"I'm surprised the poodle hasn't made the blog"

"Oh it will" was my response to that statement. I've been meaning to post about the little paint scraping discovery, but have been doing other things with my free time instead of blog posting. My apologies.
I return to the blogworld with this little treasure found on the bathroom wall under about 5 layers of paint.

The little guy doesn't scrape off either, so he will be immortalized on this blog (and under primer when I'm ready to paint the bathroom).

Safer steps

The old banister in my stairwell had been painted yellow and only spanned a small portion of the wall. Since I built a half wall I wanted to get a banister that would go to the top of the stairwell. I took some measurements to determine the length of the banister.  FYI - At the hardware store, they have banisters "with fillet" which is a grooved portion on the underside. That's used for banisters with balusters. Since my banister is attached directly to the wall I got a solid red oak banister. It matches the ledge of the half wall I built.

The first part of this safety improvement project was rounding the corners of the ledge with a jigsaw. I didn't want to bruise myself again on the square corner. Anyway, I practiced using the jigsaw on some scrap wood before doing the real thing, which is advisable since "practice makes perfect." Then I sanded the edge to ensure that it was smooth. Then came the long process of applying sealant, letting it dry and repeating those steps with another layer of sealant and 4 layers of varnish for both the ledge and the banister. That completed the ledge, but I still needed to attach the banister for safety improvement number 2.

First I had to find the studs in the wall. I invested in a studfinder that finds the edge and the center of the stud. I marked where the stud centers are with pencil and then marked where the handrail bracket (left picture) and banister needed to be on each stud in order to get the correct angle of the banister. I used my power drill to make holes through the drywall and into the studs for the handrail bracket screws and installed the brackets:

Mom came to the rescue again and held the banister many times, including when I needed to mark the spots for drilling holes for the other part of the handrail banister. After drilling those holes, I recommend putting on the piece most of the way so that there is just enough space to put the banister into place before finishing screwing it in place... Using a screwdriver from above is much easier than below in my opinion.

Garden to-be

 When I was looking for a place to buy I prioritized having a place with a yard. I've already posted quite a bit about the grass and plants I planted in the spring, but my goal was to have a vegetable garden. Now I have a place in my sunny front yard to plant some vegetables and other plants in the spring. On Monday I built a 16 foot by 3 feet above ground garden container with landscaping timbers. I used 15-8 ft landscaping timbers and 8-2 ft rebar to build and secure the garden.

I made the garden 3 timbers high, so I cut 3 of the timbers with my miter saw so that I could get 6- 3ft timbers for the ends of the garden.

I dug out shallow spaces in the ground for the bottom timbers to fit into and set up the rest of the timber to make sure the timbers were spaced correctly. I guess a childhood playing with Lincoln Logs paid off. Once I got the ground level enough I was ready to drill holes for the rebar. I drilled all the way through the bottom 2 timbers but only 1/2 way through the top timber so that it could sit on top of the rebar to stay in place, but hide the metal. I got 24 inch rebar so that the metal would go at least a foot into the ground to secure the garden into place.

This picture shows the rebar going through the bottom timber and partially in the ground.

Once we (my mom helped me a lot this week) had the 2nd timbers in place, we hammered the rebar into the ground so only 2 inches were showing. Then we placed the top timber over the rebar and pressed it all down so that the garden box would be complete.

UPDATE:
I forgot to mention that this large garden only cost me about $36 to build. I also forgot to mention that my awesome Uncle Doug was kind enough to explain how he made his garden, which introduced me to the concept of using long pieces of rebar.

Backyard overhaul

My backyard was a disaster. I had a compost pile (literally a pile) because I hadn't set up a compost bin. My shed was extremely drab. I had a half-taken-down jungle gym sitting uselessly on one side of the yard. Not to mention it was riddled with mosquitoes. Add those disasters to getting a dog... I knew I needed an overhaul.
Since I was adopting my brother's dog from him I asked for his help to get my backyard prepared for the pup.
Here's the yard a year ago:

We cleared brush and sticks, set up a compost bin (which we sealed with a $5 can of wood sealant from the hardware store's discard paint cart... and used the leftover for a shed facelift), tore down the playground, and moved the woodpile near the back of the fence to the side of shed, so the dog wouldn't climb on it to hop the fence.

The yard is still mostly dirt, but the mosquito problem decreased 100 fold and my pup has plenty of space to run around. And my rotting food pile now has a valid compost bin to decompose in.

Sometimes it's the little things...

I'm LONG overdue for blog posting. I've done quite a few smaller projects in the past month and a half, but haven't had time to post about them.

One weekend I decided I was going to paint my front door. I had new doors installed last December.They look nice, but were only primed. Well, the primer was fine for a while, but it didn't really match the white shutters or casing that frames the door from the outside. There were also nail holes that needed to be filled and painted over in the wood between the storm door and the front door.

I taped off the semi-circle window in the door, grabbed a brush and my roller, and got to work. Well, I accidentally got a longer roller brush nap than I intended. Instead of the paint going on smoothly there ended up being a little texture... and I like it! However here's something I found on rules on roller brush nap length:

Use a 1/2 inch (1.2 cm) nap for flat paint on walls and ceilings, 3/4 inch (1.9 cm) nap for rough surfaces like textured ceilings, and 1/4 inch (.63 cm) nap for satin or semi-gloss paint.

Most people probably barely noticed that there were patch spots and even less so that the door was a different shade of white. I noticed though and the painting of the door is just one more thing that makes the house feel more complete..

Grout dries quickly

I've learned lots of things from regrouting my tub.

In addition to "grout dries quickly" I've learned:
 - a fine sandpaper (150 grit or higher) does wonders at smoothing rough spots. Use fine sandpaper so you don't scratch the tiles and because lower grit sand paper wouldn't smooth as well.
 - clean tools quickly. Mine have some dried grout stuck to them, but I'm going to use the sandpaper method on them since I didn't clean them well enough with water when the grout was still wet.
- a 10lb box of grout is a LOT of grout. I used a 1/3 of the box... maybe? probably not even that much. They don't give cup measurement mixing instructions (it's no bisquick box) so the art of proportions will be needed to get the right consistency. But better that, then to waste a lot of grout.
- my "weekend projects" are never just a weekend :)

Spreading the grout... with help from the younger bro!

   This is not the proper method for spreading grout, but it is actually a good way to get the grout ready to spread with the grout float. We had a pretty good method where my younger brother would spread the grout out and I would use my finger to smooth it in the grooves. He was a little too quick though. I'll need to go back over some spots that dried before I could smooth them well enough. A little work with the dremel or some fine sand paper should do the trick. It's looking much better though.

My tips are:

1. Smooth the grout with your finger because only using a damp sponge method isn't as good. You'll need a bowl to wet your finger so that it smooths the grout instead of removes it.
2. Use a damp sponge to clean up the tiles 20-30 minutes after the grout has set.
3. Do one section at a time (spreading and smoothing) mixing the grout frequently to keep it soft and taking breaks b/c the hands get pruney/wrinkly really quickly.
4. Cheesecloth is great for taking off the haze. Wipe the surface with it a couple hours after letting the grout dry. And wear a mask b/c it's dusty.

I'm sure to have more pictures and tips by the time I'm done with this project, but I really needed the break and wanted to share this silly picture.

Getting there...

Cardboard-free and the tiles are back in place. I put a proper backing behind the missing tiles and used ceramic tile adhesive to reinstall all of the tiles. I used 6 of the new tiles - - can you tell which? Thanks again to ReStore for having a good tile supply!

I have to let the adhesive dry and need to do a little more cleaning of the old grout today, but I'll be ready to put in the new grout tomorrow.

Can't say I'm surprised - - Regrouting Bathtub

I have removed the tiles that do not match all of the others in the tub and what did I find behind them?
Surely not a piece of cardboard attached with caulk!?!?!? You betcha.

Must get back to work!

Weekend Project - Regrouting bathtub

I'm going for it. After much deliberation I have decided to keep the tile in my bathroom. However, the tub walls desperately need to have the grout and some unmatching tiles replaced (what were they thinking with that tile combo?! - - see picture). This is going to be my weekend project.

I went to Habitat ReStore to find "white tiles."  There are so many shades of white, it took a long time to match my existing tiles to a set of ones from the thrift store, but I really lucked out! The best match was a box of over 40 tiles! I wanted to have more than the 2 that MUST be replaced just in case I break some... now I have a lot of flexibility to replace old tiles. The best part is that I got the box for $3.

The rest of the project is a little more pricey since I needed to buy a dremel attachment, the grout, a grout float, a grout remover (which I might return if the dremel is sufficient), a bucket for mixing, tile cleaner, grout sealant. My justification is that I'm building my tool supply. The total cost of items that I won't be able to use again was around $30 ($12 for grout, $10 for sealant, $5 for cleaner). I suppose I should add a couple more dollars for the caulk that I'll need to finish the job, but I've had it for so long I don't really remember how much it was.

I'll try to post more this weekend as the project progresses. So far I've just done a thorough cleaning of the tiles. Next steps - protect the tub and start removing old grout!

Finally able to sleep in... and saved money making Blackout Curtains.

I have a south-east facing bedroom with 3 huge windows making it extremely difficult to sleep past sunrise. It wasn't too bad in the winter, but now sunrise is around 5:30 in the morning and it's bright!!! The blinds gave me privacy, but don't block out much light.

Solution: Blackout curtains! I got 3 long panels of brown blackout curtains (yes, they come in colors other than black) and did a little sewing with a borrowed sewing machine. From the 3 panels, I was able to make 6 curtains that fit my wide windows. I plan to add some sort of detail or tie-backs to them eventually. I'm thinking about integrating the teal color. For now they can be plain as long as they block out the early morning sun. Bonus - Blackout curtains are energy efficient b/c they prevent unnecessary solar heat in the summer, which lead to less AC use.

I believe I paid $10 each for the 3 panels, which would probably have been comparable or cheaper than buying blackout fabric from a fabric store. Tip: To save money on window treatments for shorter windows buy 1 long panel to make 2 curtains.

 

I've had two people ask me where I got the curtains, so I figured I would add that information to the post. I bought them at Anna's Linens. I think they were these.

Breaking bits building a knee wall

When I first moved into the house and was refinishing the floors I removed the banisters from the stairs. The ones at the top of the stairs were not particularly useful because the top 5 steps were missing a good hand railing. The only support would have been to grab the wooden balusters, which just seems like a recipe for disaster to me.

A knee wall is more useful in that spot because then I would be able to attach a long handrail along it going down the stairs. This blog post is about my weekend project of building a knee wall. It doesn't look pretty yet, but the structure is there.

I did my requisite google research about how to build a knee wall before getting started and bought my supplies. 2x4s, a 1x6 oak ledge, and drywall were the main purchases. I also got a dowel to attach the base 2x4 to the former baluster holes. I already had wood screws, drywall screws (thanks to Momma-G), wood glue, joint compound, drywall tape. I ended up buying a new drill because the hand-me-down drill in the picture below wasn't cutting it. I went for a corded one b/c I don't need the mobility associated with battery operated drills, it was cheaper, and I'd like to think it's more environmentally friendly. Somehow in the course of building the wall, I ended up with a bruised knuckle. I should be more careful when using my drill because people will think I spend my weekends punching people or things. I'm a lover, not a fighter.

I did some measurements and got to use my mitre saw to cut the 2x4s to length. I also drilled holes in them for the dowel pieces to line up with the holes in the floor. This picture shows hole 1 of 4. The holes lined up when I flipped the 2x4 onto the holes shown in the floor.

When I was cutting the 2x4 so that the wall would be almost 3ft tall, I decided to duct taping the 3 beams together for making the final cut so that they would all be the same height. Then I screwed the 2x4s all together and added the dowels resulting in this frame:

It was at this point that I broke the bit, which I mentioned in a previous post, so it will forever be in this wall. Word of warning - bits get hot! I secured this into the wall and the floor with 2½ inch screws in addition to the dowel pieces.

Then I cut the oak ledge to size and secured it with a lot of wood glue. After I let it dry I used some shorter wood screws to secure it from underneath... don't want those screws to show, so be sure to do this before putting on the drywall. I was a little paranoid about the sturdiness of the wall so I decided to use all pieces of the 2x4s that I could and added some extra support like so:

The last part that I was able to do over the weekend was add drywall to the sides and spackle over the screws. Here's the current status of the wall!

Why I need a truck...

... luckily I have roof racks so my lil car didn't take a beating. The Home Depot guys went a little wild with saran wrap to keep it from moving the whopping mile and a half it took for me to get this drywall home.

How would you have responded?

I took 2 trips to Home Depot this weekend. One left me feeling accomplished and happy; the second, offended. Disclaimer... neither of these stories involved Home Depot workers. The people mentioned were other customers.

The first trip involved buying a new drill. A man who does construction stuff as his profession was extremely helpful in helping me pick out the best drill for my needs. He didn't talk down to me and didn't try to force me to pick one drill over another, but explained pros and cons of the ones I was trying to decide between based on his experiences. Sidenote: I love my new drill.

The second trip involved buying a new drill bit because I broke one of mine. As I was deciding between drill bits a man said to me "Father's day present?" I replied "No" but really wanted to say "No, I need a new drill bit because I broke one building a wall thank you very much." Granted Father's day is coming up, I was offended he'd make the assumption that a female looking for drill bits wouldn't need it for herself.

What would you have said if you were in my shoes?

How I saved $150

My uncle had some mini blinds that he intended to install in his old house, but never got around to it before he moved. He remembered he had them when I was discussing window treatments for my new windows with my family and suggested that I wait until he checked the size of them before I bought blinds. Conveniently he had 5 sets of blinds and I had 5 windows of identical size in the bedrooms of my house.

Inconveniently...
The opening size of my windows = 34 inches. The size of his blinds = 33 inches.

Seriously? An inch too small?

Well...Where's the fun in having things work out perfectly? I thought about it and decided that saving 30 bucks a pop was worth exploring other options to make the 33 inchers work. Besides, the new vinyl windows have a good inch border around the glass, so having 1/2 inch gap on either side of the blinds wouldn't inhibit privacy. I started the search for 1/2 inch wood blocks that would fill the space where the blinds would attach, but couldn't find any smaller than 3/4 inch.
My M.O. for house projects has been to have a couple small ones going on at a time so I was also in the process of removing trim from the doors. The wood trim was very plain about 1 1/2 inches wide and the length of the door. It also turned out to be about 1/2 inch thick so when I was cutting the trim down to manageable sizes with my miter saw. I got to thinking that if I cut pieces the width of the inside of the window frame and painted the wood white, then I might just have a solution. I ended up having to get longer screws in order to ensure the blinds were secure through the block and into the frame, but it worked and isn't noticeable. Once I put up curtains they won't even be visible.

A lil' ingenuity saved me a nice chunk of change.

Great Article!

It explains the reasons I do what I do:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-frauenfelder/home-diy-the-courage-to-s_b_589371.html

Border lilies are blooming

Most of the plants are thriving. The plants my mom ordered for me included a set of Red Border Lilies, which border my front yard... kind of like the tulips did.

The knockout roses are the exception to the thriving. Three of the five aren't doing well. If it were all of them, I'd think it was something I did, but the ones that are doing well aren't even next to each other. I'm going to just hope that the other three are able to revive themselves from the roots. If you have any advice, please pass it along.

I have an absurd amount of mint. It's the most fragrant mint I've ever smelled and I'm tempted to plant more throughout my grass because it makes mowing the lawn pleasant.

The butterfly bushes seem quite happy. One has quadrupled in size.

In the backyard:
Some friends helped me put together an above ground garden with garden soil and peat moss. I put a brick border around it with some brick remnants I got from freecycle. Freecycle was also the source of some day lilies that I put in the back of the garden. They're drooping a little but I am confident they'll perk up soon. The garlic in the same garden is sprouting, as are 2 unidentified plants that were also part of the masses of plants my mom sent. I don't remember exactly what I planted where, but as long as they're growing I'm happy. Some animal ate my kohlrabi seedlings that I got from my CSA farm share, but the basil, cilantro, and parsley seedlings are growing quickly.

I'm particularly pleased with how the variegated hosta plants and ferns are doing in the shade garden. I used some chopped wood that was at the very back of my backyard to section off this shade garden. It should still get plenty of run-off water from rainstorms since it's at the bottom of my hill and I've added some mulch to keep moisture from evaporating as quickly.

A tip I learned from a friend is that you can use grass clippings around plants just as you would mulch. Thrifty, huh?

Garbage disposal - didyouknow?

My friend had a broken garbage disposal (or I should say "non-functioning" instead of "broken") and was dreading having to wait for a contractor to come fix it on a Friday evening. She shared her dread with a group of about 10 people. I asked if she had tried the reset button on her disposal and everyone in the room had no idea that garbage disposals have reset buttons. Well... the reset button worked! Now she can do something much more exciting than wait for a contractor to come press a button.

I'm blogging about this because the other people in the room and numerous of her other friends didn't know about the garbage disposal reset button. I want people to know that they might be able to save money if their disposal won't turn on just by pressing the reset button instead of calling a contractor.

Now you know!

Ceiling fan installation

The DC area seems a bit confused about what season it is. One day it feels like spring, then we get a taste of summer, we think we've jumped straight to fall, but then we're back to spring. I'm not fooled though because I know summer is approaching so I decided to prep my room for humid summer nights. The house has central air, but I grew up in the south without AC, so I'm well versed in the benefit of air movement via ceiling fan. I also think it looks nicer than this light.

I won't go through the whole installation process because fans have instructions included. There are some tips and tricks that will make the installation process easier.
My first tip on ceiling fan installation: Don't do it alone. This is important for 2 reasons: dealing with electricity is never a solo project and there are too many pieces for 2 hands. I got Emily to help me tackle this project for her first visit to my house (she'll have the opportunity for revenge since she just bought a home).
Second tip: Turn off the power to the light at the fuse/breaker box. Dealing with electricity is much safer when you cut the power. Electrocution is bad.

Since I was doing a flushmount installation with the ceiling fan, I had to insert some small screws at the very top of the fan. The ceiling got in the way. More than a couple of times, we dropped the screws... that wasn't a big deal until one fell into the fan. I had to disconnect the wires, remove the fan, get the screw out with needle-nosed pliers, and essentially start over. This happened twice when my patience ran out and I covered the holes before trying again. Save yourself the hassle and use this better plan: before starting installation, use some masking tape over potential holes in the fan that screws may fall into.
Another problem with the close-to-ceiling screws is that the threads didn't want to line up. The needle-nosed pliers came in handy again. I used them to hold and guide the screw while using the screwdriver, and it caught the thread and glided in.
The end result is this awesome fan.

I should also warn you that ceiling fan installation does require upper body strength. Be prepared for a good shoulder workout.

Painting at the wall and ceiling

I previously mentioned a useful "edging tool" for painting where the walls and ceiling meet (see here). It has a flaw though... it leaves a slight gap at the very top of the wall. And when I say slight, I really do mean slight... as in, most people wouldn't be inspecting the walls for every possible flaw like the owner of the home would be and they wouldn't even notice. But I'm the owner of the home, so I noticed and for your benefit I'm blogging about it. Here's my tip:

Get a good angled 1-inch brush and paint to the top of the wall. It's better to get paint slightly on the ceiling than leaving the slight gap. A fairly steady hand will do a fine job. This tip should save you the trouble of "painting the wall, painting the ceiling, painting the wall" since you now know what looks better. And if you feel more comfortable using painters tape... then before you paint the top of the wall, put tape on the ceiling almost to (but not quite to) where the wall and ceiling meet because you don't want tape covering part of the wall.

Stretch before gardening

I pulled my back gardening a couple of weekends ago. I'm in my 20s so that really shouldn't happen, but it's taught me the lesson to stretch my back regularly... especially before doing yard work. In my defense, I had been working on my core at the gym, which probably tightened my back too much in the previous weeks. You'd think the bags of mulch I hauled would have caused me to hurt my back, but instead it was pulling on a tree root.
Luckily my regular gardening helper and a couple of other friends were able to help me plant the shade garden and the rest of the plants that my mom got me. Due to the tree roots, I was unable to plant the hydrangea bushes where I wanted to, so they're currently growing in pots. Not ideal, but I'll find a good spot for them eventually.

Once things start to bloom, I'll post more pictures. I just wanted to pass along my advice before it was too late for you :)

Water line fixed

I'm happy that my house is no longer purging water through a 60 year old service line. Turns out that in the 50s the standard allowed for there to be multiple pieces of pipe that were soldered together. The standard now is to have only one piece of copper line. Good news is the new pipe should last over 60 years! Even though there was some corrosion on the old water line, it didn't have holes or anything. Here are some before and after pictures.

My wallet hurts a little from this expense, but luckily I made sure to save up before buying the house. And I keep telling myself that it makes the house more valuable. Really, it pays for itself in just a couple of years because the leak was pretty bad. I'm hoping my water bills will be at least a third of what they are now. For a couple of days this was the view out of my front yard.

I watched them do a little of the work. They duct taped the new line to the old line and used chains and the backhoe to pull the old line out and the new line through without digging up much of my yard. Yes, duct tape proves to be very useful again!

Plants Galore!

As my previous posts would indicate, I'm pretty excited about the tulips that I didn't have to plant. Well they've bloomed and are beautiful:

Most of them are dark pink, but there are some red ones along the driveway.
But why call this post "Plants Galore!" and not "Tulips Galore!"? Because last Friday, I received PLANTS GALORE! that my mom ordered for me online.

I've planted all of the plants that I intend to put in the front yard for now, but still need to plant the "shade" plants and hydrangea bushes in my backyard. I've got a gardening helper who will help me with my backyard this weekend. It'll take be a while before the plants show themselves since most of them are bulbs, but eventually they'll be beautiful! At least I'm assuming they will be... in reality I don't know what most of them will look like. It's a pretty safe assumption though since my mom picked them out. Thanks Mom!

One warm day

I was starting to get worried about the grass seed since it's been 10 days and I wasn't seeing new growth. Well, the grass just needed a warm day to stop being shy. It's been rainy and cold here the past few days so I can't blame the new grass for wanting to stay curled up in a seed... however, the temperature got into the mid 60s today and it greeted the warmth like college kids ready to don flip flops! I shouldn't be surprised since I bought the sun-mix seed after all.
I'm optimistic that the water service line replacement won't ruin my yard. Assuming the weather stays nice through Monday I should know by then since that's when the plumber will be coming to do the repair. Keep your fingers crossed that all goes smoothly and that they don't charge me more than their cost estimate (and while you're at it... that the water utility company adjusts my bill to a reasonable usage for the last quarter). And for those of you who are wondering what it might cost to replace a water service line...my estimate is pushing 3 grand.
I'm not saying you should only buy a home that has the meter next to the house. I'm saying it can't hurt to be aware of what the cost might be if you buy an old home in disrepair and the meter's at the curb.In other news, the tulips are perking up and are likely to bloom in the next couple of days. It's looking like I'll have some red or pink ones, but it's tough to tell because there's only color on the very tip of the buds right now. I'm hoping for variety, but since I didn't have to plant these, I'll take whatever I get.

Whomp Whomp

What's the last thing you want to discover after tilling and reseeding your yard? Oh that's right... You have a water service line leak and potentially your front yard will need to be dug up. The service line leak has been confirmed by the 2 plumbers who came to give me estimates this afternoon. So much for my tax refund... and then some. The water service line is the pipe that goes from the meter to my house. Since the meter is at the curb, the service line runs from the curb to my house and according to the utility company... it's my responsibility. The plumbers say that the piping is probably just old and deteriorating. My guess is it's original to the house, which was built in the 50's. Hopefully they won't have to dig up my yard. They're going to try to pull the old pipe by digging a hole near the meter and near my house. There's a possibility that won't work, but I was told it does 95% of the time. Here's hoping!
The first plumber gave me an estimate that was about what I was expecting. The second plumber is checking with his supervisor about matching the first estimate. I guess if that's the case I'll be making my decision based on who can do it the soonest. Other thoughts I should consider?

My tips for people looking to buy a home... check the water meter to make sure it's not moving when the water isn't being used. It's doubtful that the home inspector will do this, especially if the meter is on the curb. If that little triangle is spinning, then there's a leak somewhere. I knew the leak wasn't inside the house b/c I shut off the water main and then checked the meter. It's also a good idea to know average water usage. Around 3000 gallons a month for a single family is a good estimate. Something is definitely up when a single, environmentally-conscious person who showers at the gym the majority of the time uses 17,000 gallons of water in a 90 day period!!! Yeah. That's pretty indicative of a serious leak.

Painting upstairs

I had a huge priming and painting party about a month ago. We primed my whole upstairs on the Saturday and put on the color the next day. I had at least 8 people to help me each day and I want to give a HUGE thanks to my friends who came out.

I've been gradually working on touch-ups. I needed to reassess the wall I decided needed to be teal. I absolutely love the color, but dark paint shows flaws easier. I ended up getting satin finish, which also shows the flaws b/c it picks up more light. Of course the wall that I painted teal was the most flawed wall in my room. I sanded it again and it has helped some, but that wall will remain flawed unless I mud the whole thing since there were so many patch jobs already done on it.
I repainted the wall and the satin finish still shows the flaws too much. Tip: Keep in mind how flawed the wall is when picking out your paint finish and color. Another tip: I primed everything white, but if I could go back I would have bought tinted primer for that wall since it needed the most repairs.
I'm going to do a light sand over the whole wall to remove the satin sheen, clean up the dust, and repaint the whole wall with a matte finish. That should help some.

I still need to do touch-ups with the other colors and repaint areas of the ceiling that got paint on them. I should have bought stock in 3M painter's tapes. Once I finish the teal, I'll need to tape the border so that I can finish painting with the tan color on the other walls. I'll also need to tape off the ceiling so that I can paint all the way to the crevice. That meticulousness will pay off in the long run, even though it's time consuming now. At least I tell myself that while my room is in disarray :)

Found Treasures

During the tearing up of the yard we discovered lots of items that made me feel like an anthropologist. I already figured that there had to have been children living in the house because of the writing on the wall but the little toys that were buried under the grass confirmed that suspicion. What I didn't expect were the corroded metal objects that we found. There are 4 of them, and they're all unidentifiable to me. If anyone can shed any light on what they may be, please let me know (or make up an amusing story to share with my readers). Not pictured is a railroad stake... also an odd thing to find in a small front yard and might be a clue to the other metal objects.

Dirty Yard

Hours of tilling later I had a "Dirt"y Yard. Tilling combines everything (grass, soil, leaves, debris) all together, so my mom suggested that we somehow sift out the unwanted materials. Mom started to pull out the bigger chunks of grass by hand, but that was taking a long time. My dad had a genius idea though. He had seen my kitty litter box in the basement and suggested we use the sifter part of it to clean up the yard. I don't think the cat mind since the yard/gardens will be her big litter box when I start to let her outside more regularly.
We also raked the yard as flat as possible and when I was as satisfied as I was going to get, we seeded the yard. Dad did a lot of it by hand, but I wanted to use my broadcaster (b/c when else will I have a chance to do so?). I spread the seed first and then went over the lawn with fertilizer. Then raked it through the soil and watered it. I know the birds have eaten some of the seed, so I probably should have gotten a bale of hay/straw to keep them from finding the seed so easily, but hopefully it'll start to show soon. We've been getting plenty of rain the past few days to keep the ground moist, but the temperature dropped too so that has probably inhibited the grass growth.

It hasn't prevented my tulip flowers from starting to show. They wouldn't be nearly as beautiful if my mom hadn't weeded all around them. Thanks Mom! They haven't actually bloomed yet so I'm excited to see what colors are there.