Spring is (Nearly) Here: Krokus Appear

"Krokus" is either 1) a heavy metal band from Switzerland or 2) a small early-blooming flower. Krokus -- the flower, not the band -- appeared last week in our front yard.  It's freezing now but we like that the little guys have made an appearance.  We hope warm whether comes soon after.

Sketches

More spring cleaning. Here's an early sketch of what we thought the yard would be. Placement of the garden is the most correct thing here...

A Pantry Deferred

While doing some spring cleaning on the laptop came across a rendering of what scheme for our pantry. Looks pretty cool. Our thoughts now are to not do a pantry. Instead, we want to knock down the wall and create a kitchen bar, possibly adding value to the house. That project, however, is quite a ways away.

Seeds of...

Failure? Disappointment?

The Burpee catalog arrived. Time to pick seeds. We -- I, Robert -- went a bit overboard. Here's the philosophy: seeds are cheap, if they fail it's not that a big of a deal. Buying flowers at Fairfield County nurseries: expensive. In Fairfield County, they sell "Private Equity Petunias" and "Hedge Fund Hibiscus." We went with Burpee.

Here's the overly ambitious purchase. Stay tuned for the spring and summer:

*Veggies & Herbs*
Tomato Mortgage Lifter (Heirloom) - 1 Pkt (50 seeds)
Lettuce Looseleaf Blend - 1 packet (500seeds)
Lettuce Looseleaf Heatwave - Packet (500 seeds)
Basil Summerlong - Packet (100 seeds)
Sweet Pepper California Wonder - 1 Pkt (100 seeds)
Cucumber Sweet Success Hybrid (Burpless) - 1 Pkt. (30 seeds)
Chard Burpee's Rhubarb - 1 Pkt. (210 Seeds)
Parsley, Plain (Single Italian) - 1 Pkt. (750 seeds)
Coriander or Cilantro - 1 Pkt. (150 seeds)
Oregano, Greek - 1 Pkt. (700 seeds)
Rosemary - 1 Pkt. (100 seeds)
Spinach Baby's Leaf Hybrid - 1 Pkt. (300 seeds)


*Flowers & Flora*
Lavender Lady - 1 Pkt. (300 seeds)
Coleus Rainbow Mixed - 1 Pkt. (40 Seeds)
Bells of Ireland - 1 Pkt. (50 seeds)
Cutting Garden - 1 Collection
Petunia Wave Hybrid, Purple - Purple Wave - 1 Pkt. (15 seeds)
Alyssum Carpet of Snow - 1 Pkt. (1000 seeds)
Alyssum Royal Carpet - 1 Pkt (1000seeds)
Petunia - Magic Carpet Hybrid MixZinnia Tequila Lime - Packet (50 seeds)
Candy Box Impatiens - Packet (20 seeds)
Phlox Fordhook Finest Mix - 1 Pkt. (100 seeds)
Phlox- Summer Majesty Hybrid Mix (1 pkt. 50 seeds)

The Garage: After (But Before Taping and Painting)

Here's the after photos of the garage.  Not great photos but it does look much cleaner -- and safer.  Now it needs to be "taped" so we can paint it. Then, we need to organize it. 

Bad Pipes No More (Knock Wood)

In one of our first posts on this blog we said that the house has "Bad Pipes.  Good Bones."  Well, with the impending sheetrock job we had to fix some of those bad pipes.  The "We" in this case means "Joe Burke."  He came down especially to replace the old pipes in the garage and basement.  After he cut open one of the pipes he showed me what 85 years of gunk (from the bathroom sink) looks like.  Not very appetizing.  We now have some plastic piping -- and better drainage. 

Cooper (And Tosha) Visit

No pictures of Tosha, but we did snag a photos of Cousin Cooper. 

The Garage: Before (And Learning About Insulation)

We knew we wanted to put up new drywall in the garage.  As you can see in the pictures, it was in bad shape.  Didn't look so nice.  What we didn't really think about was that there was essentially no insulation.  There was literally some cardboard stapled up to the ceiling as well as the funky beige water-stained material you see.  My father's friend Dave came over and pointed this all out to us.  He told me the feel the floor in the study, especially where there was no ceiling at all.  Cold.  Very cold.  So we hired Dave and his buddy and son to put up the drywall.  I had to acquire the materials.  Oh boy. I ordered the wood.  Not really a problem. But then I had to order the drywall/sheetrock (I don't know what's the difference!).  The folks at Richardson Gypsum Supply are real nice.  And patient.  They asked me what thickness I wanted.  My reply:  "I dunno."  I told them what it was for.  They told me I needed 5/8 to be up to fire code since the garage it's attached to the house.  I'm absolutely sure that the weird beige material broke all sorts of code.  Then they asked me about thickness of the insulation.  My reply:  "I dunno."  R11, R13, R19.  Who knew there were so many sizes?  Well, I agreed to insulation that wasn't thick enough.  Luckily, Dave and his crew agreed to pick some up (I believe they went up to R21) for me before they began work.  See next post for the "After" photos. 

 

Nifty Hanger Thing

So, we didn't have a very good system for storing our mops, brooms and other sweeper-like instruments (we, somehow, have acquired quite a few). We first stored them in the closet. That didn't work so well.  Then we sort of just threw them on landing of the basement steps.  That didn't work so well either.  Olga picked up this nifty hanger which uses, how can I say this, a "roller contraption" to keep the handles in place.  It's pretty cool. Never thought we'd be so intrigued by a hanger.  

New Console Table, Lamps

Part of the original design for the living room, we finally added a "mission style" console table and companion lamps behind the house. My father also helped drill holes in the floor and run speaker wire so that we can set the rear speakers on the table. Full surround sound. Room is certainly cozier, which is going to take some getting used to.

A Walk in Mianus Park

I discovered Mianus River Park late last fall.  It straddles the Stamford/Greenwich border and is surrounded by huge hedge fund houses.  It's a popular place for mountain biking.  I my maiden ride there last fall and discovered it's even more popular for dog walking.  We took Dougan and Bridget there for walk last weekend.  They got filthy muddy, but had lots of fun.  We can't wait for springtime walks.  

The Cave

A few months ago we had "The Cave" cemented over. This is the room in our basement underneath the porch. It had a dirt floor (see first first picture), not uncommon I'm told with these old houses. Some theorize that it was used as a coal room, or "root" room to store root veggies (potatoes, etc.). Earth floors are a) not good for moisture b) not good for radon c) kind of weird to have. So... we had it cemented over. The first job they did was a bit uneven so we had them come back and pour self-leveling concrete. And then a couple days later: biblical rains. An inch or two of water seeped in. The job was ruined. The room was left in limbo until we could figure out what to do. Was it a problem with drainage? Water table? Do we need a sump pump? If so, do we "pipe" the entire basement, or just the room? We got a second opinion. He said in a strange (Austrian?) accent: "you needz a sump pump, but only inz the one roomz." And so we got one. The piping runs from the pump underneath floor and right out through the stone wall. It goes on about 12 feet underneath the grass and empties out in the yard, right near where we plan to have our garden. They need to come back to finish the concrete but the room is almost ready to begin work on. Stay tuned.

A New Bed for Guests

Olga's boss emailed her saying he had two extra twin beds.  We had a notion both might fit in the bedroom upstairs.  Negative.  The bedframe way too large. One bed barely fit in the Element.  We had to shimmy both front seats of the car all the way up to the front and tie the back window down.  Olga had Dougan and Bridget on her lap.  It was a tight fit.  With the some new sheets, the new bed looks great.

Dining Room: New Painting

Olga's parents sent a great painting of the Himalayas.  I *believe* it has travelled from India, to London, to Vail, Colorado, and now Connecticut.  Olga says I'm making that up.  At any rate, in our first attempt to hang it, one of the hooks fell off.  Fearing that I'd do permanent damage trying to fix it myself, we took to our local frame shop.  They fixed it for free. 

The Living Room: Window Treatments

Ethan Allen wanted to sell us custom window treatments.  Really, really expensive window treatments.  At Home Depot we came across blinds that were similar to the Ethan Allen version, only cheaper by multiples.  They're bamboo-ish, with hints of blue/green.  They go very well with the blue walls.  We would never had thought of this approach so our designer at Ethan Allen does deserve credit.  They may not be our be all and end all window treatments.  But they're fine for now, especially at Home Depot prices. 

IKEA Special: The Step for Shorter People

Bridget's First Trip to the New Canaan Dog Run

The Rose Beige Grouting Project

My cousin Paul pointed out that the grouting in our upstairs bathroom was coming loose.  Water from the shower did the damage.  That, and a poor application in the first place.  So, off to Home Depot.  Of course, it's a special color, which required a special order.  Rose Beige.  We proceeded to patiently deal with the older gentleman who used Home Depot's ancient system to place the special order.  After he finished, I asked him if we could have ordered it online.  "Of course," he answered.  Good grief.  Well, two weeks later we picked up our special order and supplies for grouting:  sponges, trawler, mysterious de-hazing liquid.  Instructions basically told us to get the grout to the consistency of cake frosting.  DO NOT mix too much water.  Turns out, mixing was the easy part.  Getting the old grout proved the most difficult.  Flathead screwdriver + hammer seemed to be the most effective.  

The Alien, or Bridget's First Bath

The Study: Picture Shelf

A new picture shelf.  Not a big deal.  But, in many ways it completes the study.  Now, we just need one or two more pictures.  (I also need to take care of all those wires under the desk!) 

Newest addition to the B-Unit

Bridget became the newest addition to the Burke family on January 1, 2008.  She's a great new playmate for Dougan.