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 stole a few trees from Teague’s parents’ 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. Teague is working hard on other people’s houses, and I’m just 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 […]

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……….

Tags:fence

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 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 area? […]

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 the […]

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 […]

A few days ago I was all aglow about our fence plans, teasing the dogs with stories of how long I’d let them run and play, free from the restraint of their leashes. We’d be one big happy exhausted family after hours of throwing and fetching. But now, it seems that the picket fence was […]

Yes, we’re doing our own roof. Yes, we’re slightly obsessed with DIY. We’re also pretty broke, and I’ve got a talented husband and father-in-law with many successful roofing jobs under their belts.
We finally ripped into our roof on Saturday, and despite my many fears it’s been going well. Teague’s father, Don, gave up his entire […]

I’ve been hesitant to reveal our roof repair plans on the site for two reasons. The first is that we kept changing our minds, and I didn’t want to confuse everyone by flip-flopping. The second reason is that I fear our final choice isn’t going to be too popular with some of the purists out […]

One of our most visible garden beds has been, since day 1, a total weedy mess. Rumor has it there used to be nice flowers in there but the previous owners yanked them before moving on. I can verify this, since there were sinkholes all over the place where plants had once been.
Last year was […]

Thanks to everyone for the great landscaping advice - I’ve got a running list of things to check out now. While we wait for the hardwood varnish to dry completely (STILL….will it never end?), we’ve been entertaining ourselves by fixing exterior annoyances.
Yesterday the weather was beautiful (so rare in Central New York!) so we grabbed […]

When we took our first trip to a nursery last spring, we were shocked at how much plants and trees go for these days. Our dreams of a nice, lush yard full of trees, bushes and flowers quickly vanished as we looked at pricetags. We ended up settling for a spindley little crab tree from […]

My friend Jonah is a great photographer. I was flipping through his portfolio tonight, and came across a photo of a truly beautiful lantern:

You can see the large version (and his porfolio) here.
Tags:fixtures

We’ve had a few roof leaks over the past year, and plan to redo one of our roofs in the spring.
The original roof was flat, and now has a second roof built up over it.
When we do the repairs, we’d like to take it back to a flat roof in keeping with the Italianate sytle. […]

You know the type of projects that start out as a “quick temporary fix” and quickly snowball into a weekend-long event? Ah yes, well, I stumbled into another one this weekend.
I’m not what you’d call handy with a trowel, so Teague thought it better if I didn’t skim coat the chimney with him. But I […]

When I got home from work tonight, Teague was out spreading mortar on the chimney. I changed into my play clothes (like all good fixer-uppers do) and grabbed a trowel. It’s kinda like building a sand castle, only messier.
The verdict? I’m pretty sucky at masonry work. But, I didn’t have much time to practice because […]