When the Going Gets Tough...

 

Tomatoes are starting to come in, slowly.

 

The garden is not very good this first year of planting, at Project House, but it's really hard to tell otherwise due to the unusually hard Winter, and cold Summer. Farmers and home gardeners are all complaining, so I guess it's just a bad year. The peppers are sparse,

and the cucumbers seem stunted, but we are getting some good zucchini.

 

Our financial situation is definitely causing a stop on all projects. There are so many things left on hold right now, which is hard for me and Terry because projects are what we thrive on. Basement bathroom, base molding throughout the house, and finishing the patio are high on the list, but all we can do is wander around feeling depressed about the things we can't afford. Ugh.

 

Terry updated an outside electrical outlet, and then I made him feel bad for spending a few dollars on it. He wanders around the house fretting about the leaky basement and the crumbling foundation, and I say, "Please stop, we cannot do anything right now, so just let it go".  

 

This is why we call ourselves, "The Slowest House Flippers Ever". We're gung-ho, then our cash flow runs dry, and we are left to drib and drab until we finally get things done (5 years later).

 

Then we sell, make a profit, and the cycle continues.

 

On a lighter note, haven't seen one of these since I was a kid...

 

DIY...

 

Saw this herb wreath on Amazon for $200.00.

 

I made it for $20.00.

 

Ha ha.

Big Rain

 

 

 

Tonight's storms left the street behind our house flooded.

 

I had fun standing out there, until some guy thought he'd try real hard to splash me.

 What an idiot. 

 

Too much rain, too hard, too fast.

 

The basement is seeping water, EVERYWHERE !!!

 

Little streams coming from every wall, all headed toward the drains.

 

I HATE THIS BASEMENT.

 

Even the garage is flooded...

 

I came inside and found this little moth on the window (outside).

 

Just a cool pic... 

 

In the Summertime

 

Child labor. Terry got his kid (and friend) to wield sledge hammers on the concrete chunks left sitting in the back of the yard. They broke them down into softball size pieces, now they need to be broken down into walnut size pieces... Hope they come back...

 

Terry spent the entire weekend tuck pointing the back of the house. I am not kidding when I say the entire weekend. From sun-up to sundown, Saturday and Sunday, he grinded, and chipped, and mortared. He was driving me crazy.

 

He has saved us thousands of dollars by doing this horrible job all by himself.

 

Thank God, he ran out of cement.

 

There are still some spots around the house that need work, but thankfully, he is taking a little break.

 

The baby Crabapple tree we planted last Fall is doing great.

 

Shorty waiting for a squirrel to fall out of the tree.

She gives up, eventually.

Out in the Garage

 

The weather has been beautiful this week, and by beautiful, I mean 70 degrees. I know, 70 degrees in July is crazy, but we made good use of it, because we worked out in the garage all week. When it's 90 degrees, the garage is 120 degrees, so the time was right...

 

Our task was to clean up, throw out, and organize all of the junk that has accumulated over the last year of rehabbing Project House.

 

This is probably 10 % of the wood that has been torn out of the house during demo, and scraps from rehab projects. Much has been thrown away already, but what is left takes up the whole garage.

 

We made a bin to organize all of the large pieces of wood.

 

Molding and small scraps are in another box...

 

We attached wood straps to the studs, which made perfect storage spots for tools.

Built a shelf under the window to hold compost bags, and hung pegboards for odds and ends.

 

Terry built this shelving unit last year. It was cleaned and organized too.

 

This felt good. The garage isn't a scary place anymore...

 

But we're gonna have another a big garbage day next week !!!

Amazing.

 

Zucchini blossoms.

 

First Zinnia.

 

We are out of money. Lot's of projects sitting on the back burner.

 

Time for some boring, necessary, cheap projects...

 

Can't tell from the picture, but two seriously sunken sidewalk slabs, that have been driving Terry crazy forever, are about to be raised by the same man, who just figures these things out???

 

Look at that... No more puddle of water in the Summer,

and no more ice pond in the Winter.

 

Mom & Sandy worked on some sidewalk chalk art...

 

while Terry moves on to another project... TUCK POINTING.

 

Tuck Pointing is the art of chiseling out cracked and disintegrating mortar joints, between bricks, and replacing them with fresh crement.

 

He actually stole my Pink sidewalk chalk to mark all of the spots that need work.

 

It's alot of Pink chalk!

 

Today, he fixed the corner of the front porch.

 

He's pretty amazing.

 

 

4th of July

 

Took Kevin to visit Grandma today. We weeded gardens, and Kevin visited.

 

Terry working on the privacy screen...

 

Break for 4th of July dinner. BBQ chicken, and pilaf, and salad made entirely of stuff from the garden. Still loving the new grill !!!

 

Finished the night watching the crazy people in my neighborhood set of thousands of dollars worth of fireworks.

 

Thanks for the show !!!

Live, Laugh, Learn

 

Happy Fourth of July, and that means a Happy Anniversary to us.

 

One year ago today we moved into Project New House.

 

We actually bought the house in February, and worked on it until our move in date, so I guess the official anniversary is today.

 

Looking back through my picture diary is amazing, and happy, and mind-numbing.The things we've done, and still want to do...

 

And, we came out of it all in one piece.

 

It has been a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, but here we are, now, looking back.

 

Feels appropriate to showcase a tree.

 

A fifty year old Pine tree...

 

Replaced by a baby Crabapple.

 

Symbolic of each baby step we've taken to get to where we are today.

 

and Terry & I have laughed the whole way.

 

We're just gonna keep laughing.

 

 

 

 

A Walk Around the Backyard

 

Soo... we had the patio laid 2 feet farther from the side of the house,

so now I require a privacy shield here. 

 

Terry is working on the building of my great design for a small privacy wall.

 

I'll show it off when it's done.

 

Walked around the yard tonight, just taking pictures of everything...

 

(mom, you'll recognize the chairs and the planter).

 

I think the back windows need awnings........

 

Here's a started and stalled project. Two sidewalk slabs have sunken in,

 and Terry is trying to figure out how to lift them ???????

 

Chives and Green onions coming in.

 

Assorted Zinnias about to pop, and a front row of Alyssum.

 

Peppers, squash, and cucumbers.

 

Just cool looking. Candy Cane Phlox hybrid.

 

Flower pot daisies.

 

Miniature wave petunias.

 

Geraniums and Begonias.

 

Strange new variety of Petunia.

 

Ahh, sometimes, it's just nice to stop and smell the flowers...

 (not roses, cause I hate roses).

Random Stuff

 

Me & Terry looking into the funhouse mirror at Roger's Roost.

Oh my gosh, we laughed our asses off.

 

Roger's Roost was the venue for my nephew and his new wife's baby shower.

 

Terry came to keep Bob company.

 

Sandy came, and kept me company.

 

It was nice, and the baby got lots of great presents.

 

She's due August 5th.

 

*

 

Here's the latest project in the yard. More concrete to get rid of, roots, and dug up tree stumps. a broken fence, half dead privet hedges, weeds, and UGH !

 

This is the very back of the yard. It butts up to Engleman (the 1/2 mile road behind our property).

 

Once we clean up the junk, Terry wants a privacy fence, but I want to plant some more hedges and trees.

 

We'll see who wins this one...

 

We finish with my little Roxy, on her tenth birthday. She got a pig's ear, and she's happy.

 

*

 

Tonight were the Center Line fireworks. I would have pictures, but we could hardly see them. We live 1/2 a mile from the park, but soo many trees, we couldn't see them very well.  Boo.

 

Nitey Nite.