Phase Two

So, it's official, our friends are moving out on the last day of October and Kate and Trevor are moving into our house!

To celebrate, we decided to bash out a wall...Ok, not exactly to celebrate. More like, to start plotting the remodel of our lovely upstairs...and its closet-sized dysfunctional charming bathroom.Wait...I didn't show you the shower. This space is less than 32"x32" -- that is super tight.Nice, huh? Anyway, no matter. It's all going away. We're still hashing out how we're going to configure the bathroom and looking at some creative options, but it's exciting to be moving forward. (I'm also pleased because this means I get to go to the Home Depot--more saving, more doing...I'm not a sucker...)

Meanwhile, outside, here are the laurels Todd's dad planted in July to fill in the gap that the now-gone dead tree left.
There are actually four total, two on each side of the tree stump. The right two just lost a lot of leaves, but they're doing fine now.

One other SWEET little discovery that we are soooo excited about...One of the things we contemplated as we're trying to plan out the bathroom remodel was moving the shower out to be even with this (apparently) useless wall. So we poked a hole in it to find out whether that was an option, and this is what we found...
This is the chimney vent from the oil furnace (removed three years ago when we moved in) and it is fabulous original-to-the-house red brick, so we're going to expose it when we redo all the drywall. That should look legitimately charming and add a lot of character (in a good way) to the upstairs. Cool, huh?

One more down, lots left

I've been meaning to post this for a few weeks, but we FINALLY got that dead cedar tree cut down! I have video, too, but my new camera takes much higher-quality videos than the old one, so it's taking a really long time to upload. I'll post it later, probably. Anyway, you may remember that we used to have this lovely tree in our hedge:
I'm referring to the one right in the middle. It looked much worse in person. It's been on our list to cut down for about two years, but we didn't know if we wanted to put up a fence or plant more shrubs, or put up a fence while we waited for the new shrubs to grow.

Then we discovered that city ordinances placed restrictions on fences near roads, so we decided to just put in new laurels. BIG ones. (This may have been done, but Todd's dad did it for us. We weren't around for that part.)

So we had a good old time borrowing Tom's chainsaw and creating a new pile of firewood.

And here's the hole it left. I didn't take a farther-away picture...maybe next time. As you can see, it left a big gap. So that's the story of the great tree-cutting-down.

I also have some very exciting news in the remodeling category: it looks like Kate and Trevor might be moving into our house in a few months, and we've arranged a work-exchange agreement, so we're going to be able to finish our house, with their help!

On that happy note, I think I might use this river rock pebble stuff in the upstairs shower pan. But I would pull out all the black/gray pieces and replace them with white. It's probably going to be an all-white bathroom. EXCITING!!!

Memorial Day Weekend Update

Just a little update from our weekend a couple weeks back...weather was sadly cruddy, but we did get out for a little while. Todd found cherries...and little peachlets on our fruit trees. I don't think the apples had anything yet, but there were actually a fair number of peaches on the peach trees. Totally excited about that! They're so adorable and fuzzy :)
I also weeded this bed in our circular driveway, which had grown a number of normal-size weeds in addition to these trees. I left the trash can and shovel in the picture for perspective. The one in the middle was taller than me. Yikes.

The rock border around this bed was where I had my first true run-in with a black widow (I picked up a rock with an un-gloved hand and the evil little spider was sitting there on the rock about five inches away from my finger. GAAAHH!!!) so I was a little wary and careful poking around in there. No spider encounters to report this time.

I forgot how high it is when you get to the top of the roof (and how steep the climb is), I decided to scurry up to inspect the chimney that used to vent the furnace. It's a bit on the crumbly side and was supposed to have been capped when we got the fireplace chimney fixed a few years ago. I HATE HATE HATE going on that roof. It's very high.

I was inspired by Todd, who went up to the garage roof to sweep it off (oak leaves and acorns and whatnot collects there)...he finished his job and is sitting around in, taking in the views.

One bigger project we're planning on getting done this summer is cutting down the dead cedar tree. You can see the lower branches just to the right of Todd in that picture above. We've been stalling because it'll leave an open space that we're going to fence, but fencing is (probably) a day's work.

We'll see about tackling that later in July or August. The tree's a magnet for landscapers, all of whom want to cut it down.

Springtime

Thought I'd post a little update since we've been getting a few hours in occasionally every few weekends. I love yard work. I seriously can't wait to have tons of it to do again. Our little laurels, which have been in the ground for about a year and a half, are coming along really well. You can't really tell from that picture, but most of them have at least doubled, if not more. Compared to the linked image, they've grown leaps and bounds.This is a bud on Todd's Red Delicious apple tree, with a ladybug that's enjoying it. Please note that it was in fact warm enough to wear my Birkies this weekend. (It snowed in Bend today. I love the snow, but it's almost May.)
These are blooms on the peach trees. We're not supposed to get any fruit for a few years, at least, but they look pretty. All six trees (Red Delicious, Macintosh, two peaches, Rainier cherry and some other kind of cherry) are healthy and growing well!
These honeysuckle vines that I planted along both sides of the pool fence are just going bonkers. I spent 45 minutes pruning them and weaving the new growth into the fence. I probably should have chosen between the green variety and the purple variety instead of alternating, but I couldn't.
I'm working on another little project for our apartment garden...you can check out the Purloined Pizza Stone in a few days for the details. I'm eagerly anticipating the day we get to move home. This apartment might fit my body just fine, despite the amount of Easter candy I've recently consumed, thankyouverymuch, but it doesn't have room for my soul. Or my circular saw, which I used this weekend and remembered how much I missed it.

More to come next time!

Productive garden + new apartment

It's been six weeks (and change) since we moved. We're happily settled into our closet (as I somewhat affectionately refer to our apartment) and brought the last carload when we came back on Monday. It contained, among other things... and also these...

which are the chairs and table that I decided to strip and stain shortly before we moved. Did I neglect to mention this project? Oops.

Though I'm fairly used to things going wrong at this point, pretty much everything possible went wrong with this project. In addition to my stripper chemical not working very well and it (of course) taking longer than I expected, the stain didn't take very nicely to the wood (probably due to the remaining bit of finish I couldn't remove -- refer to picture of chairs above) AND we got stuck in Texas for three extra days, which deleted my margin to finish the project.

So when we went back a month ago, I finished staining and put a first coat of polyurethane on things. (With the dry time, that was all I had time for.) This time, two more coats, then we brought it back. It's sitting on our deck to let things dry thoroughly, and so it doesn't gas us while we're sleeping.

It doesn't look as good as I'd hoped, but I don't think the average person would think it looks horrible. Except for that one chair. I'll put that in the corner where you can't see it. Also...I only did three chairs. I got so fed up that I decided to just skip the fourth. It's in the attic, halfway unfinished...whatever. Stupid project.

We finished a few other things around the house...painting the window that's been primed pink for a year, caulking some seams, painting around the front door...just little stuff. I have a few pictures (mainly flowers) to post...
Dwarf dahlias (above) and morning glories (below)
Giant sunflower + seeds
And here's Todd, holding the first apple from our tiny tree. This is his Red Delicious. I planted a Macintosh.

I also wanted to show you our new apartment. People have been asking, and this is definitely easier than emailing pictures.

So...you come up these stairs
and then turn left. In front of you is the bathroom and on the left of the little hallway is the laundry "room."

If you don't go that way, you make a u-turn and this is what it looks like...From the kitchen looking back the other way...
(That's our little bar counter in the left corner.)

Sorry that's so dark...
This is from the top of the stairs again. We have a nice little deck with a sliding glass door.
Lastly... my "office" which is a definite downgrade from my previous setup, but not that bad...
The pantry, which I LOVE...I've never had a pantry before. It's great to have a place to put stuff. (And stockpile.)
And the kitchen. Nice high windows face northeast and let in light all day. We also have nice views out the slider and to the southeast (respectively):

Updates and other news

While I'm fully aware that a sound shaming is in order for not posting for two months and a week, I do have a good reason (more on that later...no, not pregnant). First, a few garden pictures!

Below is our and our neighbors' enormous cherry tomato plants. Theirs sprawls about five solid feet, and is the thing lying on the ground in the bottom left corner of this picture. Ours is tied up to a bean teepee, and I estimate it's about eight feet tall, and still adding height every day. Needless to say, there are more cherry tomatoes than anyone can eat.

So far, from our basil, I've made and frozen three massive batches of pesto, plus made and eaten lots more than that. Fresh basil is spectacular.
Below is a picture of my still-ripening white pumpkin. Of the six seeds, four sprouted. Of those four sprouts, I kept three. Of the three plants, only one plant produced one pumpkin. Guess I will be saving the seeds and trying again...
We have collected what might be termed an obscene amount of squash. This isn't even one week's worth. I have foisted it on neighbors, visitors, everyone. I also chopped a bunch up and froze it with plans of making red sauce, lasagna and zucchini bread in January.
I also let my artichokes bloom. This picture doesn't even come close to the color of the flower. It's like a neon purple, like no flower I've ever seen before. Absolutely stunning. And the bees are obsessed with it. At any given time, there are usually at least four honeybees jammed all the way in the middle of the bloom, bee-ing around.
Sunflowers along the pool fence are just starting to bloom, and they're awesome. The honeysuckles that got more water and sun also took off, and almost all my second-round transplanted black-eyed susans made it. In the next few years, they'll fill in more and be really big and beautiful. Also planted some random climbing seeds I had lying around, and a few weeks later, morning glories!
This is an Autumn Beauty sunflower. At about eight inches in diameter, they are just lovely as cut flowers.
This is also a variety of Autumn Beauty. I like the yellow in this a little better than the brown above, but I think the first one is more striking.
Anyway, on to this news I alluded to earlier. We are moving to Bend, OR for a few years. Todd got a pretty amazing job, and so we're relocating and renting our house to some friends from church. Ironically, they're moving out of a studio apartment, and we are moving into one. After reviewing pictures, I am still not really sure how we'll be able to fit a bed, couch and media console. It's only 650 square feet (but really nice, especially the kitchen).

I took videos of how things look inside and outside (which are now a few weeks outdated)...they're kind of long.



And outside...

I am really glad that we have friends who can take care of our house while we're gone, so the shrubbies don't die and the pool doesn't turn green. While I will really miss living here, there is a lot to look forward to at our new place, so I've been focusing on that.

Probably more to come before we leave (we move into our new place on September 11), and I suppose the blog will be on hiatus for a while until we come back.