DIY Trenches and Fences and Stair Rails and Ceiling Patches

For 203k compliance, we had to fix the drainage on the side of the house by digging a trench, running plastic pipe, and filling with gravel.

(Trench)

We were also required to patch the backyard fence.  Eli’s ashamed for me to post the fence picture, but for those of you (LK) who have seen me do quick kca-style “don’t spend too much time or money”, you’ll understand:

(Fence Patch)

We also had to mount a stair rail for safety.

(Stair Rail on Left)

We had to patch a bunch of ceiling spots in the basement.

(Before)

(After)



(More Patching)

(Another Patch)

Deck Deck Deck... Deck Deck Deck

Deck progress continues, we place light fixtures, say where the stairs will go, how tall we want the rail (MC says we better not have tall friends), inspect the construction, imagine mornings with coffee and afternoons with lemonade…out on the deck.

French Door Drama

We decided we wanted French doors to go out to the deck rather than a sliding glass door.  We found some really great doors at a salvage yard/shop and thought we were in good shape.  Nearly two months and four rounds of purchasing door hardware later, we still don’t have the pins that keep one of the two doors fixed in place…last try arrives on Tuesday…cross your fingers they’ll work.  One of these days we’ll have beautiful farmhousey doors that open up to a beautiful deck!  Just don’t hold your breath.

Heart Day

A Valentine’s Day Rainbow over the Bay from our bedroom!

Sewing Project On Hold

Because THIS is our basement right now, I cannot find the presser-foot to my sewing machine. 

I’ve had the fabric we picked out to sew a curtain for the bathroom window for – oh – say – two or three months.  It was one of the original visions that pulled the aqua clawfoot tub color together with the charcoal gray (yes, it’s gray, not brown) and dark vanity wood together.  Thank goodness for motivation to watch the Super Bowl  - we headed to Placerville and I used Eli’s mom’s amazing old sewing machine to get the job done. 

(Finally Hung!)

Bathroom just needs one more touch – a salvage/art project you’ll learn about at a later date.

Welcome Home

We came home from a great little trip to Colorado – for the Annual MFL Ski Day.  Sadly, we both came home sick.  Eli = very sick.  kca = about to get very sick.  Even more sadly, we came home to a kitchen sink that wouldn’t drain, a dishwasher that was backed up with nasty sitting water, and water all over the kitchen subfloor.  Great.  We bought a 50 foot snake and were unsuccessful at clearing the pipes while both coughing and sneezing and sniffling and feeling awful to begin with.  My advice to all of you is never to have serious plumbing issues come up when you’re seriously sick.

(Dismantling underneath the sink to snake it)

We went another week without a working kitchen sink, which meant Eli would cook and kca would transport all dishes and full pots of water down to the basement sink to do dishes.  No fun.

MC was able to work on the pipes for a few hours the following weekend until…Success!  We have a working kitchen sink and dishwasher!  I feel like I’m starting to sound like a broken record when I say:  going without something for awhile sure makes you appreciate it when you have it back.

MC didn’t say much while snaking and snaking and snaking except when he had to get into our cabinets for access to a pipe: “you guys think you have enough Tupperware?”

Rolling a Tree

We have a great palm tree in our backyard.  Great because it’s a great tree, and great because I grew up in a place where we didn’t have palm trees.  So NOOO!!! is my answer when anyone says we should just get rid of it because it will be in the way of the deck stairs. 

(Existing palm tree location)

We decide to transplant it.  Eli digs and digs and digs.  And digs and digs and digs. Every once in awhile I give a shout out from my indoor electrical projects and checking on Little Dude to see how Eli (and the tree) are doing. I don’t know how many hours of digging Eli did.  I just know it was A LOT of hours of digging.

(Digging)

(More digging)

(New hole it will go in)

(You find weird things like buried red panty hose when you dig in an old yard?)

Finally, I’m asked to come help.  We tug and push and see-saw the thing away from its own root system until – AH-HA – it’s down! 

(Timber!)

(Timber!!)

(Tough roots)

Now time to lift it out of its old hole and into its new one.  1-2-3-LIFT.  Nothing.  Okay, really…1-2-3-LIIIIIIFT!  Nothing.  Won’t budge.  What happens next is what Eli has described to a few people as “kca getting into that yoga/harnessing qi mode.”  For me, it was just like “this tree has to move and it has to move now.  So here goes all I’ve got.”  I squatted down, wrapped myself around the 3-foot-diameter palm tree root-ball, and did an internal 1-2-3-LIFT.  And lifted it out of its hole! 

(It’s out)

1-2-3-LIFT wasn’t any easier to carry it over to its new spot, so we proceeded to roll the palm tree across the entire yard.  1-2-3-ROLL…the shift the direction of the roll…another 1-2-3-ROLL…shift again…you get the idea.  The path is clear for the deck stairs, and the tree has a new home where it really does look nice.  Hopefully it’ll live after all that.

(Its new spot)