Christmas surpise

I had thought this would be the year without a Christmas.  (More on all that and what we've been up to at another time....)  And then this morning, P came back from his trip to the dump and Home Depot looking very self-satisfied and carrying this:

And then he went back outside, and reappeared:

"Was the tree lot at Home Depot closing?" I asked.

"Not exactly."

Turns out he found them laying on a side at the dump--the first two contributions of the year to the Christmas tree recycling pile.  So back they came with him, forestalling their fate for at least a few days.

We're curious where they came from--I imagine they were the last two trees left on a local lot somewhere.  Neither shows any sign of having been in anyone's house, and are still nice and moist.  The first, larger one still has its original tag, identifying it as a North Carolina Frasier fir.

The fir turned out to be over 9 feet tall, so it needed a little work before being ready for our house and its 8 foot ceilings.

So P whipped out the sawzall....

What, isn't that the traditional way of trimming a Christmas tree?

Picking up a free tree on Christmas Eve turns out to be highly liberating.  For instance, why bother with a stand and water?  By the time the poor thirsty tree dries out, it will be time to send it back to the recycling pile anyway.  So P just knocked together a quick wooden base, and screwed the tree directly into it.

I ran to Kroger and Wal-Mart, and picked through the remaining decorations (with an eye on cheap), and came up with this:

I can't remember the last time I felt this child-like Christmas joy--at least not over a tree.  Turns out these freebies were just what we needed. 

The smaller tree was rather more crooked, but with some lights, he's looking perfectly festive in our bedroom.  When I was a kid, my family scored our own free trees by cutting down scrub pines from the property of family and friends.  And since they were free, why stop with just one?  So I always had my own in my bedroom.  I haven't done that for many years--I'm looking forward to once again basking in the glow of twinkle lights tonight.

Hope your Christmas also held some festive surprises!

Our three day weekend

Started here:

Moved on to here:

For the first time ever, P convinced me me to join him in the crawl space.  Unfortunately, jobs in the crawl space tend to involve a lot of this:

While P is awfully cute when he's thinking, I have very little patience for the finer parts of working out the plan.  Give me a job, or I'm out.

So I was out.  Instead:

June 2011--month in review

Nothing like arriving at the year's halfway point to make one feel horribly behind on the list.

Guest Bedroom

• hang pictures
• reupholster antique chair
• install closet doors
• fix hinge-bound door so it will actually close

Office

• make and hang curtains--remember that joke I had here several months back about how my mom was going to have to come finish this one for me?  Well, it turned out not to be a joke.  Thanks, mom!
• reupholster footstool
• put laminate on top of craft table
• paint and hang door

Hall Bath

• skim coat walls a little more
• repaint walls
• really, really scrub grout--and if that doesn't remove yellowing, try one of those grout pens I tried all the srubbing possible, and nothing changed.  So I've reached the point of not caring anymore.  Works for me.
• hang at least one picture/piece of art
• install closet door knob
• install hooks where I can hang my work clothes
• install new light fixture

Hall/Living Room/Kitchen/Dining Room

• knock down walls to make these all a single space
• install structural beam to replace structural wall
• patch existing oak flooring where walls were removed
• make new attic hatch
• replace textured ceiling in kitchen
• remove wood panelling and replace with drywall partway done
• remove vinyl floor in kitchen, and lay new hardwoods there and over exposed subfloor in dining room
• commit to new kitchen plans I wouldn't say we've completely committed, but I think our current ideas are pretty firm
• build new kitchen cabinets (at least the lower ones)
• get/make new countertops
• install backsplash
• run plumbing for gas range
• install new sink
• remove windows in dining room, and replace with french doors out to backyard
• buy fireplace screen and make the occasional fire
• replace hearth tile
• make living room curtains (purely ornamental)
• figure out window treatment for front windows that will maximize both light and privacy (plantation shutters?)
• install new baseboard and crown molding
• install doors on coat closet
• fix draft under front door
• install lots of new outlets to bring house up to newer codes for required number of outlets per room
• install new lighting

Utility room

• build utility room--making progress--dismantled exterior wall, installed insulation, and put drywall back up in May
• buy and install new tankless water heater--The water heater is up, and most of the plumbing is done--now for the finishing touches and the gas line
• run plumbing and install utility sink--everything is in place and waiting for the final hook-up once the water heater is ready
• run plumbing and vent lines for washer/dryer--again, everything is in place and waiting for the final hook-up  

Master bedroom

• lay hardwood flooring over exposed subfloor

Master Bath

• give ugly medicine cabinet a cosmetic face lift

Crawl Space

• complete encapsulation
• test house for radon
• enjoy running lots of plumbing and wiring for new kitchen/utility room/great room in new, dry, clean space

Garage

• fix roof leaks 
• continue to work to make this a functional wood shop for P (so he can spend lots of time out there building me new kitchen cabinets!)

Exterior

• paint foundation to complement new stair color
• figure out how to make exterior brick look good after we cut into it to install afore-mentioned french doors
• paint front door a more lively color (it should be easy to beat white)
• work with P's brother A, a professional landscape designer, to come up with an actual design for our landscape
• remove a few more azaleas
• add more plants and beds to continue moving toward cottage garden look I spread 2 yards of mulch, my dad spread another two, and the place is shaping up
• grow a tomato that doesn't rot before it ripens the deer ate my tomato plant, so I added a second, and now they're both a foot tall--while everyone else in town is doting on their already-pink tomatoes
• try to agree on privacy plantings for west property line, and plant them so they have some time to grow
• buy and plant something on east property line  for now, I've filled in some butterfly bushes and purple lovegrass.  Not anything either of us is excited about, but for now, it's better than nothing

June...

Sorry for the silence--I'm not sure where I disappeared to in June.  I'll have to fill you in on what we've been up to--but plumbing in the crawl space doesn't make for very glamorous pictures.

So I'll give you some glamor shots of me instead.  :-)

P needed to take some shots to document my hair, because I was done with it.

So I tied it back, handed him the scissors...

...and we passed the hair on to someone who could make better use of it.

Once the major deed was done, P got cold feet and refused to go any further.  So I had to wait two days until Walmart was open (because isn't it classic that we get into a pickle like this on a Saturday night?), and the lady there straightened it out and added some layers.

Not bad, eh?

May 2011--month in review

We got more serious about tearing things apart this month. But the progress has been slow--who would have thought it would take P three weekends to rough in the waste plumbing lines for our new utility room? Not us!

Guest Bedroom

• hang pictures
• reupholster antique chair
• install closet doors
• fix hinge-bound door so it will actually close

Office

• make and hang curtains
• reupholster footstool
• put laminate on top of craft table
• paint and hang door

Hall Bath

• skim coat walls a little more
• repaint walls
• really, really scrub grout--and if that doesn't remove yellowing, try one of those grout pens
• hang at least one picture/piece of art
• install closet door knob
• install hooks where I can hang my work clothes
• install new light fixture

Hall/Living Room/Kitchen/Dining Room

• knock down walls to make these all a single space
• install structural beam to replace structural wall
• patch existing oak flooring where walls were removed
• make new attic hatch
• replace textured ceiling in kitchen
• remove wood panelling and replace with drywall  partway done
• remove vinyl floor in kitchen, and lay new hardwoods there and over exposed subfloor in dining room
• commit to new kitchen plans
• build new kitchen cabinets (at least the lower ones)
• get/make new countertops
• install backsplash
• run plumbing for gas range
• install new sink
• remove windows in dining room, and replace with french doors out to backyard
• buy fireplace screen and make the occasional fire 
• replace hearth tile
• make living room curtains (purely ornamental)
• figure out window treatment for front windows that will maximize both light and privacy (plantation shutters?)
• install new baseboard and crown molding
• install doors on coat closet
• fix draft under front door
• install lots of new outlets to bring house up to newer codes for required number of outlets per room
• install new lighting

Utility room

• build utility room--making progress--dismantled exterior wall, installed insulation, and put drywall back up
• buy and install new tankless water heater--bought a gas tankless water heater--now waiting for all of the other necessary parts to come in
• run plumbing and install utility sink--P has all the drain plumbing installed, and has begun work on the incoming water lines
• run plumbing and vent lines for washer/dryer--again, drain lines done, and incoming begun. 

Master bedroom

• lay hardwood flooring over exposed subfloor

Master Bath

• give ugly medicine cabinet a cosmetic face lift

Crawl Space

• complete encapsulation I'm going to call it done
• test house for radon
• enjoy running lots of plumbing and wiring for new kitchen/utility room/great room in new, dry, clean space--begun!

Garage

• fix roof leaks  good enough for now
• continue to work to make this a functional wood shop for P (so he can spend lots of time out there building me new kitchen cabinets!)

Exterior

• paint foundation to complement new stair color
• figure out how to make exterior brick look good after we cut into it to install afore-mentioned french doors
• paint front door a more lively color (it should be easy to beat white)
• work with P's brother A, a professional landscape designer, to come up with an actual design for our landscape
• remove a few more azaleas several more down, only a few left to go!
• add more plants and beds to continue moving toward cottage garden look slow and steady, right?
• grow a tomato that doesn't rot before it ripens My one tomato seedling that survived the spring with me is in the ground and starting to grow
• try to agree on privacy plantings for west property line, and plant them so they have some time to grow
• buy and plant Yaupon hollies something on east property line 

Progress is slow, and not so glamorous--but we are moving forward!