Friday, April 30, 2010

You know it's time to landscape when...

the weeds are almost as tall as the shrubs you planted last year. Really, it was getting embarrassing. I could sense the neighbors all breathing a sigh of relief when they saw us pull up with a truckload of bricks and mulch.  I didn't think to get the camera out until the project was almost complete, but this is the end result.  I went cheap with the bricks and got them in the masonry section at the Big Blue Store instead of going through the landscaping section.  This cut costs almost in half.  
I think eventually the bricks will weather to the shade of the concrete sidewalk. I also plan to plant some perennials that will cascade over the side a bit to make it look a little less formal.  For now, I'm happy with the results, and very excited for the Friends School Plant Sale next weekend.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

And the we did nothing for two months....

No, actually we've been plugging away on projects, just not plugging away on blogging. Sorry.  Although we did take a break to do this last weekend:


The stairs are almost done, at this point I am just waiting for Kevin's carpentry skills to reattach some pieces. He's really the brains in this operation if I haven't mentioned that before.  


Here's a close-up of the stairs.  I finished the treads over my spring break with  a base coat of amber shellac and a few coats of Minwax Polyurethane for Floors.  While we waited for them to cure, all fifty pounds of Arlo had to be carried up and down for bed. We're all glad that stage of the remodel is done, especially him, since I bumped his head a few times on the wall while I was carrying him.  

The banisters and other trim will be done this weekend, I hope, and then... we tear down each and every last crumb of cement asbestos siding!! Or at least everything we can reach without renting the scaffolding yet.