With the right tools, you can do anything…

But somehow nature always wins. And, for the record, mud sits at the top of the nature hierarchy. I’m getting ahead of myself… let’s go back before we go forward.

My fascination with power tools has been widely documented. The bigger and louder, the better. Enter the rented stump grinder. We reserved it Wednesday and hoped for good weather on the weekend because it had rained all week (this is a very important detail that was lost on me). We picked it up on Saturday morning and I was so excited about it that I barely listened to the mechanic who was giving us the low-down on how it worked (no need to draw attention to that detail).

I asked a couple of questions, he answered Michael. I don’t think I can ever fully explain how frustrating that is to me. I asked the question and he looks at Michael when he answers. And, when Michael asked a question, he answered Michael. Argh.

That said, the man was nice and went over the machine even pointing out that one renter once put gasoline in the hydraulic fluid tank when trying to top off the gas. I laughed without seeing where he was pointing. Not a costly mistake as both are clearly labeled and we had no trouble filling up the gas before we returned it.

Again, I’m getting ahead of myself. We hook up the trailer to the van and we’re off. Other traffic (what little there was at this hour in the morning) stayed clear of the van and the towed machine – they knew we meant business. We get home, easily get the grinder off the trailer and get to work.

And, for the record (and for the benefit of those who thought they needed to remind me to wear protective gear when I told them of our weekend plans), we both wore ear protection, goggles, steel-toed boots and leather gloves. A stump grinder is loud, throws wood chips and has a very sharp and fast-moving blade. We both like our limbs and senses which are all still intact.

We started in the front of the house – we blew through about 20 stumps. The first few were a bit clunky, but we quickly became familiar with the controls and worked them with ease. While it was a loud and powerful machine (going 10 inches below the surface to tear out any bit of tree root), the controls were a bit wimpy. I mean, there was no force necessary, no pressure and no shaking. I was expecting a jackhammer for tree roots and it took less effort than a vacuum albeit a lot more fun.

One person could easily run the grinder so I was off to work on another project. While I could have easily picked up one that had been started days or weeks earlier, I didn’t. I started a new one. I ripped out our sidewalk. I could easily go off on a tangent here, but this sidewalk is worth a separate post (and the story is still unfolding).

With Michael working in the back and my station out front, I didn’t see what was going on with the stump grinder. He had been working in the area where we’ve been clearing the phragmites, downed and diseased trees. We were able to save some trees and the work we’re doing will help them to thrive, but again, I’m getting off track. With all of the brush, it was difficult to see just how wet the ground was. The rain from the week before had really made a mess of the area, but we’d been working without problem all day. Until… Michael found a particularly deep stump and the heavy machine was sinking as it was grinding. The stump was gone, but the grinder was bogged down.

Michael got me so that I could run the controls while he pushed it out. He managed to also sink in the mud as the grinder continued its descent into soft ground. Before he was able to pull out the MyGyver magic, I managed to provide some comic relief during a pretty tense moment. As we’d been clearing the area, we had been raking, digging and whatever else you do with brush and limbs. Tools were strewn about the yard and I managed to find an errant rake with my very heavy steel-toed boot and, just like in every Bugs Bunny cartoon I had seen as a child, the handle of the rake quickly found my forehead. I really thought ridiculous things like that only happened in the cartoons.

While I didn’t see birds and stars floating around my head afterward, it did take a few moments to regain my balance and composure. It really hurt, but it was so much funnier than painful. After we both had a good laugh, then McGyver sprung into action. He created a bridge for the tires to get some traction and we got the grinder out. He found a few more stumps that afternoon and we called it a day with only about five stumps left and rain in the forecast. We were exhausted.

Fast forward to Sunday morning, the last day with the grinder. It was raining… and it was not letting up. At about 2 we decided we had better just get out and finish the couple we had left. These stumps were about 20 feet from the water and it’s always damp in that area, and the constant drizzle wasn’t helping. However, we were emboldened by our previous success. We easily got two done and as we finished the third, the grinder was stuck -- really, really stuck. We hit the gas and were both covered in mud and the grinder didn’t move. No worries, we’d build a bridge. We used the same tactic from the day before and our bridge sunk deeper than the tires. We needed a taller, sturdier, wider bridge. Got it! The previous owners had some pavers that we tore out last summer, they would be perfect.

We got the pavers back to the sinking grinder and eased it out of the mud pit one paver at a time. We then used the pavers to make bridges to and from the rest of the stumps. We were covered in mud and soaked, but we were done. We cleaned up the grinder the best we could and delivered it back to the rental place Sunday evening. Since then, we’ve cut all of the wood up for firewood and what we couldn’t use we added to our neighbors burn pile (think Texas A&M).

Our next rental is the industrial tiller… I’m sure it will come with a story, too. And, we’re considering renting an excavator -- that should provide enough material for my first book.

Green Eggs, but no Ham

We’ve been clearing a lot of our backyard. We try to imagine that we’re pioneers settling new land, but we’re rudely brought back to the present by the trash of those folks who lived on this land before us. Amongst the vine covered trees and fragmite, we’ve found wayward car parts, piles of discarded shingles, errant golf balls and even a lonely Christmas tree stand.

So last weekend when I was wielding my favorite power tool (hedge trimmers*) with what some might call reckless abandon, I wasn’t surprised to hit into something that wasn’t plant or tree. But was horrified to find what I did hit – a nest of eggs.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned how sharp the hedge trimmers are – very. In fact, when choosing them at our local farm store, I sliced Michael’s jacket. Doesn’t everyone try out trimmers in the store without the protective cover? Needless to say, we were sold on the spot.

Back to the eggs. The jacket fared better than the two eggs on top. However, the five underneath were in perfect shape – and the shape was just like a chicken egg, but larger and an off green color. Michael and I were clearly not going back to yard work when we had a mystery on our hands. What bird lays eggs in the ground and leaves them? Other than the obvious answer of a stupid bird, we decided to explore further. Because the two eggs on top were broken, we looked inside to see if we could see any pre-animal shape. Nope, just like any other egg we’ve opened. Strike one.

Could it be a heron? And if so, I should probably get a new name for “Harry.” But, no, strike two. Heron eggs are light blue and herons smartly build nests in trees.

Turtles? We were pretty excited at this possibility. We’ve already had three new turtles in the pond this year. That excitement was short lived as turtle eggs are small, much smaller than what we found. Strike three.

So we went inside and turned to the internet. We found a bird in the UK that was known to lay green eggs. Strike four (if you’re still counting)… location ruled us out for that one.

After looking at a lot of pictures and doing a bit more research, the eggs are probably from a duck. And, we’ve had two male ducks following a female duck around the pond lately... definitely adds credibility to this theory. We originally thought the ducks had abandoned the nest, but it turns out that ducks will lay an egg every couple of days and only sit on the nest after she has a full “clutch.” So, we’ve left the eggs there hoping she’ll come back.

Still, I was hoping they were dinosaur eggs and fancied Kent Island as Jurassic Park. But ducks are nice, too.

* little sidebar on the hedge trimmers -- a birthday present from Michael a couple of years ago. Oh, and don’t laugh, he got a chainsaw that year. I came out way ahead in that deal!

Living with Macgyver

Let me start this by saying that I’ve never seen the show. But who doesn’t know the cultural icon?

I call Michael “Macgyver” all of the time. Not really my most clever nickname (he has many), but it’s appropriate as he is really handy. Once when we were boating he fixed the engine with a fishhook. It was amazing. He bent it and attached engine parts and we were off.

Of course, there is a down side to living with Macgyver. He doesn’t understand the concept of too old, too run down or just plain broken. Oh, he’s a wee bit stubborn, too.

Last summer we bought a tiller from our neighbor at a yard sale. In its day, it was a really good tiller (circa 1940 in my mind). But for only a $50 investment, it seemed worth the gamble. It turns out the tiller was a bigger project than anticipated and he needed parts to make it go. Lucky for us (written with a smirk), we went to an outdoor auction and found the exact same model and we bought it for $5. Now $55 dollars in and countless Macgyver hours, we have one tiller that operated for about 45 minutes and one tiller carcass. In that magical 45 minutes, he tilled a swath of grass in the middle of the yard about 3 feet by 10 feet.

We’ve decided to rent a tiller as we had a good experience renting other power tools (stay tuned for an entry on the stump grinder). However, Michael’s already on to his next project. Who am I kidding? Projects… many, many projects.

Our biggest tax break – our home.

I don’t like tax time. It’s not just that I don’t like paying taxes (and, really, who does?), it’s that my mom is a CPA and she’s basically missing in action from mid-January until now. However, what I do like is what we can now deduct… insulation, mortgage interest, home office space.

So, happy tax day to all and welcome back to the land of the living, mom. We missed you.

Child Labor Laws

...are non existent in our home.

Playtime at our house includes caulking. Toxic foam is fun, right Jack? We'll leave the heavy lifting and sharp tools for Jack's older sister, Carleigh.

We are definitely in the running for aunt and uncle of the year.

Pink is the new green

I wasn't sure what to call this post. My other option was “caffeine and caulk don't mix.”

But, really, they do.

Michael and I spent Sunday air sealing our home. Winter is definitely the time to find drafts and cold spots. Plus, having the walls down makes it particularly easy. We used caulk, foam, standard insulation – all of which ended up on me. Turns out caulk is the easiest to get off of the skin, aerosol foam is the most difficult, and insulation just itches.

I’m convinced that the way we are insulating our home is adding some to the structural integrity. It's certainly adding to the efficiency. Soon we’ll be on to drywall… I can hardly wait!

Rural Drive-by

Yesterday was unseasonably warm...about 65 and sunny. Michael and I decided to take a casual walk around the block. On our way we passed a very large field. In the summer it’s full of soybeans, but on Monday is was full of geese.

Anyway, we were talking and walking and in our own little world when – bang! Or whatever a shotgun sounds like – it’s just a sound you know when you hear it. We swing around to see a huge shotgun with a boy attached and hundreds of geese in the air. He jumps in a waiting truck and with a squeal (the tires, not the boy), they were on their way.

Seriously, a drive-by shooting in our quiet little town. I wonder if we’ll be featured on Cops.

P.S. If you’re keeping track as I am, this event marks the second gun sighting since we’ve been here.

Sushi, anyone?

I’ve already documented some of the wildlife we’ve seen in our yard. Recently, we had a “drop in” visitor.

It’s winter. So, we expect geese, an occasional heron, but not much more... it’s too cold. The other day, we were checking out the frozen pond and we came upon an eel. It was about four feet away from the pond and covered in leaves. It didn’t come from the pond (or so we think/hope). Our best guess is that a heron or some other bird dropped the eel as it flew. He must have been a fighter… we gave him a burial at sea.

Happy Valentine's Day, Michael

Your mom once told me that if we made it through our house renovation, we’d make it through anything. The house may not make it, but I’m sure we will. I couldn’t be happier that we’re tearing this house apart and making it our own. I look forward to many more years with you – with or without the house.

Love,
Kristen

P.S. According to a really great web site, this is the new face of Valentine’s Day – no more paper cards, flowers and frivolous gifts. Dinner still sounds good to me though.

New Beginnings…

It’s a new year and I’m going to make every effort to document our progress (or lack thereof) on the house. Michael and I hit a snag in our planning, but I think we’re back on track.

As we watched the sun set in San Diego over Christmas, we decided to put the house back together again. For some time, we thought we should just knock the whole house down and start from scratch. But, we’ve come full circle.

Even though the sun sets every day, it’s inspiring every single time. I’m glad the trip to California helped to inspire us again.

Happy new year. Happy new house.

April Showers...

...of the frozen variety.
Just two weeks ago my friend Kirsten and I sat on the back porch and talked. It did get cold when the sun was going down, but we were outside and enjoying the backyard.

This weekend it snowed. I’m ready for spring. I’m ready to be reminded why we love our backyard.

Sometimes it hits me...

I look around the house and it feels like I'm watching a house being built, but backwards. Last night I told friends that it's probably going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better. That comment sunk in last night, and I think it's pretty accurate. As we get more walls down, we have many more ideas. Michael and I are never short on ideas.


Can you believe we turned a living room, closet, bathroom and guest room into this?

Water, water everywhere

We have a pond. I never wanted a pond. In fact, I never even considered wanting or not wanting a pond. Nevertheless, we have a pond.

Michael's mom isn't a fan. I can't say I blame her. Michael's mom, Carla, and I have different takes on why we don’t really like the pond. She considers it a hazard to the grandkids. True, no doubt, but so is the huge river in the back of our house that connects to the Chesapeake Bay. Actually, at this point, our entire living situation is a hazard. But that’s a topic for another day.

But, there are days when the pond is really pretty, and then I like the pond except for the creepy girl sitting on the “dock.” I don’t know what it is about her, but I can’t stand her and I also can’t get rid of her. A friend from high school, Julie, visited once and she understood, but it’s not something I can easily explain. Julie and her husband just bought a house and I planned to send the creepy girl as a housewarming present. But, I couldn’t bring myself to remove her from her resting place. (You're welcome, Julie.)

Speaking of resting places, behind the pond is the final resting place of “Tiffy,” Bob and Mary’s (the former owners) dog. The funny thing about Tiffy is that the “T” on her gravestone has been missing for quite some time. Now we have “iffy” buried in our backyard. I can’t help but think that’s funny.

The storm of the century…

Well, it was the storm of November 2006 anyway. There were wind warning, the sky was dark at noon, and there was news that it would last throughout the evening. So, Annapolis did what all east coast towns do when storms come through – panic. Schools closed, wind warnings on the bridges, e-mails of our impending doom circulated the office.

When I did make it home -- it was a slow drive but free of disaster -- I quickly surveyed the yard. The water was really high and there were ducks floating in the yard – funny but far from alarming. The coast was clear. Or so I thought.

Michael got home about an hour after I did. He also surveyed the yard, but wasn’t distracted by the ducks (they were long gone). He noticed the bridge over the pond had been blown over and the roof has been torn off the shed. How did I miss both? Oh, the ducks.

Yet again, the house dictated our plans for the weekend. Raising the roof. While we were planning on either sprucing up or tearing down the shed in the spring, we had hoped it would last us through the winter.

Sorry about the delay in posting... I'm getting caught up as I was out of town for quite awhile. Glad to be back and working on the house again.

Time and money saving techniques...

That failed.
When you’re going through a project like we are, you look for ways to save time and money. We’re not talking about scrimping on structural elements, but little shortcuts to speed up the process and save money. As it turns out, some of our efforts actually cost more and took more time. So, in recounting these, we’ll remember them the second time around. Yeah, right.

Staining the deck
We plan to replace the deck, eventually… It’s part of the five-year plan, certainly not in this early stage. We decided to stain it, but didn’t want to spend the money on the stain we really wanted. So, we purchased an “oops!” five gallon drum of paint and thought we’d tint it. Fat chance, green doesn’t want to be brown no matter how much black and brown tint is added.

So, we spent $5 on the green stain, $5 each on three tubes of tint and ended up buying the good stain for $105 on sale at True Value. So, a newly stained deck for $125. Not bad. Our plan to save ended up costing us $25 additional. But, it sure was fun to play Jackson Pollock for the afternoon.

Michael is convinced that we can use the green on the inside of the shed. Works for me.

Utility Cart
When we first moved in, our first big purchase was a riding lawn mower. We love it. It has a 54” blade. I can tell you that before having so much grass in the backyard, I wouldn’t have considered, or bragged, about a lawn mower blade. It really does make the job faster… and it has a drink holder. Neat.

We wanted to purchase accessories for the mower, but hadn’t determined what we really wanted or needed. In clearing out some of the backyard, Michael found an old utility cart. An accessory we had considered purchasing, but now we could restore this one (we love projects…).

So, he searched for new tires online, after two tries and $40, we had tires that fit. We also put 2 layers of Rustoleum brown paint on it. We already had the paint, so that didn’t really cost us anything. Our cart has seen better days though, and it is a little soft in some places, and you can see through some of the metal. But, we love the utility cart and use it almost every weekend. Recycling at its best.

Of course, we could have purchased a brand new one for $140 ready to go. But then there wouldn’t be a story.

Lost & Found (Part 1?)

I’ve heard that hospitals keep the odd things the doctors pull from bodies. We’ve uncovered some odd things as we worked on the house… Not sure all are worth noting, but here are the top three. I’m still stumped on some. It’s like reading the first part of an article and having to wait until the next month for part two. I guess these mysteries will continue to unfold as we move along in the project. Or, we’ll just make up stories.

Hot and Cold Water Hookups behind the Drywall

There was a soft spot in the wall of our dining room. It felt almost like a drum as you ran your hand over it. Definitely thinner than wall board, but thick enough to provide some resistance. When we realized that we wanted to take down the wall in the room, we went right for the mystery spot in the wall – a little higher than waist high, but not as high as a light switch.

We found water hookups in the dining room – a mere 10 feet from the kitchen sink. We really thought we could incorporate this discovery into the design of the room. If you watch any home and garden show – it’s all about the water feature. But we’re covered in that area – a pond and the Bay – who needs more than that? So, there they are. When we rerun the plumbing, they’ll move or come out. But I still have to ask why?

Electric Cords from the Shed to, well, not sure yet...
This past weekend we were cutting down trees in the backyard (a new hobby of ours). We noticed electric cords coming from the ground so we pulled on them – of course. They went into the shed and then back out again on the other side. The one cord came from under the shed and joined up with a hose. The pair then went into the phragmite – it’s an invasive plant that looks and acts a lot like bamboo. Michael and I decided to follow it (anything to take a break from real work) into the weeds.

It started off rather easily – we kicked and pushed our way into the phragmite while following the cord and hose on the ground. The plants got thicker as we made our way in and it got harder to get through, but we stayed right on top of the cord and hose. These plants are about 8-12 feet high – it felt like we were explorers in our own backyard. We got about 30 feet into the dense plants and decided this episode was to be continued.

Part of me really wanted to track it down, but the other part of me likes making up the story of where these cords will lead us. I just hope we’re not inadvertently stealing electricity from our neighbors.

The inset in the pictures is a close up of the cord, you can see Michael through the tunnel we created in the phragmite.

Our very own junk yard

As we’ve cleared part of the yard, we’ve found a rusty utility cart, a rusty drive shaft, an even rustier axle … a theme? We’ve pulled out chains and water pumps, rods and filters. We’re not sure what kind of car was parted out behind our house, but we have hopes of putting it back together.

No, not really.

What now?
These odd things make me consider incorporating some mystery in our new construction. Not sure if you’ve ever visited the Winchester Mystery House, but if you have you definitely know what I mean. I’d like to have stairs that lead to nowhere or a secret passageway to the next room. Maybe even a trap door.

The Poison is in the Dose

Whoever said that hadn’t met Michael.

Our yard has a “wooded” area. I think real estate agents would call it that, Michael and I just think it’s a big mess. So we decided to clean it up. Clear some brush, tear down some vines, cut down some trees. You know, basic yard work for lumberjacks.

Well, it seems we found some poison oak. More accurately, Michael seemed to have found some poison something – he’s covered. Sorry about the picture (I did make it small). Eeeeewww.

You’ll see our progress on the yard in a future entry, once the itching stops…

Swab the deck,

and other home maintenance.

We really like the idea of a deck. We just don’t like the deck that came with our house. But, when you’re gutting the inside, you really value any livable space – even with uneven stairs, odd railings and mismatched wood. Given that we’ll need to keep the deck for a couple of years while we make the inside our own, we thought we’d take some steps to maintain it. Really, not a novel thought… but, like so many other things, it never occurred to the former owners.

My family came to town for my cousin’s wedding (congrats Kim and Jay!). Really, the deck and this visit have something in common – just give me a minute.

So my family was in town for the wedding. My mom extended her trip to help us with a project. So many projects and a volunteer – I was beside myself with ideas. Because the weather was nice and because the deck looked so bad, the deck seemed like a good two-day job.

Ha. It took two days just to power wash it. But that’s what my mom and I did while Michael went to work. We worked so hard on it– my mom even power washed her toe – ouch!

Then there was the staining. My mom helped pick the color – mission brown, but she was already safely back in Missouri (bandaged toe and all) by the time we were ready to stain. Even though Michael had thought the deck was a lost cause, even he was excited by how much better it looked clean. Two weeks of after work staining got us to this.

Just in time for winter… Argh!

Smells like Christmas...

…and sounds like power tools.

I know it’s a bit early for Christmas (except for in retail). But, around our house, it smells like Christmas. Michael and I spent the weekend cutting down and trimming evergreen trees. We have a line of trees between our house and our neighbors. They aren’t pretty, but they serve as a natural privacy fence.

Ahh, much better. I guess we all need a trim now and then.

Potential.

We had some family visit a couple of weeks ago. We had a great time hosting, and even though the house wasn’t yet up for visitors, we were. I know people must be horrified (perhaps too strong a word… at least stunned, or surprised) when they walk in the house – walls are half down, you can see through from room to room, wires dangle from walls and the ceiling, everything is mismatched. My uncle, though, saw what we saw when we first walked through the house last October – potential.

Seeing the house through his eyes gave us renewed energy for the project that we have ahead of us. In fact, I think it inspired us to be even more ambitious… if that’s possible.

Thanks, Bill!