2020 Tuesday — Back Yard

We’ve been back from the Central Coast since Saturday, January 18. That is approximately 17 days. We finally found a gear and we’re getting something accomplished on this old house — a house that my parents purchased in spring of 1963.

Mr. Fun & I bought it from them in January 1970. We lived in it for 28 years; then we rented it for 24 years, and after the renters moved out in early June 2017, it look us a year to sell our big house, and mean time we worked little-by-Little getting this house repaired and ready for us to live in. We moved in the end of May 2018, even though the house had no flooring (we had color stained the cement foundation) and no baseboards. It did have new paint on all the interior walls, new kitchen cabinets and appliances, and both bathrooms were completely refurbished.

Last March we had an aluminum room put on the existing patio slab (because we had a friend in that business come give us a quote to cover the patio and he gave us an amazing quote to completely enclose the patio into a room that was extremely low). I wanted a bedroom that was big enough to sneeze in. The 4 existing bedrooms are kid-size. What were they thinking back in the 60s when they built this tract of houses? So the new patio room is BIG and roomy and filled with light because it is as much windows as it is walls. I really like sleeping in this new room.

We then had a door cut into the master bathroom, which is just on the other side of the wall from the patio room. At the same time we replaced the front and the back doors (because the renters had destroyed them). Window covers were then ordered and installed for the patio room, and then we stalled-out . . . I went out on medical leave from work, the holidays arrived, and on and on. Nothing was getting done.

Right before Christmas we had all the house windows measured to be replaced with new double-pane windows and then we had the rooms measured for baseboards and flooring. All of that was to be done after the holidays.

The windows were installed first, a little over a week ago. The quiet was amazing! The lack of draft was comforting. A week later the floor was laid and the baseboards installed. I’m old fashioned; I love carpet, so that’s what we got. The house got even quieter. New sliding closet doors were installed in three bedrooms (because the original doors were crap and always jumping off the rails). This house is so comfortable now.

So today our attention has returned to the outside, the back yard. One of the young carpet layers told us his dad was a landscaper. So his dad came over and gave us a super good quote for converting our huge back yard into a low maintenance yard; no more weeds. Today’s photo shows dirt. All the ankle high weeds have been “weed-whacked.” Tomorrow the dirt will be covered.

Good night from SoCal,
Rosie (& Mr. Fun), aka Carol



we moved