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What Did the Pink Panther Say...

When he stepped on an ant?
Dead ant, dead ant….

The exterminator guy came Saturday morning, forcing poor Mike (another post) and the kitties upstairs and Adam and I to the Farmers Market.
We signed up for a whole year of monthly treatments. The guy found a fledgling wasp next outside the toolshed and sprayed the perimeter of the house inside and out. With any luck (they’re guaranteed) we won’t have any more basement centipedes, kitchen ants, and things that could sting and kill me.

The Ants Go Marching One By One... AAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHH! ANTS!

In a fit of cleanliness yesterday morning I emptied the dishwasher and put in the dirty dishes. I even wiped up the counter.
Foolishly, I disregarded the piece of fruit peel in the sink.

When I got home early Thursday (Adam has strep, another post…) I discovered that ants had discovered the fruit peel and had sent a small battallion to take over my sink.

I cleaned up, sprayed kitchen cleaner everywhere and squished about 250 ants. I didn’t see any for the rest of the night and was relieved. We were sure to clean up after dinner last night, except for one small piece of shredded cheese.

Thorns and Vines

This weekend wasn’t nearly as productive as last weekend.
Our front door remains unpainted. The weather was a little too chilly, too windy, too “it looks like rain” to warrant yanking the door off again.

I picked up all the branches and sticks in the yard so that Mike could mow. Our grass was nearly knee-high on Adam. I dug up some weeds and a thistle bush from the yard. Finally I turned my attention to the garage.

Frosty Beverage Action!

Since Ms.NoH says everything we do is HOT, I propose that once our backyard is done we chill some beer, blend some margaritas, fire up the grill and have some fine backyard chillin’ action.

We might even want to take the fire pit we bought on clearance at Target last fall for a spin — s’mores at twilight anyone?

YAY! Summer is on it’s way!

Hot cable-pulling action

This morning, Kirstin and I decided that, while the porch in in a half-finished state, we should get the various types of data connections set up while it’s easy to do.

I called our porch contractor and asked him of he’d mind cutting an extra hole in the drywall tomorrow if I could have the wires all pulled this evening.

Later this morning, I sent an email to Luke. Luke lives across the street. Luke has power tools and experience at putting holes in walls, both of which I lack.

This afternoon, I received a response from Luke that he’d help.

House PR0N

In a late-night moment of weakness a few weeks ago when I was trolling This Old House’s website I subscribed to their magazine.
My first issue was waiting for me in our mailbox, accompanied by a Bed Bath and Beyond flier to educate me on their latest consumer offerings. Why does the universe hate me?

Looking at TOH’s magazine is, I suspect, a little like surfing actual P R0 N (see how I don’t want to get spammed there?). Some things I read are very tittleating (oooh…. bamboo kitchen countertops…), out of budget (solar hot water heaters), or just plain odd (mortaring rock veneer to your house!)

It’s an addiction, I know. I’m sure there’s even a support group somewhere for wannabe house renovation addicts can get together and help each other work through their affliction.

Porch Progress - day one

This morning at 7am our contractors showed up for what we assumed was a half days work of demolition. They started about 7:15 and by time I walked out the door at 8:30 the porch was completely gone except for the bits that were supposed to stay (the roof and the 2 supporting posts.)
By noon hour they were framing and when I arrived at 5:45, the porch was framed in with all but one window and 1 screen door fixed.
Very cool.
Of course, as they say, the devil is in the details. Drywall, electrical, lights, and trim are still left to do by the contractors.
We’ll have to figure out what we want for flooring AND paint it ourselves.

Coming Soon... Our New Backyard!

When we bought the house we were excited to have a screened-in porch in the backyard. After we moved in we started to notice how much work the back porch actually needed.
Real windows, better walls, new carpet, doors that aren’t falling apart, a paint job…
We had a guy come by and give us what seemed like a very reasonable estimate to fix up the porch and put in a patio in the back yard. We agreed to the price and signed all the paperwork. Our guy said it would be 3-4 weeks before they could start. YAY! We’d have a new porch by Memorial Day! Verrrry exciting.
Friday we had a message from him letting us know that he had a break in his schedule and could start Monday if that was cool was us…
…
Hell yeah!

Paint Ball Bunnies

Friday morning Adam and I wasted 10 minutes staring out the back door watching a cute widdle gray bunny (CWGB) nibbling on our grass.
Since Friday, CWGB, has appeared every morning and continues to nibble on the grass.
I have no problems with this. I like Nature™.

This morning, CWGB was back, and he brought at least 4 friends with him, including Collosso-Bunny(CB) which appeared to be about 30lbs. I sincerely hope CB is male, otherwise SHE will be dropping about 20 baby bunnies in my back yard very soon.

The presence of 4+ hungry, agile, urban rabbits presents me with a new set of problems.

My Old House

Recently I told the TiVo that I wanted home and garden shows.
It delivered… and then some.
I got sucked into 4 parts of a DC row-house restoration on This Old House.
Absolutely gorgeous! Stunning! Inspiring!

I have a love/hate relationship with TOH. The houses they film are breathtakingly goregous, the renovations superb… On gigantic historic gorgeous houses, owned by people with seemingly endless pocketbooks. who consult people who specialize in historic renovations.