Garden Prep

Hi everyone,

I'm having a great time digging up my front yard; I've removed four of five ugly stumps and soon I will have a beautiful empty slate for planting a flowerbed surrounding the porch. I've also started digging up lawn to extend the bed out much further into the current lawn space, which is how bungalows are commonly landscaped. It's a lot of work but I love digging in Virginia--the soil is rich and full of earthworms. I will need to add quite a bit of amendment because it is a very dense clay soil, but I have a feeling it will be easy to grow things here.

Because the weather has been so cold and we've had quite a bit of snow, I'm making slow progress. I haven't even bought a single plant at the nursery yet, or had mulch or compost delivered.

But the rose bush I hacked back is putting out baby branches--little tiny ones that are just little "nubs" right now but which will soon grow and, I hope, become canes I can train onto the porch.

So stay tuned for updates as the weather (hopefully) improves.

I cannot tell a lie...

...I chopped down the juniper trees!

Hey, look! It's a bungalow with four pillars. Finally. Now, soil prep and new plants.

Junipers--to chop or not to chop.

The thing I hate most about my house--ok, probably the only thing I hate--is the junipers that block the columns on either side of the porch. They look really pretty here:

But then, so would anything, right? (The world's most awesome new app, Waterlogue, turns photos into watercolors.)

But I digress.

I want to cut down the junipers. They have a yellowish green color that doesn't go well with the house, and they aren't appropriate to the house's architecture at all. And when I sit on the steps they block the late afternoon sun.

The problem is, if I cut them down the house will look terrible for a while and it will be a ton of work to redo the front beds. Not to mention the fact that there are pretty much no other plants on the property, which means the house is just sitting on this bald grassy lot already.

So, I am hesitating. I lie in bed thinking about sawing down the junipers, but they are so mature, I feel guilty killing them. Am I unfairly biased because I grew up in a home devoid of piney evergreens?  Opinions?

On a more positive note, there are some random bulbs popping up throughout the yard. Surprise!

Finally, a Bungacello update!

Hello there, faithful fans. I know you've started to wonder whether home renovation has finally driven me mad, or whether I succumbed to paint fumes or got lost in a blizzard. No, I've simply been travelling a bunch for work, and each time I've gotten home, I've been too happy to just flake out around the house to post an update.

So, here's a quick look at what the house looks like these days. Imagine you are coming to visit! If you're lucky, it will have just snowed. Here's the house after the big snow two weeks ago: 

When you come inside, you are in the lovely entrance hall.

I finally got brave a few weeks ago and started drilling holes in the wall for pictures and things. I even got super brave and hung this adorable coat rack, which is a wonderful green color and looks smashing.

 The front hall is wonderfully welcoming. It's full of light.  I just bought a rug (finally!) the other day, which makes it even homier. My mom's wonderful bookcase, which used to hold all of her books about running and gardening, lives in the front hall and holds lots of books about books. See the bit of blue tape on the door frame? There are loads of those around the house--all the places where I need to do some touch up. I'm just not in the mood to open a paint can yet, for some reason. I'll get there eventually.

 When you look into the living room, you can see that the beautiful built-in bookcase is finally done! I still need to paint it. I've got some art up on the walls, and other things in progress. This lovely piece is a present from my dad--it hung in my parents' living room for many years. I need to get it rematted but I keep putting off going to the frame shop. I can't wait for it to hang over the fireplace.

 If you're anything like me, once you're in the house, you will immediately sack out on the couch and admire the vista into the foyer and stairwell as soon as you possibly can. Most exciting in this picture is the light coming down from the stairwell. I FINALLY had the stairwell fixture installed last week.

Speaking of lighting, the same day, Marshall, Robbie and Bobby installed the undercounter lighting in the kitchen, too. WOW!

The kitchen is absolutely fantastic. I love having a dishwasher. See the cute decorative wooden scrolling over the sink? I had John, the carpenter who made the bookcases, add that in. Most people pull those OUT of kitchens when they remodel, but I think they're adorable. If I'm going to have a circa 1960 kitchen, I'm embracing it. 

Next up is the most wonderful thing ever:

Can you believe it? Look at that fantastic combination of things: gas stove with range hood, a beautiful cabinet and open shelving.  There are a few things to work out (like, the missing IKEA shelf and the lack of a permanent countertop) but it's a wonderful workspace. It looks like the cabinet has been there forever. In fact, I have to explain to people who visit that it's brand new--they can't believe it, because it really seems that it should have been there all along. John did a great job building it to fit perfectly. And there's room for all my stuff. Just to remind you, here's how they had it before I bought the house:

Just because it's so pretty, here's a closeup of the stove area. I installed the little hanging rack myself! Drilling into plaster is way easier than I thought. In fact, it's much simpler than mounting stuff on drywall.
 

Here's a fun little thing I asked John to do: he cut a cat sized mouse-hole into the bottom of the door between the kitchen and the pantry so the cats can get to their litterbox but I don't need to look at the litterbox--or the rest of the pantry, for that matter. They took to it immediately. I think it's half hilarious and half adorable. I still haven't gotten around to sanding it down and touching up the paint (not to mention cleaning up that awful door handle). One step at a time.

Just behind the pantry, the guest bathroom has actually started to come together! The washer dryer are finally stacked (as of last week) and the washer works. The dryer is being set up tomorrow. I've been hanging everything to dry for WAY too long.  As you can see, this room is definitely still a work in progress. But it's so civilized I can't quite believe it.

Finally, I'm just going to give you one glimpse upstairs. What I love about this house is having two stories: I can keep the mess upstairs! And mess there is, indeed. I still haven't finished fully setting up the bedrooms. But because it will ALWAYS be messy, I'll give you a quick look at the sewing room, which I've been putting to good use.

It's wonderful! Tons of workspace for all my projects. And, of course, there's plenty of room for a cat assistant or two.

Adios for now, dear friends. Now, please come visit so you can truly enjoy the house in person!