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Lawncare 101: More Harsh Realities
There’s that old saying, “Sometimes you have to break it down before you can build it up again.” At least I think that’s how it goes. Anyway, I think I’ve mentioned how much I love/hate spring time. I mean, I love the growing part and everything getting green and pretty. Everything up to that point I could do without. Like our lawn. Our poor half dead yard at which I’ve been raking and digging and pulling weeds and dead crabgrass  – hence the uh, breaking part. I mean, there’s been a lot of reseeding too but so far not a lot of results beyond a few sprouts. Out of…
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Floor Money, Floor Life – Part 1
One of the biggest hurdles in completing the front section of our house has been the floors. The majority of the house is carpeted, notable exceptions being the kitchen and bathrooms and a few small sections of linoleum near the exterior doors. A month-ish, maybe longer, into owning our new house we pulled up the linoleum and carpeting in the front hallway, partly due to the fact that it was peeling up at the corners and partly because we considered it just plain ugly. So a month-ish, maybe longer, into owning our new house we pulled up the linoleum and carpeting in the front hallway, partly due to the fact that…
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Skimming the Walls and Other Lessons in Drywall Mudding
Ah, wall skimming. Sometimes, it’s not enough to spackle the dents and holes in your walls. Sometimes, there are just too many to deal little marks and dents to deal with and trying to cover each one individually is just plain tedious. I present for your viewing pleasure, Exhibit A (left side) the wall in our soon to be the rec room. This little beauty comes pretty much as is – minus a few attempts to spackle over the dents in the wall we have done nothing to it. Exhibit B (right side) is a wall in our hallway we have spackled again and again and then finally painted in…
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Raising the Roof (or in this case, the ceiling)
I believe I mentioned before that this house has ceiling tiles. The previous owners must have been bonkers for these bad boys because they are in Almost. Every. Room. Personally, I don’t see the allure. It’s a house, not an office building, and even then I don’t think they really belong there. We should really ban the wretched things forever and ever. Personally, I don’t see the allure. It’s a house, not an office building, and even then I don’t think they really belong there. We should really ban the wretched things forever and ever. Seriously. But we soldier on in our quest to eradicate these from our home. We have now (somewhat successfully) drywalled the…
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Yardcare 101: A How NOT to Guide.
We’re a bit late getting to the lawn and garden this year. The house has been occupying the majority of our time as we prep the ceiling and the floors. So yesterday while it was a beautiful sunny 65 degrees out, we figured it was the perfect chance. And then, as per usual, the unexpected happened. So I decided to post this handy dandy guide as a warning to others who might be working on their yards. Step 1: Have your child dig holes in the yard. “See, if you dig up the dirt with the baby rake like this, then I can sprinkle grass seed.” “I’m just going to…
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The Room Where it Happened
Gather around boys and girls, for I have a story to tell you. Be ye warned though, it is not for the faint of heart. This is the place where it all began. Our descent into the insanity that has been our home project. This is our money pit: the gigantic monster of a remodel that has slowly eaten through both our budget and our sanity. We threw caution to the wind and jumped in headfirst, and, much to our chagrin, ended up stuck in this seemingly endless nightmare. It all sounded so simple. We’d take down the ugly ceiling tiles (seriously who tiles their ceilings???), hang drywall, tape, spackle and…
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Lawncare Woes
This is the year I’ll finally get a handle on the yard and the garden. Or at least that’s what I’m telling myself. I may or may not have said the same thing last year. When we bought this house, the structure itself wasn’t the only thing in need of TLC. Both yard and garden had been left in somewhat of a disarray. It was clear neither had been tended to in a few years, at least not properly anyway. It’s been an uphill battle against overgrowth, weeds, crabgrass, and crappy soil. Just when I think I’m starting to win, nature throws a curveball and I’m left confused and frustrated.…
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The House
This is our little corner of the world and we call it hell…I mean home. 3 years ago, my now-husband and I bought this quaint little twin and it has been a challenge, to say the least. It’s our first house and we were looking for something we could make our own and not have to put a TON of work into. On the surface, it seemed like a good fit: being located in a decent neighborhood and priced within our budget, we jumped at the chance.  Granted, this wasn’t our dream home and certainly not going to be our forever home but it was a nice starter. On the surface, it…
