Friday, September 24, 2010

Phase 2

Sorry everyone, I didn't take any pictures. I have moved onto Phase 2 of the basement waterproofing project.  Even though Phase 1 isn't really complete as the thunderstorm Wednesday night showed me by leaving puddles in the stairwell. 
Yesterday I sealed the windows using Drylok's Fast Plug, let me tell you that stuff sets FAST.  I mixed one full batch and only got through half of it before the other half set up, so I ended up mixing half batches. 

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

The Unexpected Project

I realized I never expanded on the Unexpected Project/Adventure that I had mentioned back in August.  We replaced the basement hatchway doors which included repairing the concrete of the top step.  While Bruce was removing the old doors and frame I scraped off the peeling paint and remember this post from YHL. So we picked up some Drylok while we were at Home Depot getting supplies.  I finally got the stairwell painted yesterday, I had been dreading it because there was a lot of prep to do.  I'm sorry I don't have a before to show you but it was 2 shades of old masonry paint that was peeling and chipping concrete.


Nothing really glamorous but definetly a big improvement, this is not the major water seepage area but my plan is to do the entire basement, big basement, big plan.  The next step in the plan is to seal the windows which (while cleaning) I found to be not only filthy but also one of the water problem areas.

Total cost of the doors project was just over $400, including doors, concrete and paint.  We choose to use the latex base Drylok because I'm pretty sure that the existing paint is latex.




Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Marsha, Marsha, Marsha

I was playing with Kenny last night and he threw his shoulder into my face.  Specifically my nose, so hard that I went from kneeling up to flat on my back and upon realizing what had happened, started to cry like a startled three year old.  Kenny proceeded to bark at me to keep playing and Bruce got down on the floor with me and told me "You're OK you're just in pain" my thought was "WHAT!?!?! I'm going to look like Marsha Brady when she gets hit in the face with the football."

Today it hurts like hell, but I don't quite look like Marsha, Marsha, Marsha . . .

Monday, September 20, 2010

Fruits of Our Labor: Part 2

So our garden has been a pretty big let down.  I'm not going to sugar coat it, we just don't get enough sunlight in our yard.  We have only had three green beans from the whole garden.  Sad face.  When I came home from my August adventures I saw that our tomato plants finally had some flowers and now they have TONS of tomatoes growing.  I'm just worried that they're going to run out of growing time.  We had two cherry tomatoes ripen this weekend!

They were awesome.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Mantle Swap

I've been doing some serious fall cleaning, top to bottom, one room at a time.  While I was cleaning the living room (and watching HGTV) I decided that the mantle needed a swap. Here's how it looked before:

I used one of the ball jars in another grouping in the living room and swapped out the milk glass vase for a taller one from the office.

We need to get rid of the wires but that's a very big project for another time!

Thursday, September 16, 2010

One Last Summer Adventure Part 2

ByWednesday night it was "Earl Watch" if you followed any of the 24 hour news cycle about the hurricane you will know that it was compared to Bob of 1991. Bob caught us completely off gaurd and The Pond took a direct hit, ever since then in August we are hurricane crazed. Put away ALL the lawn furniture, secure the dock, secure the big boat, put away the kayaks, etc. . . Kenny and I "rode out" the storm with Uncle Chuck, Autie Kathy, cousin Amy and her fiance Alan and cousin Michael and his dog Leo.
Earl turned out to be a very windy rain storm.
Kenny was not excited about Earl. He slept under Nana's bed.

The rest of the weekend was windy but uneventfull Bruce came up Saturday afternoon, we played a great new board game, Settlers of Catan and had some great meals, it was an all around a great way to close out the summer.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Plumbing, by Christine

For Christmas last year, Bruce's parents gave us a Rapid Bath for Kenny.  We've used it several times on the hose outside but, I had some "understanding" issues with the indoor adaptor kit, first I didn't think that we had one, second I didn't realize that it went on the shower NOT the tub filler.  So once I figured it all out I set to hooking it up.
1.Assemble tools, wrench to remove shower head, Teflon tape and diverter (that came with the rapid bath)

2.Use the wrench and remove the shower head, then clean both the pipe and shower head. Then wrap pipe (clockwise) with teflon tape.
3. Attach the diverter, hand tighten. Do not over tighten, especially if the diverter is plastic or you will end up in the plumbing department of Home Depot like I did. (this photo shows the original that I overtightened and cracked the plastic)
4.Wrap both ends of the diverter with teflon tape (if your smart you would do this before attaching it to the pipe over your head) and attach the shower head so that its in straight line from the pipe and the hose for the Rapid Bath to the other.
I love this, it turns giving Kenny a bath from back breaking task to put off to a 20 minute task.  He still doesn't love it but he appreciates that it takes half the time.  It is a little pricey and I wouldn't have bought it for myself, and if you feel the same you can always pick up a handheld shower for about half the price!

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

One Last Summer Adventure: Part 1

Sitting here in long pants and a sweatshirt it's hard to belive that two weeks ago it was 90 degrees and I was in desperate need of a swim! Wednesday morning on the first of September, Kenny and I were up with Bruce as he was leaving for work.  We packed up and were on our way back to The Pond where my cousin Laura, her two children, and my cousin Andy and his dog Brady were there waiting for us.

And Kenny was excited to be back.  He loves his cousin Brady, he loves to swim, he loves three year old Will who is at his eye level and calls him Kennay (think Jennay from Forest Gump), he loves six year old Elizabeth who talks to him like he's a person, pretty much he loves being at the pond with the family.
We had great take out seafood that night and just before they left Thursday Will wanted to know if they could come to our house "to visit Kennay".

Monday, September 13, 2010

I've been . . .

a very bad blogger. 
We've been back from our last summer escape for almost a week and I haven't managed my way here until now.  Sorry about that; to be honest I've been busy tackling a Mountain of laundry and try to reverse the cleaning damage of not cleaning the house for a solid month and a half. I'll have a few house updates for you and some fun pictures this week so stay tuned!

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

I'm running away again, not to fear, I'll be back Tuesday!