Home / Blogs / Pianolady's Gardens / July 2012 /

Sat on the New Deck for First Time Today

Category: Home Improvements | Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2012 9:31 pm

---

No it's not finished, but I could sit on it and enjoy the shade for a while. You can get an idea how the decking pattern will look now.





This blog entry has been viewed 1260 times

---

Oops Part Two

Category: Home Improvements | Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2012 4:55 pm

---

This is a minor error in judgement, but a major time hog, so I'm taking care of it today while my husband's at work. If you are going to deck seal the joists, tape it before you hang them! What a PIA to do so afterwards. I think my husband was just going to forget it and go on, but I think not! Fifteen done, seven to go for today, and probably a couple more later. This dumb thing is going to take five hours, would have been done in less than one hour had we taped them before installation. Oh well, at least it's cooler today!



This blog entry has been viewed 429 times

---

Oops!

Category: Home Improvements | Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:39 pm

---

This is what happens when you buy the wrong length of board, and discover it after you've returned the rental truck. It wasn't pretty, but it got the job done.





This blog entry has been viewed 433 times

---

Squirrel in Walnut Tree

Category: Pianolady's Gardens | Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2012 6:04 pm

---

Too bad the walnut tree is rotting and will have to be removed, but the squirrels still get to enjoy it for a little while longer.









This blog entry has been viewed 444 times

---

Maple Leaf Rag

Category: Everything Piano | Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 12:38 am

---

I'm starting a new category in my blog for all things piano. My love for piano started when I was quite young, watching my older brother play. I grew up practicing hours a day, went to college getting my Bachelor's in Music then grad school for my Master's in Piano Performance. I also learned to tune and repair my pianos through a piano technician school. So now you know why I'm "Pianolady"!

Here's a performance of Maple Leaf Rag from 2005...

Maple Leaf Rag

This blog entry has been viewed 461 times

---

Deck Footings

Category: Home Improvements | Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2012 7:48 pm

---

Deck Footings aren't exciting, but a must. Went down 42" just like the garage footings. Not something to skimp on, especially on a 2nd story deck. Let's just say the original footings weren't adequate (24-30"). Shame on that contractor, not even up to code (nothing about the deck he built was)! Hubby took a vacation day to get it done, at least he got paid for it.





This blog entry has been viewed 443 times

---

A Cleaning Day

Category: Off Topic | Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 1:04 am

---

This has been one of those days where I just wanted to clean and purge. I started with my kitchen, which had become counters filled with stuff. I removed the pots and pans hanging from the island, placing them in a cabinet. It really opened up the space. Then I cleared any appliance off the counter that didn't get used at least one a week. The dog bowls got moved to another room, and I cleared off the built-in desk, and returned the chair to the desk (where the dog bowls used to be). Everything is back to the way it was intended to be used. I'm a happy camper. Had to take a pic quick before it got messy again!



I've been watching too much HGTV lately, and decided to downsize the living room. Got rid of any cords running on the floor, hate those when it's time to sweep the floor. Took out the ugly wall multi-outlet and put back the original metal cover, removed a floor lamp we never used (with a cord that went across the floor), and removed the church pew seating that had blankets sitting on it the dog just used as a bed. I still need to see if I can find a new home for the antenna, that still bugs me.



This blog entry has been viewed 384 times

---

Rock Talk

Category: Pianolady's Gardens | Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 2:36 am

---

All the discussion about rocks on GS lately gave me an idea. I really wanted a landing at the bottom of the concrete stairs by the retaining wall, but I needed it to be free, using materials I already had on hand.

I have piles of rocks, some pretty flat. So, I picked through the rocks and played jigsaw puzzle.


Then I traced around each rock one at a time with my spade, and dug out a hole for each rock. We have the type of soil where you can do that and it just works as long as you don't need something perfectly level (like a patio).


The eventual goal is to have ground cover between the rocks. I started with some of my $.50 perennials (mazus). Not sure this will be what I really want here, a sedum would be much easier.




This blog entry has been viewed 395 times

---

Today's Plan of Attack!

Category: Home Improvements | Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 1:09 pm

---

It might rain this morning, so I'm waiting for that to pass. We'll be thrilled if it actually does rain though. I did get the 2nd coat of paint on the garage doors last night, and it looks like it won't need a third coat, so I'm done with that.



If it doesn't rain on my porch posts, I'll do one more coat of primer to cover the patched areas, and then the topcoat and they will also be finished.

Then I'll help hubby mark the deck dimensions and where the posts will go, then we'll dig out the old concrete piers. Not sure we'll get anything more than that done today. Depends on rain timing I suppose. Finally I have a couple flats of 4" perennials to plant, they were clearing them out at $.50 each. I can never pass that up.

This blog entry has been viewed 538 times

---

Where We Are Today

Category: Home Improvements | Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 7:42 pm

---

Here's our home when we purchased it.


Prior to new windows with shutters already removed.


With the new windows. We decided the fake shutters had to go, we're trying for clean lines.


I'm considering eliminating the screen door if I can talk hubby into it, and paint the front door a bright color.


This blog entry has been viewed 610 times

---

Goto page 1, 2, next

Home / Blogs / Pianolady's Gardens / July 2012 /