I Survived Snowmageddon

We have gotten off easy so far this winter with minimal snowfall.  This one was a workout.  If I had been working I would have missed most of the week, as the city plows didn't do my side street until Friday morning.

This is the walk out to the garage. 

This is the front porch.  Ignore the tacky paint on the bricks.

Out the front gate to the street. Since I live on a corner I got all the snow that blew down the street North to South.

The driveway.  All shoveled by hand, I'll have you know.

As far as I got on Thursday because the plows had not yet been through.  I didn't want to duplicate effort and wasn't going anywhere anyway.

My unplowed side street.  

Taking pictures with mittens on is hard.

It's Daylily Time Again

Here's whats blooming around the yard today. 

I decided to try something new, being frustrated by the width of the last template of Hauser Haus. It doesn't have the vintage "feel" of the other template, however, but I did add some wood around the edges.

Late Spring 2010

I haven't been doing much on the house lately because I'm concentrating on finding a job and selling things on Etsy, but took time out to take some pictures yesterday.

And here's the kitty nest.

Who's home?

Spring 2010 Is Happening!

Sorry for being incommunicado all winter, but I was busy with my Etsy store and keeping warm, and projects in the basement were just not all that appealing.

This was March 20.  You can see yard cleanup has already been happening and the patio swept of its winter detritus.  Then boom!  More winter.

Unhappy kitties, because the day before they were having a good time outside.

By March 31 we were back on track.

April 12.  Two weeks later these are all on the ground.

Today the yard is fragrant with the last of the Golden current bush, the lilacs, and the lilies of the valley.  I even saw two iris today.

The Birds

Pretty scary looking, isn't it?  There were a lot more of them in the other trees, too, all screeching and pooping.  I wore a hat to go out to the compost pile and was glad I did.  This was last week when I was trying to do some outside painting while the weather was still in the 50's and not rainy.  I had to wash the bird poop off the cellar doors twice before I could paint them, but did get a coat on that's relatively untouched.  Got another coat on the front porch, too.  Hopefully it will hold up over the winter.  The undercoat and oil I put there last fall did not.

 

Here is the other thing I accomplished, which usually is cut short by snow.

I always pile them in the side yard and they flatten out over the winter.  I have been piling them here for 15 years, so it must be pretty good soil by now.

Storm Windows Finished

They're done! The hardest part was fiddling around with the hooks and eyebolts to hold them in.  There wasn't a lot of room between the storms and the windows, and there was a quarter-round trim piece holding the windows in, so had to screw to that.  Not being able to stretch out the length of the hook makes the storms a little jiggly.  The maid's room feels warmer already.  Next is replacing some torn insulation and eradicating some bird condos

Fall is so depressing.  It's my most unfavorite time of year next to winter.

The only saving grace is fall crocuses.

Great New Old House Pics

I just got back from a visit with a granddaughter of the woman in this pic who grew up in my house, which was built by her aunt and uncle. She inherited some wonderful photos and I had her copy them for me in high res. This is a pic of the house that was on the corner of Sibley and Gold, which is now my yard and garden. When we blew it up to look at the details I was looking at my front porch! I had thought that this house was torn down before my house was built so there would be room to work, but this proves me wrong. 

What is great about this is this is the first time I have seen exactly what my porch railing looked like--also the brick and sandstone piers on either side of the front steps. Now I actually have something to show a carpenter to reproduce for me. 

Note the new cement sidewalks with the wooden boards leading to the streets. There are no curbs, so the streets are unpaved as yet. They were first done in brick and asphaulted over now.

Here is the original picture. Notice the street signs on the corner of the house reading "Gold" and "Sibley".

Here is a blowup of my front porch (the brick one) and the house next door's front porch which doesn't look like that anymore--it was redone in brick and cement and later vinylized.

So check out that corner post. When blown up you can see four round ornaments in a row on all four sides--they are catching the sun. I had an AHA moment when I saw those. Back when we excavated the Egyptian tomb that was the cement steps leading up to the entrance to the second floor apartment, which went up the front stairwell, I found this wooden ornament.

So, what do you think? That's a CD case its sitting on to show the size. Too big? Perfect? There can be no other place in the house this thing would go as there is no ornamentation at all anywhere but on the two mantels--and this is not oak.

Here is a pic of the back of the house on the corner taken in front of the carriage-house-that-is-no-more, built for my house. I can't tell if my house has been built yet or not, so am not sure of the date of this pic. You can see the church across the street and the other houses in the neighborhood that are all still standing, although vinylized, as is the church. They even covered over the bell! You can also see a pole and wires here. I do not know if these are telephone or electric wires, but my house was built for gas only and converted in the 'teens to electricity.


Just before my house was built there were 6 people living in this house--possibly 7. Augusta Schmitt, son Crescencz and his two children (and possibly his 2nd wife), and daughter Rosa and her husband Charles Hauser.

It's Daylily Time Again

With all the rain we have been having this Spring and Summer the daylilies have been HUGE and just glorious. The pics I take just are so washed out and don't do them justice.


Here they are. Enjoy!

Breaking Buds

It's hard to believe that only 5 days ago I had buds instead of flowers. This is how the tulip tree looks tonight.

I had to take the picture because we have had wind all day and bad weather predicted--even snow for Monday--and the petals are already starting to fall.

Here are the buds on the wisteria. Here are various other things that weren't blooming Saturday. The bleeding heart wasn't even up yet!

The above is a black currant bush. You can't believe how wonderful my yard smells right now. This thing is powerful. Everyone should have one--not to mention all the black currants! (That I can't figure out what to do with.)

Count the kitties.

Beezer

The following owie shot is for Greg. I "broke the skin" on my thumb restacking some boards that blew down. It's not as dramatic without the dripping blood, but you can see the scar on my wrist where they repaired the triple break from a wallyball mishap. (Oh--and my toes.)