Smelling the flowers

Life has been super busy at our house lately.  If we're not running in one direction, we're running in five.

After I picked up my brother-in-law Chris from the airport I was meant to drop him off and head back out to run errands... but I decided to push the errands to tomorrow and just stay home for the day.

Wicket and I spent some time in the back garden, soaking in the sunshine and enjoying the scent of lilacs and watching the peonies bloom.

Now I'm unpacking a few boxes, deciding once and for all what things stay (and putting them in their rightful places!) and what goes in the yard sale pile for June 8.  It's certainly a process, but I know I'll be happy when the stack of boxes in the office diminishes and I can get some decorating done.

Building a Garden

One of the big projects we tackled recently was building a raised garden bed for vegetables.

We drafted and redrafted plans for it, figuring out how tall and how wide and how deep, and we wound up with a very tall planter - out of the reach of the little bunnies and just high enough to make gardening very easy on my back.

It was the work of a very long day, but we built, installed, filled with dirt, and planted our seedlings last Sunday.

That poor red-stemed dogwood never stood a chance.  The plan next year is to build an identical planter that will nestle directly to the right of this one, and sooner or later bean trellises along the back to give a bit more (green) privacy to the fence.

Puppy Love and Basement Updates

The last couple weeks have been rather hectic.  While my parents were out of town we took care of their dog Daisy, and the first couple days of her and Wicket adjusting to one another's company were a bit tense, but they're better friends now.

With the extra puppy around time has been tight, and schedule has been packed, but we've been working on the basement. Richard removed a lot of the tiles from the floor and then removed the glue from that strip so that he and his dad could frame the new wall on Saturday while I was away judging a Forensics tournament.  Photo is pre wall building.

Sometimes it feels a bit congested trying to schedule home improvement projects with the regular every day chores of the household.  But there's always that sense of accomplishment when a big project is finally done, and this basement is one really big project.  Thankfully we've broken it down into four smaller "chunks" so we can finish one before moving onto the next, plus we've had lots of puppy love to see us through.

Imminent Snow

My plans with Beth for tomorrow have been delayed because of imminent snow.  Isn't that always the case with winter in Wisconsin?  I'm still hoping to get out for a couple hours in the morning to run a couple of quick errands before returning to the fort to bunk down for some projects and house work, and probably end the night with a stay-in movie night with Richard.

I managed to swing by my parents' house after work today to pick up just a few things of mine, including a new-to-me George Forman grill that I'm looking forward to testing out (some new recipes perhaps?), but I decided to forgo picking up the framed artwork because carrying large pieces of glass over icy driveways did not entice me at all.

Truthfully I will not mind the snow all that much this weekend.  I've already rescheduled my day with Beth and we don't have any plans that involve going very far, so it's a good enough time to stay inside and work on projects and the house.

Sunday, Lazy Sunday

It's been a lazy Sunday in our house, visiting with friends Beth and Ben and making plans for the next week.

Even though the past week was busy I did manage to get to all of this week's projects but one - reading.  But right after I finish writing I plan to go curl up with Wicket and settle into my book.

On Wednesday a strange triangular package arrived at our house and Richard had me open it after I got home from work.  Inside was a "late Christmas present," a large Mucha poster of "Moon" which I cannot wait to build a frame for and put up in the Office.  We've already hung up two new pieces in the living room which is really helping to make the house look more like our own.

Thursday marked our first real snow of 2012, and Wicket enjoyed herself immensely running around the back yard and trying to catch the falling flakes.  Since we were stuck inside all day I busied myself making some olive tapenade and organizing the kitchen, but that evening Richard and I went to my first ever professional basketball game to see the Bucks play Detroit and had a wonderful time.

Tomorrow Richard has a day off of school for MLK day and we don't exactly have plans but I'm sure we'll do plenty of house projects.

2012 Week Two Goals

Reading: A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin.  Currently page 790 and want to finish (page 969).

House: Put together the new printer table for the office.  Build the shoe holder for my closet.

Creative: Frame some art and photos to start really decorating our house.

2012 Week One Goals

As outlined in my general new years post I want to make three goals for myself each week (this is something I already do, but want to remember to blog about it this year) in the areas of Reading, household projects and creative projects.  So here we are, week one and technically already late, but my objective is to finish by Saturday and begin week two on Sunday.  So here goes.

Reading: Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin.  Currently on page 604 and want to get to at least page 800.

House: Crate organizers for kitchen cart.

Creative: Paint and assemble new jewelry holder.

Happy, Happy Christmas

I'm sure we're not the only ones who feel like we could settle in for a long winter's nap after the excitement of yesterday's Christmas festivities.

We had an amazing time with family, and even Wicket spent all day playing with her "canine cousins" Daisy and Muffin.  Needless to say - all three of us are completely wiped out.

Today I was able to spend time with my sister who is home from college for break and I'm looking forward to seeing her again on Wednesday before she heads out again.  Otherwise we anticipate fully utilizing Richard's time off from school to work on house projects and get started on the basement, so wish us luck.  The pantry project has begun, and I certainly hope that by this time tomorrow I'll be safely stowing our food away and off the kitchen counter.

And Winter Break Begins!

Today was the last day of school before winter break which means there's one prominent feeling in the air around our house: relief.

Aside from some last minute shopping we plan to get done tomorrow morning we're looking forward to some lovely downtime.  Our breezy tomorrow will also consist of some dog sitting for a friend, and we can't wait for Buddy to come over - he and Wicket always have a grand time playing together.  And when tomorrow is said and done we're just looking forward to spending the holidays with our friends and families and giving numerous house tours to out of town visitors.

There really aren't any photos to share from the past weekend as we spent most of the time doing little projects around the house like hanging shelves and organizing kitchen cabinets.  We did get started on the kitchen pantry, but it still has a few steps before our food can reside there.  All in all this home feels more and more like our home with every passing day.

After some much needed rest today I'm now feeling a bit on the restless side so I'm listening to some holiday music and tackling some paperwork and general tidying up at my desk until its time for bed... which isn't as far off as I think it is.

Our House and the New Granite Countertops

Richard and Matthias dismantling the old kitchen cabinets.  We had planned to hang the old cabinets on the back wall of the garage for storage, but in truth they were too far gone so Richard has been cutting them up to dispose of them slowly.  And if you look real close you can see the peeling paint that was the bane of my existence for far too long.

Here's the kitchen after we'd installed all of the new cabinets the night before the granite guys came to install the countertop.

Now with brand new granite couptertops!  Not exactly Martha Stewart's kitchen, and not quite as organized as I'd like yet but it's a wonderful and welcome change from before.

Wicket approves.

A close-up of the countertop - the color is called "Mountain green" and is a really light mix of white, gray, and black with just a tinge of green.

Weekend scores

We wandered out yesterday afternoon in between the Packers and Brewers games to run some errands and see if we couldn't find some fun Halloween decorations for our new house.  While we struck out on the Halloween decoration front except for some cute jack-o-lantern dish towels we managed to have great luck in other endeavors.

We found one of the pet gates that has a door in it on a clearance end cap at Target.  It's original price tag was $50 but was marked As-Is for just $3.  So we took that $3 gamble, and boy did it sure pay off!  Turns out the only thing that was damaged was the box, so now the stairs to the basement are secure and we don't have to worry about Wicket wandering down and getting into trouble.

We also found a much needed rug for the office on sale.  Now all we need for the office is a second chair for Richard's desk, since his last one went kaput prior to the move.

By the looks of it every photo I take around the house now has to include Wicket whether I like it or not.  Thankfully, I'm more than happy about it!

Lazy Sunday

It's sure has been a busy, busy week and I'm glad it's Sunday.  We're taking a while to relax (and for Richard to watch football) before we head out to get some new decorations to get in the spirit for Halloween.

Last night we hosted the first party in our new house.  We invited Richard's colleagues from school and had a grand ol' time.  Lots of food, drink, and good conversation.  Bechu came over early to help make the food, of which we made too much, but at least I don't have to worry about making dinner for the next week.

At the end of the night we were exhausted... but no one quite as much as Wicket who spent most of the evening playing with Figment and Buddy, the four-legged party goers.  She didn't even wait for us to take her leash off after we came in from the fire in the back yard - just curled right up ready for a nap.  So with that I'll return to our lazy Sunday and put off future party planning for another day.

October and Kitchen Updates

This next month is just packed.

With all luck the kitchen should be in the finishing stages by the end of the day tomorrow.  Here's what the kitchen looks like this evening, just ignore the plywood countertops and small hole in the wall.  The countertops are being installed in the morning, and I'll spend the day working on fixing up the pantry.  I can't wait for the real counter to be in and have the available real estate to unpack the rest of the kitchen boxes, AND have a working kitchen!

We want to have our families over on the weekend of October 8 for a housewarming party, and then a little shindig the next weekend with our friends.  And I'll be hosting the next crafternoon the following Sunday.  Quite a lot of hosting will be going on over here, and I can't wait for some of our friends and family to finally see the house for the first time!

And I certainly can't wait to have more boxes unpacked, and a bit more living and working area, instead of just working our way around the stacks of boxes.  And with October my projects will resume!  How exciting!

summer wind down

Milwaukee students may have summer for just a couple more days before they go back to school this Thursday, but Richard is already back in his classroom today.  We spent yesterday rearranging his room and getting things together, and he'll spend the next couple of days at meetings and finishing up his plans for the year.

While we were at school yesterday Miss Wicket had her very first haircut.  She's not nearly as shaggy now, and she looks much more like a miniature schnauzer.

It's hard to believe that summer is over already, but while summer has been winding down work at the house has been ramping up.  So much was done in the kitchen over the weekend, we even have a brand new floor already!  Just a few more touches before the last of the cabinets go in and then it will be a bit longer before the final countertop goes in, but a plywood counter will be better than what we're working on now... which is nothing.  We've got all the normal kitchen appliances, minus the fridge, taking up residence in the corner of the living room and it is strange to say the least.

The R's of our new house

I've noticed that quite a few things going on in our house right now can be summed up nicely by words that begin with the letter R.  Renovate, repair, replace, rescue, reinvent.

We renovated the bathroom, removing all the mauve tile and the moisture damaged walls behind them, as well as the tub, toilet and vanity.  We replaced most of these items.  A new sink and vanity, an upgraded tub.  Help was graciously provided from my father-in-law and brother-in-law in replacing the floor and running new plumbing and electric.  We did manage to rescue a couple of things from the bathroom, both to cut down on costs and to keep some of the charms of this house.

As a cost saving venture we kept the closet the way it was instead of installing a new system.  I stripped the mauve (are we sensing a theme?) wallpaper off the pine board shelves, but while solid they were both a bit smelly and sticky so it took some scrubbing with vinegar and a last ditch rub down with goo-gone that has left them nearly new.

Both Richard and I enjoyed the style of the medicine cabinet that was installed in the wall above the sink, but the orange-ish wood work of the frame was a little too dated for our bathroom reinvention.  It took a couple of well timed hot as blazes afternoons to sand down the wood frame, clean out the inside and the glass shelves and then paint the frame to match the rest of our black and white bathroom.

After sanding off the previous finish so the wood grain would show through the new paint I taped off the inside with blue painter's tape and a thick garbage bag.  Then I used my go-to spray paint of choice Rustoleum in Satin Black.

And here's what the finished product looks like in the only odd angle I was able to take a picture without including the mess that is the bathroom door.  It is most certainly a 50's piece, and I think the black really makes it pop with all sorts of mid-century goodness in our white updated bathroom.

Progress feels good.

Playing House and other eventful things

Our house is slowly coming together as we finish projects and keep unpacking one box at a time.  On top of all our projects and settling in we're trying to pack in all the fun we can before the summer officially ends and Richard is back at school.

Our friend Matthias is staying with us for a while and not only is he quick to help out but it is really wonderful to have the chance to visit with him after such a long time.  All three of us (plus Wicket) went up to Oshkosh for Gallery Walk this past Saturday.  There was very little walking to be done for us as we would move only a few feet before Wicket had charmed someone else into petting and playing.  We did visit Atomic Katz and saw Pam's new jewelry, and met with Pam and her husband Joe at Peabody's for a drink after the walk just before heading home.

On the home-front the bathroom is now completely functional but still needs a few finishing touches before it's really done.  Just some baseboards and a few paint touch ups and I may even be ready to share pictures.  So now the kitchen overhaul begins.  The cabinets were delivered earlier today, and we've already begun the demolition.  Fortunately the Richard and Matthias will be doing the heavy lifting and cabinet removal tomorrow while I'm at work.

This weekend Richard and I journey up to Green Bay for a wedding, making it the first time we will leave Wicket overnight with someone.  Fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly, both at the wedding and for the little pup.