Around the house

What have we been doing since we wrapped up the first floor unit and our first-floor post-renter-things-we-didn’t-quite-finish-yet list?

Well, my parents were in town last weekend. We had plans to do yard work since they’re good at that kind of thing. So we did some planting in the front and backyards. Sure, we were on lockdown Friday, but that didn’t stop them from charging into the backyard to start assessing the situation. Helicopters and manhunt? NBD. That action is a like, three towns away! I was by far the most stressed out person in the house.

Luckily, things were back to normal Saturday. Like, so normal we can go to Home Depot again and not have the cops closing it down. This is a good time for the #firstworldproblems hashtag.

Do they not look thrilled to be heading into what’s sure to be chaos?

My mom and I unknowingly destroying a patch of shade-dwelling perennials  thinking they were an invasive, horribly creepy weed and digging up them and their massive roots. Picture the sprouts below not green, but blackish-purple and EVERYWHERE, coming up like fingers from a grave, and well, you’d get that shovel and rip them out, too.

It’s Hosta, as determined by Rene, the structural engineer who visited this week, and as recommended by Victoria in her recent garden post. Not a weed. Oops. So one patch might be headed for the Boston dump. I think we still have plenty. These things  have been multiplying for decades all over the yard. And soon, all over the city landfill. Pretty!

Really, though. Now we have flowers on the steps, a small tree in the front yard, shrubs along the back fence, two beds for growing things (not sure what or how), and a compost pile! Not too shabby.

Before my parents showed up, Lou and I had to make the bathroom usable. This meant putting a door on and hanging some towel hooks, among other things. Lou even found time to build a lovely step-stool for climbing in and out of the clawfoot tub. If you’re interested, it may be appearing on etsy soon. Along with other vintage finds and handmade goodness from Deep Eaves and Lou.

When we do feel like snaking wire through walls and doing the bathroom lighting, I bought some sweet Schoolhouse Electric shades for the lights over the vanity. I’ve been dying to buy something from this shop. There will be no spray-painted fixtures in this room (just the tub). Plus they’re made in the USA, making them a totally justifiable purchase.

And finally, since the snow has (maybe, possibly, but probably not it’s only the end of April) ended, we brought out a structural engineer to look at the porches. Because, you know, old house + summer + us + tenants + booze = potentially very bad things.

Yeah, we’re gonna need to replace that bottom part of the post. Luckily, that seemed the worst of the inspection. So we celebrated with our first official drink on the porch last night, knowing full well what our risks were. Also because the mizzle that’s been hanging around was gone, and it was like, 60 degrees and for all we knew, July. 

Then I spilled my beer everywhere, including on Lou’s Nikon, as we hauled the chairs back inside. We are our own liability, clearly.

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