Tuesday, July 28, 2009

The sky is falling!

Real life version of Chicken Little, right here.

Sunday night I thought the house was falling down. Turns out it was just paint falling off the tin ceiling. And last night some fell off the hallway ceiling. Thank you humidity, yes I promise to get back to work.

In other news, saw a mouse on Fri night, causing me to spend $40 on anti-rodent accoutrements. The mouse was captured and killed by Stiletto (Erin's cat) last night. Animals 2, Sarah 0. But thank you kitty!


Actually scheduled the floor guys. Spent two evenings, and borrowed muscle power, to empty the dining and living rooms so the guys could come today. Last night they called in sick. Living in a shambles of a house until next Tues now. Contractors 1, Sarah 0. I get a discount now though, so maybe we'll come out even...

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

The Lambchop Fence

When my siblings were growing up, there was a popular children's show called (or about) Lambchop (a lamb puppet). Lambchop had a very annoying song which sticks in your head forever - "this is the song that never ends,
yes it goes on and on, my friends.
some people - started singing it not knowing what it was
and they'll continue singing it forever just because
this is the song that never ends...."

Anyone else remember that? Well - I have the fence that never ends. Two weekends ago, I was determined to finish the fence and get the rest of the plants in. There were three panels remaining, and the brackets had to be driven into the concrete. At the end of a rather hot and exhausting Sunday, I had all the plants in (once again thanks
only to Hobs!), and two panels up. And the two panels only made it due to the reinforcements (thanks ladies!) that showed up at the end of the day and helped finish. Drilling those holes into concrete took HOURS. Even keeping the drillbit wet. Lesson learned - next time (may there not be one), I will simply plan in advance for once and rent a hammer drill, it would be worth it!

Last Sun I was going to finish the one panel, plant one new plant, repot the tomatoes, and do some weeding. After an exhausting rugby day on Sat it didn't quite work out that way - I did plant the new big plant, did some weeding, and repotted the tomatoes - but then I got hot and decided I didn't want to play outside anymore. So one panel still to go...

Pics -
(note the bench from scrap lumber that will hold the tomato plants - and probably a cat or two, realistically) -
From Fence Continues
And lovely garden!

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Goals - got 'em

Not sure if you've noticed, but it's July already. I have no idea how that happened. And looking at my summer plans, I also have no idea when I thought I was actually going to work on the house! Sounds like it might be time for me to set some (hopefully realistic) goals. I always seem to do better when I have something firm to aim for...

By the end of the summer (end of Labor Day weekend) I will have the following completed:
Fence
Hallway, which includes
--Finishing the paste removal

--Patching the walls
--Painting
Refinishing the living and dining room floors (I'm hiring that one out)
Caulking/installing shoe molding in living and dining room
Erin's floor and sink
Finish the speaker hanging

Spray foam the gaps in the back basement window
Weatherstrip the hobbit door


I'd also like to:
Get a good chunk of the kitchen planning done
Clean the very gross windows in the front of the house, possibly including curtain washing
Build the outdoor garbage container
Actually mat, frame and hang pics in the dining room
Maybe even hang the mirror and shelves in my bedroom...


Clearly I'll be doing some work in the evenings. I am officially banning myself from regular tv viewing. But it's good to have goals!