A Little Mahogany Stand

We picked this up on Sunday from United House Wrecking. It's about a mile down the road from us and claims to be the largest antique store in CT. It is LARGE. You can buy a full size, custom bar for your basement. One that looks like it would fit in at the Cheers bar. Rahn (pronounced "Ron"), who explained at length his recent move to the area from Chicago (he did a lot of cussin), his time spent in Brussels, Belgium, and his fondness for Rum and Cokes, helped us look at chairs, ottomans, and a $2300 mahogany coffee table we really liked (er, probably not a priority right now). Then we found this *much* cheaper mahogany stand for the entranceway. It's thin, has interesting details, fits just right behind the door, and is an excellent place to set a rum and coke. Rahn hooked us up with a 10% discount.

The Last Dresser

Olga put the last of our dressers together, almost entirely by herself. She's a whiz with an battery-powered screwdriver. It fits perfectly and is much better suited to storing shorts than the plastic crates we used in NYC.

New Italian Chairs... From the South Bronx

Let's go to the South Bronx and look at furniture. Shopping, in the South Bronx? And not for hubcaps? Yep. At the chin of the Bronx, just off the Bruckner Expressway, are several antique warehouses. A bit further up the chin is ABC Carpet & Home. They have a fancy store downtown with a fancy cafe. In the Bronx they have a big warehouse - with a parking lot that feels like you're driving into a garrison. It somehow feels safe and unsettling at the same time. It's where we found our new dining room chairs that packed perfectly into the back of our boxy, ugly Element.

Man Hands

I eventually put on a pair of work gloves.

Jeans (Post Dirt Circle)

You don't wear these on the Upper West Side.

Coping with Crab Grass, Seeding the Lawn

Grrr. Crab grass. It's taken over pretty much all of the front lawn, especially near the sidewalks. While Olga was at the Cape I took a hoe and rake to the crab grass. I "reclaimed" at least a half foot on each side. Now, you have to make a decision: do I live with this green crab grass, or do I dig it all up and start from the er, ground up. I left some crab grass (for now). It was, oh, about 95 degrees out. I lost a lot of weight that Saturday. The next day I focused on seeding trampoline patch and the dog run. Stupid trampoline. I'm sure thier kids had plenty of fun boucing up and down on it, but it left a big circle of weeds in the back lawn. Me and my trusty hoe when to work on the patch, as well as the dirt dog run created by the previous owner's dog. Stupid dog (sorry Olga). The patch of weeds is now a big brown circle... with teensy tiny grass blades peaking through. (I had picked up a seeder at a yard sale down the road -- a great find.)

This Dish Rack Took Forever to Find

We didn't want an ugly run-o-the-mill dish rack. So we spent way too much time and effort looking for a dish rack. We finally found this one at Bed, Bath & Beyond but it involved opening the rack on the floor and pairing it with a bottom that would fit. We looked ridiculous, I'm sure. Not the best photo here but the rack does go well with the rest of the kitchen.

More Flowers + Asphalt Pile

Along with our hanging plants, we also bought some impatiens to plant along the house. They're pretty and also need daily watering. Right next to the flowers was a pile of asphalt, which I assume was left over from when the old owners paved their driveway. Rather than discreetly dump it, say in the back corner of the yard, they dumped it along the house. Nice. I was able, with our brand new shovel (yes, we're now proud shovel owners!!) to break it up pretty easily. We bagged the asphalt this weekend (it takes a lot of bags to bag asphalt) and brought it to the dump. Good riddens.

"The Gates"

Note: the broken picket here was fixed at a later time. The gates are now near-perfect.

What Did You Do Last Weekend? Uh, Fixed My White Picket Fence

I think Robert Frost said fences make good neighbors. They also make for a lot work. After the tractor ramp fiasco, I was a bit worried when Olga begged me to fix the gates on our white picket fence. Each and every gate was rotted at the hinges and latches. Never in my wildest dreams would I think I'd spend a weekend fixing a fence -- especially not a white picket fence. But the act of opening each gate -- lifting it, jiggling it, pleading it back into place -- became supremely frustrating. So... I measured and cut and sandpapered and painted and waited and drilled and nailed and screwed and fixed each of our three gates. I even had the whole drill bit in the mouth look going. If you noticed that the world stopped for a half second a couple weeks ago, it was God acknowledging this miracle.

Finches Gone Wild

We have an oddly placed black pole in our backyard. When we first viewed the house it looked like it had a basket of -- how to put this midly -- garbage and twine hanging from it. I decided it was a birdhouse pole. Never heard of one before but that's now what it is. We bought a squirrel-resistent birdhouse that's perches perfectly on top of the pole. The birds, mainly finches, go crazy for the seed. I've counted 11 birds at one time on the bird house. It's nice having little finches swirling around the yard.

Porch Screen, Hudson NY

This house looks real spooky in this picture but we liked the look and detailing of this screened in porch in Hudson, NY.

Sunday: Mowin' on "Big Red"

Er, I was giving an update on our productive weekend. Got to Saturday and then work and house duties took precedent over the blog. So... let's pick up where we left off. I * think* that Sunday left me mowin' on the big red tractor, given to me by my father. It's big. So big I had to build two ramps so we (well, me -- I don't think Olga is going to be driving it anytime soon) could wheel it into and out of our garage. We went to Home Depot to buy wood for said tractor ramp. I'm a wood-buying virgin. More comfortable at the Hallmark store choosing cards than choosing wood. A skinny guy no bigger than a 2x4 helped me out. We bought a 2x2 (slightly thinner than the skinny guy) and some plywood. Then another guy helped me buy nails. I got home and began to curse the nail guy (the skinny, he was alright). The nails he chose were to small! Well, a little later on Olga pointed out that I was hammering the nails through the 2x2 and that wouldn't it be better to start with the thin plywood. Doh! Sorry nail guy, your alright too. I'm really out of my comfort zone. The lawn (70% grass, 30% crab grass) eventually did get mowed and I rolled "Big Red" over the ramps and into the garage when I was done.