Tuesday, March 21, 2006

My Bathroom Renovation.......in progress! It's so odd to see it with no wallpaper. But even in this state, it looks worlds better than it did with the flower/stripe vomit that was there. Posted by Picasa
Here's a shot from the other corner. It's so much brighter (obviously) that the little light coming in from the closed window blinds, that you can't see here, illuminates the tub as though a sky light were above it. Posted by Picasa
Here it is! My chosen wallpaper, soon to be applied. Posted by Picasa
This was the snow we had recently. Big, fat flakes that were melted by the next day's sun. Posted by Picasa

Sunday, March 12, 2006

This one's for you, Alan!! I have not cut my hair short, and while you can't really tell from this shot, it's a little more red now, *wink wink*. Luck o' the Irish and all that! Kathmand decided to jump up just as the shutter opened. Believe it or not, those are the stairs to the upstairs to the left of the shot.  Posted by Picasa
Here's a shot of Kathman hanging out in the sunroom, in his favorite day-spot.
This weekend I got a very little bit of yardwork in. I had an appointment for a tree trimmer / landscaper to come on Saturday, and he never showed up or called. That may be incredible on its own, but this is the fourth service call that has opted not to show up for work. I just don't understand these local service providers; they have no idea what "service" really is. Anyway, here are some mystery flowers in the front yard. They are pretty but it'd be my luck for them to be weeds. There is some landscaping done in the front that had a good wood chip mulch layer at one time; I'll need to tidy that up. Under the mulch they laid the anti-weed fabric like material, which the squirrels have dug up in many places. Posted by Picasa
Last weekend I noticed some mud that looked suspiciously like a drain leak. Turns out it was. I had the plumber over while I was out of town; he was able to repair it without ripping it up and replacing it. Turns out they use ball and spigot type clay piping here, and at the joints, tree roots like to wiggle in for a drink. The plumber didn't think it had been snaked out for some time, he got feet worth of enmeshed roots. All's flowing well now, though. If I hadn't made a yard check on that side of the house I would never have known I had a leak. Kind of scary. Anyway, this is the west side of the house - the direction that storms come from - and it has no gutters. So the rain that runs off the roof just drops straight down, and splashes up along the stonework along the crawl space. I'm going to have that pressure washed when I have the gutters installed. The previous owners never cease to surprise me with some of the little things that they opted not to do (and some of the big things they did poorly).  Posted by Picasa
I picked up another orchid today; I have become a great fan of these relatively carefree yet exotic blooms. This one is in the bedroom. That lava lamp was my Grandfather's, original from the 70s.  Posted by Picasa
The front two windows on the porch were lacking screens. I learned this today when it got up to 60 and I wanted to air the place out. I started opening lots of windows but opted against the two in the front; luckily a quick trip to Lowe's solved the missing screen problem.  Posted by Picasa
My little address numbers have two side removable tiles. There are a number of them to match the seasons and holidays. I inherited this with the house, but since it's March, slotted on the shamrocks. Next is Easter Bunnies.....sheesh, this is so lame I'm embarassed to say I like it. Posted by Picasa
Here's another of the landscape lights in the southeast corner of the front yard. That "bless this garden" rock, I found out, had a hidden key in it. Thank goodness I've changed the locks.  Posted by Picasa
Here are some mystery plants growing along the east side of the house (and the front too). They could be irises or daffodils; I'll have to wait and see what emerges. Posted by Picasa
Here are some of the little solar landscaping lights I installed this weekend. Very care free - assemble the stakes, put in the rechargeable battery, and jam them into the ground. I did actually make an effort to measure them out so they're each separated by 12 feet though.  Posted by Picasa
Here is a bug zapper that I thought was my neighbor's. Turns out it's mine. The cord that leads to it, I found, is plugged in at an outdoor socket, but is severed where the flagstone walkway wraps around the east side of the deck.  Posted by Picasa
Here is a shot of the little table and chair set I got for the back deck. They're weather proof, but I may just get covers for them anyway....it's been raining almost every day recently. Posted by Picasa

Sunday, March 05, 2006

This was over a week or so ago, we got a little bit of snow that was more decorative than anything else. When it first started falling, in this photo, the flakes were big fat, wet, heavy chunks.  Posted by Picasa
This is a neighbor's yard, but provided the first opportunity I've had to snap one of the many little rabbits in the 'hood. Posted by Picasa
Clumpy snow. Posted by Picasa
This is a shot of.......the squirrels who live in the maple tree out back. Looks like they'll need to build an addition to their nest...... Posted by Picasa
From the entry of the sunroom facing northeast. Not sure what I'll do with the Chinese Palm when it's nice enough to spend a lot of time in and out. Right now it's ok blocking the door to the back deck. The door is narrow, and the cost of storm door in that size is astronomical, though it would be nice to open up that side of the room and protect it with a screen during spring (well, later in spring...). Posted by Picasa
Facing south in the sunroom. It's a small narrow room but my favorite place on weekend mornings. I've set up a wireless router at home so I can carry the laptop with me wherever I want to sit, or leave it plugged in and amped to catch the NPR weekend shows. Posted by Picasa
Here's the new location for the chair, my new study area. The ottoman is a little further away from the base of the stairs than it appears. Posted by Picasa
I've moved my extrawide chair here because this long room is divided in half by the stairs. I use this side for reading and non-tv oriented activities...so decided to make it my little study. The chair is algined at a 45% angle from the otherwise rectantular room and gives a good viewpoint to the sunroom beyond. Posted by Picasa
From the bottom of the stairs, the west side of the study area. Posted by Picasa
This is the cord hiding effort for the lamp next to the chair. At night it sure looked a lot more camoflaged.  Posted by Picasa