Spring has Sprung

Death by Clipper

I don't know what it is, but I L O V E killing trimming back invading grape vines and rose bushes (pretty much anything that takes over another plant). I could spend an entire afternoon (and have) playing tug-of-war with vines. I had been meaning to give them a whack over the winter, but never got around to it. But, this last Saturday, with the temps near 80, the death toll rang. I spent a good couple of hours untangling the wild rose bush and grape vine that was taking over the corner of our property and trees.

I don't know what it is, but viney things, beware!

I (Heart) Reusing

A little while ago, I came across this post from Family Fun that gave directions on how to make a simple woven rug using a hula hoop. I gave it a try and quickly fell in love! They are cheap and easy to make. For roughly $21, 24 shirts from Goodwill, and probably 10 hours I made this rug. (It is approximately 2x4'.)

April Rain Brings...

ducks.

Can you spot the Misses?

Trim Work, Tedious Trim Work

The back bedroom is down to finish work. Through Kevin's slight addiction to the router, he made almost all of the molding for the room. We decided that this time we'd prime the knots with an oil based knot sealer because ugly stains are showing up in the bathroom molding.

(We got smart this time and marked where the studs where. Not only did this help with nailing, but also finding the filled in holes when I came back through to paint!)

Kevin also has had some finagling to do around the chimney. He did a fantastic job figuring out how to hid the transition from dry wall to brick.

Kevin's precision measuring made it so that we had just enough wood to make all of the trim we needed, but a couple of pieces need some work. So, after buying a little bit more, we are ready to make the final pieces!

March 23

Sorry, it has been almost a whole month since I have posted anything. We have been busy, though--not all working on the house. We took a nice vacation, visited with dear friends, worked some on the house, and shoveled some snow...

No Curtains

I confess, we haven't gotten around to putting a curtain on our bathroom window since we moved in...but, the window is really high and way in a corner. Ok, with that being said, I have been hemming and hawing about whether to hang a curtain or to fashion some atypical window covering. It is really in an awkward location, shoved against one wall and above the toilet.

Today, I solved it! Contact paper. Check it out:

(Although you can't see it in this artsie photo, the stencil matches the stencil on the wall.)