Garden Prep is Hard Work.

     I have been fantasizing for years about having a huge garden in which I can grow whatever I want. I got a taste of that dream last year when we put in two 4 ft by 8ft garden beds in the front yard last year. Below is an awkwardly angled photo of how those two beds turned out last year. So it is with great expectations and excitement that we have been working on the side yard.

    As I may have mentioned earlier we had planned on putting bark chips down in the side yard so that Banjo could play ball. However, he doesn't really like to play ball in our yard so we decide that using it to feed ourselves would be a better idea. Below is a reminder of how the side yard looked last year.

     The black plastic is to kill the "grass". The last owner was older and obviously was not too worried about landscaping or decorating. But after much back breaking labor of ripping up crappy soil and adding bags of compost this is how it looks.

     We didn't go all the way to the walk way because we have plants to (some day) widen it. Right now it is a little narrow and can be hard to navigate with the yard waste bin and even your own feet. In my dream world we will put down nice paving stones or something else pretty. In the real world we are going to add some kind of low fence so the dog doesn't run in there. My seedlings are doing great and we will start planting as early as next weekend.

     I took this photo last week and already everything in there is twice this size. I have a couple different kinds of tomatoes, tomatillos, jalapenos, cauliflower, broccoli, basil and sugar snap peas. The sugar snap peas already busted out of the bottom of their containers.

      So I popped them into one of the beds in the front. Next weekend I plan on putting up a trellis or something for them to grow up. I had this same kind last year and they grew like crazy. They are wonderful to snack on right off the vine.

     There is a lot more to be done as always. Big dreams as usual!

SPRING!

     I love spring! Everything starts to warm up and I can start working on all this projects that I have been dreaming about all winter. Although, here in Seattle, the weather can change quickly so one day I might be out in shorts cutting the grass while the next it is pouring rain and all I can do is read and drink tea. But that is life. Luckily I do have a few little projects to share with you.

     The other day it was really nice out and I wanted to do something in the yard. But I didn't want to start a huge new project. So I found the prefect little forgotten triangle of yard to spruce up.

     This little triangle of space is at the corner of our house where the front and side yards meet. I was going to extend my planting bed into the area but then realized that there was cement under the dirt in the area and that I won't be able to grow anything there. So I decided I could still use the space to grow something but it would have to be in pots rather than in the ground.

     Here is the after shot. Once I got out all the dirt from the area I got a few bricks from Lowe's and made a simple wall just to keep the dirt out. Then I put down a thin layer of gravel which was left over from another project (more on that later). The simple terra cotta pots are also from Lowe's. I could have gotten bigger or fancier ones but I think I might paint these at some point. I could also add more to the area since I do have some space. Later in the spring I will fill these pots with strawberry plants and will try not to nibble on them every time I turn this corner. A fun little project for a warm afternoon.

The Muddy Pit

     We have had some trouble with water getting into our crawl space under the house this winter. A variety of things have been done to counteract this problem. One day I left Matt unsupervised and this is what I found when I got home...

     Matt had dug a french drain along the edge of the cement walk way in the back yard. I don't know what a french drain is or why it is french but it made one big mess that still has not been completely resolved.

     The trench starts out at about a foot deep and then slopes down so the water will flow with it rather than under the house.

     When Matt was done digging he lined the house side of the trench with plastic so it wouldn't seep in.

     Then he lined the trench with some special fabric and put in a perforated drainage pipe.

     After that he filled it with gravel. Why? I don't know. This was Matt's project and as an archaeologist I only want to dig holes if I think I will find something cool.

     But this project is not done yet. There is still a huge pit (now filled with rain water) that needs some kind of pump system and then everything will be finished off with paving stones which will make the ground even so I won't twist my ankle when I go to the back room to do laundry.

    Home improvements always seem to take longer than you think they will.  But you get to be super proud of yourself when you finish...until you start the next one. 

     Next Blog Post:
Homemade Kombucha and the garden finally gets going.

Winter Duldrums

     Everything seems to go into hibernation during the winter and this includes me. I spent the fall focusing on getting a new job (which I did!) but not much time on the house. Then the holidays came and it was all I could do just to clean the house and decorate. However, I have used some of my down time to start planning for spring. I have rather large goals for this year. Thirteen is my lucky number (I was born on the 13th of August) so I am going all out this year. I have managed a few little projects but Matt has done a little bit more. But first my little triumphs.

      This is the barren wall above the towel rack in our tiny bathroom. We have this grandiose idea to some day redecorate the whole room in a "French Metro" style. Now, neither of us can really explain what that means but it will have a black and white color scheme and I guess be a little art deco-ish. Anyway, I mentioned to my mother and for Christmas I got a little mini art collection. She water colored these four little square paintings specifically to fit our style theme.

          They look really great with the silver towel holder and black and white towels we bought a little while ago. I like the idea of a black and white bathroom because it feels very clean and simple. The room is very small so I want everything to blend together and only have hints of color such as the red sign in the bottom left hand corner. Here are some close ups of the paintings.

      I guess some day I will have to go back to Paris and actually see these signs in person.

      This one is my favorite because it reminds me of the old movie Metropolis which is very art deco. Our house is very old so having an older, less modern style really fits.

      I just wanted to show some more of the art we have in the house. Most of it is thanks to my mom who likes to watercolor. The painting above is in our kitchen and really goes with the retro 1950's vibe of that room. Mom even gave me some of the objects from the painting and they reside in my kitchen now.

     Above is my mother's idealist version of what our house could look like. In reality the fence is gray, there is no stone retaining wall in front and there is a garage to the right. Maybe some day it will look this nice.

     Matt is hard at work right now installing a new fan/light in the kitchen and making a decorative wood ceiling medallion to go around it. Here is what the old fan looked like. It was ugly and made a weird noise.

     It is laying on the floor. It really has no pizazz and with only one light bulb it didn't give off much light. The new one has two bulbs!

     Matt started putting it in and then realized the new one was slightly bigger than the old one. So he rigged the shop vacuum to suck up the dust while he made the hole bigger. We also had to take off the square piece of wood that helped cover up the square hole.

     And here is the new fixture. Much more stylish but obviously the ceiling needs some work. That is why Matt is currently outside in the 25 degree weather using his new wood working tools to make a ceiling medallion. I will post that picture when it is done (hopefully tomorrow).

     We have big projects slated for this year. With me finally getting a decent job and a little Christmas money from my wonderful Grandmother we can finally fix the little issue we have with the foundation and put new flooring in the kitchen and bedroom. But more exciting for me is that is looks like we will finally get a dishwasher! Yes, that is right, we have been here for almost two years without a dishwasher!!!  Plus the side yard is becoming a garden and if all my wildest dreams come true we might even redo the bathroom...but I'm not holding my breath for that one.