Darn it's cold!

We got that arctic blast last week and all of a sudden we r thrust into winter!   ICK.

Regardless, we rented yet another large tool, a ditch witch, and commenced to digging a trench for the two cable wires.  It was nearly 200 ft.
We encased it in a bright blue, thick plastic conduit and buried it about a foot deep.

The cable company was only going to string them above and onto the house---not acceptable as far as we were concerned.  So they left extra cable and we dug in into the ground ourselves.  That was a chore.  I wish we could have used the same trench as the electric line, it was 2 feet deep.

But,  during the process we discovered that the Verizon folks strung the cable wire from a pole about a block away, then they dangled it along a fence, hung it in some trees and basically just let it drag to the ground as it then ascended up to the pole just near our driveway.

What a HUGE hazard and risk.

Needless to say, we are calling Verizon and getting them to change this situation.

We painted the 4th side of the house finally--that is AFTER we  hand scrapped ALL of the old peeling and chipped paint off, then pressure washed it, then primed it with oil based KILZ----(best primer, hate oil based paint)

Then finally we could apply the BLUE paint!

And about 2-4 hours after finishing---it rained.   But so far, the paint is still there--and it looks WONDERFUL.

4th side of house--all cleaned up! 

Then we attacked the overgrowth of vines and dilapidated chain link fence!  J hates chain link fence.   I am somewhat indifferent.

There is a pool for the small community that is to the west of us--perhaps 10-12 homes. So not a huge pool, but it is right next to the 4th side of our house. They have a worn, but serviceable wood 6 ft privacy fence in place.
It was covered--completely by overgrown vines snarled in a old chain link fence.
Now it's all cleaned up---we have usable space back there now for ladder storage and similar stuff.

You can see the space under the window, J tore out the nasty old window AC unit and boarded it up. I added the cedar shingles and did the caulking, priming.

I still need to get two rain barrels for our new gutter downspouts!

J also re-arranged and cleaned up the porch.
He hung up the bikes to give more space.

This entire process on the porch was preceded by an entire day rewiring the electric stuff--so now we have a dedicated auto/on off light for the flag--as we ALL know, you can have a flag out at night---as long as there is a light to shine on it and highlight it's beauty.
I love that we are close enough to a Navy base so we can hear colors every morning and at night.

J added a new front door light-so we do not have to "feel" for the lock when we come home after dark.

Yay!!

bikes in a better location now! 

M--- painting and painting and painting! 

Busy weekend

Rare to both have a weekend off, so we worked hard to get things done!  We rented the cherry picker and finished painting and cleaning the side facing the street.  It was a bit scary, but after a bit of time, you get used to it.
I had bought a pawn shop pressure washer and it works great!   Cleaned up the deck.  I also used it to clean up the fourth house side to prep before we prime and paint.

First though, we had to cut out the overgrown vines that blocked the fourth side of the house and SCRAPE!  Boy, that's a pain!   If you don't scrape the old flaking paint, the new stuff will not adhere. And the old tiles/siding is asbestos---not a big deal unless you breathe in the powder/dust.  But you can't tell if the old paint is lead based either.
So we have to wear a n-39 mask, eye protection, and nasty clothes!
After pressure washing, it has to dry a good 24 hrs. ESP since it is on the dark side of the house and shaded!  So tomorrow. I can prime it.

We replaced a broken board from the balcony and I painted it.  We finished painting the deck.

Inside I got the container store pantry baskets and added them to the pantry door.   More space!  J added the wine boxes to a few walls that give more storage.   We also bought two reclaimed doors to make a sliding barn door for the bathroom and pantry!  Just $90 for two very nice doors!
I really have a thing for doors!
Malta has beautiful doors, if you ever get to visit Malta.

door storage a la Container Store

J installing the shutters

Halloween!

old kitchen cabinet doors!

I needed a planter box to hide the ugly HVAC system placed in from of the beach house.  Planter boxes are EXPENSIVE!  So I designed and J created this one made from the old kitchen cabinets we ripped out from the house.

I love it!   We added heavy duty casters on the bottom.  I used left over paint to seal up the inside.  Added broken bricks to create air spaces so dirt will not compact or occlude drainage holes.  

Then I planted my poor, but still surviving Clematis--all six-- I lovingly transferred from our former home in Texas. In the spring, I hope they furiously climb the trellis and fill the area with amazing blooms of color and detail! 

Kitten approved pantry! 

Then we went to work on the pantry--we had a container store book shelf in there, but there was just no way to see the food items or access them easily.  

J pulled out all the remaining closet stuff, rod, shelf and secured a shelving system.  Yeah!   So much more space--can see everything.  He will eventually open the pantry to a 22 inch opening, but has to build a header first. 

We reused the old shelf, cut it down to size and I painted it with hi gloss trim: white. The rest of the shelves and supports we bought at home depot. 

I also have a door system on order from container store.  Recall the pantry USED to be the closet in the one bedroom.  So the back of the pantry is a open and close door.  

The system from container store is a midline bar that storage baskets fit on to hold more pantry items, thus maximizing the space!