Ikea!

We had been questing for a living room rug for 2 years. Everything we found was too expensive or too plain. We made an unplanned trip to Ikea two weeks ago. Thanks to our tax refund, we walked away with a rug, a chair and pillows. Our living room finally feels complete.

 

 



Outside patio

Last year, we got a delivery of stone and made a simple patio space. We then went to Home Depot (after a trip to the bar) on St Patrick's Day and splashed out on our paddy o'furniture. I selected the color and painted the back steps. Not everyone in the house agrees with my color selection.

Guest room

The guest room is up and running for anyone who wants to visit.

Kitchen

Erin had a vision for our kitchen cabinets. Paint them a cool minty green color. Chris had a vision too. That it would be awful. Chris was wrong wrong wrong. Erin carefully sanded, primed and painted each door, drawer and cabinet frame. She cleaned and shined up all the original hardware. It took her weeks to complete but the results were well worth it.

Also, the gaping hole into the basement has now become a pantry thanks to my Dad. Someday, it will become a bathroom. We painted a chalkboard onto the wall leading to the pantry.

Oops

So, we honestly forgot all about our blog. Someone brought it up at a party yesterday and I said - Oh yeah, we had a blog. We didn't mean to give it up, so I will make some quick updates to try to catch up on things.

See the vegetable man in his vegetable van

We planted this week. Pussy willow and raspberry bushes. Herbs like basil, cilantro and dill. And lots of veggies in our beds - carrot, beets, cucumber, lettuce, arugula and spinach. We used our seeds from last year and will just hope for the best. Last year we were about 25% successful. I think we will do better this time, but those squirrels make me nervous.

We also poisoned several invasive species in our yard which may or not be poison oak and japanese knotweed. Either way, we lopped them off and painted Roundup on their thirsty little stems. We should be rid of them in, oh, about 5 - 10 years.

Backyard Cleanup Day

This weekend Mom and Dad Sherburne came from Maine bearing gifts of milk and meat and eggs. They brought with them two beautiful old antique twin beds that I've had forever and been storing at Grammie Sherburne's in Maine. They're in kind of rough shape, but I'm hoping with some love and hardware they'll be able to be part of our 7 Lafayette lives! I'm currently rubbing oil into them every few hours in hopes they'll recover from being in a sunny window for several years...I'll keep you posted.

Anyway, here's a Before picture of backyard:

and side yard:

And after an entire Saturday of capable Sherburne and Campbell work:

We ripped out vines, cleaned up trash and limbs and twigs, found an entire hillside covered in poison oak (nobody has broken out yet...knock on wood) and discovered some perennials growing in the overgrown side garden. We took a truckload of yard waste to the dump, where we made friends with the very kind dump man who allowed us to dispose of waste from a truck with Maine license plates! (We had identification and utility bills with us--please don't get him in trouble!) We also dug up lawn on the driveway side of the house to make three raised beds

and discovered we have beautiful soft earth there teeming with healthy earthworms! We are very excited to get them fully ready for planting now. We set up our cute cafe set on the elegant concrete slab that used to be a garage

and started making plans for a proper patio. The concrete slabs will eventually become lawn space (I'm pretty sure I could jackhammer that up in no time) but for now they are just perfect as a lovely seating/entertaining area. Add a few plants and some flickering candles and it will be magical, I'm sure of it.

Today we finished the grueling task of hanging blinds in the living and dining rooms. I'm really good at it right now if anyone needs help--I think the last ones went up in under 10 minutes each! (the box says 27 minutes and all you need is a screwdriver. Lies.) But if nobody calls me within the next 24 hours for help I'm probably going to forget all my newfound knowledge and you'll be on your own. Doesn't it look so pretty now?

Plus now the neighbors don't have to watch what we're watching! Very grown-up indeed, blinds. Chris spent quite a while getting the surround sound hooked up and setting up the wii, and now we have SO much movie watching to do. We'd better get to it...