Decorating project

I have been anxious to finally get some art hung up on these bare walls. It is kind of sad how little decorating we have done considering the fact that we have lived here for over a year. Ok, yes our attention was focused on other, more important things. But a house without decor is like a cake without icing! And who wants to eat a dry icing-less cake? Not me!

So we have had in mind to do an art wall on one side of our living room for some time. Finally I wanted to get started. I really wanted to hang up my poster from Hitchcock's Vertigo on the wall because A. I love it and B. I thought the orange would pop so well against the icy blue of our walls. The problem was that I decided the poster was just too big to be included on the art wall. Also maybe I had this nagging thought of "Hey now Abby, you are a real adult. REAL adults don't hang movie posters on the walls unless it is in their home theater. Do you have a home theater? No??"

But I digress. I decided to chop my beloved poster down to a smaller size and frame just a chunk of it. This way I could make it more artsy and less postery and it would be a more digestible size for my wall. Here is what the original poster looked like - don't worry, it wasn't original or anything close to good quality. It had rips and tape pieces from when we had it hung over our very steep staircase in our old apartment and I had to jump up and rip it off the wall when we moved.

I found this interesting frame at Aaron Bros (one penny sale score!) and just moved the matte around until I liked it. I decided that I liked the font too much to cut the text out completely, but I didn't really want it to include whole words. Also I wasn't crazy about the idea of my wall saying "Hitchcock's piece".

Finally I stuck it in the frame, and voila! New art!



Now to finish framing some other things and hopefully our cake will soon be iced!

First Harvest

We have been busy as ever at This Old Blog. Just wanted to update you on our first garden harvest. These cherry tomatoes are so delicious! I think it is especially true with tomatoes that nothing really beats the taste when they are home grown. They make store bought tomatoes taste like white bread.

Growing new things!

Today we put in our 2010 veggie garden. As usual we started by sprouting some seeds a few weeks back. To these plants we picked up a few additions from our neighborhood nursery Green Acres. Everyone and their mom were at the nursery today, I swear! Here is a shot of the contenders!

As you can see we have quite a boat load. Hopefully at least some of them will make it! Among the plants are cantaloupe, cucumber, honeydew melon, zucchini, spaghetti squash, cilantro, basil, bell pepper, cubanelle pepper, leeks, chives, corn, beans, acorn squash, two different kinds of tomatillos and four different kinds of tomato! Wow!

The garden area started out a dreadful mess, but Mr. House has been very busy working the ground and getting it ready for planting. This is what it looked like before we really dug in.

Mr. House expertly crafted nice rows and we laid out the plants to figure out where their new homes should be.

After more hard work we got them all in the ground and ready to provide us with a summer bounty!

As you can see from this final shot, fruits and veggies aren't the only things we are growing!! ;)

Happy Anniversary!!

Well it has been a whole year since we signed the papers on our house!!! In that year we have learned many things and made many improvements but somehow there are those things that never get done. We have had this todo list on our fridge since we first moved in. . . with many things still not crossed off! Instead of talking about all the things we have accomplished, I thought I would share all those things we haven't gotten around to because that is just the kind of mood I am in.

1. Fix entry door sill

Basically there is nothing under our front door. Quite ugly

2. Install switch plates

OK so this one is like 95% done . . . but for some reason there are a few bare light switches and power outlets around this place. Really bugs me.

3. Label circuit breaker

The few labels that are actually preexisting on the breaker are mostly incorrect. So basically we have little to no idea what is controlled by what. Makes doing electric work loads of fun.

4. Install laundry storage

We had dreams of a beautiful countertop and some upper cabinets and shelving. I really want to rig it so we can have that thing where your detergent sits above your washer and you can just like push the little thing and have it pour directly down into your washing machine. Would really love that.

5. Install window coverings in garage.

"Look everyone walking by! Here is all our junk!"

6. Paint all trim and doors

Yeah, this really need to get done.

7. Install master bath floor

Putting something nice and like . . . waterproof over the old wood floors we have in there would be just wonderful.

8. Re-install baseboards

This is absolutely #1 on my would really like to get done list. I can't even express how much it bugs me to see this ugliness. As an added bonus, when sweeping the floors you can just sweep all the dirt under the walls! Works wonders!

To start the second year in the house I think I will start a NEW list and see how that one goes.

New additions

We bought some new fruit trees last week and got them in the ground.

Meet Mr. Bosc Pear

Hello Mr. Pear, pleased to meet you.

. . .

And here is Ms. Nubiana Plum

Why, it's pleasure to make your acquaintance Ms. Plum.