Landscaping - %$^$#%$@^#@!

So here we have the 'before'. I did not take the picture in black and white for dramatic effects (actually was holding my iced soy latte in one hand making it difficult to reset the color). Lovely view of my neighbors ladder and some other junk.

Went online to research what to plant in August and went to Allandale Farm to pick up some plants. There I was asked a hundred questions I didn't know the answers to like "what kind of soil do you have" (umm, the dirt kind?) "How many hours of sun will you get?" etc etc. Picked up a hydrangea, and then a couple other flowering perennials, two sacks of manure and one large sack of Maine's finest soil.

Then came the grueling work of removing the grass, rocks and roots with a pitchfork. My neighbor came out in the yard, took one look at the dirty, sweaty, red-faced mess I was (and in flip flops no less) and produced a roto-tiller. He then proceeded to do in about 10 minutes twice the work my mother and I had completed in an hour or so. We mixed in the manure and top soil and planted and voila:

Ok, so I wish the results were more dramatic. I need to edge the garden today, plant some mums and maybe something in the back for height. Then mulch. Baby steps, right?

Weekend accomplishments....

The windows in our living and dining room are probably from 1900. They are single pane, weight and pulley, with storms that latch on from the outside in a less than -air-tight way (hook and eyes!). Essentially they will just be 7 large sieves for heat loss in the winter.

During tax free weekend I had Horner Millwork come out and specify replacement windows, but at about $800 a window (not including labor) we decided that we could really only handle the living room's 4 windows for now. So what to do about the bay in the dining room? I hate the look of that plastic wrap stuff people put in to help insulate - although we will probably end up using it upstairs on the sleeping porch, as the door to the porch is an interior door and has no insulating properties. But I really didn't want to spend Thanksgiving staring at some crinkly plastic.

I found some thermal Roman shades online at Country Curtains, and went to work. Other than my vertical challenges, and removing three stripped screws from existing hardware, they were fairly easy to install. They look about a million times better than the dirty old roller shades, if I do say so myself.

Small projects, many trips to Home Depot.

With a housewarming party date set, I've been working like crazy to get the house 'ready' for everyone to see.


Last weekend I primed and painted the bathroom to cover up the water stains from the third floor leak. There are some spots in the drywall that have cracked, that I probably should have sanded and filled but I was afraid that once I started I would get myself into a position where I'd need to replace some of the drywall rather than patch. So many unknowns in DIY. I've done a lot of fishing around on the internet but sometimes the list of tools and the 47 steps scare me off.

I also got over my fear of drilling into the wall and electrocuting myself and managed to install the towel ring so that we no longer have to partially close the door to access a hand towel. I learned the hard way that the sink is not a good place to lay out the tools you need, as I lost the set screw to my hungry pedestal drain. Hell, I learned what a set screw is.

Last project in the bathroom is to clean all the heavily stained grout from the water damage. i tried the home remedies first - baking soda, vinegar. Nothing. I used a Magic Eraser - nothing. I polled the Twitter-verse and was advised to use Soft Scrub with bleach followed by a grout pen. This combo seems to be getting somewhere slowly. I'm on my 4th application (I literally apply it before brushing my teeth at night and in the morning)and although not magical it is at least fading the rusty brown.

Next project: Roman Shades in the Dining Room.....

This Week's Improvements

New pendant in the eating area:



GFCI Outlets!!

New kitchen light


New exterior lights




TV over the mantel (yes, slightly off-center)


Less exciting visually, but a vast improvement was switching the electricity from fuses to breakers.