Final Photos

One project we needed to do was make a return air for the living room. It was just a hole in the floor , so I built a box with drywall and below is the finished results.

The other thing I was looking for was photographs of finished rooms, outside shots and such. I saw that I had never photographed anything nice, just in bad shape and in the process of getting repaired. So over the next few days we will show the final photo's of the rooms

Here is the house today. The numbers were just put on today and I still need to place one board under those two windows up top.

Transformation

Here is the house today and when we first got it.
I put down a ton of bark today to keep the weeds away.
Here is a little path that I made from some bricks that use to go around the strawberries. Now we just walk right to the car rather than around the front of the yard.
Four different types of tomatoes were planted today. We put the yogurt containers with the bottom cut out over them. This keeps the birds from taking the starts and building a nest with them. Look in the background and you will see robins. I took the leaves off the large bed today. Last year I put alot of compost on the bed and then dumped leaves on top. I then put a netting over the bed to hold the leaves down. It was a nice surprise to find what kind of dirt we had this spring under all those leaves. It is the best I have ever seen. The stuff they write garden books about.

Here is the garden today.

New Fence

So today I installed a new fence along the back of the property. My wife had taken an old chain link fence and used metal rods and such to prop a make shift up. I then took a piece of the old kitchen cabinets and made a gate along with some terrible wire stuff. It was awful but we got use to it. Today I purchased the poles and used the front fencing to replace our previous attempt.

I also built the rest of the boxes, I hope to install them in the morning. All the rocks that use to line the beds will be used in the front yard. The concrete block bricks I will use to place the rain barrel on. The wisteria and grape vine I hope to also have something for them to grow on by the days end tomorrow.
This is how our garden grows today. The potatoes popped up this morning.
Early this morning I took these shots of our front yard.
I swept the driveway of rocks and sand yesterday. I am going to redue the black top. This house was in such trouble two years ago. We still have a ways to go but wow. People stop in their cars and tell us how nice the house looks. I think they remember the last 30 years and how this place was not treated right.
Last night my bride and I went to a nursery around the corner. We bought a few plants. Three different kind of sedums, Hen and chicks and a lavandin for the front here. Also a bleeding heart for the back steps. The irises we had. Last year we planted the crocuses and tulips. A friend gave us the liripoe and lambs ear.

No Fence

So today we got out into the front yard and pulled out a ton of onion grass. I have tilled this stuff under twice but it just thanks you for it and multiplies. If you left this stuff on the tar street on the hottest day of the year I think you would just make it tender. So from 8am to 6pm we pulled and sifted dirt to make sure we got it all. (I can just hear the onion grass laugh as I type that last line.) Then we ripped out the prison like fence. Boo Boo will be regulated to the backyard from now on. Actually the middle yard since the back of the yard has a fence to keep him out of the garden.
Also this being the day before Easter the tulips have started their chorus.
This fireworks show is ending this week.

Our baby lettuce, radishes, carrots, onions, chives, shallots are coming in very nicely.

Today the apple trees budded out too!

The wall continues

After 4 days of work one side of the wall is just about done. I still have to use a pastry bag and mortar the cracks so water won't split it apart.
The neighbor came by and wondered where we got all those rocks. I guess he isn't a gardener in Missouri because "rocks is all we got!"
Then of course there is this little fireworks display going on next to the house. The fragrance is awesome.

New Wall

So today because there is not enough projects going on, I ripped out one side of the front retaining wall made of Green treated timbers and have begun to build a 20" field stone wall. It will take most of the summer to do both sides of the house but it won't rot like wood and will give the house a nice look.
The side I am working on is on the right. The old timbers are piled in front.
Here are some bulbs starting the show that we planted last year.

Red and yellow

A few shots around the house today.

House painting progress

There is still much to do on the house but this is where it looks today and what it looked like a year ago.

Just a whole bunch of things!

Well first of all, we spent most of the weekend painting the house, which there is plenty left to do. We did get the first coat of paint of the front door and installed a dark brown door handle that matches the brown trim and deck. A door handle can make all the difference in the world. The front door always seemed kind of cheap, but it was the handle that was cheap. Now when the door closes it has that nice solid feeling.
Harvey the Watermelon continues to grow about an inch a day. This picture is two days old, so he looks totally different than this picture here.
Harvey also has several siblings, here is one. You know it's always the first child that gets all the press.
A couple of shots of the garden on August 2nd. (how did it get to be August?)
The melon covers pulled back to allow the bees to do their thing.

Here is the enemy of our garden Sleeping with another enemy of our garden.

Here is the enemy of our garden wishing they were paying more attention to that tall skinny guy with the camera.

We have dozens of peppers, all types and sizes. The bell peppers you see here are from seeds my wife saved last year. A lot of things in the garden come from those seeds she saved last year. The bulk of our garden next year will be from seeds she saved this year. My wife is not only a seed eater but a seed saver too! She's kind of "seedy" but I like "seedy."

This is one of the favorite parts of the garden for me. The compost pile. I can put everything in here and there are millions of hungry critters just waiting to turn it into rich soil for us. Last Spring I put all the old sensitive tax papers, banking statements and such in this box. It works better than a shredder. Two months later we were feeding it to our garden. I think Harvey the watermelon could do our taxes after all that financial information went into the melon patch.

Our table has never been without cut flowers. My wife makes everything so beautiful.

Last but not least, in the kitchen this morning these three cabaleros were thinking of making salsa out of this lone tomato. I didn't want to get involved. I hope the tomato came out of it ok.

All my toys in the yard

I was trying to get as many ladders as I could in the yard as I painted the house today.

The flowers she plants

We have not really made much of a landscape plan for this place, other than pull out weeds and remove the variety of trash from the property. As we do that we are left with empty ground that we will work on later. My wife however runs around and puts flower seeds in this type of ground which turns into the following flowers.

There is a big old bumble bee on this sun flower if you click on it you can see. Wouldn't it be funny if when you click on it there is this guy that jumps up on your screen and screams, "AHHHHHH!" Go ahead click on it. lol