We are back at the house today. I believe today’s plan of attack includes dismantling the rest of the greenhouse, and taking on the walls on the main floor.
Last weekend, while Dad and I were taming the outdoors, Dave started on some of that hideous wallpaper in the living room and dining room.
Mostly he just wanted to investigate what the walls were like underneath, but most of it came off pretty easy so he went a little further than planned.
Some of it will have to be steamed to get it off, but it’s almost half done already. And we found some… artwork… under that wallpaper.
I’m not sure who Mary was… but it seems Ruth may have been part of a threesome… or maybe just a love triangle.
There’s also an incredible number of nail holes in pretty much every wall. This place must have been covered in pictures at one time. We have a lot of work ahead to get those walls into a paintable state.
For now, the living areas are going to be set aside. Our first focus is Dave’s music studio. It’s going to be in a room just off the dining room. Since is will house several large and VERY heavy amps, as well as a piano, I want it done before the big move, so we don’t have to move all that heavy stuff twice (once to the house, and then around again as we remodel).
That room is currently panelled. Dave started taking down the paneling on Sunday. There was nothing underneath it but studs, so we have some drywall to hang in the near future.
While Dave was working away in there, I investigated my own studio. We finally settled on which rooms will be what, and I’m taking the small room directly across from the main bedroom for my sewing space.
It won’t be remodeled anytime soon, but it will be getting a darn good cleaning. The previous owner must have been a pretty heavy smoker. The few surfaces I have cleaned so far have been just covered in nicotine. The room is about 10 x 10 (maybe a little larger), and has a nice big closet.
There’s another smaller room down the hall, which will become my work office. I’m so looking forward to having not only more room for both, but completely separate spaces!
The other day, I received the last fabric purchase I’ll be making for a very long time. It was both exciting, and a little bit sad.
I really shouldn’t have ordered it at all, but MSQ came out with something so amazing, I just had to have it. As you know, I like to make/give my brother rather special birthday/Christmas gifts.
We have the same, twisted sense of humour, so it’s always fun coming up with something that will make him laugh. When I saw this panel, I knew it was just the thing.
Yep those are outhouses!
I ordered a yard of two other fabrics (bottom two), from the same line, as well as a nice brown “blender” fabric (top left) to make some blocks to surround the panel. The darker newsprint fabric (top right) is a 108″ backing fabric.
Althought I wasn’t planning on making him another quilt so soon (he got the flannel one for his birthday last year), I just couldn’t resist making him the “crappiest” birthday present ever*!
Of course, I won’t be able to start this any time soon… so much to do, so little time.
Oh… and you may have noticed something else in the top of that box.
These fun beach prints came along for the ride, because I have a fabulous beach-themed quilt planned… when I have more time, of course!
*Word has it that he is makingme an outhouse-shaped bird feeder… sogreat minds think alike!!!
As mentioned a few days again, we were busy at the new house on the weekend. In fact, we spent pretty much the whole weekend there. Sadly, we are not set up to stay overnight yet (that would make it much easier), but we still managed to get a lot done.
Saturday morning, Dave and I got up at the crack of dawn, and were at the house by 8 am, where I immediately rolled out my new lawnmower and gave the yard another trim. About halfway through, super Dad arrived, and while I finished, he and Dave poked around inside.
Once the lawn was cut, he left Dave to the interior, and joined me where we whacked weeds, chopped trees, torn down fences and just generally put the yard in order under a hot, blazing sun.
I was so busy, I completely forgot to take before pictures, so you’ll have to make do with the real estate listing pics.
As you can see from the first picture, there was a little fenced in area. That picture was taken on April 23, and no cutting/clearing had been done in that area since then. It was a mess of weeds – mostly Virginia Creeper, Ground Ivy, and some tall/unknown weed.
Super dad pulled down the old fence, muscled out the fence posts and whacked the crap out of it. I followed along behind and bagged it all up. There were also a couple weed trees he sawed down for me. We are going to rototill this area, add some fresh soil and re-seed it with grass. Some special fencing is on it’s way and that area will be re-fenced as a safe space for our favourite feline trio. Eventually, it will be filled with some garden plants and a nice lawn space that we all can enjoy together.
On the right side of the house, you’ll notice a “structure” up against back of the house. It was a homemade “green house” made by some long-ago and very “inventive” DIY-er. it was made mostly from old windows, and translucent fibreglass panels. While I was excited when we first saw it, further inspection proved it was also about 30 years past it’s prime. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t worth trying to save.
I REALLY wish I’d taken before pictures of it… there are none from the real estate listing – and with good reason. It probably hadn’t been used (or cleaned) in the last decade. It was full of debris, and covered in Virgina Creeper. Dave said lit looked like something out of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and took to calling it the “Kill Room”.
Well, while I tackled the vines and debris, Dad started dismantling the sides. We got all the windows and door out, and the inside completely cleaned up. All that’s left is the roof and frame, which Dad and Dave will dismantle this coming weekend.
While the greenhouse wasn’t worth keeping, it did yield up some very good things…. including a pile of plastic pots which will be useful for transporting the gardens from the townhouse.
Rupert has given them a thorough inspection as soon as I got home that night.
Dad also unearthed this Elephant planter. You all know how I feel about elephants!!!! He certainly made my day! I’m going to have to find a special plant for him when things settle down.
It will be no surprise to learn that I have no sewing to share with you all. As you can imagine, house preparations are taking up almost all my free time.
So, I’ll have to make so with sharing some of Mom’s recent work. You may recall, that she rather talented at fancy quilting – both free hand and using rulers.
She just finished another class where the focus was on quilting in wedges.
The pieced design is very simple, because the focus on this is in the stitching. There’s so many designs in this one, you could spend hours studying them all. Here’s a closer look at just a few.
Wowza! One of these days, I guess I’ll have to up my game and move on from simple loops!
Knitting time is limited, but I like to keep something on the needles for when I have a spare moment.
This is more Wollmiese, the other stripe yarn left over from Paisley cardigan. It’s a dark magenta that reminds me a lot of pickled beets. I don’t actually like pickled beets, but they were a staple in my house growing up – and they are a pretty colour.
The pattern is my Mr. Dress-up pattern. Like other sock patterns I’ve been choosing lately, it’s a pattern that’s not so complicated I can’t memorize it and work on it in small amounts; but also busy enough to keep it interesting. I don’t think these will fly off the needles like Woodland Walk did – but it’s hard to say. It all depends on how quickly things move along at the new house.
Is there anything more un-fun than packing? Well.. there’s probably is, but packing definitely ranks on the list.
Although we were at first delighted to have a couple months for the great move, it has proved to provide a few challenges that moving all at once doesn’t.
Mostly… what do you pack, and when. We are essentially trying to live between two places, but only have enough stuff for one.
Dave has been in a terrible rush to get all the shelves, etc, taken off the walls here so he can make repairs and make it easy to paint for the next tenant. But a lot of the stuff on those shelves is stuff I’m still using, so it can’t just be packed into a box – and now, without shelving, it’s in my way!!! (Think baking canisters that are now taking up precious counter space, of which I already have too little)
I’ve been trying to stick to packing non-essentials…
…and oddly enough, that does mean my yarn. I’ve left out one ball for my next project (yes, another pair of socks), but the rest of the yarn is all packed up.
Burton was pretty intrigued by all the space that had opened up in the studio closet. Just wait until he sees all the closet space in the new house!
As you read this, I’m hopefully at the new house, wading through a jungle of weeds, trying to prepare some space for the garden plants I’m bringing.
But meanwhile, back at the townhouse, things are starting to bloom again
I bought this pretty white Bellflower last year, but this is the first time it’s bloomed.
I didn’t realize how tall it would get. It’s almost to my waist, and looks quite pretty standing out in the garden.
My Dianthans, which were supposed to be annuals, finally seem to be reaching the end of their life (after about seven years). They are pretty, but they certainly aren’t as showy as they’ve been in previous years. A few of them have died off completely.
The Bachelor button is blooming too. It’s apparently a rare version, and I love it because from the side, it looks a little like a thistle … but with out all the prickles. The bees love it too. In the first picture you can see a little sweat bee working away.
I bought this Alium several years ago, and it was called “Eye Candy” and supposed to contain yellow, pink and white flowers. But for several years, I’ve only ever gotten white.
As pretty and dainty as they are, I was a little disappointed. I wanted those other colours. But then this year, as the white flowers faded away, yellow ones began popping open.
I wonder if the pink will eventually make their debut too!
For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been watching as everyone else’s peonies bloomed around me, but mine were still just buds. But finally…
They just exploded into sheer beauty!
The strawberries are finally starting to ripen. But as suspected, I’m not getting to enjoy them. They either disappear completely, or I find them like this.
I definitely need some raised beds at the new place, and maybe some bird netting!
Last, I’ll leave you with my Beardtongue
And oddly named, but beautiful little perennial I have in the front garden! And for some reason it always put up two bloom spikes. One in pink, followed by one in purple.
Wandering Cat Studio 