The Walls; They Crumble

Ron and I have been having a hard time with our house. We have had absolutely no clue what we wanted to do. At first we just wanted a bathroom put in; so we started that. Then we just wanted the bedroom above it done; so we started that. Then our mold issue blew up and we thought of every plan under the sun in which to tear our house down and rebuild; but we don't have the money. We finally settled it this past Saturday night. We would gut the living room and the bed room above it. The bathroom/living room are directly under the bedroom. That is one half of the house. Then we would do the foyer and steps if we needed that done in order to deal with the living room. 

So on Sunday we decided that we were going to start the living room. We started on the wall with the double windows and tore out all the dry wall, the baseboards, and the window frames. No insulation under those walls. Then we moved onto the interior wall; two layers of drywall!! TWO! Why two?! Who needs two?! We finished those two walls in about 2 to 3 hours. He parked his truck outside the front windows, we opened the windows and threw the dry wall out of the windows as we went. 

Second Wall

Drywall, Plaster, Dry Wall. 

Under the ceiling

Wood flooring underneath!

First wall coming down!

Rub a Dub Dub

Our bathroom...we have two! Well, technically we have three. As it stands; we are a three bathroom, two bedroom, cap cod home. We also sleep in our living room and never venture upstairs. We also will be living in our house for one year come this November. We don't own a couch or a dinner table; we don't even have house guests, but we do have plenty of serving ware and glasses! We have an oven that burns things; a stove that clicks annoyingly when turned on; a microwave that is plugged into an outside wall; from the inside. Our front door leads to no where, our closets are in the weirdest spots ever, and we have no shower. But we have three bathrooms.

Our house came with two bathrooms; one full and one half. The upstairs bathroom has a bath tub, this bath tub has a half wall. This half wall leaves absolutely no room for a shower.

See, no shower. 

The water also always came out rusty/iron colored and was in general, very gross. It also filled up the bathtub to a very pretty shade of blue. Why the bathtub water was blue; is beyond me! (Funny story, left two cats alone while at work. They plugged up the bathtub, played with the knobs, came home to a bathtub a half inch away from over flowing and a very steamy room.)

The second bathroom has a toilet; a vanity, a sink, and is about the size of a very small closet. My husband has always asked if he could sit on the vanity and pee into the toilet, I have yet to let him. What he does while I am not home; no clue, not my problem. The bathroom also has no ventilation; well it does, sort of. There IS a fan, but it is under a wash cloth that is taped to the wall and I've never had the nerve to untape it. For two reason; number 1 being I'm scared and assume that something will magically harm me and number 2; there is a wasp nest in there somewhere which actually confirms fear number 1. The only good thing about this small bathroom...you can wash your hands while doing your busy. Kill two birds with one stone. Granted, you'll have to wash them again, but hey, it's the easiness that counts.

World's smallest bathroom. 

And then we got the brilliant idea to turn the old pantry;

"Pantry"

Which wasn't very pantry-esque. Upon ripping off the paneling; the husband found a few interesting aspects to this "pantry". On the left side of this photo there is paneling, behind that paneling are studs, directly nailed to those studs are more paneling which makes up the one wall of our living room. Why? You might ask. Because there is also a door way in these studs that leads to the living room. Instead of putting up drywall; they paneled it and called it a day. Interesting note number 2 is when the carpet and such was ripped up; the floor told a story of how this "pantry" used to be a....BATHROOM! 

Our idea to turn a pantry into a bathroom wasn't so far fetched once we knew what had been there before. So the room was taken down to it's bare bones;

A window was taken out (not the one pictured; that one is staying), bath tub walls/supports/dohickies were being built, light switches were being put in, and insulation was going up as well.

At this point; both sides of the bath tub are framed out; the piping is in for the hot/cold/shower head, the bath tub is bought, the recessed lights are in, the fan is in.

And then, like all great things; it too came to an end. We sort of, kind of, ran out of money! So now we wait!

The next steps are to fit the bath tub, cut out for the piping, buy a toilet, pick out a vanity and cabinets, build a cabinet to get to all the plumbing, lay tile, and make it look like a real bathroom.

I have high hopes for this; I found a lovely stone tile and I want to do a color scheme of greens, browns, and whites.

Let's Get The Party Started

It's been a little while since I last wrote, when I left off Ron was laying the floor in our sun room, that beautiful cherry floating floor. The desk and credenza were brought in, the papazan chair was brought in, and I was ready to decorate.

Except for one problem; there were wasps; and lots of them! They were in there bugging Ron when we was laying floor, they were in there when I was at work, and even when I couldn't see them, I knew they were there. The idea was to be able to let the door open to the dinning room sometimes; well that was just not going to happen with wasps flying around. The last thing I wanted was to step on one, though my dog and cat are great wasper's; new word, you like?

Fun fact for the evening; dried wasp carcasses sound like fire crackers when you step on them. Even more amusing? They cause the stepper to jump in the air and freak out; I hate wasps.

Problem number two arrived when the heart of summer set in; 99 degree days make a room encased in windows just a tad hot. And by a tad, I mean sweat off a few pounds in a half hour hot. And if that actually worked; I would stay out there! But alas, it doesn't and I knew that if I put the printer or anything else mildly expensive it would more than likely  blow up. Not cool. Not happening.

And so it sat.

I got the bright idea to paint the door, on the inside of the sun room, because I had not seen any sign of wasps in awhile and I figured I would deal with the heat problem. We went down to the local grocery store/hardware store, because living in the boonies means picking up tools and paint with your chicken.

The door BEFORE painting

Now the door is not in the best of shape and the molding around the door is not straight, in fact, the more I painted the door the more I realized how hard they tried to make it look straight. I wanted to laugh because I could only imagine what all took place when this door was being put in. Granted, it was built in 1940 by a husband/father, probably handcrafted with love and the height of their proudest moments for him.

They already had paint on the thin as sliced deli ham windows, but I figured I would not add to it and that I would simply tape it off with electric green painters tape. I had to have that color, I would not let Ron have a choice in the matter; the tape was going to be green; bright green.

And so I taped. I hate taping around things; I don't hate it, I loathe it. If I could just paint over everything; I would. This is the one perk to our house, we have no stained wood trim, it is all painted; this house was meant for a painter like me.

In Progress

Isn't the color pretty? Even Ron loves the color; he has admitted, though not happily, that we should consider using it else where in the house when the time comes. Points for me! I was going to paint around the inside frame, so I didn't care if it got a little messy. Remember, at this point, this was going to be an office. My office.

And so our door sits. Tape and all.

Why? Well, I'll tell you why...

My office sort of decided it was lonely out there; all hot and unused. So it crept inside to the dinning room and made itself a home right there in the corner. It invited the credenza in and asked the printer come chill out. Everything that used to be in that corner is now out in the sun room.

Why the change? That's another blog post!

 

Sun Room Turned Office

For all intensive purposes the sun room is supposed to be my baby or project; as you might say.
Ron had finished up the floor in there, aside from putting the molding pieces around the edges, since we did not have them and they weren't super important. It'd be different if it was the living room or kitchen or what have you.

See? Isn't that floor beautiful?!

Then my parents brought up my desk and credenza. Don't they match just beautifully? 

My Dad got it at his work. Same with the chair. 

That vase is to keep away those flying buggers! I have wasps in there up the wazoo and they refuse to drown in this sugar water. They'll leave their little carcasses all over my new floor though. Jerks. I guess they win though, because I refuse to go in there until they stop invading.

The ugliest light on earth.

This light will eventually go away; I am not really sure what I want to put in its place. I was thinking something that hangs down a little?

The ugliest wall on earth. Ever.

You see that little box right there? The one with the mysterious plug plugged in? I've often contemplated unplugging that while Ron's using the microwave; as it is what powers it! They drilled a hole through the outside wall (the sun room used to be a porch) and plugged it in! I still giggle to myself every time I look at it because it is the most ridiculous thing. I plan on painting the wall. I was thinking either a pale blue with bright white trim or something. 

Ninja is checking out the room, he's not allowed in it really. I was thinking a Welcome mat might be in order; just for cuteness. Realistically, the chair will get shoved in the corner.

Every Time I Open The Door

...nothing new ever shows up.

If there is one problem I have learned from being on my own, it is that of;
what do I buy at the grocery store?

And that truthfully bothers me; what do people buy at the grocery store?! We just went shopping at Weis; I love Weis! It is all fairly cheap compared to some other bigger chains, you get great gas rewards, almost every thing is on sale in one manner or another, and it typically has everything I want or need. I just don't know what I want or need. I even went in there with a grocery list, I got maybe one or two items on it and then winged it from there. As it turns out, I am not much for planning grocery shopping.

Every two to three weeks I buy the same items, lots of meats and some veggies and the such in order to get us through the next few weeks.

Our entire food storage fits in one cabinet. 

Yup, there you go. The extent of our dry/canned foods.

Our freezer isn't any more interesting;

Thrilling; I know.

What exactly do people buy at grocery stores?! When I go to people's houses, I see freezers and cabinets chalk full of all kinds of goodies. We use it until our cabinets are bare and then we start over. Is there some sort of rotation buy before we run out policy that we are missing? Further more; are we shopping wrong?!

My next big question is;
What goes in the refrigerator?

I cannot tell you how many times I have stood in front of my fridge and wondered what could possibly go in it. What kinds of foods do people keep in their fridge? How do people keep so much in their fridges without it all getting spoiled? Why doesn't my fridge look like other people's? We use our fridge to hold condiments and drinks.

Case in point:

Sometimes my fridge houses left overs, right now it has drinks, some canned fruit, and I felt that the applesauce needed to be upgraded to fridge status. (I just got sick of it taking up room in my cabinet)

But no matter how many times I open and close those double doors, nothing new ever appears.

When I go to my parents house and open their fridge it is full; you can't stuff anything else in it without it busting at the seems and having to do one of those quick-peek-into-the-fridge-and-hope-it-doesn't-fall-out numbers. I have no fear of foods falling out of my fridge, I have no problem of finding space.

I have no problems;
& that IS my problem.

I realize I should be worried about fixing up the house or worried about how to decorate or maybe even worried about how our lawn grows; but darnnit, I am worried about what goes in my kitchen.

Is this a problem many first time home buyers without children run in to? Am I not at an age where my fridge, freezer, and cabinets should contain more then what is pictured here?

I think I will forever contemplate this. I think I will start trying to buy before running out. 

My goal for this shopping trip was $200 or under. We bought 61 items at $222 before savings. I scanned my Weis card and our list came down to $190 and some change. We saved 14% on our grocery bill. This is my grocery shopping game, to guess at how much I put in the cart and to find my "want to buy" number and come in below. I realize this probably isn't fun for most people, but I enjoy myself. It makes me feel better about spending nearly $200 on one cabinet full of food, part of a freezer, and none of a fridge.

Oh the worries of a first time home buyer..

Mary Mary Quite Contrary

...How does your garden grow?

Ever since I was little I wanted a garden. My Mother always had flowers and trees and bushes that she fought with; as though she was a wild jungle tamer. And sometimes our backyard did resemble that of a jungle, minus the snakes and deadly plethora of bugs/animals.

I do remember once I had claimed a bit of the yard as mine and I planted some plants; they may or may not have grown but I know that area has popped up a ton of Rose of Sharon. I vaguely recall that I don't like that plant, no matter how many you rip out, they all grow back.

I did a fair bit of back porch gardening; that is the kind of gardener I am. I am a greeny brown thumb. If it can go in a pot, doesn't grow weeds, I don't have to walk that far to get to it, I can dump water on it from a watering can, or I can tend to it in any other manner I will garden. To say the least, I'm not a gardener. I believe my older brother got that green thumb gene. But darnnit I try! Every year I would proclaim "I want to start a garden!" and every year I'd get bored and give up. You see, I love watching them sprout and grow an inch or two. Once they get out of that cute as a button stage, I get tired of them.

Lord help me, let's hope I'm better with children, ha!

This year, with having our house and all I decided that I wanted a garden (famous last words..I know). Ron has been semi excited about this, talking about the different tractor attachments and other assorted over priced dirt diggers. He just wants me to let him buy more play toys for him, i.e. tractors, lawn mowers, etc. Love him, but not that much, not yet. Maybe next year. Ha!

When we went to Wal-Mart I wanted to find a pot to transplant my sun flower. I got the tiny pot with the bag of seeds at the Dollar Store. Now that's my kind of gardening. It did grow! Out of five seeds one out grew the rest. I was rooting for the little flower, I set him on my windowsill in the kitchen, I watered him and I protected him from the cat that wanted to gnaw on its little leaves. I put up barriers against the dog that wanted to sniff at it and ultimately make it meet an untimely death.

Bad Animals:

Wait a minute...those aren't mine. They cannot possibly be. That dog you see right there, she terrorizes that poor kitty you see sleeping soundly right next to her. I have looked over and seen that very cats head in that very dogs mouth. Both of them dig through my trash, try to eat my flowers, tear apart our house. Something is very wrong here.

But as I was saying. I was looking for flowers pots; I got some bright yellow 5 cup plastic pots for $1 each. Got three of those. I got a bag of soil, a 72 pot green house (with the most annoying soil rounds I have ever met), and some seeds.

My list includes:

Tomato's. What kind? I don't know..
Oregano (I'm fairly certain seeds should not be allowed to be that small)!
Zinnias
Shasta Daisy
Lettuce
Dwarf Sunflower
Red Potato

On Sunday 4/10/2011 I proclaimed that I was going to go out and garden! I assembled all my stuff, the seeds, the pots, the dirt, a container for water, my green house, scissors, measuring cup, water for me, two red potatoes, a knife, and a fork!

I was set! I was determined! And...I had fun! I plopped my butt down in the driveway and I transplanted my sunflower and added more seeds to its pot. I filled two more pots with ground and added Zinnias to one and Shasta Daisies to the other. I plumped up the dirt rounds in the green house and planted my tomato, oregano, and lettuce.

Then I got to the potatoes. I've only ever grown potatoes once; in a giant pot at my parents house. I was little. I don't remember how I grew them.

So I got my big pot, it's blue, its pretty. I put a brick in the bottom, so it doesn't blow off the front porch where I have found it a home. I put in ground and realized I did not have enough dirt, so I searched around the yard for more soil and I found some! I cut the eyes off the potatoes and stuck those suckers in the ground, watered them, and shoved them out front. Who knows if they'll grow.

My three pots: 

 
You see that little plant right there? That is my hard work! I love that little plant. And yes, that is my dish drying rack. You see, I don't do dishes, I give them to the dog to lick (whose coming for dinner?!). Okay, so I don't wash dishes that way. And my dish rack usually has dishes in it, that were washed with soap. But I don't know what to do with these pots.

Why?

I'll tell you why...

You see that TINY little pot sitting on that TINY little windowsill? That's why. That pot contains more sunflower seeds.

I need bigger windowsills; I dream of being one of those women who gardens at her kitchen window. I want to find a long pot to put my oregano in when it sprouts, screw putting it outdoors; that is not my vision.

I don't know if I will ever get any of my flowers/veggies put into the ground. I might just put them in bigger and bigger pots until they fulfill their duties as leafy plants. I've got a front porch that is not being used and an abundance of sunlight.

My green house is sitting in the unfinished sun room, I opened the blinds to two windows hoping the sun will come in.

If I were to leave them in the main house; that evil evil dog would eat them. Although, I do have to hand it to her, she was trying to dig holes in the yard for her own garden...at least that is what I'm going to let myself believe.

I will update my progress as a gardener as time passes; I do have some more of those tiny pots to grab from my parents house. I love those things!

I Love Being Nerdy

I started school at the start of April, so I can keep working on getting my geek degree. I mean my Associates in Accounting. With the start of a new school and semester I wanted to get everything in order to bring my desk up from my parents house and put it into the sun room my office. I had been dreaming of a nice wood floor in there to go along with my heavier then bricks desk and credenza. Oh yes, how flashy, a credenza.

Off to Home Depot we had gone a couple days earlier and I poured over the prices and colors of pergo wood flooring. The choice between .97 cents a sq ft or .97 cents a sq ft was such a hard decision, so I moved onto the color situation. I had my heart set on a dark cherry but kept convincing myself that I needed a lighter color like a light oak. At the very last minute I decided on Estate Cherry. Gorgeous! We got five boxes and one 8 foot piece of trim (they were out).

This past Saturday 4/9/2011 Ron and I started working on the sun room office. This time I can truly say that we worked on it; well, somewhat. I guess I'm still just an accessory. Ha.

Before

The room did have carpet down, it was only glued down with some nails here and there. The dust it left behind, yuck! We got a wet/dry vac and sucked it all up!

Don't mind the blinds; you see, we got a puppy (4 months old in December, walker coonhound) whom I decided we needed ASAP on a whim. We had no crate for her so I would lock her in the room while I went to work. She decided to redecorate as you can see. It is okay though, those blinds barely worked and were so gunked up. I was planning on taking them out anyways.

This is the progress so far:

This is the first time Ron has put in a floating floor. He learned some trial and error with it. Such as; the obnoxious little metal tool you buy to help pound the joints into place so they click and lock, well it was too heavy and would scuff up the boards! We had an extra piece..ok so it wasn't extra per se but it was one we didn't need, so he butted it up against the boards and used that to help them along. Problem solved!

Isn't the color gorgeous!?

He did some more on Sunday 4/10/2011, and we are nearing the end of me having a pretty new floor!

I'm in love <3