guilty

okay, so old habits die hard.
and despite humid 89 degree weather...

yes, i was in the garden weeding.
and yes, i did have to use a pick axe to get the last of the weeds up.
and yes, my back is very sore and tired.

and yes, i am still aware that i'm pregnant.
so yes, i did in fact lay down after i finished so i'll be able to walk later.

AND
yes, i'm guilty. 
BUT
i had help this time!

dave's parents and sister are in visiting from indiana, and they like to help with projects (so you can imagine why i love them so much).

dave and his dad have almost finished painting the garage doors black (from white). the shutters used to be white, and we did those over in black last year, and the doors were white, and are now a fabulous puke-y yellow, and now? the garage doors will be finished to complete a front of the house face-lift.

next up: the house trim needs a new coat of white, and the house will get a grey/blue/slate paint update. it gets a lot of full morning fun, so it's faded a lot in the 4 years we've been here. i need to find just the right shade, though- not too light, and not too blue. i'm open for suggestions :) 

dave transplanted this arborvitae from it's random spot on the other side of the garden to here to the front left side of the house (where it can hide the propane tank and canoe until we put a fence up. don't get me started on my desires for a fence, though...)

and look what i found hiding under, i don't know, eight inches of tall grass and a thicket of crawling weeds:
OUR GARDEN!
we weren't actually going to do a garden this year, but when my friend deanna had extra plants that she didn't have room for? well, i couldn't say no to that!

it's actually kind of fun, because some of the plants are mystery plants, so eventually, we'll get to find out what they are! i do know we have tomatoes, roma cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, pumpkins, zucchini, basil, strawberries, and...maybe squash?

later today and tomorrow while i'm at work we'll also finish installing an attic staircase in the landing upstairs. our 163 year old home, though lovely, has no storage. we have a dirt basement and not even CLOSE to enough closets, so the attic, albeit small, if accessible (and not via a 2x2 portal in our bedroom), will add a lot of value to this old house. and make more room in the garage again, so maybe, just maybe, i'll be able to park my car in there before winter :)

what can i say?
i love life in the projects.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

bedroom inspiration

so this photo is the the inspiration the future of our bedroom. who knows if or when. i just love to dream :)

i'd love to switch out the bedding to something some subtle, maybe a white with some texture, or some sort of neutral. (truth is, white scares me thinking about the little nosies and toesies in my bed!)

see the yellow in that frame in the previous photo? i'm thinking that yellow alll over the nightstand(s) below, and alllll over a vintage bureau my parents have that is the same shape. with glass knobs?! ugh, i'm getting anxious even thinking about how good it'll look.

this is an ikea bed frame...that's $99. it might as well be free! love it.

and this bad boy at the end of that fabulous bed?

what do you think??

when you ask for a trim...

i love lilacs.

although their life is short-lived, it is deliciously fragrant and beautiful...and enjoyed immensely by yours truly. much to my delight two years ago, i realized our home is full of lilac trees. or are they bushes? it remains to be seen, because the previous owner was a structural engineer, not a gardener. cool for the addition he put on the house. not cool for the rest of the grounds.

i'm no expert on plants, trees, flowers, and the like. i only aspire to be. i read and research when it comes to these things, because i am very aware that my thumb is not green. even if green is my favorite color.

enter: my dad, ray, one night last week. he had stopped by to see the backyard (that post is coming soon, too) and since my dad is a project kind of guy (apple didn't fall far from the tree, eh?), and i mentioned pruning the tremendously overgrown tree, seen here below, he offered to help dave (read: he thinks he is the only one who knows how to do things "right" so he inserted himself into the project quickly. especially because it involved chainsaws, and he loves chainsaws).

this is my lilac tree on the right.
actually, this was my lilac tree.

things seem to be going well. branches are being trimmed, i'm getting excited about shaping the tree better so i can reach the blooms and see some new growth...

eli's helping his "gp" (of course, he needed his own hand saw and ladder to work on the maple tree)...we're having a splendid good time (leave me alone, i get really excited when projects get started AND finished).


my dad's got his american flag bandanna, dead limbs are dropping, i am well pleased with the progress...

piper's loving it. nothing like a loud chainsaw and branches crashing to the ground. haha, she's hilarious...

"mom- this is NUTS!"

and then...

i take piper inside to start dinner, and when i come back out to check on the boys...one of the branches i had wanted trimmed had been cut off, so my lilac tree looked ridiculous. i had to have them take the tree all the way down to 3 feet. so instead of my 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 pruning approach...

i ended up with what is considered a hard prune:

yup.
there she is, in all her glory.
it's like when you go to the hairdresser for a trim, and she cuts off 10 inches. not exactly what you asked for.

luckily my husband and father were gracious with me when i berated them for destroying my tree. i don't know what got into me. i mean, it's a tree...it will grow back.

it's just going to take a few years.
ohhhh lordy.

updates, edition 2: our backyard

the amount of dirt in my backyard is literally overwhelming. and so is trying to write about it or post pictures about it, really, because there have been 10 wheelers in and out of my backyard constantly, and the project itself is ever-evolving, almost 3 years in the making, and it's JUST epic. but i WANT to. because if it's going to consume my life, it's going to have to consume at least a few minutes of yours. it's only fair ;)

yesterday was our last load of dirt, and at some point (soon, i hope!), an operator is going to hop back on the bulldozer in my backyard and do some smoothing, again, but for the last time. in the past few weeks, i've just realized God is so good! he really cares about us, and provides for our needs, whether our needs are dirt or rest or wisdom. it's encouraging to see him work in the everyday things. like seeing how he's orchestrated hundreds of yards of dirt being trucked from quincy (why? ask my dad, right kris?) for free, and a company who has for some reason cut us an AMAZING deal on a bulldozer, and are allowing us to pay them back as slowly as we want. WHO does that?!

we've been trying to get rid of the cliff in our backyard for 2 and a half years, until recently, we'd collected dirt slowly. it's really not a pretty sight to look at every day when your washing dishes. but i have been trying to be patient and not so "results" driven. and FINALLY! *angels singing* we have enough dirt. and it's A LOT of dirt.

truthfully, the very thought of having not only a flat-ish backyard, but one that may have GRASS...it's altogether too much. i'm elated to not have my son digging in mud and dirt constantly, though he will be bummed, and i'm really going to love walking around without shoes on.

and that's a really really abbreviated version of what's been happening at the stratton construction site. it's exciting, and noisy, and dirty, and inconvenient, but AWESOME.

and now, a trip from 2006 to present:

here is our backyard when we moved in. you'll notice trees (all of which are gone), and behind that fence is a 25 foot drop off...it was like having 2 seperate backyards.

yup, we cut these trees down, too. still burning the wood in our wood stove, too, which is sweet. they were ugly and grubby, so i was glad to see them go last year.

another angle

here is what the yard looked like about 2 weeks ago. still a little yard to speak of...

and here it is now. juuuusssttt dirt. and yes, that's elias on top of that pile.

my yard is closing in!

a view from further back in the yard (that's a little bit of the back of our house on the left)...

and here i am almost to the back of our property (notice how low i am. and yes, that's all you can see of our entire house)

a little perspective from the room above the garage into the backyard

(this was after they flattened the first piles. now there is that much dirt and more...again!)

potential...that's what i see!

this is all we have left to play on. it's hilarious. or depressing. depends on the day...

and the sky's the limit! i can't wait for it to be DONE! some day i'm going to be able to see the house from the back of the yard! YAY!

top 10 lessons learned at the stratton construction site

today was hilarious. the thought i kept thinking is "whoa. i am WAY out of my league. wayyy out!" our home is officially the stratton construction site. it's a beautiful mess.* hopefully soon, it will be just beautiful. here are some insightful lessons to glean wisdom from next time you want to get in over your head ;)

1. don't think for one second that if ray (ie, my dad) gets into a skid steer (ie, a bobcat) something crazy won't happen. like him flipping it over. into a ravine. in my yard. seriously. i was like "whoa. that. just. happened."


2. chainsaws that plug in are pretty much the fairies of the tool world. don't even bother with them. use a stinking hand saw.


3. also- when said chainsaw starts bouncing around when you're, say, pruning lilacs- don't try to "show it who's boss." then you'll end up with the chain caught in the branches. this is not cool. nor is it effective.


4. don't assume a bobcat has even CLOSE to enough guts to push as ridiculous an amount of dirt as what is in my backyard right now. what you need is a bulldozer. a HUGE one. or maybe some dynamite.


5. don't assume work gloves will save your hands from blisters. and then blisters on top of other blisters. and busted knuckles. this is not the case. work gloves are only to help you look tough.


6. building a rock wall...is not as simple as stacking rocks. this is a glaring misconception.


7. building a rock wall in front of a gigantic tree...makes it a lot harder. crazy roots.


8. and seriously. rocks are heavy. heavier than you'd imagine. it'll blow your mind. go find a big rock and try to lift it up. go on. i dare you.


9. don't think you're a landscaper, even it's your true calling (right, nick?). if someone isn't paying you, you're called a "do-it-yourself-er".


10. it's great to have aspirations. but be realistic with your timetable. c'mon now, rome wasn't built in a day, people.

and those, my dear friends, are the top 10 things i've learned today. i hope you've enjoyed them as much as i did.

*pictures of my beautiful mess coming soon

a glimpse of what's to come...

next stop on the project list: piper's shabby chic nursery. here is a sneak peek :)

the chandelier (from ikea- believe it) to be swung over her crib. hopefully she won't get any notions to swing from it. we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

the whole shebang. her crib isn't white, however. it's a light wood. do i paint it?

the bumper

the quilt

and her crib sheet

outstanding questions to consider:

1. paint color. i'm thinking i should pull the blue out bc i'm so not into pink on walls. but maybe a shade or two darker. any thoughts?

2. she has a sloped wall like elias- do i paint it? white? or the same as the wall color? or do i wallpaper it?

3. what color carpet for her and eli's room? it needs to be replaced at some point (soon) and carpets baffle me. i was thinking a texture, jute-like, in a tan color. anyone?

eli's room

hooray! it's finally finished!

well...it was.

until i smashed a huge hole through piper's wall into eli's wall helping (or was it?) dave do some demo in piper's nursery.

he should have known not to ask me if i wanted to take out some aggression on the wall.

big mistake. HUGE.

aaah yes. a nice look in his just finished blue wall.

picture post

here is our new fireplace insert. thank you Lord for Craigslist. SUCH a great find. and it's keeping cold me oh so warm :)

eli and cousin caley

here are some before and after shots of the laundry room. what better time to paint than when you have the whole room ripped apart anyway? we couldn't fix the washer, but we sure could pretty up my lil laundry nook :)

ta-da!

the new washer. an get this- it WASHES.

much gratitude must be given to grandma gloria, who helped us to afford the fireplace insert, and dave's parents, who made it possible for us to get a washing machine. otherwise i'd have been down by the creek scrubbing away with a wash board. or something.

busy week. but a productive week. and don't we love our productivity?