Victorian House Renovation in Bloomingdale, DC
We got a rose! two!
granted the blooms were there when we bought the plants, but you know what, its an achievement!
In other good news: we had three contractors over at the VIB, and all of them told us that what we thought may be a serious structural issue — a crack separating trim and floor in the kitchen — is nothing more than poorly adjusted joist chip.… Read the rest
and pink and yellow
Yay, so excited we planted roses!
To celebrate getting rid of the giant eyesore tree and (hopefully) the banishment of vines, we planted climbing roses by the back fence.
It took a bit of time, as ground was pretty hard and filled with glass (we must have taken out two trash buckets full of glass from there). We also got to use the compost that i was diligently harvesting all summer.… Read the rest
I am beginning to feel like the tree cutting is just a perpetual part of life. (and I can’t imagine how Sergey feels since he is the one who is doing the actual cutting).
Here are some pictures accumulated over the summer:
1) Front tree box — if you remember, I tried to plant some flowers here, but unfortunately not much came up besides grass (see first picture) and what did come up was taken down by the friendly city people in charge of the tree boxes.… Read the rest
Yesterday, after 4 long months of waiting it finally happened. We got a DC RiverSmart audit! The DC government program basically allocates $1200 per property to alleviate issues connected with storm water run-off via rain barrels, water gardens, shade trees and permeable patios.
We definitely needed it. We noted the issue with flooding almost as soon as we moved in. Well today’s rain looks even worse, our backyard is a mess of standing water.… Read the rest
The VIB is pretty lucky to have the original cast iron stairs at the entrance.
Unfortunately, the iron is looking pretty rough in spots (worse yet, eroded at parts) and I wouldn’t be surprised if it hasn’t been touched since 1897. To prevent further damage, the rust has to be stripped and new anti-rust primer and paint reapplied.
Without further ado, here’s what we spent a good amount of time during 4th of july weekend doing:
1) remove rust by scrubbing spots with a wire brush – we used wire brush attachments for an electric hand-held drill.… Read the rest
I tried vinegar, I tried digging, the vines just come back, with a vengeance. I did dig up the flower bed after we finally got some rain yesterday (its been hotttt!)
And then I gave up on the organics and just went with the real, chemical, toxic stuff. on the vines growing next to the cement wall. I am hoping to plant climbing roses there.
that is of course if the squirrels don’t get them.… Read the rest
Happy Summer Solstice 2010!
(Hopefully the longest day of the year means I have enough time today to finish the project I started this weekend)
The hooks are from the Brooklyn Flea that I got several weekends ago.
I filled some mason jars with stones found at the dollar store, put a wire around them, and added citronella candles to help with mosquitoes. but these can also work as flower vases.… Read the rest
in the ground
on the deck for now
The Vine is Dead, the Vine is Dead!
Well at least the monstrosity that ate the tree. Now all we have to do is take it down. What isn’t entirely clear is what to do with these suckers popping out of the ground. I pull them all the time, but somehow I think they are planning on being back. And I am afraid of planting vegetables / herbs for fear that they will be overtaken.… Read the rest
shashlik
and we are going to do this
can you see our neighbor?
operation ‘lower the branch’
let there be light!
Shashlik and such
This weekend we made use of our fire pit again to make a traditional Russian –well more like Caucasian/ Central Asian– repast, shashlik. It was delicious!
At some point between portion one and two of meat on the grill, Sergey and our neighbor decided to take care of the tree branches that have vexed me since we moved into our house two months ago.… Read the rest
working on the pit
Fire Pit
That’s what we have after a weekend of hard work!
Sergey sawed and sawed and sawed – now we have a bunch of branches/old fence board for the fire (and a clean yard). Here’s to the tree that was freed from the vines. and here’s to hoping that the weight of the dead vines won’t pull it down (just a slight worry). The thinking is that after they are all dead we can just pull them down.… Read the rest