Tree Removal

While Jake was here, we also removed some shrubs and trees from the front yard. I love the way things look now and have been enjoying how much brighter the tree removal has made our room. Now, I just need to decide what to plant as replacements; maybe a hydrangea or rhododendron?

And yes, we did use the Jeep's winch to remove the trees. It made the job a lot easier.

More New Paint

I painted the office in our house earlier this week. I already had the paint purchased when I painted the front room and wanted to get the office painted before Jake and Brittany came to visit. Now, we just need to get the French doors installed.

On Tuesday, I emptied the room. Terry and I were both amazed at how much stuff was crammed into the small room. I am sure you won't be too surprised since it looks horribly cluttered in the pictures (which it probably was and I was just in denial about). After I had the room empty, I did a coat of primer on the walls. Then, after dinner, once the primer had a chance to dry, I painted the room blue. I really like the color, but Terry is having a difficult time getting used to it. I read somewhere you should paint your home office blue since it helps inspire creativity, so I thought I would give it a chance.

Yesterday, as the state of Washington was dealing with record breaking heat, I brought everything back into the room and organized it some. I went through both file cabinets and got rid of old documents and also decided I wanted three separate areas in the office for the different tasks. I wanted the desk for the computer, one table for scrapebooking and the other table with my knitting, sewing and cross-stich (also to house my cookbooks). I had some issues on where I wanted to place the furniture since I did want to move it around some but the position of the cable outlet on the wall limited on where I could put the desk. I think I like how I have it arranged for now, but if I get sick of it, I can always change it again.

Zeus had a hard time with the high temperatures. I felt bad for him and tried to help out by giving him a cold bath. First, he proceeded to drink the bath water when I first turned it on. Then, he hated the cold water. He is normally good during baths, but I use warm water and he definitely wasn't a fan of the cold water (even though he was hot and panting). Well, enough chatter, I hope you enjoy the pictures of before and after (and one of Zeus trying to keep cool).

New Paint

So, I have been meaning to post this for a while...last week, I finished painting the front room. Up until now, the walls were plain white and I really didn't like the room too much. It was just there, but didn't really serve a purpose. Now, with the walls painted and some pictures hung, it looks a lot better and has turned into my favorite room of the house. I still need to get a valence for the window and a new cover for the chair cushions, but even now, the room looks so much better. Here are a couple before, during and after pictures:

Next, it's onto painting the office and getting the French doors installed!

Perfect Timing

Yesterday when I walked out the front door to get the mail, I saw this:



I am so excited my Rhodie is starting to bloom, it adds so much color to the front yard. And the timing is perfect, since my tulips have just recently passed.

Weekend Yard work

This weekend was the perfect weekend to get caught up on some yard work. We had fabulous weather both days and I think I may have gotten a little color from spending the days outside pulling weeds, digging up ugly plants and planting new ones. On Saturday, I focused on the front yard and on Sunday, I did some weeding in the back. Below are some before and after pictures taken on Saturday afternoon.

Front from street:

After:

Tree Rings in the front, before:
After:

Front Entry way before:

During:

Front Entry After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

While I worked in the front, Terry did some work on the Jeep and Zeus supervised. It was a great way to spend the day with the family.

And last but not least, some pictures of the back yard blooms:

Veggie Build

Today Terry and I got my new vegetable garden built. It turned out perfect. We bought the lumber yesterday and worked on building it all morning. Then, we ran into town and bought a 50/50 mix of top soil and compost. We got 3.5 yards of soil and it sure did make the back of the truck sag. We hauled in about 12 wheel barrels of soil into the garden tonight before calling it a day. We still have soil to move and I can't wait until the weather gets a little nicer so I can start planting.

Getting the Lumber

Before

Terry putting in the last screws

Almost done just need some soil