Progress and Pavers

I think I'll have a good picture of what the whole house will look like soon. The guys are rocking right along with the soffit and they've almost finished the new shingles on the front. Tomorrow should be the siding on the front of the first floor. I can't wait!

new shingles almost done on the front!

project supervisor kept safely inside

After the front is finished, they are going to skip around to the back. Bill is going to get the footers poured for my new back porch. Yes, that's porch, not deck. The aim is to make it look as if it was always part of the house and not something that was tacked on recently.

Anyway, that's up next so that our hardscaping can get started. I'm really looking forward to my new retaining wall that will corral the mess on the factory side of the house. For that project we are planning to use Techo-Bloc. This is my current favourite color combination.



techo bloc, mini creta, victorien and mista in champlaign grey and onyx black

Everybody else seems to think I should go with brown, but I see greys. With the silver roof and all the raw concrete that was used in 1930, it is honest and original. I was even leaning toward re-using these super simple concrete pavers we dug up from the cabin. But everyone is afraid they will break. So far they haven't, I have loads more, and you can still buy them new, so I actually don't see the problem. But I can't get anyone else on board, so, new techo bloc it is!

All browns just make me think of the bland brown neighborhoods that have cropped up the last couple of years. Blech! Again, I don't want something dated 2012.

So for today, I'm leaning toward the mix of medium greys with a touch of brown, and an accent of charcoal grey. The main field colors would be the wall and the floor. For the walls, they do come in the charcoal grey as well, so I'm thinking maybe a 10% mix of dark grey with the 90% medium tones. The edging around the floors and the stairs in charcoal grey will be a snazzy contrast, and help define edges to prevent falls and mis-steps. And of course then we need to make the caps dark to tie it all together.

Please, I welcome comments or suggestions regarding my color choices. I have to stop changing my mind very soon so they can be ordered!

Back Steps Gone!

And So It Begins...

It is official. Demolition has begun. Bill and Billy were at the house bright and early this morning. They made short business of the front dormer's siding. Here's what the house looked like when I left for work. Blue skies!



naked dormer




recyclables!



and a happy project supervisor!

Siding Mock-Up

You may recall that I mentioned before that we are going to be getting new siding this spring. Yes, it is finally happening! My mom's cousin Bill is our wonderful carpenter and he says siding is his favourite job. We'll see if he still feels that way after he is done with the bungalow!

Anyway, right now we are just waiting for the siding to come in. Bill ordered it and we expect it in about another two weeks. I think Bill is planning to start deconstruction next week, weather permitting of course. We will be recycling the heavy-gauge aluminum siding, not only because it is the right thing to do, but we may get a bit of money back. That would be a nice bonus.

We will be getting brand new James Hardie siding. I know it is more expensive than vinyl, but I'm against adding anything plastic to my house if I can help it. I also think it will pay for itself in the long run. See yesterday's post regarding the hail damage!

The bottom half of the bungalow will be getting lap siding in Mountain Sage. I honestly don't know what we settled on. Beaded, not beaded, smooth or wood grain. Doesn't really matter. I like them all. That may surprise you that I don't haven't agonized over every detail. It surprises me. Maybe I'm growing, letting go of control. Maybe I trust that it'll turn out beautifully no matter what. Maybe I'm just too tired. Probably a bit of all those!

The top half will get the straight edge shingles in Heathered Moss. Normally I like a randomized look, but after living with my first mock up for a while, I decided I would prefer the straight edge over the staggered shingles for the bungalow.

All trim that will be replaced, or newly created, will be in Artic White. There will be a "belly band" around the middle of the bungalow, dividing the shingles from the lap siding.

We are also going to add knee braces. Yup. I don't really know if my house originally had them or not, but I like the way they look. Some houses in my area have them, some don't. We already have some supporting the little roof overhang over the side basement door, and supporting the kitchen window. Just for my piece of mind, Bill is going to install real, structural knee braces under the dining room window overhang. It does sort of dip down there, and while I suspect that happened a long time ago and the house is now stable, I'd still feel better with some support there. Plus they will look cool.

Last Year's Hail Damage

Last spring we had a wicked, nasty storm. Lewis was at home, but I stayed put at work because we weren't sure it was really safe to travel. Better to stay in safe shelter than risk getting caught in a bad storm in the little VW, blowing all over the highway.

Anyway, when Lewis first called to tell me how bad it was at home, I couldn't really understand him. I thought he was going through the automatic car wash!

When things subsided a bit he went outside with the camera.

big hail

hail-littered lawn

poor posies

garden recovered, but zucchini leaves took a beating

When the skies cleared, Lewis realized that we were very lucky. No broken windows, only some broken tree branches, no downed trees. But the siding, oh the siding...

that arc to the left of Oliver isn't dirt



those streaks aren't dirt, either



 



The hail actually struck the house so hard that the paint has been scraped away, right down to the bare metal. When you run your hands over the siding, you can feel all the pits and dents caused by the hail.

pits, dents and no paint

So, a project we though we were going to put off for several more years got bumped to the top of the list. And, you know, it isn't such a bad thing. While we have the siding off, we can remove all the old, unknown layers and we will be insulating from the outside in. While we have all the walls open, we are getting air conditioning (yay!), and replacing a few damaged windows. Also we are going to be getting the roof scraped and re-painted and we are getting new gutters. Gee, is that all... it seems like there is something else...

All you old house owners out there know what it is like. One task leads to another and another. This spring's project is turning out to be a big tangled mess of things that overlap. We're in for a fun ride!

Projects on the Horizon

Wow. It has been so long since I posted that blogger has changed!

Well, I thought I'd get caught up a bit. We've been pretty preoccupied with family issues the past few months, but I think things are going to get back to normal soon.

I have been working hard behind the scenes, doing some major clear out and de-cluttering. I feel very good about this. When I'm done, I can reward myself by redecorating the side bedroom. Very much looking forward to that!

We are also going to start working on a few new big projects around the house. Sometime this spring there will be new siding and insulation, a few new windows, hopefully a new sofa, and finally a fence for Oliver. I can't wait to see him romp around his yard!

Currently, I'm interested in the James Hardie siding products. I'll most likely go with the greens as pictured above. I am waiting for a couple more color samples that caught my interest before I make my final decision. It will be a color. I've always been happy with the green siding, crisp white trim and black accents.

We will not be installing any stone, though, because damage to non-structural stone or brick is not covered under my earthquake insurance. Those areas will probably get a fresh coat of stucco, but I'm not sure yet. There could be other options out there that I'm not aware of.

While we have the house torn up outside, the plan is to install insulation from the outside in. At some time, several decades ago, someone had fluffy blown-in insulation installed. We found out when we were restoring the interior that fluffy stuff settles down to about knee level! Well, if we had walls open, Bill put insulation in, but there were plenty of places we didn't get to. At the time we had no idea just how much of a mistake that would be.

I've always joked that I didn't ever want to see my house in one of those infrared photos, because it would just be a big, glowing blob of red. You may have heard me refer to the house as a sieve? Many of you old house owners know just what I'm talking about. Those mysterious breezes you feel on your ankles in the winter? Yeah. Good times.

Anyway, I'll tell you more about the windows when I have more details. In the meantime, I'm open to comments or suggestions about siding.

More Sidewalk Talk

Ta da! There it is, all shiny and white, making all the sidewalk around it look bad. John and Bart really did a good job. The town inspector said it was one of the best in town, and you know he has seen a lot this season! Many of the sidwalk repairs were done by professionals, too.The guys put a shiny 2009 quarter into the cement before it set. See that little smear on the right there? That was supposed to be an imprint of Oliver's paw, but they waited a little too long and Oli was slightly less than co-operative.

House Numbers, Finally

At long last, we finally got around to mounting the new house numbers on the front porch!

We've only had these pretty metal numbers for the last four years, and since we installed the new old door last August we've been completely without house numbers. This became a big problem a few weeks back when I was expecting guests who had never been to my neck of the woods.

So, my friend Marc got roped into helping me put these up one day a few weeks ago. He's such a good sport. Please forgive the bug dirt, dust and pencil markings. Actually, does anybody know what will remove those pencil markings from the metal siding?

Mower Damage

My next door neighbor has been super sweet by mowing my front yard and my little strip between our houses when he has his riding mower out. I am so grateful for even that little bit of extra help. That's why I feel bad for being upset over this:

It looks like he bumped the trunk of my purple leaf plum with the mower. He probably doesn't even realize he did it. I'm not mad or anything, just worried about the tree. What if it doesn't heal, or gets disease or bugs?

Otherwise, it looks full and happy and healthy.

We planted it last April, and it looks so much better. I can't wait for it to get tall enough to provide a bit of shade and privacy on the porch.

House Numbers

With all the excitement of the party and the recent additon of the shiny new front door, we've overlooked something. House numbers.

Yeah, we didn't put new numbers up yet. No biggie, right? Wrong. Apparently, not every mail carrier in this tiny town knows us yet. I started to get suspicious over the last couple of days. Friday only brought a couple pieces of junk mail. Saturday nothing. Monday was a holiday, so I expected something on Tuesday. Nope. On Wednesday I got a couple pieces of "resident" junk mail. So, I figured maybe I'd better find those cool black metal craftsman-style numbers I bought three years ago when our Lowe's was having their must-sell-everything-'cause-we're-relocating-sale.

After much debate, we decided they should go in this spot above the mailbox, since there isn't a good spot on the door anymore. We also briefly considered putting the house numbers on one of the porch pillars, but no one was really convinced it would look good.

So, above the mail box they will go. I just have to clean it first. The previous owners had a different mail box there, but it was too high for me to check the bottom. And I'm too afraid of bugs and spiders to go sticking my hand blindly down the mailbox in search of lost items.
As you may have guessed, nothing gets done very quickly around here, so I only got as far as locating the numbers and laying them out on the table on the porch. As it turns out, this was apparently good enough for today's mailcarrier because when I got home Thursday the mail box was stuffed with what looked like a week's worth of mail!

"Press" the Buzzer

Jack also did some touch-ups around the doorbell plate. Three years ago, when we replaced the modern, cheap plastic, oval-shaped doorbell with my new round PRESS, we realized that the new one didn't quite cover the where the old one had been. So, I figured we'd fix it eventually, and last week Jack did just that when he was putting the finishing touches on the rest of the front door.

I had originally wanted a twist style doorbell. You know, the ones that make the sound like an old-fashioned bicycle bell? Only I didn't know what to call it. So, I tried to describe it to Jeff, my fabulous and patient electrician. He came back with this buzzer-sounding thing. It kind of reminds me of a doorbell you'd hear on a British television show. It wasn't exactly what I'd had in mind, but dear Jeff had tried very hard to find this and he was so pleased with himself that I didn't have the heart to tell him that wasn't what I wanted.

Jeff and me, at the birthday party.

Now, this doorbell buzzer thing is kind of cool, it still had an old-fashioned sound to it. But I seem to be the only one around here who thinks so. Mom and Lewis definitely don't like it.

Even once I figured out what to call it, I couldn't find a twist doorbell a couple years ago, and even now, I can't seem to find one in the black powder-coat finish that all the other outdoor accessories have. Maybe someday. I'm definately willing to replace the buzzer if I ever find a nice twist in black. But for now, I'm rather fond of the one we have. And I love the PRESS, which was very inexpensive. Only $5.99 at VanDykes. And worlds better than that horrible plastic thing that made the ding-dong sound.

The library where I work was built around the same time at Oliver's bungalow, and the service elevators still have most of their original details intact, including the alarm button, which makes that same bell twist sound I'm after. Of course, I'd hate to be stuck in one of those elevators from 1930 with only that little bicycle-bell sound in hopes of getting someone's attention! But, it would make for a great doorbell.

Jack was Back

Jack delivered something today. Do you know what it was? A couple of somethings, really. And I've been waiting since February. Can you remember back that far?















That's right! Doors!
The storm door/screen door frame, along with the screen inset and the storm inset, and the actual new old front door.

I called Bill as soon as Jack left this morning, and asked him when he might be able to get them hung. He said he'd try to squeeze it in this week, but he wasn't sure. Next week he's on vacation. But I think Bill knows how excited I am to see this finished, so I think he'll get here as soon as he can.

Jack is not happy with the way the rest of the frame around the front door is weathering, so he said he will come back after Bill has hung the new doors. This way Jack can finish anything Bill needs to trim, and give the whole thing a new coat of finish. Something more durable. I honestly think this is really terriffic of Jack, I mean I know we are paying him for this project, and I think his price is quite reasonable, but I'm impressed he's willing to fix a problem that was made by someone else.

The door trim seems to be getting lighter and the wood is looking awfully dry. I'm not sure why, because it is under the porch, mostly protected from the elements. It gets the sun only early in the morning, and is in shadow by 10 AM. I suspect it didn't recieve the proper finish coat for an exterior. I mean, it has only been like three years. Seriously.

But don't worry, Jack is going to fix it.

Behind the Forsythia Mass

We are looking at the small area beside the house, on the factory side. This picture was taken from the sidewalk, facing the front of the house.

The massive shrub is my forsythia. I like it because it is large, established, and has pretty yellow blooms for a brief time in the spring. But. It is also massively overgrown. Again with the neglect of the outdoor things.*

There is a semi shady little spot next to the porch, where I've been meaning to plant some things.
Since there is also a small pine-y shrub there, the soil is acidic and that makes it a good spot for lily-of-the-valley. I love lily-of-the-valley. My grandmother had planted it at the cabin, and like many other things there, it has outgrown its original boundries. But that's okay, 'cause it's pretty. And is smells nice.

Who's that peeking through the branches? After a couple months of smothering the weeds with plastic and heavy objects, I pulled all that off last week, turned the soil over, placed the pavers to form a mini-walkway, and planted some plants.
At the back, on the left is a coleus from last year, that I tried to overwinter on the kitchen porch sill. It didn't do too well, got kinda wood-y, but it was still alive, so I figured I'd stick it in the ground somwhere. After I gave up on it, of course, it has decided to get all bushy, healthy looking and thrive. Go figure.

On the right, at the back, is some lavender from my mom's yard. She dug it up, just to see if it could be divided successfully. We'll see. It looked rather dead when I put it in the ground, but has since perked up a bit.

All along the front are some hostas that mom's friend Janie dug up and divided for me (to replace the ones I killed last year on the other side of the house), only she gave me far more than I knew what to do with. So I stuck the smallest ones in here, all in a row.

The soft, fluffy stuff on the far right front corner is artemesia silver mound. I love this stuff. It is so wonderful to touch. Nothing else quite like it.

And the small green plants in between the front and back rows are my lovely pink lily-of-the-valley that mom bought for me. Last summer. Which I never planted. But they've hung in there, so they should be lovely next spring. I also have some beautiful yellow hyacinth bulbs I want to plant here in the fall. I know it looks a bit rough right now, but it should be pretty in the spring.

And, since the electric meter is on this side of the house, I have been striving to keep this narrow pathway accessible for the guy who comes once a month to take a reading. I hate when they estimate my bill. I work hard at conserving electricity, and I don't like being overcharged. Not even for one month, knowing that they will give me a credit the following month. That also helps me to be aware of how much I am using. So, these pavers are for you, meter-reader-guy. Or gal. Whatever.

*Please forgive the Buffy-speak. I've been watching the series on dvd since Greg at Petch House posted this a few weeks back.

Oli and the Hostas and the Pavers

Last summer I labored many days in the yard to lay this lovely row of pavers. That was my first major attempt to reclaim the yard. We spent the first four years making sure the house didn't fall apart inside, and the outside was neglected a bit.

So, Mom and I reclaimed these cement paving blocks from the cabin, where they used to surround the swimming pool. This reclaiming is an ongoing process. Basically, I think we had the idea that if we just went down there, cleared the brush, brambles, weeds, and other objects, we would just start hauling these things home. Well. Not quite. It is hard work, and we have realized we must do the work early in the spring before things start to grow. Like the wild raspberry brambles. And poison ivy. Learned that the hard way. Also, it has to be warm enough to work, but still cool enough that we can keep long pants and long sleeves on, and too cold to encounter snakes. Ew. So. Early spring. Temps in the 50s. Not raining. Really narrows down the amount of time we can spend on this project.

This year we had a good rhythm down and I think we put in about three solid weekends of work pulling pavers before it got too warm. Hence the no posting in March. I think we brought enough home for my next project (the back yard, near the apple trees, more on that later). John was nice enough to bring a large load in his truck, so they all arrived at once. Sure beats 12 at a time, which is how we brought them home last year. I don't think the VW Golf can handle much more weight than that. So many small trips last year. When I ran out at home, Oli and I would hop in the car, drive to the cabin, load up, and come home. Of course, everything takes longer with Ol along. He will insist on being let out at the cabin. So many good smells in the woods.

Anyway, I snapped these last year when I had finished my first long run. The pavers serve a double purpose: the line where the grass ends and the flowers begin, and they make a good mowing strip.

I was very proud of this flower bed. The hostas were from the POs, and I'm told they are impossible to kill.
But leave it to me. There were five last year, but only two came up this year. That's about all I started with this year. Then we came up with a plan, did the prep work, and planted the seeds. By mid-May, it looked like this.
See, the biggest problem with direct sowing seeds is that it is hard to tell if what is coming up is a plant or a weed. Until it is too late. One of my gardening books has this lovely piece of wisdom:

"If it pulls out easily, it was a valuable plant. If it is tough, it is a weed."

So true. This bed was almost overtaken with stuff that didn't belong. Luckily, it was mostly grass. Some crabgrass, and clover. I really have no problem leaving the clover, once the other stuff is established, but it was smothering the nasturtiums, and the liatris never did come up. As far as I can tell. But the cosmos is pretty hearty, and came up in force.

I didn't take a picture of this bed when it was overtaken with grasses, but trust me, it was, and it looks a lot better now. I promise to try to keep after it now.

Today, it looks like this:

The cosmos are about to bloom. My replacement hosta has perked up.

And the nasturtiums are filling out nicely, with a few blooms aready, too!

Front Crescent

We made substantial progress on the front crescent-shaped planting bed last night. And when I say we, I mean I did all the work and Oli supervised. He's good at that.
This is what the bed has looked like for the last couple of months. The plastic and other weighty objects were my attempt to kill the weeds. I pulled it all off a few weeks ago and found a lot of hearty crab grass. So I scraped the top layer of soil out of the bed, and onto the concrete, and covered it all back up. Not pretty, but effective.
When I pulled the plastic, pots, mats, bricks, and stepping stones off the area tonight, I found that it had worked pretty well, and I only had to pull a couple of weeds, which came out easily because they were not thriving. Please forgive the photos, I snapped these well after the sun went down, but it was still light enough to work.
Oli is still not allowed on the front porch because of the baby robins, and he's not happy that he has to be so far from the activity. We all know how much he likes to sink his paws into fresh soil.
I broke up the soil a bit with the hoe, and scraped it around with the metal rake, then I added two fresh bags of topsoil, and did my best to level it all with the rake. It was kind of hard to tell because it was getting pretty dark by then, and I was working by the light from the porch and the citronella candles.
I put my potted plants in position, planted two more cucumbers in the ground, and placed the recycled rubber stepping stones. Now I just need to fill in the gaps with plants, or I'll have the same weed problem I started with.

I have some seeds that will probably work, but I'm going to see what Mom and I find when we visit Noggle's Sweet Meadow Greenhouse. They are having a buy one, get one sale. I'm thinking that this late in the game, I'd rather not mess around with seeds, grown up plants will be better. Plants: at the far back, against the porch pillar, one cucumber, with twine to climb, next to it, Lewis' frog belly plant. In the yellow pot, chives. The two plastic terracotta colored pots (16" and heavy), one each of Better Boy and Sweet Millions tomatoes. Lavender in the white pot at the front, flanked by two more cucumbers. The marigolds came up on their own, and I'll probably plant more. Marigolds keep the bunnies away.

Now I just need to find something for the two cucumbers in the front to climb...