We can see clearly now, the crappy windows are gone!

We have windows!! Hooray! Here are some pics:

Our delivery:


The guys get to work... get to work smashing our peonies. Awesome. Thanks dudes.


Bedroom before:


And after:


Ripping out old windows:


Bathroom before... I will miss this style of window -- I won't miss the breeze that came through it in the dead of winter


Bathroom after (almost):


Old dining room windows:


And after:


It is so great to be able to open the windows for fresh air now. I am definitely glad we splurged.

In other news, the stoop continues to crack:


We called the cement company and approved their bid. We think they either a) forgot or b) are too busy with more profitable projects. Hubby will give them a call next week to see what the deal is...

In the meantime, the rails are scraped and ready for new paint.


Also, we finally painted our front door. Here I am, hard at work (I know, you like my style):


Hubby works on the frame:


And the finished product:


We are contemplating a new screen door. I feel the current door blocks the lovely green too much. Maybe something like this instead:


We also could use a new house number and definitely new landscaping. The dying bushes aren't really lighting our fire... though we do like the purpley leafy thorny thing on the left side of the picture. But new landscaping is for another year...

Door is green on the inside too, because I liked the color so much:


Here is another green door. My friend S recently resided her house, as well as got/painted a new front door, got new windows in the front, and added a hand painted sign. Check it out:

Before:


After:

View of front:


The emerald curtain (actually, kind of spring green):


Handmade address sign:


On another note, here are a couple of pics of spring in the backyard:


Barry's growing nicely... also, check out the deck... the next post will probably include an update on this deck...


Another mystery we're exploring...
We've started to get some significant seepage in the basement when it rains. I was tired of wet, smelly carpet, and freaking out about mold possibly growing behind the wall. So a couple of Fridays ago, we did some impromtu demo:


Tore off part of the wall and cut up a chunk of the carpet... This is what we found:


Interestingly enough, the previous homeowners were "not aware of any water problems". Yet there is a patch job and a new piece of wood there... hmmm...

Nasty stained carpet with a fan nearby to help dry the smelly, wet carpet:


We are still trying to super sleuth out the reason for this seepage. Having the basement partially tore up has lit a fire under me to $ave, $ave, $ave for a basement renovation. I have started to sketch out my plans... this is just an early idea...

Before:

After:

Essentially, we divide the non-laundry area a bit, add a room with a wall of closets for storage, and also add a 1/2 bath in the area underneath our main floor bath.

Finally... a tip:
When you paint multiple rooms in your house, mark the top of the paint cans with the room painted. Most people probably do this.

We did not.

Here, we tried to touch up the wall in the foyer, but kept picking the wrong color -- unfortunately light grey, light green and cream all kind of look the same-ish until the color dries:


The repainted foyer will probably be in the next post too!

TTFN!
C+A
(since the photos on here always make us look so rough, here is a cute one)


PS: If you haven't seen UP, stop what you are doing now and go see it.

Lazy Monday (Blog Update)

Hello friends! Here is my lazy blog update!

Adam created that nice arrangement of wooden eggs on the dining room table. Cute, huh?

WINDOWS!
After experiencing another very chilly winter in our bathroom...


We are finally getting all new windows on the first floor!
Here is me, finally breaking down and covering the bathroom window with plastic (quite fun, actually). The frost and cool breeze pushed me over the edge.

New windows to arrive hopefully in a couple of weeks! Hurrah!!

Spring = time to weed.
Here is what the side of the house flower bed looked like after a long hard winter:


And now, plants and flowers are starting to bloom!





(Before you ask -- Yes, that is a giant tire track running down the side of our flower bed. Ugh.)

STOOP!
Our stoop has seen finer days. Adam has done his best to patch it, but it is dying. So, we've got concrete peeps coming out soon to set a new stoop. Here's how crummy it looks now:



They will use the old rails. Here Adam is scraping off layers of paint, so he can refresh/repaint the rails before the stoop is made. New stoop picks coming soon...



Here's Barry the Tree, just starting to bud a few weeks ago...


Barry with some baby leaves...


Adam's nemesis. This squirrel must be REALLY hungry.
S T R E T C H!


We've gotten a lot of rain too, check it:


We're so glad spring is here. Adam's got his new reflecting ball in the yard and the bird bath is filled, if you'd like to stop by for a dip.

Window and stoop pics coming soon!
TTFN!
C&A

Meet Barry!

Hi Everyone! Long time no blog. I am here to provide an update--and, to introduce Barry! But, first things first...

THE KITCHEN!


Note the matching appliances!


The backsplash is finished! The paint is a light blue.

I am still trying to decide if I should keep the poster up. I like it because it has sentimental value (a gift from Adam early in our courtship). Plus, the red in it picks up on our red appliances. Not sure if it works with the blue though. We'll keep it for now.


Our new table and chairs... We still need one more chair (from Ikea). The table is from Dania and has to pull out extensions that are stored in the table. Nifty! Adam will stain the legs of the chairs to match the table.

One of our first meals cooked in the kitchen!


Note the makeshift curtains!



Just waiting on a few odds and ends to get finished up. We are waiting on 1 new drawer front and 1 new door front for the corner bottom cabinets. We also are waiting for pricing on replacing the cream colored outlets/switches/faceplates in cream with grey so they disappear into the backsplash.

Also, in a late breaking development, our cabinet under the sink is stinky. Most likely from the garbage disposal. However, when you stand over the disposal, and sniff, there is no scent. Strange. We've got a call into Bill to see if perhaps there is a broken seal or something that is letting out a smell. Who knows.

On our end, we just need to get a couple of rugs and some blinds for the back door. Oh, and Adam will paint the back door as well.

We are happy campers!

Now, on to BARRY! Who is Barry, you ask? Barry is our new backyard tree. He is a Red Maple. Someday, he might look like this:


So, if you recall, back in October 2006, there was a huge storm which knocked down half of our big backyard tree:


We subsequently had the tree cut down. It was sad, but the tree had carpenter ants and was dangerous:


Since then, we've been wanting a new tree in the yard. We miss our shade. So, we invited back Ken's Tree Service to grind down the old stump:


Rented a Uhaul pick-up truck:


Went to our favorite local nursery:


I contemplated what the personality of our new tree should be:


Sadly, the new tree is too skinny for a face. A girl can dream...

We selected our new baby. Adam helps the Fasel guys load up:


Adam studies the diagram for how to stake a tree up:


Look at how tall he is! We decided to call him Barry! He is currently about 7-10 years old about about 15 feet tall:

Adam also loads in some fresh top soil:


We make our way home with a tree hanging out of the back of our truck:


Adam strategizes for how to get Barry to the backyard:


Success! Luckily, the tree stump grinders have left us a hole:


Just a little more digging to do:

I assist moving Barry into his new home:

And there you go! Quite exciting!


Barry, in the night...


In other news, you may remember Adam painting some wood planks red back during kitchen construction. Those planks are now a shelf running across his comic boxes, so he can display more comic goodness:





Also, Adam hung his final two posters on the wall:


His TV stand, complete with gaming systems and... WHAT'S THIS? 90210!! WHAT?!?!?


And, last but not least, our flower bed is filling in quite nicely:


Till next time --
C (&A)