AN OLD-FASHION WEED PULL

This past weekend, I found myself in the rare position of not having to work. Any other freelancers out there, particularly those with kids and no nanny budget, know what I'm talking about. Usually, weekends do not exist. Neither do evenings or early mornings, but I digress. And so on Friday as I saw three projects come to a close, I had the realization of whoa, hold on, I don't think I have to work this weekend. Hooray! Weekend!

Sadly, my husband was not in my same good fortune. He still had to work. There would be no big family outings or other such revelry. (Although we did go to dinner on Sunday night, alone, because it was our anniversary for pete's sake. Thank you Siobahn!)

Saturday morning I woke up with a big smile on my face. What to do? What. To. DO?? I scooped up my sprite (Thora) and we had our usual morning of breakfast, making a pinwheel garden in between the couch cushions and Caillou. Then we took it outside.

I am very fortunate in that my child likes to tool around the backyard as much as I do. She has a gardener's heart. With her little bucket and shovel and sunhat, she can sit in the gravel for ages, coming up only to request bubbles or for you to fill her watering can. So while she filled and emptied her bucket on repeat, I did some weeding. And trimming. And watering. And planting. Thora helped me sow seeds for carrots, beets, romaine and spinach. All of which I expect to suffer tragic ends because it is much too late in the season for these cool veggies. But I really don't care. It's more about the experience and getting our hands dirty. We planted peppers, beans, cucumbers, squash and tomatoes a while ago and they are, dare I say, flourishing. Regardless of how my seeds do, there will be some green back there.

Then we had pbjs and blueberries and I sent her off to nap. And this is where things get heroic.

A few weeks ago I tackled the front yard with the weed whacker. You may recall my embarrassment while bragging about our tree? I also got half way through the side yard before I thought my hand was going to vibrate right off, so I quit. The back half of that side yard sat in the back half of my brain, nag nag nag. Out of the corner of my eye, I would catch the weeds creeping up to our bedroom window, taunting me, reminding me of my weed whacking failures. Heavy sigh.

Then today I remembered this post at Picardy Project. That girl is 9 months pregnant and know what she did, she PULLED the weeds? Why had I never thought to pull the weeds? We have always weed whacked the front and side yards, foolishly thinking it was faster and better. But now that I thought about it—it's messy, the chords are a pain to deal with and you don't get the roots. Duh!

I grabbed my bucket, gloves and Hunter boots and with great determination, I was off to slay my dragon.

You can see how far I got last time. And of course the weeds that have popped right back up. But does this visually represent the gravity of those virgin weeds? Let's try again.

There we go. That's knee-high, baby, and about 15 feet. And I'm just getting over a sinus infection. Sinuses aside, I jumped right in. And wouldn't you know it, totally easy. Those weeds are tall but their roots are puny. And truthfully, pulling those weeds was like meditation for me. It was gratifying and I like taking care of the things I care about, even when it sucks. Besides, I was done in 40 minutes.

Still ugly as butt and primed to grow right back. But for now, and pending any unlikely rain, this eases my mind. I no longer have to lie in bed seeing the shadow of those weeds outside the blinds. I do not have to imagine the rodents and spiders and snails and ants setting up shop three feet below my child's window. Heavy sigh of relief.

Now if I had a few hundred bucks to spend over here, I know exactly what I'd do. First, I'd hire someone to come over and level out this dirt. It is very compact clay and higher than the house. That's bad. I would level it out then put down weed screen then fill it with gravel. I also want to plant a bamboo outside our bathroom window since it is in direct view of the neighbor's bathroom. I know what color his toothbrush is. Ew.

Then I'd take down that fence in the back and put up a new one at the front of the house. I hate that someone could easily walk back here. Let's put a stop to that. Not sure what to do about all the nails sticking out of the side fence. Thanks neighbor!

And of course patch the stucco, replace the windows and paint the house. Haha! Now I'm all stressed out again.

Let's hope for another work-free weekend soon. This time with all THREE of us. And honey, I promise I won't make you weed the side yard. Happy Anniversary!

CATCHING UP » THE LIVING ROOM

The living room has come a long way. Not all the way to completion mind you, oh no, not ever. But certainly a far cry from when I first laid eyes on it. We started here:

Looking at this picture is surreal. We were so full of excitement at homeownership, not yet jaded by costs and time and the general stress of it all. We were downright gleeful eating our McDonald's and ripping out that carpet, sitting on those patio chairs. I purchased those two yellow pots for the front porch from Smith & Hawken before we even closed on the house. Silly me thought we'd be working on the yard in no time!

We gave everything a good scrub, took down those dusty curtains and hung temporary paper blinds in their place. (Little did we know those blinds would hang for two years!) Then we moved in.

What happened next was chronicled on this very blog oh so long ago, here, here and here.

After which we were left with this, and it stayed this way for a very long time. Until we found ourselves with a baby en route and simply could put it off no longer. It was straight-up dangerous with that exposed fireplace and no flooring.

Enter a good friend and carpenter who happened to stop by one afternoon to talk shop with Mike. He took a look at our wall and I told him my plans to replace the bookcases and add a mantle and somehow put the TV up there because the room is so small and we need all the floor space we can get, and how should I reframe those windows and blah blah blah. His response? I could do that for you, totally easy, no big deal.

Our jaws dropped. Are you serious? Are you some sort of angel sent from above? YES! YES! YES! Was our resounding reply.

What followed has been a couple years worth of random weekend drop-ins, each one with another step towards progress. I mean, he's a busy man with a full-time job and a family and a serious commute. I get it. And we are very happy with the results. What's left to do is attach plate rail across the windows/wall and trim out the bottom of the cases and we can call this a wrap.

Verdict: LOVE. They are aesthetically simple and very functional. The varied heights are more interesting than what was there. The glass doors are a nice touch and the bottom cupboards are great storage. Our friend built and installed the cabinets and mantle. What did Mike and I do?

• Cut the fireplace tile down by one and a half rows so that the TV wouldn't be too high.
• Added insulation to the flue, sealed off the smoke chamber of the fireplace with a board since there was no damper. Should be added we also put a steel cap on the chimney outside, per our inspector's suggestion.
• Caulked and painted everything—walls, trim, bookcases, mantle, tile and inside of the fireplace.
• Hung some doggone blinds, thank you very much

The built-in on the left houses our photo albums, some books and DVDs in the bottom. Baby-proofed or else I'd be picking up DVDs every. single. day.

The bookcase on the right gets a little more action, being near Thora's play zone.

The top shelves I use to display objects inspiring to me—a collection of mini-zines, my favorite Campus Cuties etc. It's a work-in-progress. These shelves are not nearly full enough!

The bottom is all Thora, all the time. Books, puzzles, crayons. This is her hub. She loves it. She opens those doors with ownership. She knows how not to pinch her fingers and sometimes, if I'm lucky, she'll even put some stuff away.

The rest of the living room follows suit. Half for Thora, half for Mommy and Daddy. I hope to one day remodel the addition on the back of our house into a playroom/guest room/home office and all of this will move back there. Until then, this works out dandy.

Here is her little Kritter table and chairs set from Ikea. That doll was a birthday gift, handmade in my hometown and others are available here. Apparently her name is Meep.

On the opposite wall is an Expedit bookshelf full of toys. Expedit is a requirement for all 21st Century parents, don't you think? This is one of two that we own. The other is in her room and doubles as a bench. That glider has got to go. It served its purpose for nursing and things, but today it is a hazard. I'd like to replace it with a pair of chairs and have been on the prowl for ages.

I love this lamp. What should I fill it with?

What's next? After finishing the bookcase wall of course...

A new couch. I hate that couch. I am so over that couch. It's a pullout that we bought when we first moved to Northern California. It was from the clearance section of a now-defunct Levitz. And I hate it. We used to have this amazing sofa from Williams Sonoma that I got off of craigslist when we lived in San Diego, but it didn't fit in the moving truck! Tragedy.

Obviously, the floors need to be refinished. I'm actually glad we didn't do this right away. If we had I would've stained them very dark. Today, I would do a lighter, slightly grey, walnut look. Cha-ching.

New windows of course. I'd like to do real wood windows here and in the dining room, since they are part of our curb appeal. Then vinyl throughout the rest of the house.

Decorate! We need art in this room. Bad. Some personalization would be ever clever.

Gone is the shag, the popcorn, and of course, the rotten wall. In its place is an in-between room, a make-do. Livable, but not designed. I think it's a far cry from where we started!

I SEE A RED DOOR

Well actually, it was more of a salmon color, and dirty white. But you get the idea. I wanted to paint it black.

So I did.

Oh my goodness, isn't that SO much better? It's down right rich. An instant upgrade to a sad, old door.

This was my weekend project, completed during naps, afternoons and one whooping Saturday night. That morning as Thora and I walked out this very door to run some errands and play, I asked Mike to please take it off its hinges and set it up out back. Upon our return, we had lunch and I sent my munchkin off to nap. Tangent: My child takes glorious 2-hour naps everyday at noon. It's fabulous. If you have a little one, it's all about schedule I tell ya. Give your child a consistent schedule every.single.day and reap the reward.

Anyway, in order to take full advantage of said nap, I needed to complete all work in the Thora-accessible zone. I started by touching up the frame with white paint—much easier to do this with the door off anway.

The original threshold, or rather, thresholds, seeing as there were two stacked on top of each other, were worthless and the door too short, creating a mighty gap for a cold breeze. I couldn't wait to take them off and start anew. One went straight to the trash, the other got a good cleaning. Since I knew I would be adding length to the door, my hope was to make this single threshold work.

Once it was cleaned up, I reinstalled it then surrounded it with painter's tape. It was getting a fresh coat of Oil-Rubbed-Bronze spray paint.

While I was at it, I taped the mailbox too, getting it ready for the same black as the door.

I was able to get all of the framing touched up, two coats of spray paint on the threshold and one coat of black on the mail slot before Thora woke up. Yes!

Mike took over Thora duty so I could continue this project in the backyard. It was critical that we got that door hung back up in one day. You just can't NOT have a front door all night around here, know what I'm sayin'?

So, oops I forgot to take process pics, but here is the gist: The previous owner had already added an extension piece to the bottom of this door, but obviously it wasn't long enough. I picked up a piece of .75" x 36" poplar at Home Depot then attached it to the bottom of the door using 3" wood screws. Amazingly, it was the perfect size and required no cutting. You can sort of make out both layers in the above images.

Then I taped all the windows and got to painting. The plan here was to get all the painting done that would be in the way once the door was hung, meaning all the edges. Then put the door back in place to finish. Which is pretty much how it went, and how I ended up painting my front door on a Saturday night. The neighbors across the street were throwing a party while I worked. I must've looked pretty rocking sitting on the floor in my pjs, just me and my paint brush. It should be noted: normally I would remove the hinges, strip them, give them a clean coat of Oil-Rubbed-Bronze etc. Which is what I've been doing on all interior doors, one at a time. Just a little, you know, tedious. But since the plan is to ultimately replace this door with something brand new, I just didn't think it was worth it. So guess what I did? Shame of all shame, I painted the hinges black.

By the end of Saturday I was able to paint the threshold and mail slot, extend the door and get the first coat of paint applied. On Sunday, during nap time, I finished the second coat. And heck, while I was at it, I painted the front too.

Behold! I added a draft dodger to the door itself, which sealed the gap between door and threshold.

It's not perfect, this door is far from perfect. Poor thing has been painted a million times, scraped over and over by a wheelchair, patched and coated in silicone more than once. It has battle scars, 100 years worth. But I think it works for now, which is likely exactly what the previous owner said. In the meantime, we will save our pennies for the door of our dreams. And I can finally get the Rolling Stones out of my head.