Sunday, July 31, 2005

Spudapalooza


BIG potatoes
Originally uploaded by merideth.
Okay so it's not strictly house-related but after puttying, sanding, and rot-fixing windows all day, I finished up the afternoon with these great finds.

All the joy of a freakin easter egg hunt was had. I felt like i won a prize every time i found a little guy so imagine my ecstasy over the BIG suckers!! I officially giggled and held them up to beth hollering "LOOK!" whenever i found something.

Best treasure hunt since looking for pirate gold in St. Mark's when i was little. Waaaaay better payoff.

One does need the occassional break from the drudgery that is window repair.

Friday, July 15, 2005

Early bronze age


spring bronze
Originally uploaded by merideth.
So the spring bronze has arrived. For those of you not restoring windows all the live-long day and night, this is basically a strip of approx 1 3/8 inch wide metal that will (hopefully) make our old rattly windows a little more, how you say, "draft-free".

Draft free windows. At this point my vision gets all blurry as i fade into a dream seqence where the living room this winter is sans arctic blasts that confuse the fireplace draw and make me (and the dog) think someone with a tiny fist is tattooing the door.

Wow that was nice. Back in the now, it's supposed to be hot and non-stop sunny this weekend so i will not be concerned with the effectiveness of my fireplace. Upside: having a bunch of the windows out will help keep the litle chunkita cool. Check me out. Full time optomist available for sardonic cheerleading. Book now.

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

Is it beautiful just because it's finished?


fence with trellis and gate
Originally uploaded by merideth.
Oh beautiful fence and arbor, how i would compose a song to thee. You conceal our garbage cans and add a little rustic charm to the house. The neighbor’s random pile of detritus is no longer visible from our windows. The front gate swings gently to and fro to allow passage of the recycling. The darty cat is contained if he escapes the back door. You are wonderful.

Yes, folks. We finished building the fence. It was fun and it sucked. Dear lord we’re tired. But we couldn’t be happier with the results. Beth applied her creativity to the front gate, adding little panes that mimic the divided lights on our windows. As heavy as the bloody thing is, it swings like a champ. The chop saw paid for itself and more and between it, the circular saw, and the table saw we’ve made more types of cuts than we thought we’d need for a fairly straightforward fence project. Added bonus: I think we have enough leftover wood to build a couple of outdoor chairs. We shall see.
whole house with new trellis
click for larger
We have yet to stain the thing but I couldn’t face standing in line at H. Depot long enough to get my stain mixed. That chore will wait until next weekend. We’re shooting for a color close to what we have on the front door. Eventually the fence, the door, and the posts on the front porch should all sorta match. Oh and we got a wisteria to plant on the arbor as soon as the stain’s on. Whew! I’m so glad it’s finally done. Now back to the rivetingly exciting and ever-ongoing chore of restoring the windows.