Back to Work

There just haven't been many blogworthy house happenings lately, but hopefully that will change pretty soon. I have a four-day weekend for Memorial Day, which is a perfect time for choosing one of those we'll-get-around-to-it-someday projects. Our tentative plan is to (at long last) put up the kitchen backsplash. That's the same kitchen backsplash I mentioned in my New Year's Resolutions post.

Back in December.

Five months ago.

But on with the future. We're leaning towards the tin ceiling tile look, like the ones on this page. They may not completely match our kitchen's current look, but we plan to replace a lot in our kitchen over the years, so we'll just head in that direction slowly.

In other news, we are seeing a big change in the backyard. For a long time it has been nothing but dirt (more often, mud). A few weeks ago I tried seeding the area. I had no expectation of anything coming of it, but I've always loved the myth of Sisyphus. Surprisingly, this is what I saw seven days later:



That is grass!. Real, live leaves of grass. Walt Whitman would be proud.

More Storm Window Progress

We have storm windows!



I know, not too exciting really. But it is exciting for us. This is just the south side of the house -- the main floor is almost finished now, except one window on the porch. (That remaining window could have been installed already if I didn't have to replace the bottom pane.)

I am especially impressed with the far window in the picture (the one on the right). That was the only storm window on the main level that was missing, so my father made the frame for me. It's a darn good match if you ask me, and it fits better than the originals.

Here is the new storm window when it was half finished.



And here it is beside one of the originals (which was obviously also in progress).