How Does My Garden Grow This Year

For the past couple of years I have posted pictures of my garden and the yard work in progress.  As you can see in this before picture we have made a lot of progress in the yard from how it looked when we bought the house.  I still have lots of ideas I want to do.  Getting a new fence is at the top of my list but will have to save up for it.  I want to plant a hedge of flowering bushes along the fence which will have to wait until the new fence goes up.

 For now getting our raised vegetable planter boxes finished and planted is my goal.  I got the first one finished and planted with three tomatoes, one cucumber, two red peppers, basil, lots and lots of onion sets, carrots and a row of flowers in the front.  I am hoping to get one more planter finished and planted with beans and a few red potatoes. 

We started this project last spring and just were not able to finish it before summer and then as it was so hot we decided to do it in the fall but that didn't happen.  This spring I was determined to get them done.  The beginning of May we worked on the large planter shaped like an L.  It was 12' on the two back sides by 4' wide and 8' long on the inside.  We had enough left over wood to make a 4'x4' planter.  After making it and filling it we decided to remake the large one into 3 4'x4' planters.  So much easier to make and fill and maintain.  Hope to get one done tonight.  Anyway here are the pictures.  I forgot to take pictures during all the digging and removing a large 2' tall pile of dirt that was in the way of the planter box.  The dirt was used to fill around the garage foundation.

This is a watermelon plant that I hope will grow.  Last year I grew a spaghetti tree (see earlier post from last fall) and I hope that I will get a watermelon tree this year.

This just a random picture of Freddie after his hair cut. 

The new doorway

The above and below wallpaper were behind the trim we took down.  The two different wallpapers appear to have been up at the same time.  The woven design was on the bay window wall and the other pattern on the other three walls.  Many layers of someone's life being removed, layer upon layer.  I assume that the paper covered the whole wall.  At some point they put texture on the walls so they could paint them.  The base boards were placed over the wallpaper.

T

 This is a small amount of wallpaper that we found in the living room.  This is the room that has the maroon wallpaper by the fireplace.  Many layers of wallpaper.

 More wallpaper.  After finding many different patterns and layers of wallpaper none appear to be William Morris wallpaper which would have been really neat.  He was a very popular designer during the Victorian Era. 

 We found this old window roller shade behind one of the walls that we took out.

 The medallion made it down safe.  I have been doing research one the best way to restore it and not damage the plaster.  Still researching, I might end up just cleaning it and paint over it and not take the risk of damaging it.

 The ceiling after the medallion came down.

These two pictures are from the kitchen looking into the living room.  I love how the light from the window comes into the kitchen.  Does anyone want to buy an wood burning stove?  We used it the first winter we were in the house when the old 50 - 60 year furnace gave out.

The new doorway.  It is nine feet tall and three feet wide to give you an idea of the height of the room.  As you can see, the wall is still almost three above the doorway.  This is looking into the kitchen from the living room.

Week 3 1/2 of the Remodel

 Looking up the stairway from the front door.  The bottom three stairs will be wider when done with a  Newel Post on each side of the stairs.  On the right side of the stairway will be bookcases.

 Looking at the front door from the back of the living room.

 From the dining room into the living room.

 In these two pictures I am standing halfway up the stairs looking down into the foyer and living room.

 The following pictures were taken of the work that was done today.  They knocked out the new door way from the living room to the hallway/kitchen.  I love how much light the comes into the kitchen from the living room.  I am loving having more light in my rooms.  They all seemed so dark before and kind of depressing to me.  I love the light and the outdoors. 

 Looking into the living room from the kitchen.

 Looking into the kitchen from the living room.  Still a little bit of work to do.

Week Two of the Remodel

 There is a bathroom at the top of the stairs that has the coolest sink.  The rest of the bathroom was not so cool.  The shower head was in the middle of the shower and hit you in the head, the shower was about 24 inches wide and deep.  I forgot to measure it.  The toilet area was not much wider.

 You can see the weird way we used PVC pipe to try and make the shower head be usable.  After all the work we did the pipe would not drain, so we still couldn't use the shower for guests.  The cold water was the only one that worked in the sink as the hot water would not go off.

 The sink is really neat so we will be saving it to use when we rebuild the bathroom.  We will build a vanity around it.  I love the handles, the pull/stop and the faucet.  I am saving the mirror for now but I don't know if we will use it.  The glass and the shelves are in pretty rough shape. 

 This was the back of the bathroom from the attic.  The wall board was used after lathe and plaster and before sheetrock was used.  The holes in it are used to hold the plaster on the other side.  It is interesting to see how things have changed in construction over the years. 

 All that is left now are the water pipes and some wires.  We will replace the door with double French Doors when we finish the attic and make it into a family room.  We will put in a new bathroom after we get the downstairs done.  So this is the before and during pictures.  Hope that in the the near future we will have some after pictures.

Days 4 and 5

 This wallpaper is on the bottom of the wall, as you can see from the two pictures there are two different wallpapers.  I wonder who used this room.  If walls could talk, what a story they could tell.

 This was a very exciting find in the dining room.  In the following pictures you can see what it looks like. 

 These two pictures show the side view and part of the front of the fireplace.  It is shaped like a triangle.  We will leave the back side uncovered.  After it is cleaned up it will look amazing.  I had Joe stand in the doorway so you can get a feel of how tall the doorways are and the height of the ceilings.

 The new living room without the true 2x4's.  We still have the supporting 2x4's to remove.  We are waiting for the structural engineer to come by.  Will also see what to do about doing more earthquake proofing.  There is a cable running about a foot down from the ceiling in the middle of the living room and at the far wall.  This will be a wonderful large living room.

 The front windows in the dining room.  The above is with the wall still in place.  And the below with it removed.  The ceilings were lowered in 1941 as we found on page of a old newspaper dated Oct 1941.

 Wonderful pipes and huge holes cut in the wall going to the kitchen from the dining room.  These can easily be removed.

 The old knob and tube wiring.  Still being used--for a few more days or weeks then good bye.  The wires are just laying on the floor of the attic.  Very scary.

 Just one of the huge piles of old ceiling.  We have filled one dumpster and have started on the second one.

Old wall paper.

Day Three

 This is the view from the front door.  More of the wall on each side of the stairs will be coming out.  Will be so grand looking compared to before.

 This is quiet disappointing.  No ceiling medallion.  But still very impressive.

 The old wallpaper.  The solid wallpaper goes up about 18 inches on the wall and onto the ceiling.

 These two pictures show the room from different ends.  We were going to have it be two room, one a small office and the front would be the living room.  After seeing the two rooms opened up we both decided we like the idea of one large room.  The door at the end of the above room will be moved to the right side of the picture. 

 Fun wall paper from long ago.

The big disappointment, only one ceiling medallion, but it is so impressive.