One Sixty: tree lover

Arbor Day Foundation!!

I'm just a post machine today, huh?

Not by design - I just had to post again about trees. Why? Well, after this morning's rant, I decided to go searching online for more information about trees. Why? I like trees, ok? You got a problem with that, punk?

Anyway, that's when the Arbor Day Foundation website popped up. I had never considered them a viable tree-resource before, but now that I think about it, it makes perfect sense. It's the one and only foundation for tree-lovers! (At least as far as I know.) What I did not know - they also sell trees. Not big trees, but little trees. Nevertheless, their tress are guaranteed to grow, and they even have a nifty tree finder that helps you select the right tree for your zip code, soil type, tree type, growth rate speed, sun exposure, and more.... pretty sweet, huh?

And here's the really cool part: become an Arbor Day Foundation member for one year for just $15 and receive 10 free trees! (type of your choosing) That's right - 10, 1' trees. Sure, they're not big, but they're free and guaranteed. After that, your membership gives you a discount on the purchase of other trees and shrubs - all available right on their website and varying in size up to about 3' - wow.

And get this - the member price for said trees & shrubs - like $6-8! So if I manage to kill them (and they are guaranteed, so the foundation would replace them if they died) I wouldn't be losing 10s of thousands of dollars.... or hundreds. You know, I tend to exaggerate.

So pending pay check next week, I'll join the Arbor Day Foundation and my trees will be shipped during the fall season - around Nov. I thought at first that might be too late to plant, but the foundation says trees can be planted successfully right up until the ground freezes. And I think they know what they're talking about - they're tree people.

I'm so excited! I can't wait to get a buncha little trees! Maybe if I succeed with the little trees, I can graduate up to the purchase of a big tree next spring!

Blog Story

My now husband Mike and I purchased this quaint home back in spring of 2004 - our first home - and, being the handy folks we are, expected to have the entire thing renovated in about a year or so.

And here we still are... renovating away.

This house needed a complete overhaul. Its plaster walls were uninsulated, its attic floor covered in 2" of bat guano, its basement - dirt and snakes, its exterior - asbestos siding, and lead paint windows in every room. The electric had not been updated and light sockets hung bare from the ceiling. Plumbing featured cast iron radiators - and only one for the entire upstairs.

We began by gutting almost the entire house from top to bottom. (sans bathroom - we needed to pee) We rebuilt the entire upstairs, with a new floor (not new carpet or wood - the once unstable framing underneath) and turned 3 small rooms into two. We reinvented the downstairs by turning a closet into a hallway and eliminating interior exterior windows and doors from old half-assed additions.

New insulation, windows, electrical wiring (including phone and CAT-5 internet), plumbing and baseboards, and drywall were all added.

We purchased kitchen cabinets from a yard sale. (None existed previously.) Our families helped us replace and purchase new appliances including the once also missing washer & dryer.

Then we had the entire house lifted - straight into the air - dug out the dirt, and had a real basement foundation poured. We updated our oil tank and burner and created heating zones.

Outside, we took down trees and planted grass. We dug out an awkward hill to create a 2nd part to the driveway and used the rocks our house once sat on as a retaining wall. We electrified and repainted the garage.

And of course, we spent many an hour on finish work like paint, trim, closet doors, lighting fixtures, hardwood floors, curtain rods, dimmer switches, and many other things everyone else takes for granted. We are still working to complete all this final finishing, but happy to report that we are FINALLY nearing completion of all little things in all rooms!

In 2008 we began overhauling the exterior by creating a new french door entryway and building a farmer's porch and garage addition. We replaced our roof and then stripped off our siding and replaced with new clapboards. We then planted two new flowering trees and a maple in the front yard - our first major landscape purchases. I'm happy to report that here in 2011, the porch is nearing completion and the back yard is on the road to recovery with some new loam and grass. More plantings soon to come!

In 2012 we plan to attack the last MAJOR (emphasis on major) job in the house - the dreaded BATHROOM! We plan to first add a second bathroom in the basement. Then, demolish our current bathroom and rebuild it, adding a second bathroom on top for the upstairs.

And that pretty much brings you up to date. The battle continues day to day as we try and complete everything.

One Sixty

Arbor Day Foundation!!

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