one year

It has been one year since we officially joined the ranks of homeowners. So at what point did I stop calling it the “new house” and start calling it “home”? Probably sometime around month 8 of our being here. In our first 7 months in the house we basically remodeled everything but the bathrooms. (click here to see the before and afters) We did some landscaping, but not much. We did some work outside, but not a lot, mostly focusing on the inside, so that it would feel like home. Then, we took a much needed home improvement break.

But, yesterday was our one year anniversary of owning the home. And you know what that means…. Time to kick it into gear and finish off some projects, start new ones. Focus on landscaping now, so the lawn will be nice come spring and summer. Work on the little things around the inside on rainy days, and get some of the major projects done this spring. We’ve already started one. We, and by “we” I mean “DH”, ripped out the second shed. I listed the scrap metal on Freecycle, and a guy and his son showed up to cart it away. Not only did those wonderful people take all the scrap metal, they took all the ancient paint – about 10-15 cans worth – with them too! Bless them. Seriously. I had no idea what I was going to do with all that old paint. They apparently run a salvage business, and have the means of disposing of the paint. God bless them. A thousand times over. A true answer to prayer. So after those Angels-in-disguise took away all the junk, the kids and I went out there yesterday while DH was at work, and started raking up the weeds and whatnot (the kids mostly dug holes in the dirt) to get the area ready for grass seed. Which is why I did not get around to posting this yesterday. By the time the kids went to bed, I too dang tired to do any blogging. Anyway, here are the pictures:

second shed - 2007
The right side of the yard – February 2007

Demo!  the best part of any H-I Job!
Demolition! The best part of any Home Improvement Job! – February 2008

second shed - 2008
Right side of the yard now – February 2008

Wow. It looks so… so…. open. *S* The tree, as you can see, is slowly coming down. That is part of Phase Two of this project. I know, I know! People keep saying, “Why?!? Why take down the tree?” Well… It’s a berry tree. And as such, it draws bees when it flowers. Those bees keep finding ways into thePinkDiva’s bedroom (that’s her window there, next to the tree). Not fun. Especially not with the the screaming and the hysterics that always goes along with a bee in her bedroom. Ugh. Once the flowers are gone, the berries drop, and get mashed onto the bottoms of shoes, which then run through my house, leaving a tracks of brownish-red everywhere on the nice carpet. The shoes must love to run out there and then track berry yuck through the house all on their own, because the kids never admit to it.

For those of you who have been following along will remember the deck.

deck 2007
The deck – February 2007

deck 2008
The deck – February 2008

The more observant ones will notice that the bottom piece is gone. Not only that, but the grass has already grown in there, nice and thick. I do need to get some hedge trimmers and shape the bush next to the deck. I’ve found the stumpy remains of another bush on the other side. What to do with the the bush is up in the air, but I kind of like it.  I’m thinking of digging up the remains of the old one and putting in a new one on the other side.  Symmetry people!!  It’s not just for art! The Tree though. It has to go. I know! I know! what is it with me and getting rid of trees?? Right? Well, this is another Berry tree. Not only does it draw bees and shed berries which get tracked through my house, but this one gets the honor of a “Guard bee” all summer long. A HUGE bee that literally dive-bombs anything that gets near the tree, birds, bugs, squirrels, small children. Yea. So not fun, and not conducive for getting my kids to play outside in the summer. Thing is, I like the thought of having a tree there. So… part of the Tax refund/rebate money will go towards getting the tree replaced. I really want a Flaming Maple. I think it would be awesome, and less bee-attracting, but I’ll settle for anything non-flowering. Of course, I need to start making the calls to local nurseries now, to see if anyone has a partially mature flaming maple or other non-flowering tree that they can come out and replace this one with, before it starts flowering.  And with our wacky weather, it’s already budding.  UGH!   The deck itself is showing the effects of several years of no one taking good care of it.  Most of the wood is splintering.  So that is also on our “to do with the tax money this year” list.  We love the deck the way it is right now, so we want the same thing, but built out of composite, or whatever they are calling that new stuff that looks like wood, but isn’t really, therefore extremely low maintenance.

But to celebrate our first year, here’s the pics of the house, then and now:

Feb 07 - house
The house, February 2007.

Feb 08 - house
Same house, one year later – February 2008

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