Too much pressure

The Young Grad has been pressure-washing for me this week. Suddenly the house looks quite all right with the grime gone from the gutters and the stucco walls washed down. We're using a cleaner that's "not harmful to pets plants or people." Johnny thinks it would be easier if it actually was harmful to moss. It doesn't want to come off the concrete walks.

Fixed/replaced the downspouts! It has been hard to find the right type without going the expensive way and calling in the gutter people to supply and install them (last time I did that it was several hundred dollars.) But Johnny and Nellie's former teacher had a bunch of pieces at her garage sale last week in the free pile, so these are Mme. LeGoff's downspouts.

There are only a few days left (and most of them I will be working at the office all day) before I feel I have to put this little place up for sale. Before all the potential buyers take off for summer vacation and the market slows down. And there's way too many things on the to-do list: Install kitchen cabinet handles, deal with the crawl space, paint baseboards and interior doors, install interior doors and door handles, paint the exterior trim, get rid of the weedy mess around the garage... I'm trying to figure out whether it makes sense to add construction of a small deck off the back of the house. More of a viewing platform, I think, since I only want it to be about 6 feet deep. Should I really be adding another project to this long list? (I won't be building it myself, fortunately, Joe would do it.) Or should I just spread some pea gravel around the area and paint the ugly concrete step? That might involve some jackhammering of asphalt and a lot of wear and tear on the old joints.

Spend, spend, spend

Never had a real, new bed before. I remember one garage-sale special that collapsed when Tom reached over to answer the phone early one morning. (Honest, that's how it happened. It was Cecilia Walters phoning about a news story.) Rob, who's staying at the house short-term, had only a box spring and mattress (half his household is still in Vancouver) and it seemed like a good idea to make things look less temporary for the house-hunters who will soon be coming through.
So I got the bed I've always wanted, but for now it is only a prop.

The cardboard trick

A wet and muddy weekend, but the plants seemed to like it.

I learned this planting method (and many other useful things about gardening) from Michael Cowan of Edibella Organic Landscapes. He calls it cardboard mulch, Peter calls it "the cardboard trick." Mary, for the record, says it doesn't work. It's not perfect, but it sure beats digging.

We dug deep holes for the plants and filled around and them with compost and dirt, then laid cardboard all around them, covering all the grass and soil. Then lots of fine bark mulch on top. The idea is the sod and weeds will die under the cardboard, which will slowly decompose. The reality is there are often breakouts of grass and weeds, but you can always add more bark, or cardboard, or landscape cloth over the whole thing, then more bark. I didn't think I liked bark, but I've realized weeds don't like it as much as they like growing in compost or dirt, so it saves a lot of work.

Also, tried the trim colour on the windows: "Noble Grey". Too wet to pressure wash the rest of the house, and not enough time, so let's hope we can do it tomorrow.

Details, details

Amazing what light fixtures and tiles can do for a place.
I always wanted subway tiles. The sconces are upside down though. I will try to turn them the other way if there's enough slack in the wiring.
It's starting to feel done in some rooms, though there are still closets to finish, washer and dryer to hook up, touch-ups on the drywall and painting inside and a whack of painting and landscaping and stucco repair to do outside.
Last night we hauled some bamboo, variegated holly and a pine and a few other plants to the house and plunked them into holes in the lawn to see how they looked. All I've really wanted to do all this time was to place that bamboo clump in one particular spot next to the front bedroom window. It's felt like the whole point of the purchase in my mind. So now it's there. I'll try to get pictures of it tonight.

Meanwhile at Fallingdowne...

Things are looking pretty neglected.

Before and after

In no particular order.
Does anyone know how to turn these photos right side up?

Preoccupied with occupancy

Feels like I've had my head in a paint can for the last week. Sometimes I look like it too. It has been a rush to get the house in livable condition for today, when Rob arrived to stay for a month while he starts a new job and looks for a condo.

After months standing empty, the little house is about to become someone's home again.

It has been a lot of hours and a lot of help from others. I caved in and hired help with painting - and Zach saved the day, getting many rooms done over a
couple of evenings, after his day's work was already done.



Somehow the plumber and electricians got almost everything hooked up and working. Joe did the bathroom sink and our friend John installed the countertop, which I had stupidly mismeasured the first time around (I knew I didn't know what I was doing. Remind me never to try to measure a complicated countertop again.)
Anyway, here are the results so far:




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Now, time to start work outside, where the grass is out of control, but not as out of control as the bindweed.