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...

Mud Room

Our mud room was barely worth the name. We realized quickly during the home buying process why it was unused and unloved. No proper foundation, no insulation - it would be impossible to run pipes out there for a washer and dryer, let alone add even an electrical outlet. We were concerned by this, but eventually realized we wanted the house with or without the mud room. We accepted it for what it was - a grimy, dirty place to keep our trash while we remodelled.

As we struggled with finding homes for everything in our kitchen, we wished for a little extra space to store our lightly used appliances (hello bread machine!) and the cans of tomatoes I insist on buying 12 at a time. I decided to work on the mudroom yesterday morning.

Erin went to work and I pulled out the sticky linoleum floor tiles I had bought on sale at Lowes for $20. It went very quickly. I ignored the uneven spots on our floor and just kept sticking them down. Before I knew it, I was done.

Next, I walked down to the local paint store and bought a gallon of paint that had been returned for only $10. I walked back, painted the room and put everything back the way it was. I was done by 12:30. Erin came home while I was at work, having no idea of what I had done. She was very surprised. She told me to shut up and asked if I had a time machine.

Moving day

Good morning! Happy moving day! How's the weather on March 10th? Thursday was 68 degrees...today is

and

but we are

and

so lets do this thing!

The only day of winter 2012. The whole winter in one day. The blizzard of 2012.

Moving Day.

Shall I give you a tour?

Living room, check. Dark Teal. Yummy.

Dining room, before and after. Chelsea Gray. Cool and sophisticated. I love the way the two colors look together!

And this has been a great week at our house! We took a week off to travel to Paris and Reykjavik (so fun, we will post pictures another time) and while we were gone Chris's dad had finished the stairs to the basement, set the new kitchen cabinets beside the stove, fixed several drawers, moved an outlet in the bathroom, and then both of Chris's parents cleaned the house top to bottom. Sanding dust, cobwebs, more sanding dust--all gone.

Whoa. Was that a great present.

So we could start right in on painting! It seemed still like there was an overwhelming list and we would never get through it, but seven days has made all the difference.

Chris sanded the bathroom wall and painted it

and he also painted the first coat on the bedroom (benjamin moore sioux falls....I am madly in love)

It looks different at all times of the day. Sometimes it's very green, sometimes it's very blue. It's a deep, rich color.

Then we spent two days cutting in the kitchen, which has A LOT of trim. We put on a first coat on Friday and returned to cut in a second time on Saturday. Lyndsay made a first visit to the house with her cute Tristan--they got the grand tour. Then the troops arrived! Julie and Emma came to help, along with Erika and Amie. Emma and Erika painted a second coat in the kitchen, Julie cleaned the bathroom of all the paint splatters and grime, I worked on touching up ceilings and trim. Then Emma painted (for the third time!) the crown molding in the living room, while Erika and Amie cleaned and contact papered the upper cabinets in the kitchen. Amie scrubbed the sink for hours, Julie scrubbed the tub for hours, I made a trip to the hardware store for shades and supplies. When everyone had to go, Emma and I finished scrubbing and papering the kitchen and it was time for a break! Thanks to our amazing team--we could not have done this without you!

Today Chris and I packed up our Beach Court kitchen and moved the whole thing to Ipswich. And tonight, we have a kitchen in our house. Remember the before?

Here's the after:

As you can see, we still have some things to do in here, but doesn't our stuff look cute on the counters? And wait til I show you the contact paper and the work we did under the sink...it's so charming now. But that's for another time. By the way, in case you were wondering, this is what our dining room table looks like right now, which gives you a small picture of what our diets have been like these past few weeks...

One week til we live here!!!

Progress

The living room is painted and the first floor is sanded and polyurethaned. We are now going to watch Walking Dead.

Floors!

We did it. We sanded the whole first floor! Chris rented the sander on Friday and my parents came from Maine. (It was their first time seeing the house and they LOVED it! Hurray!) When we arrived, Chris already had the dining room sanded--the floors are so pretty! The parents and I worked on edges while Chris worked with the U-Sand, starting with 40-grit and finishing with 80 and 120. We got the dining room completely done that night, and the whole first floor edged. Alex and her family brought delicious Riverview pizza and beer for dinner and we ate at our dusty dining room table in our dusty house and we were completely happy!

Saturday we worked on finishing edging on the second floor, which was much more challenging--the floors are oak and finished with shellac or wax, and whatever it was kept gumming up the sandpaper. It worked best when we did long sweeping strokes so it didn't melt the finish. Big pain. Chris's dad John also arrived to start working on new stairs to our basement and got to do some sweet demo--I love it when someone fearlessly chops open walls! And Chris's mom Mary arrived with delicious sustaining pastries. Thank goodness for gooey carbohydrates!

After some frustrating time with the sander on the second floor we had an equally frustrating trip to Home Depot (unimpressed with everything about that place). The kitchen floor is less than perfect but we have decided to embrace the flaws (old drum sander marks and uneven boards) and, tired and dusty and a bit crabby, we decided the day just needed to be over. We were a bit disappointed not to get more done, but Chris was excellent at putting it into perspective: we got the Whole First Floor Done. We learned that the second floor is going to be our Very Big Challenge, but we are going to do our best to figure it out, and if we can't we will form out a new plan of action!

Erin's favorite tools of the weekend: Ryobi Corner Cat (thanks Uncle Bobby!) and my Miele vacuum.

Chris's favorite tool of the weekend: U-Sand sander.

In other news, we have color samples on the wall and are mostly in love. The big question is the dark teal in the living room. You'll see it in the photos and I would welcome some feedback!

Yeah, it's ours

Everything went fine on Wednesday. Monday night I got walloped by the Norovirus. On a positive note, I did not spend Tuesday worrying about house buying. I only worried about sitting upright for 1 hour to sign papers. By Wednesday morning, I felt well enough and we got our house. We have way more to say about this day, but little time to do it. We will very soon.

Today, I met my Dad at the house after I finished work. He cut one of the cabinets to hold our new dishwasher. We also took down the greasy oven vent that vented to nowhere. I played around with sanding the edges of floors (with very helpful advice from Dad). Tomorrow, we rent a Usand and with the help of Erin's parents, hope to get at least the first floor sanded this weekend.

64 hours to go

We bought supplies for our first few days at our house. Paper towels, bottled water, cleaning supplies. And then at Lowe's we got sandpaper, kneepads, goggles, buckets and I can't even remember what else. I can't believe I have to go to work tomorrow, but it is probably for the best. What else would I be doing anyhow?

building 19 1/2

fourdaystogo! fourdaystogo!

So Chris already said how we went to building 19 but I needed to expound on that a little.

Have. you. been. there??????????

There were some seriously sketchy parts, but THERE WERE SO MANY RUGS! and FURNITURE! and THINGS I WOULD ACTUALLY BUY AND BE SO HAPPY ABOUT! I never expected to find so many things I would drool over, but it was so droolworthy! You probably all knew about this for years, but now I have a house and a need for rugs and things and I have discovered BUILDING 19! I was super glad I had no idea what would look good in my house or what would actually fit or what I would truly need because I could have spent some serious cash. Oh, and I also had a Chris who kept me in check. Thank goodness for the Chris. Is he what I always needed or what? (many nods from all who have known me and helped me try to make a budget or soothed me as I cried over impulse purchases. I feel the nods, friends.)

4 days to go

So I woke up at 6 am. But it was 2 1/2 hours later than normal.

We were very busy today. We went to two estate sales. Both were kind of sad and had nothing we were even remotely interested in. We were hoping for rugs for our house.

We then we went to Building 19 in Haverhill, expecting very little. I found Table Talk pies (plural) for 25 cents each. Oh, and we both found a rug for our dining room.

We went to the paint store near our new house. We got samples of the colors we want so we can paint a section of our walls and see what we think. They have lots of paint tools and the people are friendly. We sat on our front porch (no keys yet) and drank Coca-Cola while we looked around. Erin very wisely observed that we will need to go to the paint store very often.

We just got back from the movies. We saw Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. We also stopped at the Bed Bath Beyond. We had $100 in gift cards. We grabbed a shower rod and a few odds and ends. When we got to the register, the total was $100.31.

Our excitement is building as the big day gets closer. We were glad to stay busy today.

5 days to go

I showed our apartment today. There is interest out there and we are hopeful to find a new tenant.

I talked to Tim, our realtor. He wanted to make sure I am not freaking out. I don't think I am. It was a very short conversation as everything is all set.

We plan on staying in tonight. We both have the weekend off and want to relax while we can. We are going to some estate sales, we think, unless we sleep in really late. Chances are we will be up by 7am.

6 days to go

It's getting closer.

Today we both worked. Our insurance agent sent our offer binder to the attorney showing that we have home insurance. I visited our house after work and couldn't quite grasp that soon it would be mine. I'll have to practice thinking about it more. I then went to the Benjamin Moore store (conveniently located 3 blocks away) and got large size color panels of our planned 1st floor colors. We like the way they look together.

We are now trying to find a tenant for our apartment so we are not stuck paying an extra 5 months rent. We have had 3 people respond to our Craigslist ad. Our ad has no pictures yet, but has gotten responses just because I mentioned it was the Fort. We are optimistic that it will work out for us.

Lastly, I tried to convince Erin we needed a bearskin rug (with head) from Craigslist for our new living room.

All in all, it was a mostly successful day.

Floors

So, we have decided to refinish the floors ourselves.

We got a price from a company that we knew would be the high end of the scale. We were prepared to go to $1800 with the budget we have made. It came in at $1800. For one floor.

The whole point of us doing the floors now wasn't because it was a priority. It is as much because the house will be empty and we won't be living there yet. So to spend most of our initial remodel budget on floors seemed like a poor use of money. Only getting half the house done also seemed equally pointless.

We knew we could get a lower price, but that we would also get a lower quality of work. Which led to us discussing whether high quality was important to us. Normally it would be, but the floors in our new house are not perfect. They are patched, they are stained, they are worn down. Trying to make the floors look like a showroom floor would be near impossible and is not something we necessarily want in our house.

Once we talked about not hiring the best, we quickly decided to hire the cheapest - ourselves. We feel like we will do well enough, thanks to anecdotes from friends and YouTube. We also know the worst that can happen is we have to hire someone to come in to fix what we have messed up.

We expect it to cost us about $500 after renting sanders, buying sandpaper, poly, supplies and beer. We plan to do the sanding the first weekend in our house. We will see how it goes...

paint paint paint!

Oh my gosh we have picked paint colors that I am in love with. We still need samples and to stick swatches to the walls and live with them for a few days, but the fact that we have something settled means that I might be able to stop dreaming about it! Benjamin Moore, check them out:

Living room: Dark teal

Dining room: Chelsea gray

Kitchen: Da Vinci's canvas

Hallway/stairs: Providence olive

and we might paint the kitchen cabinets too, maybe a celery green but we don't know how the red countertop would look with that so we'll be waiting for a bit to do that. I am so excited!

My friends asked what I was doing this weekend and I said "nothing" and they said "ENJOY IT WHILE YOU CAN! YOU WILL NEVER HAVE 'NOTHING' TO DO ON A WEEKEND EVER AGAIN! BWAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!" and lightning flashed and their faces glowed with an evil, knowing light and I felt scared.

And still insanely happy.

Waiting

There is so much to do and nothing to do. We close in 3 1/2 weeks. We have signed everything we need to sign. We have ideas and lists of things to do. We have contacted contractors and window shopped at shops. We have boxes to pack and nothing to pack yet.

We are waiting. But at least we are ready.

How did we get here?

It occurred to me that many people do not know how we have arrived at this point. Let me tell you the story...

We had started visiting open houses in October just to see what was out there and start educating ourselves, and we were having a great time. After my initial dread, and after learning how to have a bit of a poker face (shockingly, very difficult for me) it turned out to be totally fun! There was this old farmhouse--so fun to dream, soooooo much work, so far from civilization--and another grand piece of land with a stream and winding granite stairs--needed all new windows, oh and floors, and walls, and do I really want these to be my neighbors?--but it was so fun to visualize life in this place or that place and play house in other people's houses. I looked forward to Sundays and our little property-hunting game.

We had seen a house in this neighborhood of Ipswich that we had liked, but had decided for several reasons that it wasn't quite perfect for us. And we weren't planning on buying a house until spring/early summer, so what was the rush? So when we went to see our Lafayette Rd. home in December, it was just a fun run through a house in that same neighborhood.

When we pulled up to the front, I hated the backyard. In fact, I believe I said, "I hate that backyard. I'm going to hate this house." And Chris, kindly, said "We're just looking." And there were lions on the front steps and that seemed silly. And a parking lot next to our house and who wants that. And then we walked in the front door and I sucked in my breath and tried not to comment on the beautiful front door

and the built-in in the dining room

and the crown molding in the living room

and when we got to the kitchen the realtor said "Obviously this kitchen needs some updating" and I thought, stop insulting my kitchen, and I just nodded and said, "mmmm" and continued holding my breath. And by the time we got to the attic I couldn't talk or look Chris in the eye for fear I would burst.

And then we walked into the backyard and I loved it. I had a vision of what it could be, and I loved it.

And we made it all the way to the car and shut the doors before bursting.

In short, it's the perfect house for us, and we couldn't resist it once we walked through the door, and even though it was Christmas and six months too early and who buys a house in December? it was just right and good and right.

And parking lots come in handy for Christmas parties and the like. Just sayin....

Making Lists

Today we are making lists. Each item is assigned to a month - January is short so far. February and March we will get the basics done. April will be dedicated to all things outdoors. Everything else will be on our After April list. We hope this will keep us from feeling overwhelmed by all that we want to do.

Our planned closing date is February 1st. Right now, we plan to move in on March 10th, which is the anniversary of the day we first met.

Kitchen Love

We visited our cute house a couple of days ago to take measurements and show our friend Alex. I also snapped a few pictures while we were there...isn't our kitchen so lovey?

First steps

I sent emails yesterday to contractors to arrange repairs we want to make before we move in.

The pipe bringing water to the house from the city is lead and needs to be replaced.

The kitchen sink drain pipe is leaking and needs to be replaced. While we are doing this, we will install a dishwasher and disposal as we start to remodel our kitchen.

Lastly, we need to have the floors refinished. We hope we can get a price that we can absorb right now. If not, we may only do part of the house or wait until a later date. So much better to do it now while the house is empty.

We have people lined up for everything except the floor refinishing. Any recommendations?

January 1st

We are starting a blog to chronicle the story of our home.