The Clean Up

Hello everyone --

Here are some pictures from the storm clean up from the downed tree in our yard. It is pretty impressive.

FYI, Oak Lawn will not do anything about a downed tree in your BACKyard. A backyard is considered private property, and therefore, homeowner's responsibility. If this tree was in our front yard, it would have been a different story (I'm told).

However, if you move the tree/limbs out front, they'll pick it up. Boy, do they have their work cut out for them.

A BIG thanks to my personal superman, Adam, his dad Joe, and our neighbor Jim.


This is my favorite picture from today (click on these to see them bigger):


And, a BEFORE:


And, AFTER:





Here are the rest of the clean up pics:





















More soon :)
Carole

Holy Crap.

Sorry for the title, but it is what came to mind when we saw what was in our backyard after last night's storm.

Out the window in our den:







Our one, big tree in the back yard was either:
1. Struck by lightening
or
2. Torn apart by wind

Anyway, our backyard is filled with this tree. It looks like a rainforest. If you look at the pictures of the back of the house, you will see our little awning over the back door was knocked down. It is a huge mess. The pics of the front yard show some down trees across the street.

For fun, here is what the tree used to look like:


Here is what it looks like now:


















We're alive. The house seems fine. But if THIS isn't an adventure, I don't know what is!

I plan to call the village this morning to find out if they consider this an act of God and will help to clean this up. However, some neighbors are saying if it was in the front yard, they'd help. Since it's not, we may have to take care of it ourselves. In that case, you may see some pictures in a few days of some men (Adam perhaps) with chain saws. Eeeeks.

More to come.
Carole

couchpotato.blogspot.com

Hello everyone!

Some exciting updates!

TV! DVR! YES!
We have finally signed up for Comcast cable! Yippee! We have been without cable for almost a year, and a tough year it has been :). So, Comcast was visiting the neighborhood with some "special" deals and starting October 14, we will be wired! MTV, TLC, how I've missed you! AND -- the best part -- we are getting DVR too! This is a huge deal because with all the new fall shows starting, I am averaging two shows per night. That's a lot of VHS tapes and planning, people. So, I am very very excited!

GUTTAS
Here are some pictures of Adam and his Dad cleaning our gutters a few weeks back. There was a lot of junk in there.







DINING ROOM CHAIRS VERSION 2.0
We've recovered the dining room chairs -- these are from the previous owners. We bought their dining set off them for a small amount of money, just to have some furniture to get by with. We got a table, six chairs, and a hutch. However, the chairs needed some new fabric. Here are some pics of the new covering:

Before:


After:


The fabric is a pear color, with an olive green geometric design. I like it. Here are some pics of Adam's mom and I at work:




LIVING/DINING ROOM:
Not much done here yet. But I am starting to think about color for this room...



UPSTAIRS:
The plywood floor is done! Adam and his dad are working on masking and taping the drywall on the big bedroom's ceiling and the bathroom, and on applying the floor leveler. Soon, we'll paint and we hope to have carpet maybe by mid-November... Here are some pics:



That's all for now! It's coming along!
Carole & Adam