Mind the Gap

I was in the basement at just the right time to notice the sun coming through a small gap between our doors.

I wrote to the door company and it would appear our contractor hasn't installed the astragals and weather-stripping yet.

We're starting a list of little things for him to finish when he comes back to work.  It's hard to believe we're at the point of dotting our i's and crossing our t's -- for the outside stuff at least.  Woo-hoo!

Break Up? Or Stay Together?

I had an onion rotting in my kitchen.  

On a whim, I stuck it in a pot.  Boy was it happy.  It split into four parts and I don't know if I should separate them or leave them together.

Anyone?

Devil Grass

 I HATE Bermuda grass.

It grows straight out of the concrete and it seems like nothing kills it.

I've been reluctant to use anything too toxic, so I'm trying something I found online:  a mix of salt and vinegar, plus a dash of oil so that it sticks to the blades.  I spray it on early in the morning so the sun has all day to fry it.

I'm starting to see the slightest hints of progress...

Cubbies

As you walk down the stairs, we have all sorts of opportunities for built-ins.

I think these little spaces by the landing would be perfect to hold magazines.  (They're just under the floor of the main floor of the house.)

We're also planning some bookcases and drawers.  It's hard to get a handle on how best to use the space since it's only about 10 inches deep.

Behind Door Number One

Our contractor put a door on the room the staircase is in, so we can keep the dogs out of the basement.

Rob wants to open this wall up and lose the door, so the staircase feels more integrated with the rest of the house.  I like having the stairs behind closed doors because it feels like there's just another room in there, you have no idea there's a whole other floor the house.

This room used to be our bedroom and I can't believe we lived here a year and a half before getting a door for it.

Carrot Top

I let a carrot go too long in the garden and it started to get really tall.

Curious, I let it keep going and now I have these beautiful white flowers.  Who knew?

A Pot to Piss In

I don't even want to say how long we spent looking at toilets, only to buy pretty much the first one we had considered.  It's got a sink above the tank so that the tank fills when you wash your hands, etc.

We discovered the sink was cracked when we took it out of the box.  We don't know if it happened in shipping or when the basement got robbed.

Sigh.  It looks like we'll be buying a lot things twice...

Under Lock and Key

The hardware is finally installed on the basement doors.  It had to be done before the wood covering the stairs to the main house could be taken off -- otherwise the whole house would have been left unlocked.

It's, unfortunately, a classic case of locking the barn after the house was stolen.  A couple of weeks ago, someone got into the basement and stole the exposed shower set and faucets to the sink.  

We feel pretty stupid for letting that stuff sit down there when the space wasn't locked, but the contractor had thousands of dollars of construction supplies sitting in the backyard for over a year and nothing's been touched until now.

The worst part is, we think we know who did it. 

Tis The Season

I thought amaryllis were supposed to bloom in December.  Hm.  Ours seems a little confused.

The First Step

It was a momentous day today at Goodin's Folly.

The boards covering the stairs to the basement were removed and now the whole house is joined together.  It's now twice as big as when we bought it.

It seems like a l-o-n-g time since we got the stairs approved by the city.

In The Can

The basement is getting closer to having lights.  And not the $300 kind.

We had a steel frame built to hold the recessed lights and to act as a base for the blue board once we are ready to plaster.

In the mean time, all the cans are up, the wiring is almost done and all we really need are a couple of switches! 

The Source

Our contractor thinks the leak in our basement is being caused by the cold joint where the old foundation meets the sistered foundation.

They've been excavating and are going to reseal it.  We'll have to test it to see if that does the trick before doing any of the finishing work in the basement...

Seeded

This is broccoli gone to seed and below is my red romaine lettuce.

The broccoli bolted pretty quickly.  It never headed up properly, possibly because I never fertilized it the way I was supposed to.

Oh well, at least it looks pretty.