Hard, Boring, Dirty Work

 

This is going to be the most boring post ever,

 but we have been busting our butts,

 taking care of the most mundane tasks

 all around the property of this project house.

 

Laying grass seed

 and finding ways to keep the dogs

 out until it grows in.

 

Last week,

Terry and I celebrated when we eradicated

 the last piece of broken concrete...

 

Ha ha, not so fast.

 

Found some more,

GIANT chunks along the fenceline.

 

Along with more landscape plastic,

 and roofing materials mixed in.

 

There's the spot where we buried a lot of cement.

 

Ready for a privacy fence, and more grass seed.

 

Out of money right now, so the fence will wait.

 We'll keep working on jobs that don't cost anything.

 

Here's another spot that needs grass seed.

 

Argh, we're running out of barriers to keep the dogs out.

 

This property needs endless work.

 

Going to bed tonight

 with hurting backs and tired feet.

How Hard Could it Be?

 

We are finally getting rid

 of the last of the broken up concrete

 that has plagued us

 ever since we moved in to this house.

 

This little spot is going to be a small patio for our gliding rocker,

 so he dug a hole here and filled it with some of the concrete.

 

Then he dug a hole to China to get rid of the rest.

 

The back of the property is pretty much useless,

so this is a perfect spot to bury all of this cement.

 

Finally, cement gone...

 

Now we put together a Pergola.

 

This is gonna be great!

 

A nice shady back patio.

 

Not so fast !!!

 

We needed a another person

to help lift this giant frame on top of four posts.

 

Nick to the rescue.

 

He came over and helped us get this thing up.

 

Then it took two hours to figure out how to hang the canvas shade.

 

There's Terry bolting it into the cement at 9:00 at night.

 

We pooped out at 10:00.

 

We'll finish the rest tomorrow.

 

And this is where we get our favorite saying...

 

"Let's do this"...

 

"How hard could it be ?"

Somebody Else's Project...

Took a little break from our own project house,

 to go house hunting this evening, 

with newlyweds Nick and Colleen.

 

They found this little gem in Farmington,

and wanted us to come and take a look,

 before they decided to make an offer...

 

That was a tight crawl space...

 

but it smelled good... Good sign.

The kitchen just needs some TLC.

A little paint and new flooring.

 

This house has some challenges,

 but none that can't be overcome.

The property is beautiful and peaceful and woodsy,

 and the house is a good starter home,

 for a young (energetic) couple. 

 

They will put in an offer,

and wait for the agony of defeat...

 

 

Tiny Little Vestibule

 

Here's the old door we picked up at the salvage yard.

 

Terry had to turn it around and reconfigure the hinges,

 and the knob, and fill holes, and prime it, and sand it, and paint it, and

it was all worth it.

 

Now we need a new entry door...

 

Painting the tiny entry way hall.

 

Terry's side project...

figuring out what to do with all of this concrete.

 

Finally found a Scotch Broom plant.

This will turn into the nicest evergreen.

Flowers in the spring and is a hardy upright pine shrub the rest of the year.

I love this plant.

 

Lily of the valley in the back of the yard.

I LOVE the smell.

 

This will be explained later...

 

Garden is coming along.

 

Back to the vestibule.

More painting.

 

He's a perfectionist.

Mother's Day Weekend 2015

 

Time to make the patio look nice.

 

After we had the slab of cement layed last year,

 we just ignored the unfinished edge.

 

So now we're going to make it look nice.

 

We bought a cheap fire pit and some border plants.

 

We also couldn't resist this Blue Spruce tree.

 

We bought a steel pergola from Home Depot,

and it's being delivered next week,

so in the mean time, we'll get this edging finished.

 

That was a lot of work.

 

Now we rest.

 

My Sandy girl bought me some flowers for Mother's Day.

Love her.

 

And, she bought me a thermometer for the garage.

 

I have been wanting one forever,

 but didn't want to spend the money.

She's so thoughtful.

 

Baby Crabapple finally bloomed.

 

In his spare time (haha), Terry built another cedar table.

 

My chives came back this year and they are about to bloom.

 

Spent Sunday at Mom's doing yardwork.

 

Tired and happy.

 

 It was a good weekend.

The Long, Long Day

 

It's been a rough couple of weeks. I hurt my back and was out of commission for a while, and Terry waiting for biopsy results has been unnerving to say the least.

 

We did go to the salvage warehouse last weekend and found the perfect door for the vestibule in the living room. It needs a lot of rehab; a total reworking of the hinges and doorknob, but Terry likes the challenge. 

 

This old door suits this house perfectly and will let light in to the vestibule. The old door that was there was solid and dark and made the space so uninviting. 

 

We finally had a chimney sweep come in and check out the fireplace and chimney, and he cleaned it and said it was in exceptionally good condition.

 

That was good news, and we also had him put a critter cap on (that had been missing).

 

$250 well spent.

 

Some plants ready to take to mom's on Mother's Day. We already took a load of mulch over there, and on Sunday we will be working in her yard, getting it all cleaned up, and flowers planted.

 

There's my gargoyle peeking through some tulips I planted around him.

 

I don't think he likes them.....

 

Lot's of seeds to plant...

 

Got some corn, spinach, watercress, beans, and radishes, and I even bought a couple of Rhubarb shoots to add to the garden. 

 

*

 

Today we went to Nick's graduation from Wayne State University, and it was held at Ford Field in downtown Detroit.

 

We drove around for an hour trying to find parking (we were fashionably late), and then sat in awe of the enormity of this graduation.

 

1,500 students recieving degrees, in a venue so large that we couldn't even see what was happening except for the big screen TV's all over the place. 

 

There's Nick, receiving his diploma, and we got the picture off of the big screen.

 

*

 

After that, we went to the doctor to find out if Terry had cancer or not.

 

He did not, and I never even entertained the idea anyway.

 

It was a long day and we are glad it's over.