Were we really crazy?

Wow!  Things have been crazy around here.  We had WONDERFUL house guests last weekend: Ry's bro, Dave, his wife, Renee, and their son, Cayman.  And Ry's sis, Terri and her H, Scott, got to come by Saturday night, too. 

So much fun: talking, laughing, eating, drinking and making merry! And then the Chief's game! oh, yes. (sorry, Renee, but, at least this year someone went home happy!)

As it always seems to happen with house guests, you rush-rush to finish up all those tiny details, which is great, but can be tiresome.  One of mine was to finish up the office (not there yet...but almost!), and in the midst of my getting organized, I ran across a couple of pics from the home inspection report that was done before we bought the house.   Here's the before and afters of the deck and under the deck. I think this gives you a really good taste of where this entire project began.

Here's the upper deck.  The broken railings are obvious, but it's really hard to appreciate the sad state of the wood.  I don't believe the cedar had ever been retreated.  And there was that weird greasy/oil stained area in the lower right of the photo. Oh, and some rotting boards, too.

We repaired the railing, replaced the rotting boards, powerwashed, sanded and stained the deck.

Here she is now.

She'll need another stain job soon!

Here's below the deck. This was great!  That's all gravel and tree-like weeds growing there.  The rotting hot tub was filled with grody water and tadpoles. yummy.

The gravel was contained by the Pavestone blocks.  And the gravel wasn't really thick enough to cover all the mud and dirt, that's why we had so many of those tree-like weeds growing in there.  We cleaned, rebuilt and moved the hot tub, poured some patios, put in a stone path and landscaped under here.

And here's the after.

Man, looking at these before photos make me question our sanity.  I think I have forgotten the level of disrepair this poor house had been left to.  But it also makes me thankful that we have the opportunity to bring her back and really make her ours.

And while we're at it, we are having some windows replaced in our bedroom. I was taking pictures of the workings of the casements for window guy, and got this pic by leaning out the window from our bedroom.

It sure looks pretty from up here! Makes me want to add a door and a deck off the bedroom.  Think Ryan will go for that?

Linked to FIF at Chic on a Shoestring Budget and RemodelAholics!

Sewing some Custom Curtains

There are gorgeous windows on the back of the house, especially in the Living Room. But they MUST have curtains to block the sun during the hottest part of the day. Luckily, there are enough trees to provide some shade, as I have no clue how I would cover the really big windows on top.

Here's the windows and curtains before we moved in.



I was lucky enough to find THESE curtains at JC Penney Outlet. They were having a 75% off sale on curtains AND I was shopping with my mom. She, of course, had coupons for an additional 15% OFF. Love HER! Thanks, mom! So, we got these curtains for about $50!



While I really love these curtains, Ryan and I both felt the room needed more...Something?

AGAIN, I get to turn to my fabulous SIL at Modus Operandi Designs, and she suggested something "beefier" and also suggested raising the curtains to just below the big Palladian windows. (I pay her back in wine and Chiefs tickets. I wonder how that's working out for her, because it's working out GREAT for me!)

The don't make "off the rack" curtains in the length I needed: about 105". Custom was going to cost me a minimum of $3500. Another option is "made-to-length" curtains, which would cost a minimum of $1800 for what we want. (These prices ONLY include the curtains, not the hardware)

SEW, I get out the sewing room, which consists of me dragging my sewing machine and ironing board out into the middle of the Family Room (which, you KNOW Ryan just LOVES.)

Pluses to working in the Family Room?

1. It encourages me to finish up the project quickly, since all my crap is in the way.
2. I get to iron while I am watching TV!

We waited until Jo-Ann Fabric had their 54" Decorator Fabric on sale. We got the fabric at 65% off: bringing our total spent to just under $300. Still a lot, but a significant savings over full price and a HUGE savings over having someone else make them. I also asked the clerk at Jo-Ann to cut my fabric into four equal pieces, which saves me time AND they cut very straight at Jo-Ann. Me...? Not so straight.

First, I ironed in double hems on the tops and sides and then stitched them. This could also be done with double sided Ironing tape with no problem. In fact, that could have saved some time, as I was ironing anyway. The ironing process would take a bit longer to get everything heated well enough to bond, but there would be no sewing.

We bought some nice, heavy wood rods and rings and installed those. (Cost: about $150) Then, after the top and side hems were complete on the curtains, at my mom's suggestion (still loving her!), I hung each panel and pinned the bottom hem in place. Since we open and close these curtains daily, I didn't want any puddling on the floor.

After pinning, I ironed in the double hem and stitched again! And then hung them all.

The LONG TIME Before:

The Middle Before:

And the AFTER:

And then just one more picture with them open!

Raising the curtains makes the room feel more substantial and raises your eye up, where before it stopped at the top of the old curtains. And the heavier rods make more of a statement, too. AND, we were able to reuse the OLD curtains downstairs in the Family Room! YAY! I'll post that pic soon!

Funny side note: Ry and I thought we were really going out there on the color of the curtains. They have ORANGES and GREENS and even TURQUOISE BLUE in them! Once hung??.......they look pretty BROWN...HAH!

Six Degrees of Gardening

Okay! ONG offered up a Six Degrees from Favorite Sports Team to Gardening Throw Down. Never one to miss out on some friendly competition, I was in.

First, however, I struggled with my fave sports team, being the Mizzou and Razorback gal that I am, so ultimately decided on the town's favorite heartbreakers, our Kansas City Chiefs.

1. The Kansas City Chiefs are scheduled to complete a $375 million stadium renovation to Arrowhead this year. $250 million is being funded by Jackson County tax payers (that's yours truly) through a sales tax.

2. 250 million cubic metre of ash spewed from the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull, which began erupting March 20, 2010.

This caused over 100,000 cancelled flights and delayed travelers, including Fabian Forde and his two sons. Fabian is a deputy manager at an electrical supply company outside of London.

3. The Electrical Power industry in the UK was nationalized by the Electricity Act of 1947. One of the local authority undertakings that was merged into the East Midlands Electricity Board was Burton Upon Trent: a town known for its brewing heritage.


4. Heritage Brewing is a Canadian brewer who brews seasonal ales, including one called Maple Brown Lager. (They say the beer has the aroma of maple, the smokiness of a sugar camp and the rich colour of amber maple syrup. It sounds yummy!)

5. Maple Brown Lager is made from the sap of trees found in Eastern Ontario in Lanark County.

6. Lanark County is home to Rockwall Gardens,which specializes in selling a wide variety of hardy unique perennial plants.

and BAM! I'm thinking this could be a winner. It combined current events, history, a human interest element and BEER!