In with the new

Considering how much is going on this week (Jury Duty, Vacation Prep, Real Work, etc...) I'm so overly excited about the fact that the new cabinets were delivered today. We peeled back a few boxes and so far the cabinets look amazing. I can't wait to see what they look like installed. I hope the two toned look is as great as we hoped it would be (Charcoal & Seashell). Since we have picked it I've seen it in magazines and it works. From here on out it's really just finishing work, I can't wait for the finished product.

Mom, just for you there is even a shot of the new floors. Enjoy!

French Doors Yeah

From here on out I think that I'll scale back the photos so I can sucker more people into coming to see the finished product. This week has been really productive. We have french doors in the living room, yeah! I am sure they will get lots of use and as Ron predicted the need for more projects is suddenly more pressing - an expanded deck & newly painted exterior would sure look good out there. I think that will have to wait.

All prep work should be done by Monday and the floors can start to go in. Unfortunately i'm not sure we can paint before they get started but I don't think we are too old to pull an all-nighter. We'll have lights installed by then so we should be good to go.

The house is still a mess but comparing progress of be before & after is pretty amazing. Money well spent.


Our former coat closet wall.

Our new drywall, don't worry the sliding glass door is not going to be covered permanently.

Our new french door, the light in our living room is great. Anyone have any ideas for moving a crazy heavy fridge?

Drywall Dust will not get me down

Sorry for the delay in posting, we have been busy busy. The contractor made good progress last week on the house and i'm ready for the finishing work to start. The house is a total mess between the removal of the popcorn ceiling and the trench that had to be cut in the slab to make room for electrical in the island. I love my shopvac but I have been abusing it severely. I think I need a new filter or a commercial size replacement (not in the budget).

Tomorrow we expect the plumbing work to be finished & the electrical to start. Drywall finishing should be done by the end of the week but that will depend on our duct work. Apparently we need to move a few things around so we need to call our friend Bill to come out and work on our A/C duct work (not budgeted for either - boo).

Here is our current view from the Living Room


& view from Kitchen


Emmie says hi & wants to know when her house will be fixed.

The walls are coming down

I came home from work tonight and the contractor had removed ALL the tile from the kitchen & Ron had already removed ALL of the drywall from 2 walls + ALL of the 2x4s in 1 of the 2 walls. WOW. The house already looks so open. I wish someone would buy our old fridge & dining table so we could get it out of the living room and get a better view of what things will look like.

At this point we are way ahead of schedule which means we can actually have some fun over the long weekend. Yeah! I can't wait to get things opened up and move from the prep & demo stage to construction. I can't wait to update my project plan. Ah how I love to see the % complete get higher and higher.

Here is our current progress, i'm so impressed by ourselves & can't believe we are still living in the house despite the holes we now have in the ceiling around this stupid dropped ceiling. Thank GOD we are under 100 degree temps for a few days. No amount of plastic will keep that heat out.

Contractor Day 1

Today was the 1st day that Steve, our contractor, was here working on the remodel. I have no proof that he was here other than my allergic reaction to all of the dust that was stirred up in the attic. Day 1 was simply prep for wall removal. He and his team moved the insulation above the dropped ceiling & braced the trusses to make 100% sure we don't need a header running across the span of the new open room.

Tomorrow they will come back to remove the tile from the kitchen and then it will be Ron and my turn for more work. We have until Monday July 6th to finish removing the dropped ceiling, room dividing walls & a little more drywall in the closet. Somehow we are ahead of schedule.

That's pretty much it to report from our big remodel. More to come soon...

The cabinets are out!

For the last two days Ron and I have been removing our old, not so beloved kitchen cabinets. We are so happy that they will be leaving the house tomorrow. I love craig's list and love that I never have to see those cabinets again. So far the hardest part of the kitchen demo was finding a way to get the pantry out from under the dropped ceiling. Our solution was to cut a big hole/door in the hall wall. The wall needed to go anyway, no time like the present. Thank GOD we have proper tools.

We are making significant progress with our demolition (as you can see) but the lack of sleep is starting to catch up with me. I feel myself getting snippy and I wish I had taken a nap today. Both dogs are freaked out wondering what the heck is going on with their house. We will survive and the end result is going to be great.

Our cabinets are on their way out...

I think our dated kitchen was on it's way out in the 90's but this week it is officially on the move, one piece at a time. We have a ridiculous number of interested parties from craig's list who are willing to take our cabinets off our hands. Really they will look fine with some new hardware and neutral color walls. I think they may even end up in a church which will work great.

The amount of joy that I felt swinging the sledge at the hideous counter tops was unreal. The tile came out so easily I wish we had done it years ago. Basic laminate counter tops would have been a million times better than the horrid purple tile with insanely wide grout lines. I swear I could never get it clean, nor could the house cleaner.

Here is our progress to date with the kitchen, our goal is to have the cabinets out and sold by Sunday. According to my project plan we are ahead of schedule. Now we can look forward to getting rid of the crap dropped ceiling.

The wood floors are out

The only real fight that Ron and I ever had was during the installation of these wood laminate floors. We decided to save some money when we replaced the carpet and thought for sure we could do this ourselves. It is a fact that we did it BUT it was not quick or simple. Taking the floors out was completely opposite. They came out in maybe 2 hours and that included the cleanup.

We loved these floors and hope to find them a good home. Here are some more photos of our progress.

Our coat closet is now a secret door

Our big renovation project has begun. (imagine the horror movie music here)

We have packed up most everything in the living room and a good amount from the kitchen. We have spices and misc pantry items in the guest bedroom and soon will have the floors & appliances out too. Yesterday & today we started taking out drywall & studs in the closets. What used to be two separate closets (1 coat & 1 bedroom) is now a 2nd door into the bedroom. Soon it will be a nice big closet in our smaller guest bedroom.

We still have more drywall to remove but we are being extra careful so we don't remove/damage more than necessary. We are trying to minimize the work for the contractors and therefore the hit to our budget. Here are some fun photos of our current progress. It's a huge mess in the making but we are still smiling & having fun. Come back to see more of our progress.

Blood & Bone Meal - it works

I am not sure I like the fact that this product works so well but I was starting to worry that my vegetable garden was going to result in 1 cucumber and a ton of herbs. Those are still great things but I have worked hard to produce tomatoes, corn, watermelon, peppers, blackberries PLUS herbs & cucumbers. I decided to try the blood & bone meal (non-bovine) that I had from the garage and it has made a huge difference. Turns out my soil needed more nitrogen & phosphorous.

I applied it in a ring several inches outside of the plant stems during Memorial Day weekend and now the plants seem to be 2x the size. I need to start propping up the tomatoes and thinning out some leaves to make sure they get enough air to produce some awesome fruit. The corn is even doing better. It still doesn't look like the Natural Gardener was here but it's a great start for us.

The strong survive

Today was an unusually difficult day at work. I had to lay off an employee and it felt awful. This wasn't the first time I've done this and it doesn't get any easier. I stuck to the script and made it through with the support of my peers and team. I am blown away by the number of people who ask how I was doing. I was very glad when the work day was behind me.

I was happy to come home to my wonderful husband who had bought me some beautiful Calla Lilies and later picked up dinner for a post-yoga meal.

Now that I have cleared my head about my work day I thought I would post some updates on our veggie seedlings. I haven't posted many updates because i was a little embarrassed about their progress. We had some trouble with our plant lights and decided to give them some fresh air and sunlight one day when we headed off to work. Sadly it was a windy day and many of them didn't make it but the strong have survived. My motto for the day. Almost all of the cucumbers have new leaves and the one remaining watermelon does as well. The Basil is slow out of the gate but I have high hopes. The tomatoes also have some new leaves starting so I am feeling good about having lots of cherry tomatoes come summer.
Hopefully we will plant our remaining seeds this week so we don't pay nursery prices for flowers in the garden.

Square Foot Gardening & Day 15 progress

Ron and I brought my Miata to the Natural Gardener today to avoid buying out the place with things we don't need just yet. We went specifically to buy the Square Foot Gardening book by Mel Bartholomew. We have already measured out our space but wanted some guidance on what to plant with what in each section. http://www.squarefootgardening.com/

As you know we have already started seeds to plant in our garden but we do plan on also adding Zinnias and Marigolds to add some color and help prevent bugs (seemed to work last year so i'm not going to mess with a good thing). The progress of our seeds is still positive but i'm wanting things to happen faster. The changes aren't quite as drastic.

We plan to start another tray of seeds today for our Star of Texas Hibiscus & an unknown named plant from which we harvested seeds last year. This will be our first time trying that and hopefully it works, i don't see why it won't.

Day 11

Ron should be happy we have 4 sprouts from the watermelon seeds. I'm sure we will have more however I'm not sure where we will plant them all. The watermelon we planted last year went crazy and overtook a huge area. Not sure how I was convinced to plant 24 seeds. I may be giving away plants in a few more weeks.

As of today the sprouts are too tall for the plastic top of the mini-greenhouse. I re-read the instructions and I should have removed it already but it didn't seem to make a huge difference. I'm looking forward to even more progress.

The start of something yummy...

I am so proud of the progress I am seeing with the seeds we started last weekend. It's Day 9 and we have sprouts of Cucumber, Basil & Tomato. Watermelon is the only seed type that is yet to fully sprout. We invested $25.00 for a plant light and it's making a huge difference. Our garage may be turned into a little greenhouse in no time. If Ron travels too much more I may fill the Audi's side of the garage. I have a ton of seeds that I haven't started just yet, the instant gratification is pretty irresistible.

Here is a photo of Day 9. The cucumbers are the largest ones on the left, watermelon are the next seeds which haven't sprouted just yet and then you can see little Basil & Tomato sprouts. I can't wait to see them grow bigger so we can put them out in the garden. Hopefully they don't grow too fast or it won't be quite warm enough.


Keep checking back on the blog for updates on how our little seeds are doing.

My blog is pretty boring

It's sad that I only have a few postings on my blog and am running out of ideas. I attribute it to my lack of web surfing. To make sure I continue posting I decided to swipe an idea from Alexis and post some of my very favorite things:

1. My husband (especially when he wears his glasses)


2. My family, every single member. I won't comment on a favorite...
3. My friends, same story
4. Emmie & Gir


5. Facebook because i've been able to reconnect with old friends
6. Martha Stewart Weddings Magazine
7. Homeslice Pizza
8. My fun car
9. My yard
10. Pottery Barn
11. Horses
12. Sedona, AZ
13. Paris, France
14. Shoes, specifically my new cowboy boots
15. My recent family photos - taken by http://www.jnicholsphoto.com/
16. Microsoft Excel (i know i'm sick)
17. Red Wine, sadly these day's it is only the expensive stuff

Running

This time last year my husband and I were prepping for my first half marathon. The 3M is supposed to be fast, fun & easy. Because it was my first race at no time did i think 13.1 miles = easy. Our preparation included lots and lots of running which proved to be a great personal challenge and stress reliever. At the time we were all about getting rest & eating routine meals to ensure there were no digestive issues during the race. Is this TMI?

Our distance running stopped after my 2nd half marathon and the fact that my IT band issues were not getting better. Instead of running the long distance races both Ron and I are planning to cheer on our friends and volunteer instead. This Sunday I have pledged to get up early and help motivate runners from the sideline of the 3M. We have also volunteered on Valentine's Day for the Austin Marathon. Need a new T-Shirt size, you may see us there.

Even though i'd like to be blogging about running the 3M again I'll stick to the shorter distances. After all, 3 - 5 miles is still something to be proud of.

Gardening Calendar for 2009

I've decided to kick off 2009 by creating a calendar for our yard/garden work. My hour long effort has resulted in a monthly plan of what to do and when to do it. I hope this will help me (and you if you are in central Texas) beat the heat & produce the best possible results. Most of this is specifically for things that Ron & I like so this won't be fully comprehensive.

January:

• Plant a tree for peace in the new year
• Buy seeds & spring bulbs online
  
• Compost your garden & pull weeds
• Start seeds in a warm & dry place
• Prune trees (that don't flower in the spring)
• Plant strawberries
• Plant roses (not bare root)

February

• Plant potatoes
• Start a compost pile (if you don't already have one)
• Cut back roses by 1/3rd
  
• After last frost plant peppers & beans

March

• Plant tomatoes & fertilize every 3 weeks
  
• Plant melons
• Fertilize the lawn (after it has been mowed at least 2 times)
• Plant bare root roses

April

• Plant caladium, gladiolas, dahlia, calla lilly, or canna lilly bulbs
• Fertilize tomatoes

May

• Harvest garlic - let dry with the stems
• Can harvest some potatoes
• Fertilize roses & lawn
• Fertilize tomatoes every 3 weeks

June

• Plant Zinnias with Vegetable garden
• Fertilize tomatoes every 3 weeks

July

• Prune Tomatoes if needed
• Fertilize Roses
• Fertilize tomatoes every 3 weeks

August

• Fertilize tomatoes every 3 weeks

September

• Fertilize lawn

October

• Divide & transplant iris (every 3 years)
• Plant fall flowers
• Plant strawberries
• Plant shrubs, trees or perrennials
• Plant garlic

November

• Plant indian paintbrush seeds
• Plant bluebonnet seeds
• Trim crape myrtle
• Plant bulbs to ensure they bloom for the holiday

December

• Plant daffodils & other spring bulbs

If you are wanting more tips I really like http://www.naturalgardeneraustin.com/. Hopefully I can stick to this each month and i'm sure i'll make changes for next year based on how it all goes.