Triumphs of home ownership
So today Eliot and I conquered the garage door opener! Not only did we figure out how to reset the outside keyless entry code, but we also repaired the broken extra remote for Eliot to put in our new truck. AND I organized the garage so we can fit both cars in the garage. Yay!
During the course of the day we also went to the DMV to register the new truck (that we bought from Nathan with help from Diane... thanks Diane!) and headed to Home Depot to pick up a few things for the house (aka a new hose and a bird feeder that looks like a colonial lantern). These are the days when I truly feel like a homeowner. Never mind that the toilet runs or the sink is leaking in the kitchen... at least we FIXED SOMETHING! Some people might not think it is that much of an accomplishment what we did today... those people don't know Eliot very well. :-) I love my husband dearly, but a handyman he is not.
My daffodils have begun to sprout in the front yard.... spring is on it's way, thank goodness! I am starting to think about raking up the last few leaves in the backyard and mowing the grass. Thinking is easier than doing.... it's still cold outside, after all. I just keep thinking about where we were last year at this time... in Ireland with 10 pairs of clothes, 1 knife , and no cars and suddenly we have a house, a cat, two cars, a yard to plant my garden, and a kitchen with more things than we could ever need. We are so blessed to have what we have. We even have a piano! :-)
I am hoping to put in a raised garden bed in the corner of the yard where the shed used to be... I was going to move the gravel and whatnot, but now I am considering just putting the bed on top of the gravel to deter weed growth. I am looking forward to having a wooden structure around my garden that I can nail copper to in order to keep out the snails (there are more snails here then I have seen anywhere in the world!). My hope is that we can grow a bunch of veggies and fruits so we can buy less groceries and be more "local" oriented by growing our food ourselves. Who knows, maybe I'll even get Eliot out in the garden!
I am also hoping to put a planter on the back porch and make it into an herb garden... I can't decide if I just want to build one long planter the length of the porch to make a divider from the yard or if we should construct two benches for people to sit on that would be a divider. When I say "we" I think I mean with Dad's help because I think Eliot gets a little intimidated by the lumber area of Home Depot (I still love you though, my dear... you can play tunes for me while I saw).
Here is a pic of our new blinds I installed 2 weeks ago... I'm not sure what Eliot is doing. :-)
Eliot thinks we should buy a storm door for the front door since we can't afford to put in air conditioning this year and we need more ventilation in the summer. This was his idea for a valentine's gift for the both of us... I said something about having to drill through the metal and install it ourselves and he seemed to drop the subject. :-) Still, I think it is a good idea and it will help raise the property value. We also hope to plant a lot of native trees and shrubs this spring to make our landscaping a little more exciting. Perhaps we will even look into getting the sprinkler system repaired... but we'll see about that one.
I have dreams of climbing roses on our gate and wisteria on our front porch, but we'll have to take it one step at a time. For now, the garage door goes up and down with 4 different devices, and our 2-car garage fits both our 2 cars. Life is good. :-)
"Be careful what you wish for,
'Cause you just might get it all.
You just might get it all, yeah
Well I'm going home,
Back to the place where I belong,
And where your love has always been enough for me."
~Chris Daughtry
During the course of the day we also went to the DMV to register the new truck (that we bought from Nathan with help from Diane... thanks Diane!) and headed to Home Depot to pick up a few things for the house (aka a new hose and a bird feeder that looks like a colonial lantern). These are the days when I truly feel like a homeowner. Never mind that the toilet runs or the sink is leaking in the kitchen... at least we FIXED SOMETHING! Some people might not think it is that much of an accomplishment what we did today... those people don't know Eliot very well. :-) I love my husband dearly, but a handyman he is not.
My daffodils have begun to sprout in the front yard.... spring is on it's way, thank goodness! I am starting to think about raking up the last few leaves in the backyard and mowing the grass. Thinking is easier than doing.... it's still cold outside, after all. I just keep thinking about where we were last year at this time... in Ireland with 10 pairs of clothes, 1 knife , and no cars and suddenly we have a house, a cat, two cars, a yard to plant my garden, and a kitchen with more things than we could ever need. We are so blessed to have what we have. We even have a piano! :-)
I am hoping to put in a raised garden bed in the corner of the yard where the shed used to be... I was going to move the gravel and whatnot, but now I am considering just putting the bed on top of the gravel to deter weed growth. I am looking forward to having a wooden structure around my garden that I can nail copper to in order to keep out the snails (there are more snails here then I have seen anywhere in the world!). My hope is that we can grow a bunch of veggies and fruits so we can buy less groceries and be more "local" oriented by growing our food ourselves. Who knows, maybe I'll even get Eliot out in the garden!
I am also hoping to put a planter on the back porch and make it into an herb garden... I can't decide if I just want to build one long planter the length of the porch to make a divider from the yard or if we should construct two benches for people to sit on that would be a divider. When I say "we" I think I mean with Dad's help because I think Eliot gets a little intimidated by the lumber area of Home Depot (I still love you though, my dear... you can play tunes for me while I saw).
Here is a pic of our new blinds I installed 2 weeks ago... I'm not sure what Eliot is doing. :-)
Eliot thinks we should buy a storm door for the front door since we can't afford to put in air conditioning this year and we need more ventilation in the summer. This was his idea for a valentine's gift for the both of us... I said something about having to drill through the metal and install it ourselves and he seemed to drop the subject. :-) Still, I think it is a good idea and it will help raise the property value. We also hope to plant a lot of native trees and shrubs this spring to make our landscaping a little more exciting. Perhaps we will even look into getting the sprinkler system repaired... but we'll see about that one.
I have dreams of climbing roses on our gate and wisteria on our front porch, but we'll have to take it one step at a time. For now, the garage door goes up and down with 4 different devices, and our 2-car garage fits both our 2 cars. Life is good. :-)
"Be careful what you wish for,
'Cause you just might get it all.
You just might get it all, yeah
Well I'm going home,
Back to the place where I belong,
And where your love has always been enough for me."
~Chris Daughtry