Here comes the sun

When we were designing our house, we made a point to pay attention to the direction of the sun and to put large windows where we wanted a lot of light. This was great this winter, when we benefited from the heat gain.

Now that spring is here, however, we don’t want the heat gain. The past few several days have been really warm and the sunlight has poured into the house.

Luckily, we had anticipated this and have been installing mini blinds (1″ aluminum) in various rooms ever since we moved in.  We started in the study, because the morning sun was blinding us and I was wearing sunglasses when I worked at the computer.  Then we moved on to the living room.  In recent days, Pete has installed them in our bedroom and the girls’ toy room, and we’ll soon hang them in the girls’ bedrooms and the kitchen.

When we want lots of light in a room, we pull the blinds up and they’re not even noticeable.  When we want to deflect some of the sun’s rays, we angle them so that the sun doesn’t shine directly in, but we still have plenty of the light in each room.

If you’re thinking about doing this in your home, you need to know that light colored blinds will reflect the light and heat, but dark ones won’t.  Also, aluminum blinds might be more expensive up front, but they’re friendlier to the environment than plastic blinds would be.  Plus, if your aluminum blinds ever break, you could actually recycle them, but you can’t recycle the plastic ones.  And believe me, plastic blinds will break — we know, because we had them in our last house and we ended up replacing every single one at least three times over the course of nine years.

So that’s what’s going on here this week.  Actually, that’s not quite true.  We’re also preparing for our first major party (around 65 people) here on Saturday, which means that we’re cleaning house like mad and making the children work on their bedrooms.  We’ve more or less finished the patio, but that’s another story for another time.

Garden porn

Oops!  It has been a couple of weeks since I last posted.  Sorry.  I’ve been pretty busy at work.  But, the good news is that I have been busy around the yard too, as I’m pretty good at finding odd bits of time here and there to work on little projects.

Take a look at the kitchen garden:

Yep, we’ve started planting.  And by “we” I mean the younger girl and me.  She is an amazing gardener.  On Sunday afternoon she helped me plant asparagus and she doesn’t even like the stuff.  I’ve also put in two kinds of tomatoes, three kinds of peppers, and one kind of bean so far, as well as various herbs.  The peas and lettuce are doing well and I’m hoping to actually get to eat them next month.  I still need to plant pumpkins, soybeans, bush beans, cucumbers, one more variety of tomatoes, and various flowers to attract bees and butterflies.

Along the fence are the six blueberry bushes I planted on Sunday and over on the right are six raspberry plants.  In both cases, the edges of the mulch are still pretty messy, but I was in a hurry to get the plants in the ground so that growing could commence.  I also need to build supports for the raspberries, but I figure those can wait for a week or two.

Eventually — and by “eventually” I mean either next year or possibly one horribly hot day this summer when I take leave of my senses — I’m going to put pea gravel paths around all the gardens.

I went over to our old house this week and thinned out some of the plants there.

Here’s the old fashioned garden that I mentioned a couple of weeks ago.

In the past couple of weeks, I’ve added more plants, although it’s hard to tell in this photo.  I’ve also laid down stepping stones from the gate to the soon-to-be patio, mulched around them, and planted Creeping Jenny as a groundcover.  Yes, I know Creeping Jenny can be invasive, but I love the bright chartreuse color, plus it’s cheap and easy to propagate.

Coming up to the gate, this is what you see:

The main way to get to our back yard from the front is to take this path from the driveway.  I put lavender on the left — some established plants from our old house, as well as several new plants — and lambs’ ears in front of the trellis on the right.  The younger daughter also planted morning glory seeds in front of the trellis, so we’re hopeful we’ll have lots of flowers climbing up the trellis this summer.

As for the aforementioned patio, it is  still very much a work in progress, although we’re planning hoping to finish it this weekend:

I know, we still have a lot to do.  *sigh*

Instead, how about if I show you one of my cute planters:

More soon — I promise!

An old-fashioned garden

Even though I prefer modern architecture, I actually like more old-fashioned gardens. Our old house had several English-style cottage gardens with lots of colors and no real order. However, that type of garden is surprisingly more work to maintain than one would guess, so I’ve decided to scale back with this house.  At this point, I’ve only planned two old-fashioned gardens, neither of which will be very large.  Here’s the one by the back door:

I know, it doesn’t look like much now, but I’ll make sure to post photos later this summer when it looks nicer.  So far, I’ve put in bee balm (green plants on front right), a lilac (behind the bee balm), a Sarah Bernhardt peony (the round support on the left), mixed coneflowers (middle), and foxgloves (back left).  I plan to do a line of annuals (vinca or petunias) along the rocks edging the bed.

As for the rocks, each and every one of those was unearthed during the excavation process and we have plenty more for future use.

The dirt area in front of the bed already gets a lot of traffic, so my plan in the next few weeks is to continue the path from the gate on the left around to where the patio will start over on the right.  Then I’ll cover the dirt with mulch and plant a ground cover (probably Creeping Jenny) for weed control.

The other old-fashioned garden will be by the other gate, which has an arbor.  Once I get that area planted, I’ll post photos.

Odds and ends

As soon as we moved in, we started working on a list of things that we needed Jeff the Builder and the guys to change, fix, or generally tweak. We kept a running list on the side of our fridge and, as we noticed things, we’d add them.

Yesterday, the guys came over to work on the list. So, for a few glorious hours, we were all together again. Did I remember to take photos? No I did not. Am I aggravated with myself about this? Yes I am.

Jeff had read this post about my frustrations with our kitchen sink and had a backsplash fabricated for us. Here’s what it looks like:

Upstairs, we discovered pretty quickly (as in, the day we moved in) that the paint on the wall behind the ladder to the secret attic was getting scuffed up. As it happens, we had a piece of diamond steel left over from when the guys had cut the piece for the kitchen peninsula. Pete hit upon the ingenius idea of using it to protect the wall:

And, just when I was feeling sad that we won’t be seeing Jeff the Builder and the guys anymore, it turns out that they might be back in June!  Pete and I have been looking everywhere for a garden shed that wasn’t absolutely hideously ugly.  We couldn’t find one, so JtB and crew are going to design and build one to match our house.  To say that I am excited about this development is an understatement.

I’ll have more garden photos for you soon.

In the garden, spring edition

Last fall, I told you about how I had started working on our kitchen garden.  Now it’s time for you to see what I’ve been up to lately.

In the fall, I built three 4′ X 8′ beds and I just recently added two more:

I had planned to add a 6th bed, but the bed on the left is near the gate, so there’s not enough space for another one.  Instead, this summer I’ll just make each bed 2′ longer toward the right, which will give us 200 s.f. of space for veggies and herbs.

I’ve allocated the space along the fence for blueberry bushes.  I’ve ordered three each of two different varieties that produce early- and mid-summer berries.  Eventually, I’d like to add a strawberry patch, raspberry bushes, and a couple of grapevines, but I haven’t yet decided where those will go.

Meanwhile, we’ve already started planting.  Last fall, I put in garlic, which will be ready in June.  Last month, I planted peas and lettuce in bed #3.  (They’re numbered 1 – 5 from front to back.  Bed #5 will be dedicated to asparagus, which I’ll plant next month and probably start harvesting in about three years.

I’m going to add compost and mulch to all the beds next month, then in late April and early May will put in tomatoes (2-3 varieties), peppers (2 types), beans (2 kinds), edamame (soybeans), pumpkins, and various herbs.  (Bed #4 has a large flower pot in one corner already — that’s for mint, which I want to contain so that it won’t get out of control.)

So that’s what’s going on in the kitchen garden.

More soon.

A blank slate

As I’ve mentioned here before, I’ve been looking forward to landscaping our new yard.  I love having a completely blank slate.  And believe me, other than a few trees along one border and grass in most places, we don’t have any other vegetation.

A few weeks ago, our older daughter and I spent some time planting along one side of the driveway:

We put in a ground cover of phlox in mixed pastels and then, about five feet back from the driveway, we put in a line of butterfly bushes that will bloom dark purple in the summer.  And, within a couple of years, the phlox will have spread to the point that it’s a continuous mat of green most of the year, with an eye-catching display of flowers every spring.

Here’s what it looks like after a few weeks of growth:

You can’t really see the bushes, which are only 12″ tall at this point, but by the end of the summer, they’re going to look amazing.

The muddy area at the lower left is where the path to the backyard will start.  We’re going to re-shape the grade a bit, then put down a ground cover and stepping stones for the path.

In both photos you can see the rocks that are part of a large drainage culvert.  I’ve ordered burning bushes to surround that area completely.  My plan is to have some sort of color year ’round — the phlox will bloom in the spring, the butterfly bushes in the summer, and then the burning bushes will be gloriously red in the fall.

Unfortunately, this section of our yard from the driveway over to the border is mostly mud from the construction and the ground is completely compacted.  This is the place where materials were stored and where there was the most foot traffic.  Since it’s just a bit of side yard, I’m not overly concerned about the grass and I’ll probably just keep laying down mulch and planting phlox until the entire area is filled.

Play rooms

The final three rooms I’m going to share with you are our play rooms.  Yes, the adults have play rooms too, as you will see.

Up on the second floor, the first space you come to at the top of the stairs is the children’s toy room:

All decor courtesy of Mattel and American Girl.  This photo was taken the morning after we had a 3rd grade sleepover, which should explain the mess.

Across the hall from that is a wee nook that is the craft room (a.k.a. Jen’s Toy Room).  This is a tiny space that wraps around the stairwell and would be otherwise useless:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.  I know, it’s still a mess.

There’s just enough space in here for a double bed, so we’re working on a plan to bring one in whenever we need it for guests.

Down in the basement is the final play room — the Man Cave. Our basement is half front-loading garage and half rec room.  We walk through the Man Cave whenever we are coming from the garage into the house, so it was important to me that this room look reasonably decent.

Here’s the keg fridge:

Here’s the main part of the room:

We still need to clear out some clutter and hang pictures.  Our eventual plan is to have some games, like air hockey, skee-ball, and a pinball machine.

Here’s a shot of the movie theater:

About the seats:  A couple years ago, an old movie theater in our town was renovated for a different use.  All of the seats were going to end up in the landfill, but someone grabbed them all and let the citizenry know that they were free for the taking.  Pete and I went over to the warehouse where they were being stored and there were hundreds of them all over the place.  We took eight and brought them home.

Of course, before we could use the seats, they had to be cleaned and then assembled.  Pete spent a while prying off old gum, then we scrubbed every nook and cranny with scrub brushes and even an old tooth brush.  Then we cleaned the upholstery.  Twice. Then Pete built a two-level platform for the seats so that people in the back row are slightly elevated.

Needless to say, our children and their friends love watching movies at our house.  Pete has a video project that hangs on the ceiling and is wired to the DVD player and whatnot.  At this point, the movies are shown right on the wall, which is white, so we really don’t need a screen.

So that’s it for all the rooms in the house.  Up next:  Garden porn for anyone who might be interested.  I’ve already bought loads of shrubs, flowers, and bulbs, with much more to come.

Living in a box

Have you seen this article about houses made from shipping containers?  If you scroll down to the 9th photo (Adam Kalkin Quick House), you’ll see a house that we actually considered a few years ago.  I’m not kidding.  I still think it’s a fabulous re-use of materials, but the cost was a bit much given the space and the house was a bit too snug for a family of four.  But, it’s still fun to look at and imagine the possibilities.

Greenhouse

I’ve mentioned here before how great the light is in various parts of the house, particularly the living room and kitchen.  Here’s how we’re taking advantage of that light:

The top photo is a portion of the seedlings I’m starting in the living room and the bottom photo shows some of the herbs I’m keeping in the kitchen window until they can go outside.

I just ordered a Meyer lemon tree that I’m going to put outside during the warm months and then move to the living room during the cold months.  I’ve heard of other people having success with Meyer lemons as container plants, so I’m crossing my fingers that I’ll be just as successful.

Inside the closets

Before I move on to other rooms, I’ve been asked to show photos of the inside of Pete’s and my bedroom closets.

We have side-by-side closets that are 5′ wide and 3′ deep.  We wanted them to hold a lot since we don’t have any excess space in our bedroom.

Here’s my closet:

Originally, we were going to put in customized shelves, drawers, and hanging bars, but I couldn’t find a system I liked  that didn’t cost a small fortune.  I spent months researching different options and agonizing over the possibilities.  Finally, I decided that simplicity was my friend.  We had the guys put in a single hanging bar and then three shelves above it.  Then, we added other pieces of furniture that suited our needs.

On the right side, I tucked in a small shelf we already had and am using it for my sweaters and scarves:

The laundry basket on the bottom shelf is for my workout and gardening clothes.

On the left side, I have my shoe storage:

I also have a hook just inside on the left for my robes and have hung a full-length mirror on the inside of the right door.

So that’s my closet. 

Pete’s is the same, except that he has a dresser instead of various shelves. Oh, and his closet is very messy, which is why we agreed that his ‘n’ hers closets would be best.

I know I’ve promised photos of the toy room, craft room, and man cave, but we’re still working on them.  I know, it’s taking forever.  But!  I will have some gardening and landscaping photos for you soon.