Summer Garden Beauty

It's been a while since we posted and I wanted to share with you how my garden's are doing. I'm really happy with how everything is coming along. I still have plenty more ideas and things I want to plant but now it will have to wait for the fall.

Here is a picture of the lilies that my mom brought down and we planted last summer.


Here is one of the friends that is living in our garden. This praying mantis is not full grown yet. He is only about 2" long. These guys are great for the garden because they eat the bad bugs.


Here is the newest shot of our vegetable garden.


We currently have 8 baby butternut squashes. Here's one of them


However, I think that the happiest plant out there now isn't in our garden at all. It's taken over our compost heap! I'm not sure what kind of squash this will become but I'm thinking it's a pumpkin....just a guess. It's completely covered the compost heap and has started heading into the parking space behind our house.

We also have a lot of great looking apples. I've been spraying them with a natural pesticide and they're looking pretty good so far. I can't wait to try them in the fall!


Hope you enjoyed the garden. I'll keep sending pics at different stages. I can't wait to eat some of the fruits of my labors!

The Cat's In The Tree, It Must Be Spring

If you look really carefully in the top right of the picture, you might see two beady yellow eyes staring back at you. That would be our mischievous cat Sphynx, of kitty-under-the-floor fame. Today she decided she was going to climb up to the top of the weeping cherry and bat at the gnats flying about. She stayed up there for a good half hour or so, nearly rolling out of the branches a few times. Nothing unusual there, in that our cat is without a doubt the most ungainly feline either of us has ever encountered.





We spent most of the day outdoors; Amy working on mulching and planting some herbs, me working on sharpening the lawn mower. It seems our lawn has some particularly tough bits of crab grass, which tend to make mowing a chore. Maybe one of these days I'll actually start mowing it every fifth day, instead of around every tenth. There's few things in the world I like better than the smell of freshly cut grass... that is, at least until it starts me sneezing.



Our new groundhog-proof herb garden

Amy also moved a bunch of our excess patio stones to the area between our two sheds. It makes our brick patio look nicer (no big piles of flat stones), plus it also conveniently plugged up a hole made by an unwelcome guest. Hopefully ol' Tubby will take the hint and move on to friendlier pastures.



After a hard day's work, we both relaxed and enjoyed a tasty meal of leftover grilled steak sandwiches with swiss cheese and caramelized Vidalia onions (my onion loving sister-in-law would be pleased). I also roasted some tomatoes with a little sea-salt, pepper, and parmegiano cheese. The steak was from earlier this weekend when I decided to introduce Amy to Chimichurri, one of my favorite ways to cook steak.

All-in-all, our second spring in the house is off to a great start!

We're In!

Well, we've finally moved in to our new bedroom. After over a year, we finished up the last of the work around two weeks ago. The trim is painted, the ceiling light wired and hung, and even (albeit makeshift) curtains are up! It's a truly wonderful feeling to have taken a room from bare studs and plaster dust to what it is now.

Last January, here is what the room looked like:



Now, it looks like this:



Even six months ago, when the room was still mostly barren and unfinished, it felt like things would never be complete. More than once I thought about calling it quits and hiring a pro to finish the work in a matter of days. But instead, we trudged on. I have to give Amy a lot of credit; she's really pushed us along these last few months to get the work done. If it weren't for her drive and energy, I don't think this would have ever been done. But now that it is, it's one of the most satisfying feelings in the world.

It's been a long journey, one filled with setbacks, headaches, muscle-aches, all-over-general-aches, and arguments. But it's also been filled with joy, laughter, companionship, and camaraderie. I can definitely say it has brought Amy and I closer, as we've learned even more about each other and grown together through the process. It's taught us patience, perseverance, and the value of small steps and teamwork.

Almost Done!!

My parents came down this weekend to help Josh and I put some finishing touches on our back bedroom. We are almost done! Just a little paint, some lighting, and a radiator cover (that will come this summer - I hope).

Mom and I spent most of the day making the closet a functional space. Here is a picture of us getting in out of the crazy rain outside to put the finishing touches on the closet cabinet.


While Mom and I were working in the house, Josh and Dad were out in the shed working on the window and door trim. Anyone recognize the radial arm saw? It was the one that Mom and Dad used to build their house almost 30 years ago!



Mom and Dad have gone back to Connecticut and we have a few finishing touches to put on th place but it's almost ready for move-in day...which I hope will be this Sunday. The picture below is Josh filling the nail holes so that we will be able to paint the trim this weekend.


Here is a picture of the finished closet. All we need to do is add the clothes! I can't wait to move in!


This has been quite a journey! Who know that one room could take so much time and effort. But it was well worth it. One of the next posts will be a before and after! It has come a long way!!!

Laminate Flooring is Wonderful!!!

We have taken another big step with our back bedroom project and we are really excited about it. We have finished laying the laminate flooring! Woohoo! It was a great learning experience! Below are pics from the installation


Here is Josh posing with our first row.


Each board is tapped together...tap, tap, tap


Here I am doing my bit.


Here is the finished thing! All we have to do now is the molding and we'll get to move in!
If you're considering doing this type of project, go for it!

No, we haven't disappeared...

Hi there house-bloggers!

Well, I'm finally getting around to writing a post. We've actually been busily chugging away working on the back bedroom (yes, the same back bedroom we started working on more than a year ago), laying subfloor, and other tasks.

We now have crown molding installed, painted, and sanded. It really adds some great depth to the room. It was definitely a bit of a pain to install though! Cutting miters in a house where the walls are anything but square is a real challenge.

We first started by trying to cut a traditional "coped" joint, but failed miserably after several tries. We were just about to give up, when we found salvation on YouTube.



This video does a great job of explaining a far simpler method of cutting the pieces. In the end, we were able to get the cuts close enough that we could fix the remaining gaps with putty.



We've also nearly finished laying the luan subfloor in preparation for the laminate flooring. Amy has been patiently chiseling away at the door molding, so that the floor can be as flush as possible. We've broken several drill bits and many a screw securing it to the 100+ year old hardwood already on the floor.

Stay tuned! Next weekend we hope to be laying the laminate flooring, and after that, we move in!

Royersford Is Famous!

So lately we've been noticing an awful lot of commotion about our usually sleepy little town. There have been police barricades blocking off parts of Main Street, and some shops have undergone a remarkable transformation.





Yesterday we finally found out why.



See that guy in the green jacket, down with a bunch of other people, directly in the center of the picture? That is none other than Peter Jackson, of King Kong and Lord Of The Rings fame. Turns out he's filming a new movie called The Lovely Bones, starring Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, and Susan Sarandon.

To be honest, it's been a little bothersome from our perspective, since our travel through town has been completely impeded. Just tonight, it took my wife almost half an hour to go the ~2 blocks between the river and our house, due to multiple detours. The center of town looks like a football stadium at the moment, with bright lights all over the place. I'd go down and check it out, but there are police everywhere!

So I guess for the moment, we are living in a movie, literally!

Note: thanks to westmontcopa.blogspot.com and mommyblahblahblog.blogspot.com for the pictures.