A Pop of Color

Our front door has been in some serious need of new paint.  Back in December when we moved in, we changed out the all the locks on the doors.  The new handle we picked out for the front door, was a different style that had been previously used.  When I took off the old handle and put the new one on, I had to use some putty to cover up some holes and the previous paint color (green) could also be seen.  After tyring out 3 different red paints (found in the basement), I tried to cover up the putty and green paint, but it left the door in 2 different shades of red.

We have been meaning to pick out a color and repaint the door since December, but just never got around to it.  With a housewarming party just around the corner, we finally picked a color and repainted the door.
It was hard to pick the color just because the paint chips are so small and you're trying to match it to a big house!  We decided we wanted to try to match the slate color on the roof, but we ended up with a shade a little brighter and bluer than the roof.  Oh well, the new color definitely draws your eye to our house!  (Plus, we had to compete with a dark purple door right across the street!)

Some Before Shots:

(It's really hard to tell in this picture, but the rectangular area around the door handle was a brighter shade of red.  I think it may have been the original color but with sun fading, the two didn't match.  I liked the red color, but Steve felt it blended into the brick too much and we needed something to complement the brick instead of match.)

(The door used to match the shutters.  But not anymore. . . )

The Process:

(I had to take off the locks and handle, tape up the window, and tape up the lion head.  The lion head is actually held on with bolts that come through the other side; however, the bolts have been painted so much they are sealed to the door.  Next, I had to do a little more puttying, sanding, and then primed the door.  Lastly, I got to paint the new color!  Here, it looks like a mild/dark blue.)

After:

(AHHHH!!  A bright blue door.  It take a little getting used to. It seems pretty bright, but so far we've gotten some good remarks about it from neighbors and friends -- or they're just lying to us.)

(We wanted people's eyes to be drawn to the door, I think that goal was met!  The door does make the roof look a little bluer, but I'm afraid the door is a little too bright.  Steve doesn't want the shutters to match the door, but they may be painted a different color later.  I think if we put some bright blue flowers in the flower box, it may help. . .)

Trees and Wind Don't Mix

The afternoon of my LASIK surgery will not be forgotten.  As I lay on the couch with my eyes closed (per doctor's orders), I could hear a storm brewing outside and my mother watching what was going on through the windows and on the radar.

After it had calmed down and moved on, my neighbor rang the doorbell to check if we were alright.  My mom went outside with her to survey the damage -- a section of a tree down in our front yard; sticks and branches down everywhere; and a large limb down that fell in the neighbor's driveway, feet from her van!  After I hit 4 hours with my eyes closed, I got to go outside (with my awesome wrap around sunglasses) to see what all I had missed.

Thank goodness for God's protection!  My parents' brand new Prius (by new, I mean 2 weeks old!) was outside in our driveway under a tree, but there were no limbs anywhere near the car!  WHEW!  We had thought about pulling it into the garage but that was after the rain had started and I couldn't go outside and my mom didn't want to go outside.

With the help of our neighbor's son, we got the limbs all cut up, piled up, and put on the edge of the road in hopes of the city picking them up.  We got mixed information as to whether or not the city takes care of it.  We'll find out soon enough.

(Limb down in the front yard)

(Same limb down in the front yard)

(Neighbor's son helping with a chainsaw -- thanks Jon!)

(We didn't take pictures of the limbs down all throughout the yard, but I took pictures of the piles.  This pile is on the back patio.)

(Here's another pile form the backyard.)

(Here is another pile next to the garage.  This is also where the big limb fell close to our neighbor's van, but we didn't get a picture of the crime scene.  We have a green garbage can provided by the city that we can fill with sticks, leaves, weeds, grass, etc.  Steve did break up some of the branches and filled the can quickly with them.  The rest we will just pile up next to the cans in hopes of the city picking it up -- and not fining us!)

(Another wind fatality.  This tree in the middle of the rose bushes had a wood stake helping to hold it up, but it hasn't fared well over the years and the stake broke in the wind.  We will be re-staking it in hopes of saving the tree, but it may be too late.)

Highly Anticipated

Back in the middle of May, Steve and I noticed these weird plants poking up out of the ground in random locations in the backyard.  We weren't sure what they were (I thought they were weeds and was going to pull them up), but we decided to wait it out (or maybe just too lazy to do something about it).  Finally, some pods started to form and after some research online, we discovered they were lilies.

Since before memorial day, we've been pampering them with lots of water and checking their growth.  We (Steve more-so) have been highly anticipating the day that they would bloom.  Lo & behold, they finally bloomed over the weekend!  In fact, the first one popped upon the morning of my LASIK surgery.  That afternoon, there was a terrible storm and we were afraid we'd lost them, but they are good and strong and are continuing to bloom into big lilies.

(This picture is actually a bonus picture.  I was really taking a picture of the mulching job and new pavers in the back of the house -- more on that in another post-- but you can see the lilies on the left.  They are located to the right of the garage as you pass through the brick wall into the backyard.  The bushes on the right of the picture are on the backside of the house.  We just began mulching the backyard and laid the pavers to keep the mulch form falling onto the sidewalk -- we are mulching pros!)

(On the morning of my LASIK surgery, I happened to spot that one of the pods had finally opened up!)

(After a crazy storm that knocked down some big limbs -- more on that in another post, ha!-- the first lily was opened more and they were doing great!)

(The blooms are bigger than your hand!  We are thoroughly enjoying seeing them through our side kitchen window.  All the anticipation finally paid off!)

(The next pictures were taken today, so you are all up to speed on our lilies.)

(Now that they've bloomed, they've become top heavy.  We will be purchasing some stakes to help support the lilies! But for now, our bags of mulch are doing a great job.)

(Next on our anticipation list is my tomatoes!  On a Menard's trip, I got a hanging tomato plant as a bonus item --Thanks Steve!!  I'm a little skeptical of how it will work out, but we'll see soon enough!  The hardest part was finding a location that it could hang without squirrels being able to get to it.  For now, it's hanging on our arch in the backyard, but it's not permanent (as you can't walk under the arch now). Before purchasing a better stand, we wanted to make sure the plant produces.)

(There's 2 green tomatoes in the center that I can't wait to turn red!  There are several blooms on the plant, too, so I anticipate a lot more tomatoes!)

Spring Cleaning -- Outside!

Since we just moved into our house (I think it still counts after 5 months to say you still just moved), the inside of our house doesn't need any spring cleaning (except for those areas that haven't been cleaned yet from moving. . . ); however, our yard and exterior of the house are in dire need of some attention.  Steve and I have both been busy working on various outside projects.

Steve has a few outside projects that will probably be an all-summer deal.  First off, he has been intently researching via books and internet about slate roofs.  He found a place in Columbus, OH that carries slate tile that we will be visiting in the next few weeks in order to buy some tile to repair the garage.  He has purchased several slate tools and is anxiously awaiting the new tile in order to fix the roof.  I am not a fan of this whole idea.  I'm okay with him fixing the garage since it isn't that tall; however, there are some tiles on the house (3 stories up!) that need to be fixed that Steve wants to do.  by himself.  on a ladder.  I am not a fan.

Since that's not something he can do until he gets the tile, he has switched gears to his 2nd project, which involves repairing some of the downspouts, creating correct draining grade around the foundation, and fixing some gutters.  We went to Menards (Steve's new-found favorite place) and bought some new downspouts that will be used throughout his project.  Most of the spouts just need some added joints at the bottoms, and of course angling spouts for proper drainage.  The most intense part of the project involves wrapping a downspout around a window in order to make the water flow away from the foundation (which we know is a big issue buy the condition of the basement walls and water that we find on the floor).  I don't understand most of this endeavor (like the "how" it will be executed.  Talk to Steve for more information).

(A lot of the gutters are in bad shape.  Steve hopes to be able to bend it back himself and not have to replace the gutters.)

(In the backyard, there is some sort of clay tile drainage system.  We have no idea of the system is clear and working properly or if it's all clogged and causing more trouble.  We are just leaving that as is; although, Steve is going to fix the downspouts to connect to the system properly.)

(In one corner of the house, the connection between the gutter and downspout is nonexistent.  That piece just sways in the wind.  Steve tried to reconnect it once, but it wouldn't stay.  He has purchased a new joint and will properly connect it.)

Originally, there were downspout pieces buried underneath the landscaping in one corner of the house, but the downspouts weren't connected.  Steve dug those up and has come up with a new plan.  He is going to shorten the downspout (pictured) and will create an angle with a joint connector and lay another downspout off of the angle which will take the water away from the house and put into the yard.  We'll do before and after pictures of this process when that project gets executed.)

(Another thing that needs to be done, besides fix the gutter, is to clean all the gutters.  Especially now that all the helicopter seeds -which I detest and will talk about later -- have fallen.)

His 3rd project involves parching up the mortar in between all the bricks. Awhile back, he had bought some mortar and tools and was going to do it the old fashioned way, but on a whim (and again a trip to Menards) he found mortar in a tub that goes on easier.  He did a little area, but the color doesn't match at all.  The mortar in the tube (and from the bag) are grey tones, whereas our house has a beige mortar.  After some quick research, he has discovered that houses pre-WWII were made with a lime-sand-cement mix; whereas post WWII, they dropped the lime & sand.  So, now he's back to square one on that project and has to decide the next course of action.

Lastly, Steve now has a lifelong project of yard work.  He is definitely missing the yard work from TN (we mowed maybe 1x per month in summer because the grass was bizarre and mostly weeds).  Our yard is the saddest yard on the block.  It is full of dandelions and has obviously not been taken care of.  Steve has had several people stop and ask if he needs help (for $$ of course).  Steve hasn't decided yet that that is the necessary route.  After some research (have I mentioned how great Steve is at researching stuff before executing?), he decided to buy some weed killer/lawn fertilizer pellets and a lawn spreader.  He has done one application so far and we are awaiting the results in the next week or so.  His mowing record for this year is already up to 2.

(Our dandelion graveyard or our front yard)

My work has been focused on the landscaping and plants.  Last week, I spent 2 exhausting days outside weeding in the main area of the landscaping.  I filled up 3 lawn bags full with all the weeds I pulled.  I can't believe how many weeds there were, it was very deceiving how the landscaping looked and what was thrown away.  I also moved a flowering bush to a different location ( I think I may have killed it in the process, but the verdict is still out on it), planted the azalea tree Steve's parents bought us, and replanted the window boxes.  I still have a couple more sections in the front landscaping and the entire back to do, but I'm waiting on the wind to die down and the temperature to go back up to continue in that endeavor.

Landscaping Before Weeding:

(Those are rose bushes surrounding some sort of tree that starts the path from the driveway to the front door.)

(Here you can see the weeds on the left, the right side has been weeded (which is why you can see dirt under the bushes).  I think that was bag #1 on the right.)

After the weeding:

(Yay!!  Weeds are gone! )

(Here is a closeup of that tree and rosebushes from the "before" picture.  You will have to disregard all the *expletive* helicopter seeds everywhere.  We will eventually cover the dirt with landscaping fabric (already purchased) and then cover with mulch.  We are waiting on all the stupid helicopter seeds to fall before completing the landscaping.)

(Yay for clean landscaping!!  I still have to do all the weeding on the right side of the sidewalk.)

(I was afraid the flower box would look so puny-- which it does -- compared to the window.  However, once those little flowers start growing, some are supposed to be between 2 - 3 ft tall!  Ha ha, we'll see how they hold up in window boxes.)

(We have 2 window boxes, one on the big fancy glass window in the front and the other under the kitchen window on the side.  Steve and I are not flower experts (although I pretend to be) we didn't know what species of plants would grow well together or hold up well in the flower box.  All I knew was to get plants according to the sunlight specifications.  We'll see how we did in a few months. . .)

(Closeup of the flowers.  I have already forgotten the flower names.  I'm horrible at flowers.  I think the blue one on the left is either a peony or pansy (it was one of those).  The purple ones I know are snap dragons.  There is also a green one all the way to the left that was a mixed variety and we have no idea what color it will be (it may also have been a snapdragon).  I really don't know.  We just chose what looked neat according to the sunlight specifications.  

(So, as a kid I LOVED the helicopter seeds.  I would toss them in the air and run around as they fell.  They brought so much joy in my life.  Now as an adult, I HATE them with a PASSION.  These STUPID seeds are everywhere!!  We have 3 big trees on our property that are dropping them.  They drop on our roof, in our backyard, in our front yard, all over the driveway -- everywhere!  They manage to fly in when you walk in or out of the house, they stick on our shoes and go throughout the house.  I found one on my bedside table (which I was convinced Steve had placed there, but he said no) and one under a candle in our x-fireplace in our bedroom.  I HATE them.  I can't wait for them to finish falling!  I tried to sweep some up, but they stick to the pathway pavers and just flutter around from the wind.  Ugh.  I have a date with our leaf blower as soon as the last one falls.  Then someone has a date with cleaning them out of our gutters but I think we're gonna hire someone for that.)

(No that is not a random branch stuck in our yard, it's a tree!!  Steve volunteered through work to help prepare some trees to be donated and planted around Lima.  Because of helping with the project, he was given one.  We are the new owners of a tulip poplar tree (because we need another tree in our yard).  It'll be interesting to see how fast it grows.)

(Close up of our baby tree.)