This House Project

Getting a house into shape after years of neglect is a very large project. I felt like I needed to encourage myself. I needed to get some idea that I've gotten a significant amount done in the past year and 9 months so here are before and after pictures of the yard.

The yard still needs a lot of work, so I plan to take some pictures to a nursery and get them to help me with a plan to take it to the next level.

It's definitely looking better, but still has a ways to go.

Florida Art Education Association Conference in St Pete

This was a great conference. I went Thursday through Saturday, November 8-10, and did as many workshops as I could fit in. Beautiful location and interesting and enjoyable workshops. 

Great workshop on working with second graders on a project about the artist, Paul Klee; another about making Japanese theme items like the tea bowl, tea tray, sushi tray, etc.; two projects on soft sculptures which involve sewing and stuffing; and another about paper cutting and silhouettes. I got lots of ideas of projects to do with my students and have even incorporated a few already.

I only got to hear one of the keynote speakers, but her talk was awesome. She gave a very personal talk about getting art done despite all of the barriers and happenstances of life. It definitely hit me on a personal level.

So . . . I'm doing some of my own art wherever I can fit it in. Maybe I'll post some pictures later.

Coming Home

Totally cute video about coming home, seeing people you haven't seen in a long time.
: )

Remembering Past Christmases

Robin, do you remember this one? I'm sure you do. Remember the Easy Bake Oven and Roller Skates?

Video: Christmas '67

Golden Ice Plant|Spring Hill Nursery

Golden Ice Plant|Spring Hill Nursery

Front yard falling over the back retaining wall?

Living in Florida
Well, it's been a year and 4 months since we moved into our house; it's been 3 years and a month since moving to Florida. I'm still working on the house, of course. We've painted the whole thing inside and out now. Work on the yard goes on . . . and on and on.

We're finding time to play sometime.

 

We went to an art festival and enjoyed the Florida sunshine. I saw lots of items that I would love to have decorating my house, but I'm not quite there yet.

 

These wire and glass butterflies would look good in my back yard gardens.

 

Ahh, and here are my beautiful children! Having fun down in St. Pete with their mom.

: )

We also went north this summer and canoed down the crystal clear water of the spring-fed Weeki Wachi.

 Takes a lot of effort to paddle a canoe!

 

Got to stay hydrated, you know! We actually had a picnic lunch sitting in the canoe or standing in the clear, shallows at the edge.

 Swimming in the river was refreshing! A constant 74 degrees. Super hot out of the water and wonderfully cool in it.

We really did have a ball. It was my birthday present to myself.

Back to the Yard
I finally did get the mulch pile down to a manageable size, and weeded the front walk flower beds. This weekend the kids and I will go to work on the second retaining wall and cut the grass. I'll put up the before and after pics this weekend.

Since the last posting, we've gotten quite a bit done. The house is painted, some plants set out, a wall built (that's me working on it there), and now I have a couple of other projects needing urgent attention.

Somehow, I managed to have free mulch dumped off in my front yard. A LOT of free mulch. There was a guy driving by in one of those huge trucks that hold mulch. He saw me working out in the yard and stopped and asked me if I wanted some free mulch.

"How much?" I asked.

"Enough to do your whole yard," he replied.

Wow! He wasn't kidding. I filled up about ten wheelbarrow-fulls and dumped them. My right arm is so sore, that I can barely move it today and I barely made a dent in the mulch-pile. You can see it in the before and after pictures below. Weeds in the back and along the side will need to be dug up so that I can put mulch down on it.
The sand in the front is still flowing out onto the sidewalk, so I'll probably have to put another retaining wall there.

I planted red cannas in the flower bed to the left and daylilies in front of the white wall. In front of the retaining wall are flax lilies and ornamental perennial peanut.

So, here are the next steps on yard work:

• Dig out weeds and spread out mulch (that's a huge one).
•  Put in a second retaining wall in front.
• Create a stepped entry into yard on right side. 
• Plant verge with new grass or ground cover. 

I'd better get back to it now. No time to waste.

Product Detail - Light Blue Saiber Rug

Product Detail - Light Blue Saiber Rug

This rug would look great in my house.

Painting the Exterior

We've been working on painting our house for several weeks. We got SO much done the first weekend that I thought we could knock it out the next weekend. Well, the next weekend, I had a lot less help for a lot less time. Remy really hung in there the longest. Then the next weekend, it was just me for one day. The next several weekends were rainy and then this past weekend, I had the flu! How can life be so crazy?

I'll post some pictures when I get it painted.

Hot Water Heater Problems

We heard a popping sound coming from the garage yesterday and found smoke and the smell of electrical burning. Turns out it was the electrical connection to the hot water heater. We turned it off at the electric panel and now don't have hot water. Cold showers and heating water to wash dishes until I can see about whether its and electrical problem or a hot water problem. In the meantime, I'm pricing hot water heaters for energy efficiency and the size family it will serve. Here are 2 that I have come up with so far.

40 Gal. Medium 12 Year 4500 Watt Double Element 240 Volts Electric Water Heater-SE40M12AAH at The Home Depot