and awaiting my attention. You can't garden and attend to do-it-yourself jobs on the same day- at least I can't. But I did manage to empty out some of china cabinet so it can be moved away from the wall... or rather I delegated the job while I was outside gardening.

While outside, I noticed some other painting I need to get around to on the exterior. One is to rectify the mistake a delegated painter made in painting some of the trim the accent color of green when it should have been the trim color of gray. It bothers me no end when I see it. I also need to get the porch painted and the lattice trellises so the porch vines can grow properly this year. The work mushrooms when you're having fun...or something like that.

But since it rained today anyway it wasn't ideal for painting. At least that is my story.

The truth is that I am a terrible procrastinator. there. I said it... I go gung-ho for a day, and then can't get back to finish the job for two weeks. Sometimes more, but we don't want to jinx anything. I will paint next week. for sure. It's in writing, isn't it? That must mean it's so.

And in the meantime I'll resume the story of my kitchen on this blog. I love my kitchen - it's my favorite room of the house, because it is so pretty. Well, except for the refrigerator. We need a new one- besides the fact that it has glitches in how it works, it is starting to show rust spots. You know the fridge is old when it does that.

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Project For Now: painting

In the last post (the Handyman's), it was reiterating the history of the renovations around here. The reason for that I imagine is the nice way of revising and correcting my rendition. Saying your wife is wrong with her facts can be like saying she looks fat in that dress- an uncomfortable situation for men who like to keep the peace. But no worries, I am here to tell you, dear readers, that when we discussed my timeline I found I was wrong about when the kitchen remodeling took place: it was fifteen years after moving in, not seven. I knew it was a long time, but I thought to myself that it couldn't have been that long. It was, and my husband helped me remember.

The reason it works like that is because instead of taking time to figure which year something was done, I place it in some general portion of my life- very inaccurate. This tells you exactly why my husband can't stand the idea of me doing any wallpapering. I tend to be inexact about numbers. That is bad for things that need to be measured and cut. I,thus, have never wallpapered anything in my life. I paint.

Which brings me to what we are doing in the house right now: repainting a couple rooms. Everything is getting moved away from the walls and we wash them down with 'Spic 'N Span'. I have always used that product before painting since it removes grease and grime the best- since the dining room, which is the present project, is in open connection with the kitchen, that is doubly important. My dad taught me that. If you don't get that layer of grime off, especially the greasy type from cooking steam, the paint will sometimes peel away. Good preparation pays off in most projects, but especially in painting.

I once had high hopes of painting a freehand trellis and garden look on the walls, but I just never had the time; so for now, I am happy with a fresh white. Then we will repaint a new area in the back part of the house- just because I think it needs more coverage, and now is the easiest time- painting with the same color as the dining room. It is sometimes amazing what a good coat of paint will do, but this can be used to detrimental effect, too.

My aunt once had an artist craftsman paint large parts of her sizable home with natural faux wood and marble effects. The person who inherited the house painted over everything with a quick white coating before selling the house- I thought it was such a shame. So giving something a new paint job is not always the best solution, it just works well in most practical instances.

This project should be done this week. Then I move everything back into the room and organize and set up the room so we will feel that at least the project is an accomplished one. If I am very diligent I might even take a picture or two- but no promises, I'm remiss and a total amateur when it comes to photos.

Then next?
Handyman is always frustrated with doors. Doors are his nemesis, and that is the next project: fixing up the back screen door....again.

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Kitchen Preliminaries

We lived with our old and inefficient kitchen for quite awhile before we remodeled it. Too long, we both think. There were fits and starts of taking care of some of the more offensive features: like the bathroom sink located at the far end of the kitchen...what was up with that? The window was nailed shut, and being a kitchen without air conditioning and facing west... well, it was Hell's Kitchen before they coined the name for the show. A new window was first on the nag request list. We opted for a large Marvin casement window. Summer relief!

Winter was something entirely different in this porch-turned-kitchen area. It was drafty and freezing cold- the pipes were threaded through openings cut into the insides of the cabinets- and they tended to freeze. This place had lots of the "what not to do" list of the D-I-Y trade ....

When we finally scrambled enough money together we started the project.

The first thing was the planning... after fortifying with many issues of Kitchen Remodeling magazines and books... my part was to draw up the plan. My husband made a template of the space as it presently was and I began to draw out different ideas that we discussed and scrapped. We finally came upon a plan that involved closing off the back door, moving it to where the windows in the dining room were and moving the basement door, while concealing the bathroom door from the kitchen dining area.Whew! This is the condensed version! About the only thing that stayed the same was the new window and the sink plumbing connection below it. And it was time to fill in the cistern that was half inside and underneath the kitchen and half outside. Mosquitoes in the dead of winter, I kid you not. Funky smells, too.

Some of the challenges included the fact that previous owners had removed lots of the bearing wall- and you could see the roofline was showing results of that fiasco. We wanted a more open design then it had, so took out most of the remaining wall- we put in structural beams and supports - big, thick, specially ordered cedar. My husband totally rebuilt from the inside once we had taken out the old failing particle board walls and whatnot the ingenious former owners had slapped up. We joke now that if a tornado hits everything except this kitchen will go... the studs alone are a backbone few winds will prevail against.

We knew it was bad- we had lived with this kitchen for about seven years, but once you start tearing into the insides of the walls and floors...you get to see just how bad.

So we had a plan, we had the demolition.... next were the innumerable trips to the stores.


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Small Projects::Big Returns

According to CNN Money the D-I-Y person can make upgrades in these areas: tile, cabinets, bookcases, lighting, and shower doors.

Most of us know that certain projects have more value than others, like kitchen and bathroom remodels, but we oftentimes don't account for some of the smaller projects.

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