First House First Home: June 2008

(Controversial) Planters

I felt like we needed some planters for our entranceway. Olga didn't agree. She felt it's like having "one of those huge saint statues" on the front lawn. Cheesy.

We went to United House Wrecking and found the planters above. Not sure if they hit the mark but we dealt again with Rum and Coke-drinking Rahn. He gave me the wrong price (cheaper) and then took 10% off of that so they were very affordable. We're still on the fence if we like them.

Flowers Popping Up in the Yard

Cucumbers = Instant Gratification

The seedlings we planted earlier in the year started out great and then... heartbreak. I put them out on a sunny day -- sunny, not hot -- and many of the lil seedlings were fried. The peppers survived. We planted the rest of the seeds had in the garden patch. Cucumbers popped up very quickly, which was very gratifying. I had bought rhubarb but we were sent rhubarb swiss chard instead. That's growing. So is the lettuce and a few others. We bought the tomatoes at a local nursery.

Garden

Although we dug out our patch, it took a couple of weeks to actually plant our seeds...

Dining Room: Window Treatments

We FINALLY got window treatments for the dining room. They match our chairs and, happily for us, were easy to install.

Roses

We bought three rose bushes (tow pink; one yellow -- we need one more). Now when you look out our dining room the window frames a wall of green ivy and the roses.

The Montes' Visit

A few pictures from the Montes' visit. All of us played Wii Fit (including Grandpa Joe) and made the obligatory visit to the playground at Toquam school.

Basement: Coming Along

We had more work done on the basement. Essentially added drywall and, more importantly, insulation to the wall that divides our basement and the garage. We miss the rustic feel to the basement but, er, insulation is kind of important. We'll add some electrical outlets -- also kind of important. We have to remove some pipes-to-nowhere now blocking the way. Also did some support work in the man cave and added a shelf over the oil tank which will support stereo equipment.

New Washing Machine

A few weeks ago our washing machine went kaput. Quite unfortunate. We thought the dryer, which looks and sounds really old, would go first. It's not something we wanted to spend our housing budget on now but the repairman called and basically told us it was unfixable. He didn't need to visit. After loads of researching and thinking deeply about the pros and cons of front vs. top loading washers we went with a front-loader. Not a purchase to get psyched about but good to have a nice and new washing machine.

Flower Boxes

We looked at a few places for hanging flower boxes for the porch. We found these at, of all places, Wal-Mart.

The Patch

We had planned to rent a rototiller, or borrow one. It never happened and it was getting late in the season. So, we got the hoe and shovel out and... began digging. And digging. And digging. In 90 degree heat. Exhausting. At least it was a great workout (and zero carbon emissions).

We were worried about the quality of the soil since part of the patch was, for a while, under the pine tree. All was okay. We had tons of fertilizer and manure. Olga made me put up the fence around the garden before the manure went. She had visions of the dogs jumping, playing and giving themselves back rubs in the manure. She was probably right.