I am typing this blog with terribly blistered hands that have bled and been scratched and have nasty dirt caked under the fingernails. My back hates me, as do my legs, shoulders, and arms. Advil, here I come! As soon as I made the offer on this house and started going through the process of making it mine, I have been praying that it will be filled with love at all times, and let me tell you, this weekend I totally felt the love. Not only did I get TONS of “welcome to your new home” cards and gifts, but people just kept stopping by. It was AWESOME! Friends and neighbors stopped in to say hello and see the progress. Random people walked off the street, and in spite of my NY self being initially weirded out, it was so nice to meet some of the neighborhood folks. Here is my kitchen counter of love, replete with champagne, wine, cards, and lovely flowers.
Saturday was my birthday, and when I got back to the house, Rob was already hard at work. He asked me to help him get some things out of the shed, and lo and behold, there sat my awesome birthday present!!!
I feel so loved and taken care of by my man. He was concerned I would liken this to being given a frying pan as a present, but I am so thrilled! It’s a Cub Cadet self propelled, badass, grass eating god of the lawn. I can start that thing on the first pull, I am woman, hear me and my lawnmower roar! As I was walking over to the gate to open it and start mowing, I saw a snake and did a funny little screaming dance across the lawn. I hate the slithery little nightmares, but I certainly did not want to kill one on my pretty lawnmower’s maiden voyage. Luckily it was smooth sailing once I got going. It took an hour and a half and the front lawn was like mowing carpet, it was so thick. I’m quite sure the novelty of this will wear off pretty quickly.
After the lawn was finished, I decided to attack the flower bed lining the front walk. It was planted with ugly red begonia annuals that hadn’t grown a smidge since they were planted. I took off all the mulch, placed my containers to see where I wanted the plants to go and started digging. The soil here has a clay-like texture, so I’m hoping the plants can thrive in it since I didn’t really do any kind of preparation to the soil. Here is the before and after.
Plants include Stargazer lilies, dad’s very own hybridized daylilies of his own creation, fall Seedum, and Wormwood. I had all of these in pots and planters on my apartment porch, so I am thrilled they now have a home of their own. The gorgeous purple Clematis has been a resident for quite some time and can show them the ropes. Today in the heat, some of the plants were wilting, which really freaked me out, but I think they’re in shock, just like me, from all the transition.
Ok, back to the bathroom…Rob took on the plumbing today (Sunday). The previous owners must have been midgets because the shower head was low enough that even I would have to duck to get under it. Rob raised up the plumbing and hooked everything together like a puzzle in preparation for a pretty brushed nickel Moen shower system. We also hauled the tub in there and he sprayed foam around the bottom of it, riveted it to the wall with brass screws, and caulked everything.
Now we’re ready to begin putting up the Hardie Board in preparation for the tile surround!!! Excitement all around! I did more yard work and sprayed 3 gallons of roundup along the fence, under the trees, and along the edges of the beds to prevent grass from growing there. I almost used up my whole bottle of concentrate. Crazy! Also started sawing, hacking, and pruning a lot of dead branches off the yard trees. Am totally wiped out, but so happy to be making progress toward getting the place how I want it.
