The new windows are in, life is great!
We are definitely a low or no AC kind of family, we like ceiling fans and loved our attic fan in NJ. Getting one here may be down the road, I’m a believer in the power of the attic exhaust fan. It’s kind of a question of finding our attic, though…
I’m astounded at how quickly the windows went in – amazing!
We were doing a few top floor windows where there had been damage to the window or some rotting, and had anticipated the job taking all day. The guys showed up at 8:00 and were out by noon, the job was well done, very tidy and the guys were pleasant. An all around great experience!
We had read some horror stories about Home Depot so we initially steered clear. But we revisited that option and that’s who we eventually went with. The company they contracted to do the work was Success Remodeling, and they were very – successful! I would highly recommend this option for anyone looking into windows in our area.
I was sitting on the deck working on a crochet piece for IK Crochet (Fall) when one of the guys looked down out of the window and said, “Nice life!” I explained I was actually working, but agreed that I was one incredibly lucky person!
The yarn (Mission Falls 1824 Superwash Merino) showed up pretty late, and my idea for the bag was a little half baked. It all came together beautifully, though, and as soon as I was able to work with the yarn it just made sense. I can’t say much about it except I was inspired by beer…
I was also inspired by the handles that I picked up when I visited Lantern Moon last week in Portland! I knew I’d be working on a bag, so I asked them if it was okay if I used their knitting-needle palmwood handles. They looked amazing, and I cannot WAIT to see it in the magazine!
So all of this work inspired us to do some work ourselves.
We have a shady back yard with areas that become muddy – grass just won’t grow in certain parts (very dense soil, clay-like, and hard packed by the dogs and kids) I’ve been wanting to put a stone patio down like we’d done in NJ, where eventually a little grass grew between the stones and looked nice and not too paved.
I’ve been digging the area for a few weeks, off and on, between my teaching gigs. I’ve been trying to move dirt from the “hills” to the “valleys,” but work was slow until the whole family got involved. Yesterday the kids both jumped in to help, Gerry did some great work, and before dinner we were able to even out the dirt.
Fortuitously, there’s an old, HUGE, built in sandbox in our yard from the previous owners. We did nothing with it last year, but Gerry wants to fill it in and just have more yard. I’m not sure what I want to do with it, but it’s filled with beautiful SAND – aha!
So we put down a layer of that black weed-stopping fabric, then covered it with a few inches of sand to even out the area even more, and now we’re ready for some nice stones.
All our work will be appreciated on those rainy days when the kids and dogs are NOT tracking mud all over the house – yay! (For the time being, they’re just tracking sand…)
Currently on the knitting front I’m finishing up a hat for Shaeffer yarn – I am SO late on this. I’m also working up a scarf idea with Argosy yarn and Signature Needles – also very late.
I have some tech editing patterns that are coming back to me, and I’m preparing for TNNA. It’s odd to think it’s less than 3 weeks away! I so wish I were teaching, but it will be very nice to just be an observer (I’m even TAKING a class – I haven’t done that in years!)