More Renovations and a few Veggies Thrown in.

Lots of nothing going on these days. It's hot here, even in Maine. Chris is out of town, and I'm home with the boys. And while I have plenty of time to do some painting, it's just been too hot and humid! I also have some curtains to make, BUT- too hot!

So, the other day I was walking around, shooting some pictures of the house and little garden. Enjoy.

This is my little garden. It's hard to see, but I had to rip out from the gutter extension (upper right), to about a foot in front of the welcome sign (center), all the way to the edge of the vestibule. It was filled with a pretty flower (Snow Anemone), but completely invasive. I had to dig down about 3 inches with a pitch fork, which would promptly be stuck. Then I wiggled it up and down, and listened to the roots rip. What came out looked like a big brillo pad of roots! I found a small bed of Monarda, happily blooming this year. ONE SINGLE PEONY ( my favorite flower, besides snapdragons), which did not bloom, and an astilbe, which didn't bloom either. The other plant strangled them out, which is saying alot of Monarda, which spreads too (but is shallow rooted).

The other plants are a little veggie garden- bush zucchini, peas, tomatoes (from our wonderful frineds the Schwartzes), and mint to keep away bugs. My husband wanted to put it in the back yard, but why bother? I wasn't using that space, and it's close to the house and the hose. The wire over the plants is to keep the chickens out- of course they make a beeline for the plants. We also planted three types of pumpkins.

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This is our side hallway. Looking at the picture now, the kitchen is to the right and the laundry to the left. The pipes at the ceiling- throughout the entire house- are the fire sprinkler system. Yes, I have my own sprinkler system, complete with a gigantic water filled tank in the basement. As mentioned before, when we bought this house, it was owned by the state and used as housing for boys. What I didn't do it take a picture of the door that used to be here- it was a fire rated door like the ones in the previous post. It made this area a dark cave.

We pulled the door down when we pulled all the wallpaper down. Chris repaired the wall. It's really a shame they put the door in, because they cut and damaged the old trim around the doors and the stairwell.

This is taken from the doorway that is now been opened. I painted the beadboard, which had been brown. Hubby WAS NOT thrilled about it. He's very much "but it's original." Who cares? It was dark dark dark. AS you can see, we need to replace many of the spindles on the staricase (look to the left side). All in due time.

This is a before shot, with my sister Christine helping out with the paint. Check out the lovely brown register... At least the floors are good!

So, that's it for now. I'm going to take more pictures of the garden and upload later! Have a great weekend!

Hugs- Lee