Beautifying the Yard

I went to Lowe's this morning for various reasons. I was hoping to score some patio cushions on sale. I did find some on sale--even one marked "Loveseat." Unfortunately, when I got home the cushion I picked up was laughably small. Back to Lowes.

One of my other exciting purchases though was an assortment of plants that were 1/2 off on clearance.

I planted some carnations out front.

A butterfly flower near the mailbox

 and a placed a variety planter for the back deck.

I also wrestled the stump from that boxwood I dug out a week or two ago. While I was over there I finally picked up that old indoor outdoor carpet and threw it in the trash.

Also, did I mention that we were going to have some fresh vegetables soon from our garden?

Floor's Finished!

I finished tiling the floor and grouted it. We've been very busy otherwise, so we haven't gotten much else done.

Jeremy's parents came over tonight and his Dad put the durock around the tub. All we need now are some cabinets...

Oh yeah. I've been doing some gardening. I wish that this were an amazing transformation and that you would be all "Oohhh" and "Ahhh" but it's not. I had to suit up and tackle some of the poison ivy in around the stump by the driveway. Here's the before, after, and me. I wore long sleeves and rubber gloves to avoid actually getting poison ivy. That was Friday... and I'm still good right now. We'll see.

 Before

After

 It looks the same... doesn't it?

Furnished Bedroom

You got to see some pictures of the finished bedroom. Here's what it looks like with furniture in it!

Inspired Post

Okay, so usually when something is "inspired" it's a good thing. I was inspired to write this post about something I HATE about this house. Don't get me wrong, I love lots of parts of this house...

Like our wide staircases,

cool chromed light switches,

 sleeping kitty cats,

and figure eight pattern, which lets you get into every room in multiple ways--three entrances!

But I HATE the blue bathroom, which is our current main bathroom with a shower. I was inspired to write this post because I had to shower due to meeting some friends for lunch tomorrow. I usually love showering and make it a daily habit. Here, I put it off for the following reasons...

The seven thousand shades of blue, which you will note flipping through the pictures.

The scary wallpaper.

 

The lack of space around the sink. This lack of counter space and mirror in the corner cause you to be unnaturally close to the mirror. Then I can see every possible flaw that probably doesn't need to be addressed. Then I have to stay in the bathroom, all the while getting more grumpy about being there.

The stark lighting.

The small towel rack.

It's awkward layout.

The maroon door trimmed in gold.

The funky mirror medicine cabinet.

The unclean-able grout. I sincerely doubt they used yellow grout. Or dirt grout. Both of these have been scru-ubbbbed.

The blue toilet.

The untameable hot water. It takes several minutes to heat up and then there's no going back. Once you think you've got a tolerable temperature you can shower for a little while, but watch out for the 5 second bursts of scalding water.

The EXTREME LACK OF WATER PRESSURE. This is the kicker. It takes me a full, unexaggerated 20 minutes to shower. I have to comb the soap out of my hair and brush the soap off of my skin to get it come off. I would probably be better off washing my hair in the sink.

We have GOT to get the other bathroom finished.

Slow on the Update

I've been a bit slow on showing progress lately because I finally found/unpacked my camera charger. I couldn't really do anything until my camera had some charge to take some pictures.

We spent a lot of time working on getting the old tub out and the new tub in. The men (also, me) lugged the tub upstairs and spent many hours adjusting the pipes. We still have a very slow leak between the drain and the tub that we're working on, but here's what it looks like so far...

I've already learned a lot that a I didn't know. I made a short list of what I learned from this project. I already feel significantly more knowledgeable about everything plumbing... but adding to zero certainly makes it seem taht way.

1. You should scrape the burrs caused by the pipe cutter so that they don't get in your water system.
2. Some drains need a bushing (I really prefer to call them blushings) to adapt to the size of the tub stopper. 3. You put plumbers putty between the drain stopper and the tub.
4. Trip levers systems are the kind with the stick that you push up to hold the water in the tub.

In other news, the tub's really comfy. I can't WAIT to take a bath!

Project #2
Today I started tiling the floor. I waited until Jeremy got back with some tape for the durock and then started laying the floor. I'm doing it in quarters, just like my research tells me. Here's how it looks so far. I wish I could take the spacers out and show you without--then you could decide if you can see the tile seams or not.

 Me using the tile saw

 Laying the tile

I'm at a stopping point for the night because that little bit took me 3 hours...