Anyone who has visited a tree nursery lately knows how expensive landscaping can be. A nice tree or bush can cost $100 – $200 dollars or more. So we’ve been doing piecemeal landscaping whenever we can. Last year we tried a few trees from a friend’s yard (see this post) but half of them were […]

As you’ve no doubt noticed, there’s not much going on at the Fixer-Upper worth bragging about. I’m enjoying the much-needed break. Instead of charging ahead on renovations, we’re working on paying our remodeling bills off (I absolutely despise credit card debt) and squeezing in as much outdoor time as possible before the snow flies. Never […]

Last year, I bought a peony bush with 2 scrawny little blooms on it. This year, it grew exponentially. At last count, it had about 15 big flowers with other small blooms working themselves out. I know they’ll all start flopping over soon from the weight of such large flowers, but right now I’m just […]

Nearly dark, hurrying to finish putting pretty little fence caps on the gate and corner posts. Yesterday I got 4 more panels done, and have the sunburn to prove it. 9 to go……….

We finally got some rain-free weekend weather, so after three days of half-hearted painting, we’re about 1/10th of the way to a white picket fence. We’re using Olympic solid stain in “Snowflake” (white, but not completely glaring) – because, as one of our readers helpfully pointed out, stain won’t flake or peel the way paint […]

In part one of our little fence adventure we dug holes, poured concrete, and set our posts. Part one was kinda drawn-out and sucky, and carrying the 2-man digger around made my back hurt. So I wasn’t exactly looking forward to part two – putting up the panels. But it turns out this is the […]

The fence debate has been decided. It wasn’t an easy one – it turns out there are many factors to consider when choosing a fence, and 3 different ways to tackle the project. Well, 3 we considered anyway… How could we not fence the lawn in, when Bruiser looks so pathetic in his teeny-tiny fenced-in […]

We decided most definitely NOT to paint the exterior of our house this year (time and money being two key factors) but that doesn’t mean we’ll be slacking off all season. Some type of progress must be made, because right now I don’t know what to do with myself when the weekend rolls around there […]

Wave goodbye to the boring old aluminum mailbox we used to have, and say hello to our newest pride and joy – an antique cast iron mailbox made by Griswold Mfg of Erie PA: The photo is a little fuzzy, but you can see that it’s marked “Standard, No. 2”. The little floral piece at […]

Though we’re stubbornly leaving the windows open at night and resisting long sleeves, it’s evident that fall is closer than we think. I could see my breath this morning, and had to wipe the dew from my car windows. The air is crisper; sunsets are earlier. Our (half-unhooked) radiators are blissfully unaware of how soon […]