Always something to do

 Whenever friends or family ask us how the house is, we say, there's always something to do.  We are always working on a project whether it is inside or outside.
Last week, we painted the downstairs half bath (or powder room, if you want to be fancy).  It was originally a burnt orange and done in semi-gloss paint.  Here's a before photo which was taken before we actually purchased the home:

 

 

I decided to go with a bright green, in matte finish.  I used Clark+Kensington's Briarwood from Ace Hardware.  You may remember a promotion they had a while back, giving away pints of their interior matte finish paint.  Our parents grabbed a couple pints for us, and we purchased a Kilz primer.   The entire project cost us less than $15...and of course, time.

The color was lighter and less saturated than I thought it would be, but I'm ok with it.  Definitely not gonna change it now.  Painting a bathroom is difficult the worst!  So many things to take down and paint around, it's a pain.  Climbing up and down a ladder to reach the 9-foot tall ceilings got old very quickly.  And, since they painted it a semi-gloss, I had to prime it first and then paint over it, so I basically painted the room twice.

However, I definitely like it better than the orange!  What do you think?

Perseverance

From today's Bible study:

"...Solomon succeeded because he persevered. He spent seven years building the temple (1 Kings 6:38), never wavering from his goal. Never give up when God is "building" with you. Though it may seem your work is moving at a crawl, keep doing what you know to do.

Purpose, plan, and persevere, and the Lord will build your house!"

This holds so many different meanings for us.  The obvious literal meaning as well as some, underlying, personal meanings.  And it was a great encouragement today. 

If you are looking for a good daily Bible study that's quick yet meaningful, I recommend the One Year Bible study that our church is currently studying together.  Read along with the One Year Bible via Church of the Highlands.

Front Yard Transformation, Part 4

It has been almost one month since the front yard transformation.  We have had a few days of rain and much cooler temperatures than the weekend we worked.  I've learned some important lessons from all the yard work.

1. God is faithful.  There were many answered prayers that allowed the project to finish when it didn't seem possible.
2.  Line up all help before you need them.  It's a good idea to know what help you need and who can do it before panic mode sets in.  Having a back up isn't a bad idea either.
3.  Hydration and heat cannot be underestimated.  We unknowingly chose the hottest weekend of 2012 thus far.  I am not used to working outside like that, and the heat was a beast.
4.  The better you estimate yard size, the more money you save (I had a full pallet of sod leftover).
5.  Be patient.  Sod work is not instant gratification.  It doesn't become an established yard for at least a couple months.
6.  Always budget for more than you think you will need.  Luckily, we didn't go over budget because I gave myself plenty of cushion.  

  Below, we've got some updated pictures of the yard.  The first few are just after completion and then after a month.

The new retaining wall:

Butterfly bush below: it bloomed shortly after this with pink buds but the recent storms
knocked most of them off

Just to remind you, here's the front BEFORE:

 And here's the yard one month AFTER:

 The boxwoods in the front of the house have been removed.  The shrubs (Ruby Loropetalum) and another Sago palm have been planted. The railings have been painted and then received a second coat.

    

The project was a lot of work and I'm not sure I would undertake such a large project again.  But I am happy with the results.

Tobacco Baskets

 I am looking for Tobacco Baskets to use in a home decor project.  I have looked all over the internet, but I have been unable to locate any that are reasonably priced.  Please leave a comment if you know where I can find some.

Front Yard Transformation, Part 3

Saturday: Irrigation install, fill trenches, level ground, start laying the sod.
Sunday: finish laying sod, rest, rehydrate

Saturday began with miscellaneous projects while the irrigation system was being installed. From digging trenches a little deeper, burying the drainage pipes underground, leveling ground, and spreading topsoil.
Once the irrigation was installed, tested, and adjusted, it was time to focus on filling in trenches and leveling the ground.  After having most of the front yard leveled, we started to lay sod around 6:30 PM while it was nice and cool.  We tried to lay a good bit until dark to minimize what was left for Sunday. (This was also the hottest weekend of the year, so working after the sun went down was much better than at noon.  Kelly even helped out at this point.)

The top soil arrives

 Emerald Zoysia

We woke up Sunday and began laying sod around 6:30 AM.  Again, with the cooler weather we were able to get more done and not be so exhausted from the heat.  With the sod down and beds defined we could better test the irrigation.  Sunday was the shortest day as we finished around 11 AM.

 Testing the irrigation.

 Final photos of the finished product and updates coming next week.

Front Yard Transformation, Part 2

Friday's task: digging trenches for the irrigation, cleaning up and hauling off waste.
With all the old sod removed, it was time to dig trenches, another labor-intensive job.  By the grace of God and through some friends' recommendations, I was able to find 2 necessary people: someone who owned a trencher and someone who was adept at hand trenching.  Because of the Georgia red clay and gravel near the sidewalk and house, hand trenching was awful.  The trencher was used for areas far away from the lines and then we hand trenched near the lines.  After hand trenching for almost 8 hours, it was time to clean up, another load of yard waste in each truck, and time to rest up for the weekend.

 The only line cut: the cable.  Luckily, it was an easy fix.  The line was marked incorrectly, being a good foot and a half off from where the line actually was, plus, it was only buried 1.5 inches deep.  Thanks, Comcast and you're welcome for providing you with a free trench to use and properly bury the line.

 The side yard

View from our front door

More to come....

Front Yard Transformation, Part One

Now that I have had a week to recover, I will post a little about our recent yard transformation.  After sitting vacant for over a year, our house and yard were in need of some work. As for the yard, there was a mix of grass, weeds, and bare spots that just did not look good.  After planning for 4 months, we decided on the last weekend in April to take on this small massive project.

I started the yard transformation on a Thursday afternoon.  The overall plan was to remove all the old sod weeds, dig trenches, install irrigation and lay new sod.  Thursday's goal was to sod cut and remove the yard waste, all while maintaining the painted lines for trenching on Friday.  Though advertised as a simple process with this machine below, the self-propel function was non-existent and the advertised 9000 sq ft per hour was more like 1000 sq ft per hour.  It made for a terrible and exhausting day.

This is how the yard looked Thursday morning:

 Near the walking trail:

 The side yard (this tree was later removed because it was diseased):

 More of the side yard:

With the sod cut, this is what it looked like when Kelly got home from work:

 

Sod removed and loaded up.  The yard waste totaled 5 truck beds filled to the top. We pulled out those boxwoods, too.

More to come...