I've been a terrible blogger, part 1 of 1027764959

I SWEAR I've been working on the house all summer. So in no particular order, I present various projects, also known as "why I don't have a social life" or my favorite, "my first gray hair".


Project 1: Ongoing Backyard Shenanigans.


Backyard Cleanup: Dead Tree is gone and no longer threatening to toppled over on my car!

Garden Time: Cleaned out bramble, roots, rocks, and debris for vegetable garden.

Bricks found throughout the yard and the house were used as a border.

Hard to see, but on the sloped part below the brick, we planted "Mojito Mile" - about 10 mint plants, to stabilize the soil and support our lifestyle. Which requires alot of mojitos in the summertime.

Old clay drainage tile and pieces of rock made nice little steps.

I used organic fertilizer on the plants about a week after they were planted. This stuff was plant crack, because they started growing and never stopped. It's October 21st right now, and I have to go pick green beans tonight. And I live in upstate NY! 

We used cut down saplings to "build" a bean trellis and tomato plant supports. Tomato plants which easily reached 6ft tall. I told you. Plant. Crack.

Also, I planted far too much basil. 24 plants. We're only two girls! It now resides in the freezer as pesto for those days in February and March when the weather makes you want to smother yourself with a pillow, so maybe not a terrible outcome.

Backyard Beat Down, Part 3

 Old rusty eye sore of a fence:

After! 

We ripped it out with a truck, which took about 2 seconds, as opposed to my plan of digging it out by hand, which would have taken two days.  I cheered, the neighbors cheered, it was a great moment.  There was, of course, a ton of branches and vines and tree parts and broken windows intermingled and stuffed behind the lovely fence that I'm still going through.  I separated it by size and started bundling it all so I don't get another sticker from the city saying "We're weenies, and need all this brush neatly bundled so we can lift it two feet into the truck, even though we're huge men and you're only 5'6" and carried it all the way from the back of your property," or something to that effect.  


We also ripped out the metal electrical conduit, stump, and cmu that had marked the corner of the veg garden.  Everyone knows that the fewer tripping hazards I have around, the better...


My neighbor saw deer behind our houses Sunday morning! I know we have some overgrown backyards near us and a couple of pocket parks, but I didn't think they'd be in the middle of a city? Guess I should watch out for ticks and perhaps invest in some fencing for the garden so the deer don't think it's a buffet laid out just for them.

Backyard Jungle Meets Its Demise

The backyard jungle the day I bought the house.  Pretty, ya?

 When the first warm week in April hit, I went to town on the backyard.  I love my enormous clippers.  Also found out I am dangerous to plant life when given a pick-ax. Basically I've removed every living thing in the back except for rose bushes I found in the bramble.  Below is a fun panorama showing the 3rd world flavor of the backyard.  I don't know what the gray smear is, that's photoshop for you, but I promise it's just more dirt.  Note the lovely disintegrating pavement and concrete pad from the old garage.  Add in the fact that we have clay soils, and it's a stormwater infiltration nightmare back here.  My car almost got eaten by the mud a month back, but my awesome neighbors helped me dislodge it, thank goodness!

The aftermath of jungle removal, day one.  Rinse, repeat for 3 days.  Start to see the fear in the eyes of the city workers who remove the debris everyday. What the hell else can this chick have back there? they wonder. Don't worry boys, there's still more where that came from!

Here's the backyard as of last night, after my soon to be roommate and I put in our vegetable/herb/flower garden.  The dead tree / stick will be removed soon as will the ever-so-charming, rusting, falling down, tetanus nightmare fence.  Which reminds me, I should probably have a booster shot before I take that down...  The plan is to replace it with forsythia and lilac bushes, mainly because I can take cuttings from my mother's yard for free, which is my favorite price point.

Three rose bushes were left where they were in the garden, seeing as they were mostly along the side.  One was smack in the middle so I dug it out and planted 5 stalks along the front side of the house. At first I was sure they would all die, but I have some new growth surprisingly enough.  I mean, like four tiny leaves, but I'll take it.

We're planning a huge swath of mint to hold onto the side of the garden hill, so that it doesn't slowly slide down and disintegrate.  Also, we like mojitos.

Front Yard Before:

(yes, I had my camera on the wrong light setting. Deal)

Front Yard 1/3 done:

  The urn has plants again, yey.  I need some mulch to help smother all the grass - I hate grass! Next year I'll put in a brick patio circle around the urn and some more bushes.  But the walkway and stairs might have to be replaced next year, so I can't plant anything close or I'll just have to rip it out.

Painting Projects

My bedroom, light gray/green/blue.

Workout/Guest room, egg yolk yellow.

Hallway, a deep gold for dramatic effect.

Living Room progress shots.  Same color as bedroom, but with a light blue ceiling.

What I did over winter vacation

Second week of February I took time off from work to install the kitchen.  It just wasn't going to happen in after-work two hour segments in the evening.  Also, I had committed myself to having a Valentine's Day party, so the threat of all those house guests really lit a fire under the bum-bum!

Winter Wonderland. Again.

View out of my back windows - I have a bit of an urban forest behind me thanks to very deep lots on a neighboring cross street.

Come spring, I'll be working on a whole host of projects back here. 

By the time all this snow melts, it should be about June...

Chim chim-in-ey, chim chim-in-ey Chim chim cher-ee

How to spend a fun Sunday Morning: 

1. Take one fireplace that hasn't been cleaned since the Eisenhower Administration, add one ten buckets of hot water + heavy duty cleanser, and scrub.  

2. Rinse, repeat.  

3. Notice that the brick is actually the color of the hearth tiles. Who knew?

Total Time: 2hrs.

Gross sooty mess.