Front Hallway
Living Room
Office
Bedroom
Three Coats of Poly
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This gallery contains 11 photos.
The floor guys finished up yesterday and I finally got to walk barefoot on my new floors! I’m going to wait a couple days before I move the heavy furniture back in (just as well, because I don’t want to … Continue reading
Three Garbage Bags of Sawdust Later
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Empty House
Gallery
This gallery contains 18 photos.
The day has come! My flooring guy came at 8 am to start sanding down and polyurethaning all the old pine floors in my house: bedroom, office, living room and front hallway. In the kitchen they’ll strip the oak floor … Continue reading
Which White?
So, back when I was buying tile for the shower, I ordered white tile molding pieces from an online shop. Then I picked up cheap white subway tiles from Lowe’s Depot (only $0.23 a piece!). When I had both sets of tile together and ready to go, I noticed that “bright snow white” is definitely not as bright or white as “coconut white.”
Anxious to get the tile installed (this was, I think, month 8 without a functioning shower), I said “screw it” and had the different color tiles installed. After all, the molding was for around a window and the slight color difference was more of an interesting contrast than a mismatch.
However, that same molding was also going to be used to top off the tile that was going to go up half the wall behind the sink and toilet. I just couldn’t have contrasting whites there, right? So of course, I go to order “coconut” colored subway tile and for some reason they are $1 per tile. But what’s another $250 compared to a finished bathroom, right?
The Heat is On
Well, I made it to December 2. Tonight is pretty chilly though, and it’s already 55ยบ in the house at 10pm, so I’m turning on the heat. Now I just have to wait 12 hours til the floor heats up…
November sun
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Goldfish Revival
A few years back, Em and I picked up a Goldfish plant at the Flower and Garden Show. It bloomed in our sunny apartment, but after moving to the house it declined slowly for a couple years. This summer I pruned it back severely, kept it watered, put it outside, and played it Mozart (ok, maybe no Mozart…). And lo, good leaf growth and, yes, flowers on the way! Hooray!
Proto-leaves!
Garlic
This November has seemed warmer than usual, but freezing temps are surely around the corner, so it’s getting late to get the garlic in the ground. Garlic cloves get planted in the autumn, establish roots over the winter, grow leaves early in the spring, and the new head is ready to harvest by late June/early July. But if I don’t get the cloves in the ground early enough before the soil freezes, the heads of garlic won’t be as big as they could be.
Seed cloves spaced apart and ready to go in the ground
This year, after pouring over the choices from Seed Savers Exchange, I decided to go with three hardneck garlic varieties: Chesnok Red, Persian Star, and Georgian Fire. (Hardneck varieties tend to have stronger flavors and fare better in storage.) I prepped a raised bed with some sifted compost and laid out the individual cloves six inches apart, one variety per row. I think I got about 30-36 cloves in, which should yield a great haul next summer.
Three rows of cloves
I’m looking forward to seeing the curly scapes in a few months and doing a taste test!
Dad’s new knee
Aside
My head contractor is going in for a bionic joint upgrade (some call it “knee replacement”) today. Wish him luck (and wish me luck, too! He’s not going to be able to help me on the house for a while!)