October Already?

Well, I have not posted in almost three months! Whoops! The last bit of summer was busy and the beginning of the school year has been incredibly busy but enjoyable.

To update you we have been recently working on our kitchen. I will post some of the doings today and hopefully more this week.

The first set of pictures is our “old” kitchen. We had nasty, rickety cupboards from the 80’s. Rather than replace them we decided to make them stronger and give them a fresh coat of paint. We also purchased bronze hardware which we love. Mike is busy building new drawers and replacing the runners – no more sawdust in my cupboards!

This first step of the kitchen remodel took place in July… I'm a bit behind!

     

  This picture shows where some pantry cupboards used to be. We are re-arranging the order of the fridge and cupboards so the room flows a bit better. Also, we were sick of the freezer door not opening all the way because it was too close to the wall. Now it is conveniently located where both doors open all the way!

Shade!

 

In California heat it is necessary to have some shade. Our backyard has no trees, grass, or anything to speak of until recently. About 2 months ago a patio was poured for us and soon after we began to work on our shade structure or pergola.

This project involved several steps and several weeks. According to city code we couldn’t build the pergola off of the fascia so we got a little creative.

First, Mike bolted into the stucco a 20 ft long header. On the header Mike put brackets to hold the 2x6x10 boards.

 

Second Mike placed the 4x4x8 poles into the brackets already in the patio. Once we had the poles, another header, and all those brackets installed we could begin putting the 2x6x10 boards in place. Of course, one must become good friends with the level.

 

     

Finally, I had the joy of painting 10 2x6x10 boards and 40 2x4x10 boards. After they were all dry Mike could finally put it completely together. Below is the completed pergola!

   

Now its done and we can enjoy a cooler patio and cooler house! It was finished just in time for some 100+ degree weather!

beginnings

 

The kitchen has begun its surface remodel and we’re pumped! It is a 20 year old kitchen with outdated cabinets, no hardware, and terrible drawers. Rather than spend mucho bucks on new cabinets we are sanding, painting, and installing drawer runners and new hardware. Here I am checking out the kitchen for the first time.

The kitchen counters are loaded with items from the pantry as we’re doing one bank of cabinets at a time.

Below is section 1. The picture on the right features a microwave. At that point Mike was determining how to hang it.

   

More than half through section 1!

Beginning Section 2 required a tiny bit of demo since we’re rearranging the cabinetry and the refrigerator.

  

Carlsbad Camping

Last weekend we packed up the truck with coolers, a tent, bikes, and firewood for a first camping trip! We headed down to Carlsbad, a state park right on the Pacific Ocean. The campground is on a bluff overlooking the ocean – it was beautiful. We walked down to the beach and climbed over millions of rocks that had been washed shore. Later we went back to the site, stoked up the fire and had brats and of course s’mores for desert.

 

 

On Saturday our good friends Katieanne and Ryan came to join us. The guys spent time throwing rocks on the beach while us girls collected them! We played a very L-O-N-G game of phase 10 around a lantern and then struggled to make our campfire big enough to warm us up. All in all we had a great first camping experience we just a bit bummed about the chilliness.

 

Summertime

As it continues to warm up here in California Mike and I decided we needed a patio in order to help us enjoy our dirt backyard. We had many different ideas. Since we’re the do it ourselves type we thought we could pour our own cement, lay pavers, or maybe do a combination of cement and pavers. As we continued discussing our project we realized that one, we wanted a nice patio and we didn’t know how (or have the equipment) to pour our own cement. Two, we priced out pavers… EXPENSIVE, and time consuming. I wanted a patio to use now, not at the end of summer! So, we asked around and found a general contractor who does patios. He came out did the measuring, laid the forms, dug the holes for the shade structure footings, and eventually poured the concrete. We are immensely pleased with the end result. Bonus we didn’t really have to do a thing. I left for work with no patio and I came home 8 hours later the new owner of a patio.

Forms for the concrete.

Below are the holes that the footings were placed in for the future shade structure.

  

Yay! A Patio!

Now we can enjoy this! Soon to come… patio furniture and a shade structure!

Fresh Air

A couple weeks ago my parents came to visit us and we had a blast! Of course, they ended up helping us with many projects! Mom was willing to get on her hands and knees and do my weekly cleaning – what a treat! Dad helped Mike with the installation of our new bedroom slider door. He also put in window trim around the inside of our front windows. It looks classy now.

The door did not take Mike and Dad too long to complete and as a reward they later went golfing. To install a door you need patience and you need to follow a few simple steps.

Step 1: Take out original slider door. To get the original frame out was tough and took the longest amount of time. They used pry bars, hammers, and their hands to yank it out.

Step 2: Put new door in place to make sure it fits and is level.

Step 3: Use the caulking gun all around the door frame.

 

Step 4: Put door in place, make sure it is level, and screw it in.

Step 5: Install door trim.

 

Thanks Dad for helping us install the door! We love having a slider and screen door that work and I especially love that the room can cool off at night now. Ah, fresh air!

Garden Prep and a Door

 

A few weeks ago Mike and I put close to the finishing touches on the front of the house. Mike dug the weeds out of the parkway and we threw down a bunch of brown mulch. We decided on nixing grass in the front parkway because it seems silly to mow a 2 ft by 4 ft area.

 

Our backyard also has an area that we I decided would be perfect for some raised vegetable garden beds. We are starting the experiment with one garden and we began the prep work by rota-tilling a small 2 ft by 5 ft area.

 

A few days later Mike built a simple box using treated wood. We poured a mixture of dirt in the box and will soon plant tomatoes, cucumber, hot pepper, and cilantro. Yay for fresh veggies! I also bought a few fiber pots to attempt to start some flower seeds. I am hoping to eventually have some white daisies, purple cone flowers, and holly hocks. The seeds though, are taking FOREVER to germinate!

 

Finally, we also painted our front door. No longer is it the tacky original blue color. Now it is a deep chocolate brown that contrasts nicely with the tan!

            

I

love seeing all the progress on our house. Every time we do something it seems more and more like ours!