Life is busy, but good.

Work continues to flow in -- always a good thing. The PITA project that's kept me on the edge of insanity since fall is finally over and the check's been cashed. That's always a good feeling.

The house is a neverending project, but I really love doing the homeowner thing -- even cutting the grass, which I never thought I'd get into. It's almost meditative, walking in those long, overlapping lines. Since I last talked about the house, a lot has been done. I painted the hallway the same sage-y green of the living room with white trim. I still have to finish the insides of the doors of the linen closet and install the new wood thresholds where the bathroom and kitchen lineoleum meet the wood floor, but for the most part it's done and I'm extremely happy with it. I found a living room rug on clearance at Target for a mere $35 that goes very well with the scheme. It is of course not the best rug in the world, but it will do for now. I'm waiting for the window guy to come out to make the final measurements and schedule the installation of the new windows, which I figure will pay for themselves in much lower heating bills over the next four years. I'm waiting until fall to talk about the new doors, which will also help with the heating.

The landscaping has been taking up the majority of my house project time lately, though. Friends of the family moved into a new home with existing landscaping that wasn't to their taste. They offered me my choice among the things they were getting rid of, so I went shopping in their yard and came home with a bunch of bushes, groundcover, and ornamental grasses, all of which had to go somewhere. I spent a few weeks enlarging existing beds and creating new ones -- digging out around trees and taking out grass in the quarter-circle between the house, the driveway, and the front walk. This week I finally filled in with some new perennials and annuals; last night I started mulching. Once I finish the mulching -- maybe later today, if I get this other project done -- I'll take and post some pictures. I still have to make some room for the hydrangeas and more groundcover that I haven't dug out yet, but as one of my neighbors said, I can't do it all in one day, and have to leave something for next week.

I traded in the trusty blue Saturn for a new silver Saturn Ion week before last. My lease was up, and after crunching the numbers it made more sense to get the new car rather than continue making payments on the old one. I love it.

- posted by Lori @ 4:00:00 PM | permanent link | |