Good News Bad News No News

Nothing of particular interest happened this weekend. I was exhausted and allergic on Saturday and spent my day cleaning in hopes of some relief. I didn't even have an extra half hour afterwards to paint another porch ceiling section... which I had been planning on.

Sunday, Mike cleaned out the garage and garage addition, installed the springs to the garage addition door, and drove in his car. And that's about it. I could barely function on Sunday, I was so pooped from a Saturday night out. (Good times, but rough day without coffee.)

Good news, our neighbor Richard dropped by on the way home from a drywall side job. He wants to wrap up our kitchen drywall this week. I'll be so happy to have that taken care of! Then we can finally trim out the once-new-now-kinda-old window.

It's tough times once again thanks to vehicle dysfunction. Yes that''s dysfunction and not malfunction. My motor bit the dust and I'm more then bummed about it. It's supposed to rain most of the week. We have zero dollars. I'm trying to stay somewhat optimistic because things could always be worse. I just hate standing stagnant in my home improvement puddle. Life's too short for projects to sit unfinished!

Taking Little Bites

Unexpected weekend! Going into it, I had no real plans, no real to-do lists, and no expectations. (Hard to believe, yes I know.) It started out small. Saturday I weeded, cleaned, vacuumed the basement, and re-set our backyard watering timer.

Then, I got the notion to try the old soapy water plus household vinegar (5%) plus as-hot-as-my-tap-will-make water poison ivy killer. I mixed the three in a bucket - very liberal on the vinegar and soap - no other measurements - and I threw the bucket contents over the rocks. After the first bucket I realized I was in a bit over my head. One bucket only covered the smallest of areas. But I had enough vinegar to do three buckets full, figuring that this would be a good test.

Side 1 Rocks: Before

Side 1 Rocks: After

Side 2 Rocks Before

Side 2 Rocks: After

As you can see from the results - it's obvious where I threw the mixture. The leaves turned black, then to white in those areas. Conclusion - I need more vinegar and a bigger bucket. Actually, I need a 50 gallon barrel with a pressure washer attached to it. I could market that.... Anyhoo, I'm going to keep watch to see if those areas and plants actually die. Then, I'll go to BJ's for another giant vinegar and make a little one-girl bucket brigade.

If that wasn't enough for one day, I randomly decided to paint that one fan-section of the farmer's porch ceiling. So randomly in fact, I only had a half hour window in which to prep, paint, and clean up. But I somehow made it happen. I started around 2:30 and was out of the shower by 3:45 and out the door to a house warming party.

Sunday morning, Mike installed the fan for me. And it looks beautiful! More importantly, the dang box is out of the living room!! Hooray! It's only been in there since my mom's bday. (May)

Then he took care of some other little things:
Installed the front door doorbell.
Replaced the one odd GFCI outlet on the porch with a normal one.
Cut two outlet covers in half to fit the porch outlets by the french doors.
Put up my Bermuda weather sign. (Gift from some friends of ours who went there... I was not so lucky to have gone.)
Removed the yucky Yukka plant from next to the lilac in the front yard. (Looks so much better without!)
Fertilized the back yard.

For the remainder of his rainy Sunday, Mike got to pick his own project. Installing the old garage door on the new garage addition! (Previously, we had a drop cloth keeping weather out of that area and didn't store anything steal-able in there.)

But as usual, it wasn't as easy a project as he had hoped. The door opening was 6" too big for the door. So, after using all the rest of our scrap wood, Mike had to hit the DeepHo for a few more pieces to build out one side. What a pain in the butt! After finally finishing the framing and installing the door tracks, it was close to 8:30pm. He called it a night and installed the door on Monday.

Looking at this door now, I can hardly believe it used to be on the front of our garage. It's super gross and ugly. I wish I could have bought Mike a new door for this space at the same time I bought the other door. But he really wanted the super huge door instead of two small ones for the front. And I can't blame him for that. We can live with this for a while.

Wishful Photoshopping

 

 Ta-Da! Look, it's beautiful end-of-May-type weather and Mikey and I are headed out to the backyard to play... and the backyard looks so beautiful that I can't help but take this photo.... (click to enlarge)

That's the reality I wish I was living in right now.

This is an extremely photoshopped landscape portrait of the backyard - which I created by merging two skuzzy pictures from Spring, 2010.

Look, the garage addition hasn't even been built yet in this pic. Amazing! (Hard to believe it was just last year? I had to think about it... was it 2009? No - I looked it up on the blog. We began garage addition construction in April of 2010.)

So obviously I added in the addition - with an addition of an addition door. I extended our side-gravel driveway up to that door and added the most perfect grass you've ever seen. The green in the background I actually stole from a much earlier summertime backyard photo - so that is actually what it will look like in back.

Then, since we have a lovely drop-off style cliff just on the horizon of the backyard, I decided to add a Mikey fence. Behind which, we'd store the skid steere and the trailer. (Actual skid steere and trailer may vary. Images for illustrative purposes only.)

Then some hydrangeas on the base of the hill to the left... some azaleas on the base of the hill to the right.... a coat of black paint for our Trogdor burninator apparatus (plus some gravel underneath for safety)... and two of my favorite trees in the known universe.

Looks oh so simple, right? (I tell myself while at the same time reminding myself that We-Can't-Start-Any-New-Projects.) I wish I could just handoff the pic to some landscape dude and say, "Make it so #1."

Unfortunately that's not all. The first pic came out so awesome that I just couldn't help but do another angle.

I took the liberty of adding a bucket of Coronas to this pic... add me sitting in one of those chairs and Mikey going down the little slide... Oh yeah. That would be a dream come true.

Hey! There's a quarter in the gravel! I guess I forgot to take one out. Oh well.

Believe it or not, I went through several incarnations of this angle to really get something sweet. I tried everything on that back garage wall. A couple wall mounted trellises.... a cabana thing... a different patio set... but I really just like this simple awning with the two chairs, a burning bush, and a small decorative trellis. I don't have THAT much room back there, after all.

Here's the pic I started with this time. Note I kinda moved the scene to the left... couldn't help but to do it. I don't have any pics facing the right direction.

Ok landscapers. I'll pay you like $100 and you make my yard look like this. Deal? Deal.

Roof - CHECK!

It's finished!

Yes, the guys came over last night and worked tirelessly to finish the job and beat the rain. And it looks beautiful. Plus, Timmy got Mike all excited when he told him - "Yeah, all you have to do is this and that and this and you can take down the wall between the old garage and the addition and just have one big garage." (I'm paraphrasing here, of course.)

Mike asked me, "Do you think I should do it?" Pshaw! No contest! I said def! That way Mike could move his giant toolbox and work bench to the far far back wall and free up some much needed work space. I keep having the urge to run out and buy new garage doors so that Mike can move the old door to the garage addition... but I need to hold myself back. We've got the porch to finish.

Stay tuned! Wiring begins on Sunday! (And I'm going to do a lamppost at the same time, just like I've always wanted!)

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The Roof The Roof The Roof Is On Fire

Well, not really. But I do want to raise the roof because believe it or not - it's better then half done.

Doesn't that look awesome? I had an insider tip that the guys were planning on coming yesterday... but I didn't want to jinx it by posting it up on the HB. (house blog)

And here's the other side - soon to be completed - tonight!!! (That is, unless severe thunderstorms roll through... because the forecast has just been all over the place this week and I have no clue what's going on and neither do highly paid meteorologists. )

Unfortunately, all this good news comes with a little bit of postponement news. We won't be able to purchase the rest of the wiring materials for the porch on Thursday. Turns out, Mike needs to do some work to the tractor to get it race ready for the big tractor race event on Friday night.

So how much more redneck could we get?! Hard to believe we're from New England, isn't it? Cracks me up - I love this lifestyle! Never a dull moment!

Also - Mike FORGOT MY BOX again. Oh, I'm sorry - I need more emphasis. AGAIN!!!!
At this rate, I'm going to need to show up at his work on Saturday and pick up the durn thing myself... wait, I have a potluck dinner to cook for. Thwarted again!

Ok, back to good news. With the roof on the GA nearing completion.... wait for it.... the porch is next! Woo-hoo! And I don't want to rush the guys who are helping us out - but I am so psyched for this. What I will be rushing on is the completion of the wiring and purchase of raw materials. Next week deadline. I'm pushing for it.

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Cleaning Up

Last Saturday night, while trying to finish up repairs on 4Runner #1, we couldn't find the intake boot. The garage was a mess, the yard was littered with misc boat parts and beer cans, and Mike and I were both very frustrated about it. Luckily, after over a half hour of searching, Mike finally tracked down das boot in the garage addition, amongst another pile of misc.

But the whole debacle was enough to spark a Sunday Morning Clean Up. So first thing in the AM, Mike loaded up all the old boat trailer rollers, cans, and every other piece of junk on the side of the garage, in the garage addition, and in the regular garage - to the dump to the dump to the dump dump dump....

And here's the resulting "after" shot. I don't have a before shot for you. Too gruesomely messy for even the internet.

Upon returning from the dump, Mike set about REALLY cleaning out the garage. (It's been a disaster zone ever since he threw out his trash can... not the smartest move.) But I must admit, after just a couple hours in the AM, plus a few more hours in the PM (after we returned from our Clambake and BDay party) he made great progress. Half of the garage is clean.

4Runner #1, I may have forgotten to mention, is now fixed and running perfectly. I plan to clean it up and take pictures on Saturday, time permitting. I'll try and get it on Ebay... although now that it's the dead of summer, first gen 4Runner prices are down. I expected that, which is why I really wanted to take care of this back in spring, when every 4cyl manual sh*t box on there was going for 5,000+. This is a V6 auto... and sure it's rusty with a host of small issues and mileage up the wazoo - but it's still a V6 auto. And that's worth something to a lover of these. It just needs some TLC from someone who's willing to take the time with it. It's still the wrong time to sell. But I'll give it a go anyway. Winter is certainly not the time and I'd like this thing outta my hair.

Today - Mike will hopefully remember my box for the soft top. No bites on the craigslist ad yet.

Next up? The wiring of the farmer's porch! The speaker cable should be in by now - Thursday night we will probably purchase everything else we need. (Tues is my dance night, Wed is the demo derby at the fair, Friday is a tractor race, and Sat night is a potluck dinner - Summer of a Million Events continues!) So we probably won't be able to wire until Sunday at the earliest.

Will the roof be done by then too?! My sources say yes if weather permits. Can't wait!

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Pleased as Pie

After waiting so long to start on this list, I'm amazed at how quickly we've been able to cross things off of it. In just last weekend and this week:

1. Mow the lawn (dang, it was at the point of seeding itself on the side and back lawns)
2. Jess muffler & Tailpipe (yes, I lost my tailpipe last week. LAST WEEK)
3. Jess wheel bearings (these have been bad for over a month now)
4. Jess oil change
5. Jess wheel spacer & new wheels (I've been wanting to get this taken care of since I got that flat tire.... oooo, more then two months ago)
6. Remove current 4Runner soft top, package in a box, and put back on ebay to sell.
7. Put on other 4Runner soft top.
8. Purchase parts and fix the old 4Runner #1 - SELL
9. Wire the farmer's porch for lighting, fan, speakers, and outlets. (Speaker wire already on order.)
10. New windshield for Mike's truck
11. Fix up Dodge #1 - SELL
12. Fix Dodge #2 - SELL

AND, if that weren't enough, the guys came by to do the garage addition roof!!! But we didn't have any drip edge. So Mike purchased that this week and now, hopefully, we are 100% ready for them to return and knock it out. (Again, it's been super hot and humid, so I don't really blame them for the delay. Plus, they've been working on another house, getting it ready to sell ASAP - so again, no blame again. I know they've been super busy.)

Tonight, Mike is going to finish up the repairs on 4Runner #1 and it will be ready to tidy up and put on Ebay for sale. The old soft top is back on craigslist (Click here to check it out!) Although Mike's been having some technical difficulties bringing home a giant box to pack it in for Ebay purposes. Once someone threw out the box on him. Another couple times he was on the bike and couldn't bring it home. Another time it was pouring rain out.

Today, he's on the bike again, so no box. But he's going to set aside a BBQ grill box for me. That's disappointing. I was hoping to be at the PO this morning to weigh that thing so I could get it up on Ebay.... At least it's on craigslist. No bites yet though. Amazing. These things are so rare, especially in New England. There must be SOMEONE like me out there who's desperately searching for one.

Anyhoo. Sunday will be a wash since we have a clambake, followed by a bday party. The following weekend, we'll be back on the job (hopefully!!)

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Another Infamous List

The 4th is over! And believe it or not, we had a fabulous time out on the water... despite a last minute blown head gasket discovery. Yes that's right, Mike discovered the problem on Thursday, but managed to fix it in time for our outing on Sunday.

Here we are, waiting for the fireworks to start in the bay. It was a great night with friends and two other boats, and we had a similarly fun time on Monday.

Here are the Mikes cooling off in the tube.

So, despite the great time, I was very happy to get it over with. Now, we can move on to the crazy to-do list that has been just racking up for the last few crazy weeks.

DA LIST
(in order)

1. Mow the lawn (dang, it was at the point of seeding itself on the side and back lawns)

2. Jess muffler & Tailpipe (yes, I lost my tailpipe last week. LAST WEEK)

3. Jess wheel bearings (these have been bad for over a month now)

4. Jess oil change

5. Jess wheel spacer & new wheels (I've been wanting to get this taken care of since I got that flat tire.... oooo, more then two months ago)

6. Remove current 4Runner soft top, package in a box, and put back on ebay to sell.

7. Put on other 4Runner soft top.

8. Purchase parts and fix the old 4Runner #1 - SELL

9. Wire the farmer's porch for lighting, fan, speakers, and outlets. (Speaker wire already on order.)

10. New windshield for Mike's truck

11. Fix up Dodge #1 - SELL

12. Fix Dodge #2 - SELL

Phew - I'm out of breath just thinking about all that. And I know what you're all thinking - what's up with the garage addition and porch?! Well, we got all the remaining materials we needed for the garage addition roof. But then, we got a heat wave... and I honestly don't blame Timmy for not coming by to finish it. I wouldn't want to be up there in that heat. Hopefully, we'll hear from and see him soon. Believe you me, I haven't forgotten. If we don't see him this week, I'll probably have Mike check in on his schedule. Sometimes he gets crazy busy like us.

And as for the porch - well, we need to wire first. So that's that for that.

Ok - now, I'm happy to report that after only one week on the job, we're well on our way to smacking out each item on the list.

Mike fixed his lawn tractor blades on Wednesday evening and mowed the lawn! Meanwhile, after Mikey was in bed, I trimmed up one of my cherry trees and weeded along the driveway a bit.

Thursday, Mike picked up the muffler and tailpipe and installed them last night. I picked up the oil filter and oil. (Penzoil special at Advance, filter and 5 quarts for just $16.99)

Tonight is wheel bearing time! Tomorrow - soft top time! The only thing I'm missing is the box to pack it in, which Mike hasn't been able to bring home from work since he's been riding the bike. (I nearly wrote, "riding the box.")

The speaker wire for the porch should arrive on Monday too, although next week will most likely be about 4Runner #1. (Which Mike is dreading... but I am so excited to sell it. Whatever it goes for, I will be so happy just to see it gone. And Mike will be happy too, since I've promised to transfer those plates to his '69 Camero.)

As a side note - as the summer has progressed, the state of the bathroom has degressed. Yes, I'm just waiting for the day when the floor gives way. Why? Water is leaking onto it from places unknown. It's totally squishy and wavy. The tiles continue to fall off. The stoopid linoleum is dry and cracking all over the place. The tub is so disgusting, we continue to bathe Mikey in his infant tub. Mold and mildew are everywhere - even cropping up back on the ceiling, which I painted with exterior paint a couple years ago to try and combat the moisture. The window is fulla dead bees. (I suppose I could clean that... but I really don't want to.)

So stay tuned! The coming weeks will be so exciting! And already I can tell, winter will be even more so.

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Excitable Me

How happy was I to see Timmy in the driveway when I got home from work last night?! He and Mike were on the porch... with a tape measure. A tape measure! I could have cried tears of joy.

And suddenly the entire world was filled with hope once again.

Mike just has to pick up some flashing and some ice and water for the garage roof. Tim will be over later this week some day after work to bang it out. The whole thing! In one evening. I'm overjoyed.

For the porch, we have an initial materials list in terms of wood 'n stuff. Our to-do list includes wiring and ceiling decisions. And, while Tim was over, we made another big decision regarding the porch steps. One set of steps is easy - it will lead straight out from the front door area to the lawn. Yippee. The other set of steps is not so easy.

Currently, the temporary side steps leading to the french doors jut right out into the driveway, cutting off massive parking potential. Not the ideal situation considering our vehicle situation. We need as much driveway as we can muster! But, stairs to code would land in near to the same spot. The solution - twist 'em! Yes, rotate those stairs 90 degrees, so they'd be parallel to the house. This will still cut into the driveway, but not as much as a straight out, smack-ya in the face stairway.

One problem - solved in an awesome way. Love it!

And the electrical? It won't be a big to-do, in my opinion. But we do want to wire for speakers, lights, a fan, and outlets to be placed in the ceiling. (Why outlets?! Think xmas lights and other cool decor, my friends.) We already have some wiring in-house, plus some other materials that may come in handy.

And the ceiling? Tongue and groove pine board or whatever it is would be totally swank.... but totally expensive. And as much as I love that 2" wainscotting... I'm not too hip with that on my ceiling either. I'm thinking maybe a similar pre-fab product with a wider design. Something along the lines or 4" or maybe even more. I'm going to see if I can get the Lowes-down (get it?) for some idears.

Once that decision is finalized, we'll order all the mat's from Matt over at Morse Lumber. Our plan for the time being is to complete the ceiling, stairs, and all trimblies essential to the exterior of the porch. Yes, I know it's all exterior - but you know what I mean. As in NECESSARY not DECORATIVE. Railings and such can come at a later date if need be. Although we'll see how it goes. Timmy is very much like Mike in so much as when he's working - he works like crazy until the job is done. And he gets it done quick. And he gets it done right.

So as you can imagine, I'm just going crazay. I can't believe it's all about to happen!

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Renewed and Ready

Back from Laconia, Beek Week.... beek week?! Did I seriously type that? Could have been worse. Could have been Beek Wike.

Yes - Bike Week. The trip was nice - relaxing, fun... short. Too short. But I suppose vacations always are. I can't remember the last time Mike and I had a moment to have something that wasn't an argument. That sounds terrible. Makes it sound like we're not getting along. And that's not true either. We're just under a lot of stress and highly testy.

Now, going back to good news, one of the conversations, of course, was house related. As in, I'm sick of stagnation. As in, "I know you]d rather start a new project then finish the old, but we need to. We made the decision to seek Tim as soon as possible. (You know, Tim the roofer.) That garage addition roof is #1. Also, we want Tim to place a bid on the completion of the farmer's porch. Yes, that's right. The farmer's porch. I made the executive decision on this one. We don't need much that we can't do - but we need it done. (Say that 5 times fast!) Furthermore, we need it done immediately, or sooner if possible. After the difficult stuff is complete, we can do our own staining, railings, etc. etc.

Which brings me to my next point. The yard. With all these new additions, it's time now for landscape planning. And I am no good with plants or researching plants. I want someone to do a design. Mike knows people - so talk to people! Get them over! Do a drawing, give me an estimate, I don't care just do it.

It all starts now. Yes, MB is still in NH until tonight, but this morning our neighbor Richard stopped over. Turns out that while we  were gone, Timmy actually stopped by - ready to roll on the roof! (Figures, right?) Well, I told Richard - we want the roof and we want the porch. And I know Timmy always tries to refuse money. Not this time. No way.

So Richard will talk to Tim, Tim will talk to Mike - maybe even tomorrow - and get started. He told Richard he could finish the garage addition roof in just a couple hours, with only a couple more little materials. (ice & water, that sort of thing) Sweet...

Wouldn't it be awesome if we could get this whole porch done in just a couple weekends?! The very notion....

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Attack of the Yard

Little Mikey turned 1 last Sunday, but to avoid Mother's Day plan conflictions, we scheduled his party for this coming Sunday. Weather's going to be beautiful.... the yard, not so much.

Mike and I spent some quality time with some good friends of ours last Sunday, which was a nice change of pace for sure, but left the yard in the same shambled condition it's been since the last garage addition building session. Our roofer told Mike, "Just get the shingles, let me know, and I'll just come by and roof the whole thing. It'll only take me a couple hours." Mike considered picking them up last Monday, but just didn't get to it. That means this Monday for sure.

No roof for the fiesta.

What really bugs me is the boat... the new boat. Oh I'm going to love it on the water for sure - it's huge! In the yard... on stands... so it can't be moved.... not so much. Repeat: It's huge! So we have a boat on stands in the middle of the back yard and an empty boat trailer in need of some TLC before the boat can be set down on it. Taking up double space.

Then there's 4Runner #1 - which, you'll be proud to know, we finally moved off of the side yard, giving that grass a fighting chance to survive the summer. Now it's in the driveway. And with prices back on the upside for Ebay 4Runners, now is most definitely the time to fix and sell. It's on our to-do list. I had hoped to get this taken care of this week, but that, in hindsight, was wishful thinking. No fear - always next week. Although I don't want to go much longer then that, as prices are sure to go down when we hit the heat of summer. I need to sell my second soft top too. Another item on the to-do list.

I digress.

So I guess I may have given away my anxiety about the state of the yard on FB, since yesterday afternoon our neighbor Dana came over with his weed whacker and did the entire yard. Even though I hope he didn't go to any trouble... I really love that he did. The hill in back and the scruff up front are both looking very well groomed. Mike would have never had the time to do it himself.

Speaking of MBSR, he began tidying up last night. He moved the Pontiac motor off the driveway and into the new garage addition. Then, followed that by a random dirt bike, random lawn tractor, and finally, the skid steer. Hey! Less then an hour to fill the entire space. Imagine that. A new world record.

I haven't been back to check it out yet. Hopefully they'll be enough room for the tables and chairs and the bouncy house and all the other fun stuff we have planned for Sunday.

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Ruffin It

Remember when I mentioned that our good roofing pal Timmy came by and measured/made a materials list for the garage addition a couple weekends ago?

Well, last Saturday night, Mike went to the HD and purchased the first load of said materials (No trim, just the basics.) And when he got home he said to me, "That's a LOT of wood, I think it's too much. You're going to sh*t when you see how much wood that is."

Jokingly, I replied, "I'll probably sh*t when I see the bill." Unfortunately he turned to me seriously and said, "You probably will."

But we both thought at the time, "eh, some of it will go back."

Nope.

The guys worked on Sunday - Mike, Timmy, TJ - even our friend Shawn was over. (Meanwhile I was hanging out with 3 other moms, 3 other babies, a 6 year old, a 7 year old, an 8 year old, and of course my own little Mikey. Total full house! But that's another story.)

And yes, the guys used all 24 16' 2x8's in construction of the roof.

They didn't have time to start plywooding, but as you can see, everything's ready to go.

Of course I have yet to look at the bill for it all, but considering how much I can't wait to get the yard cleaned up, there's no doubt it'll be well worth it.

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STREZZED OUT

Hard to believe that just a year ago yesterday I was 39 weeks prego and Mike and I were on our big last hoorahh trip to Boston. That little weekend escapade was so incredible and relaxing. Wish I could have done it again this year... unfortunately no time to take a day off. Not so much because I have a teething baby, although that doesn't help things any, but because work has been just overwhelming.

Plus I have so much personal junk that I just haven't been able to do because I need a day off from work to do it all and I haven't been able to take a day. And it's not that my boss said "NO" because he said "Sure, whenever you need to go." But I just haven't been able to. Too busy. I could take a day... but then that would mess me up on all these tight deadlines, presentations, shoots, and other madness I'm trying to juggle. It's getting so frustrating.

And in the midst of all this, there's a million events coming up I need to plan for. Bday parties, bachellorette parties, graduation parties, bridal showers, bike week, the annual dance recital we shoot for work.... So there's presents to buy, invites to send, RSVPing to do, babies to arrange.... I just can't seem to get a leg up on the pile.

So why am I taking the time to complain about it when in the time it takes me to write this blog, I could have made 5 phone calls, shopped online, printed some invites, and coordinated my calendar?! I dunno. Don't ask me stoopid questions right now. I'm too twazzed out.

As you can imagine, with a mental load like this, I've been less then proactive in the hacienda department. But, with this past weekend as rainy as it was, who really cares, right? Good time just to hang in and try to get a grip on yourself.

But our good friend Timmy who did the roof on our house stopped in to take some measurements out at the new garage addition and write up a materials list. He's going to give Mike a hand in building and roofing the roof, hopefully this Sunday if the weather holds out.

And as for the porch, I still don't know, but I'm beginning to think not, which is pretty disheartening. I think if I'd known that things were going to be this crazy now, I would have definitely shelled out the cash to finish the thing the same year we started.

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One Addition Please

Behold! Garage addition sans roof!

Yes - there it is. One Sunday = one addition please. And Mike's really pleased. In just a day, he purchased all the materials and built this. The opening you see is for our current frontal garage door, which will soon be moved to the rear upon purchase and installation of new frontal garage doors.

Also yet to come - or I should say, yet to come down, the giant CB antenna. (Because it would just be so backwards to build that in there, wouldn't it?) And all that scaffolding stuff should really go back where it came from too. Plus, a roof would be nice. Luckily, we probably have enough roofing leftover from the rest of the roofing job to complete a nice little roof on the addition.

And as for me, I'm dying to get an answer on the porch completion front. That way I can figure out whether to be excited or not.

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Nothin Like a Rust Basket for Easter

Welcome to Easter Sunday!

Mike brought me home a lovely rust basket yesterday... the 1/2 a trans am I mentioned earlier in the week.


And despite my reservations about messing up the yard just two weeks after we finished cleaning it, I'm pretty happy with this thing. I mean, Mike was out there for less then an hour when "Vrooommmmm" the engine fired right up - no problem, ran perfect, leaked nothing. All he's got to do (all - yeah, that's a loaded word) is pull the engine and anything else worth salvaging - then junk the rest.

Today? I doubt it.

Today's more about his garage - or, I should say, the back of the garage where we poured a cement slab nearly 3 years ago. At that time it made a great dance floor for our backyard wedding. But its real purpose was yet to come - garage addition.


Well, thanks to the sale of one of our welders, Mike is now able to fulfill his add-on dreams and build the durn thing. (And it's a 'thank you' from me for all his hard work to get the house ready for that appraisal too.)

So today, his mason friend Tom is coming over to raise that foundation a bit with cement blocks, thus avoiding wood to ground contact. (Because that's just never good.)

Meanwhile, our neighbor Dana will be burning our combined brush from those trees Mike took down near the line of our two properties. We gave most of the logs to Dana for his wood stove, so he was more than happy to offer to tend the burn for us.

Not quite your traditional Easter celebration, but very much us.

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