John & Hannah Are Moving In!

We are so excited !! They'll be living with us starting August 1st.

Southern Cities Road Trip to Nashville

Tree Trimming: The Good Neighbor

As you know, there has been a tree growing into our house. We’ve been waiting for the perfect moment to discuss this with our neighbors. It came on Friday while Ben and I were having long islands on the front porch after a long week at work.

I suggested to our neighbor that I call a few contractors to compare bids in this upcoming week.

He said that he’d trim the tree on Saturday.

This isn’t a small tree. He’s not a professional (read: licensed) tree trimmer. He seemed pretty certain, though, so we agreed that he would work on it this weekend - even though we were going out of town.

I was not sure what to expect when I got home last night, but I was fairly surprised to not have downed power lines or a tree branch through our roof. He cut the tree back so that the larger limbs are no longer putting pressure on the roof. I’m still not sure how to properly thank him helping us in this huge way.

Before/After

I did the research and DC does have yard waste pickup, so getting rid of this shouldn't be too much of a problem:

No Central AC

Summer is here and so is the heat. I keep reminding myself that people have been living in this house without central air for the last 91 years.

We bought a few AC units from friends. Like most things, they sat on the dining room floor until we had friends over for dinner one night.

Our windows aren't ancient, but the springs are all broken. So in order to keep a window open, it has to be popped. Having a window unit in our bedroom makes a world of difference. Plus it blocks out the street noise! I feel really blessed.

Orange Radiator: The Finished Product

A half a coat of paprika, a full coat of brown primer and two coats of orange spray paint later, here is the finished product!

Since our radiators are rusted into place, we scraped and painted them inside. My love of spray paint quickly turned to hate when I didn’t properly seal off the room. Ben and I stayed up for hours scrubbing the floors and walls with buckets of water. Lessons learned: next time I’ll completely seal off the space with drop cloths.

Refurbishing Old Radiators

We love our radiators. They produce great heat in the winter, but beyond that, we love the vintage look. Instead of hiding them or trying to blend them in with a neutral paint color, we want to highlight them as accent pieces throughout the house.

First, my mother stripped the existing paint.
Ben & I decided on a burnt orange and I began spray painting:

About half way through I realized I needed a primer. So yesterday I primed:

Now it needs to dry. In the meantime, I will  research how to remove spray paint from my feet:

Spray paint = Love

Spray painting is my new favorite thing. I spray painted the old yellowish/ivory metal kitchen cabinet to match our other white cabinets.

First I sprayed the Rust-Oleum white primer, then the actual white gloss paint. The hardest - and perhaps more important part - has been using the right drop cloth. I didn't realize paint would settle all. over. the. house. So that was my subsequent project, cleaning paint off of everything.

Mike & Kath come to visit

Ben and I have been maxed out and burned out of working on the house. We haven't had the time, and when we do, things never go the way we think they should. We've needed a break.

Mike & Kath came to the rescue. Is there anything that they cannot do?

Strip paint off the radiators, tame the yard/jungle, build a wooden wall to close off the garage, lay adhesive in our rusty kitchen drawers, and cook dinners? All in a few days work. 

We had a great visit & celebration for Mothers Day and my birthday.