Good afternoon! I suppose it's time to update you all as to WHY I haven't posted on here much lately. We've decided to switch over to primarily doing YouTube. I try to post new videos at least once a week, but sometimes I upload as often as every couple of days!
Here's the link, in case it is not visible elsewhere on the blog:
We're so excited for spring to be in full spring. We had a nice thunderstorm last night with lots of rain, and with the temperatures being in the 60s, and even forecast to get into the 70s in the coming days, no doubt everything will start exploding with growth!
I didn't get my seeds started as early as I would have liked (no surprise there!), but I'm hoping I'll have enough time to get at least some of the spring crops before it gets too hot for them.
I did some cleaning and rearranging in the greenhouse, which will also double as some a storage space for my housefire-salvaged "stuff".
These lettuce and brassicas over-wintered in the hoophouse and will be
transplanted into the main garden.
First time growing onions! Hope they do well!
We'll have about 75 tomato plants this year! I plan on doing a LOT of canning!
Blackberries are coming in nicely!
Lots of seeds started for the summer garden!
The boys helped me with some new mulch for the rose garden. I want to keep it well managed this year- last year it pretty much grew wild and the weeds and grass were out of control!
The pre-built playhouse we purchased online a few years back, has proved to be quite a poor investment... the lightweight wood started to split, the playhouse became sort of twisted and out-of-square. And the whole thing would rock and quake with even the slightest swing of the swingset.
So, after the majority of our home had been repaired from the fire, we got to work on tearing down the old playhouse and building a new one, from the ground up.
I didn't get any pictures of us building the base and floor, but we set it up high enough that the kids could play underneath, which they love to do. The treated 4x4 posts are set in concrete. Floor joists are 2x6.
The big boys helped us with some cutting, carrying, and holding.
All framed up.
1/4" plywood on walls.
The ramp is done. Originally we thought we'd put old tires on the ramp as a climb-up spot, but that seemed dangerous to me, as well as a potential haven for wasps.
All done! This was our first time painting anything in camouflage, so we didn't really know what we were doing.
We used a few different colors of paint, and some pieces of branches off our trees, and just started covering the whole thing with these "stencils". I think it turned out pretty cool!
It really does blend right in with the yard.
The kids LOVE it! It's big enough and sturdy enough that even the older boys can play and swing on it too. Hopefully we'll get many years of use out of this!
While the two older boys were gone for a few weeks over the summer, we decided to scramble and get their rooms, and really the entire upstairs, done while they were gone. We wanted to surprise them. They've been so good throughout this whole ordeal of the house fire, never complaining and always offering to help. They deserve to finally get their rooms back.
We hung insulation as we hung the sheetrock.
We'll soon be pros with all the practice we've had over the years!
The stairwell ceiling will have to have it's tongue and groove wood put back.
There was so much blistered paint to scrape from walls and doors.
The little guys helped paint Kilz on every surface.
The smell of smoke was finally gone!
This wall had been burned out pretty badly and had to be repaired.
A new access door into the "attic room" was also built.
Oldest son's room is a dark blue.
It's amazing how nice trim around windows makes the room look.
Younger older son's (I guess I should come up with some better nicknames!) room still had a lot of salvaged items and debris left in his room. His room was the most damaged.
Covering the ductwork.
Looking good!
More blistered and peeling paint to remove.
Repairing the ceiling in the stairwell.
Younger older boy's room is green.
All their old furniture, as well as some new furniture to replace what had been burned in the fire, got a fresh coat of paint.
More Kilz.
Look at the stark difference here!
Stairwell is looking good!
Finished!
Finished!
The stairs will get a beautiful fresh coat of paint too!
This is the closet that adjoins both bedrooms upstairs.
Attic access.
It all turned out so nicely!
We made a video to show the boys' reactions. Here's the link to that if you'd like to check it out:
