Family Room is coming along

Well my boyfriend and his Dad worked on the laminate wood floating floor. Except I failed my real life math test and didn't order enough flooring. So the floor is mostly in and hopefully will be finished by Christmas.

We have also picked out what we are doing for the molding that will go around the floor just need to actually purchase it then paint it and get it in.

Yesterday the wall sconces were installed and they look great. I think I like the room best with just the sconces on.

The trick to remove Construction Adhesive

Okay the ugly wood paneling is down (no offense to anyone that loves the look of wood paneling, it's just not for us). Now the trick to taking off that frustrating glue left behind, I know you are all so excited to hear that the secret is...there isn't one!

I sat and scraped with a wide putty knife, at times using the corner to try and dig my way underneath where the glue left globs. I also tried some rough sand paper. I found the wide putty knife to work best. All I did though was scrap, and scrap, and scrap, and well you get the idea. It wasn't fun. I just can't wait for the room to be done. It will all be worth it then.

Drywalling a ceiling

Drywalling a ceiling requires a lot of people when doing it by yourself. I also recommend doing some weight lifting for about a month before hand so you can better hold up the drywall.

Needless to say, when we put up the drywall for the ceiling in our Family Room, even with my parents and sister and her boyfriend were helping us, we struggled to get the drywall up. Took us several hours. My parents, sister's boyfriend, and us held the drywall. My sister helped two others on the floor to lift the drywall to the others that were already on ladders. Once we had the drywall in position my sister handed three of us drills with screw driver bits equipped and some drywall screws so we could start attaching the drywall to the ceiling.

After doing this for several hours over two nights, the ceiling is finally drywalled. Now for the mudding....

Halloween Fun

So, yesterday was Halloween and it was crazy again in our new house. I almost ran out of dum dum suckers last year, so I bought a 3.75 pound bag of Jolly Ranchers. According to the nutrition facts on the bag a serving size was 3 Jolly Ranchers and about 95 servings in the bag. Should be enough candy when giving only 2 to each kid, right? If you agree, then like me, you would be wrong! After handing candy out 2 at a time for about an hour I was left with less than 10 pieces and the groups were getting larger and larger so I called it quits so that I wouldn't have to worry about handing out candy to half a group and then running out.

I also will try something other than a witch next year. For one, I was a witchsicle after a few mintues outside. And second, I scared one of the kids coming around. He was proabably 2 or 3 years old, but he wouldn't come anywhere near the witch with candy. One of the other kids in his group came up with his bag so he could at least get the candy.

Wood Paneling Removed

My boyfriend got bored earlier this week and started taking the wood paneling off the walls in our Family Room. Our goal is to have the room done, including furnishings, before the end of the year. We are also working on removing the beams from the ceiling but they are being a little stubborn. Then we still will need to sand the ceiling because it's textured.

Now on to the Family Room

My Dad was here last Sunday and finished putting in the window and now we are on to the Family Room. No real progress this past week on the Family Room but hopefully this week.

My boyfriend's Dad did the flooring in Plymouth Wellness Center and we happen to like the wood flooring that was left. He had a few boxes left, enough to cover about half our Family Room. After searching the Shaw website earlier today we managed to find the matching floor and are hoping to order some additional boxes so we can do the full Family Room floor.

There is also some... discussion... going on about what to make the hearth with. We have a wood burning fireplace. So we need something durable and rated for high temperature. Originally we had some tiles picked out, but they are not rated for high heat which we were going to deal with seeing as they weren't going to be in the fire. Now there are second thoughts being had, and someone's heart is breaking since we had picked out tiles that we were going to use.

Installing a Window in the Garage

Yesterday my parents came over and we started putting a window in the garage. There was already an opening which helped, the previous owner though had covered it with wood. What was also nice was my boyfriend's uncle had ordered a window for his new garage but ended up not using it, and other than being a little tall for our opening it fits with room to spare.

Taking the wood out of the opening we found it had been leaking and the wood was rotting. We replaced the rotting wood and had to cut a stud that ran right through the window opening. Taking the extra caulking from the brick around the opening was interesting since the brick wasn't smooth it was hard to get the putty knife between the brick and the caulk. What we found to work best is a crow bar against the brick and caulk, and take a hammer to the crow bar. The caulk came flying off.

With the window being slightly taller than the opening there was some fidgeting to get it to fit. Currently the window is firmly sitting in the opening, and we aren't sure yet how we will be securing it in the opening. To have it sit on the sill it would need to slant slighly, with the window having weeping holes at the bottom should water get beind the window, my Dad wasn't sure if slanting the window would be a good idea. We will have to see what the final decision is today when my parents return to help finish installing the window.

I can cook

I can cook. Earlier this week I had my parents over to celebrate my birthday and I cooked my first meal for them. Yes that's right my brithday and I cooked.

Growing up in my parents house, my mother would kick me out of the kitchen if I didn't do something her way or fast enough. Well, I was just starting to cook so of course I was slow.

For my first meal I cooked some chicken stuffed with cream cheese, and a raman slaw. My mother thought I found my dish to bring to the family get togethers with the raman slaw. That I think was the best compliment I could have gotten.

Shopping for bedsheets

So a few nights ago, my boyfriend and I went to Kohl's to use some Kohl's cash. Bedsheets were on sale and we only had one set so we bought two more. With the sale and our Kohl's cash we managed to save over $150.00 on the bedsheets. I was very impressed with how well we did.

The thing that got me is everyone seemed to be walking around the store in a hurry, and then there we were taking out sweet little time browsing the isles. I thought we kind of stood out because we were so slow moving through the isles pointing at just about anything and everything. Then you had others almost running through the isles, seemingly on a mission.

To try to help describe it better think of pepper floating in a small bowl of water. The others in the store were the bits of pepper in the middle that go running as soon as the soap is introduced to the bowl. We would be the pepper on the outermost edge of that bowl that didn't really care to move any further.

Busy April

April, hmmm. Not sure if I can cover everything it was so packed, and May doesn't seem to be slowing either.

In April, I installed a light for the landing in the front and started taking down the other landing light to put the same light in but had to stop because I got interupted getting the ladder and it's really dirty on the ceiling and in the light so I've been in no big hurry to get back in there.

I've been watching the garden closely, and the flowers that we don't know what they are called have now bloomed. I think they are very pretty so I will ultimately keep some, but as they are trying to take over the garden, there will be less of them next year.

My parents have also brought us a new front step, so that has been replaced and we now have no fear of someone getting hurt from the step falling over when someone steps on it. We've ordered new windows from Weather Gard Windows. Those will be installed sometime this month, estimated to be in the next week or two. I am so excited for the windows so that the windows won't leak as much, and hopefully won't be able to hear the outside so well.

May is winding up and gearing up. Who knows what we will be able to complete this month, but we are planning to get several things completed. Here's to May and future home projects!

When Do You Get New Windows?

The wind is blowing outside...and inside. We still have the plastic on our windows to try to help insulate. The wind is blowing and proving that our current windows leak by taking the plastic off. We caulked late Summer early Fall last year trying to prepare and they still leak and the caulk is coming off. My parents insist upon trying to repair the windows instead of replacing because replacing is so expensive. But at what point do you say it's time to stop repairing and get new windows?

Right now there is a federal tax credit available, wouldn't now be a great time to replace the windows? Of course there are many other things that need to be done with the house and don't have enough funding to do them all this year. So the question remains, when do you get new windows?

Flowers Are Growing

More plants are sprouting in the garden. I don't really have a green thumb. So knowing what these plants are and how to care for them is something I don't have a clue how to do. And there are so many different plants out there that it's near impossible trying to identify what these are.

I've been told these are Grape Hyacinth. From pictures I do see similarities but have no idea if that is what these are. It's frustrating not to know what is in your own yard.

Planning 2010 projects

We've started thinking about what we want to get done/fixed this year. One of the top things on our list is the Family Room. It needs basically new everything.

The one thing we have covered is the new Fireplace door. We did that last year. Now we need a new floor, the tiles that are currently in place are chipping and have corners missing. Remove the quarter round molding in every corner of the room...no I'm not exagerating. Okay, I'll give them that there is no quater round along the floor and the bricks of the wall with the fire place. We are also looking at putting in French Doors since the garage door is through the patio door. Currently we have a garage door opener sitting on our kitchen table - the kind you would put in your car - and use that to open and close the garage when coming or going. This is a pain as when you come in you immediately are thinking of putting away the groceries or something and we have forgotten to close our garage. Thankfully one of us is still out and will close it when we get back. The Family Room is also getting the wood panels currently on the walls taken down, and new paint on walls and ceiling.

We are also pricing out furnaces since we were told when we bought this place that the current furnace is probably at the end of it's life. Thankfully it has not given out yet. Knock on wood (knock, knock). We would also like to put in a tankless water heater but this may end up waiting for another time.

Window treatments and new windows may also be coming this year. Window treatments are definately coming this year, it's iffy on the new windows. A few feel like they are not installed correctly or have come away from the opening. Hopefully this will help drown out some of the outside noises too. Let's just say don't go planning a surprise party for one of us while standing in the driveway with the other. The person you intend to surprise will hear everything unless you whisper.

There is also one surprise "project" that will happen either this year or next year. But this is all I'm saying on that subject.

Planning the garden

First step in planning a garden is to find out what you already have. How big the area is, or how big you plan to make it. Measure, use a hose to layout the outline of the garden. See how it looks. In my case, at least this year, I'm trying to identify what the previous owners planted and measuring. It's also important to take note of the soil type - well drained, clay, etc. - and how much light the garden will get.

Next is to think about some possible plants. Make a list of plants you would like to see in your garden. Don't be shy or try to limit the number of plants. Some will surely be eliminated.

Step three is to do some research on the list you just made and then do some shopping. If you decide you don't like how it looks after everything blooms you can change it out next year. While doing your research don't forget to think about if you want annuals (need to plant new every year) or perrenials (come back each year but not necessarily where you want them), or consider bushes and trees. Should also consider water requirements. Can you afford or remember to water every day, every other day, or would it be better to find plants that can go for a while without requiring water.

What is growing in the yard?

After buying a home not only do you need to find the mice that have found their way in because no one has done anything with the home in several months, but you also have to figure what is in the yard and what will go there. Currently there are three different plants coming up in the small flower beds at our home but we don't know what any of them are. Do you?

This one I believe is going to be the plant that looks like a fan, but I don't know what it's called.



This one, is causing some problems. I've tried describing it to a few people and each one gives a different suggestion. Any ideas? Oh, and don't ask for details other than this picture because...I simply don't have them.

This one is a bush of some sort, it looks dead. Maybe it is dead. Or it's supposed to be that color.

The tips remind me of wheat. I'm sure it's not wheat because it's too small. Anyone know what this is?