It’s not quite finished, but this is my new, little deck off the back sliders of my house. I haven’t been able to go out this door since I moved in back in July because there were no steps.
Now I have a pretty place to sit and enjoy the outdoors and I can get to my small backyard a lot easier. Railings will be added in a week or so when the materials come in, but it’s usable and I love it!
I wanted a house of my own more than anything, and for the past four years I have worked hard to come up with a down payment to get one and amazingly enough, I am now a home-owner.
Did you ever see the movie “The Money Pit”? The couple moves into a big, beautiful house and then it begins to fall apart – in a big way. Well, my situation is not that bad because I bought my home knowing it had lots of problems, but it is definitely a money pit.
One thing I knew was that the basement was wet, and my first focus was on fixing the water leaks. Come to find out, the front steps were the problem (in the front anyway – there is another leak at the back). Water gets in where the stone steps meet the rotted siding of the house, and apparently that has been a problem before because there is a worthless piece of metal laying across the area where it leaks. Someone tried unsuccessfully to fix things and ended up doing no good at all.
So once I moved in, I was in the basement with big towels soaking up the puddles after every rain. Then Hurricane Irene was on the way – (oh yes, this is my typical run of bad luck). Two days of heavy, hurricane rain was forecast. My basement would become a swimming pool if I didn’t do something. So black plastic, duct tape and heavy slate was what I used to rig this “tent” over the leaking area.
And it worked! All throughout the rains and winds of Irene, the plastic held and the basement stayed dry. (I really lucked out and did not get hit badly in my area.)
Now, whenever rain is in the forecast I go get my piece of plastic and rig up the tacky black tent over my front steps. Fortunately I have another front door that I can use near the garage. I am working on having the siding replaced and that should take care of the leak, but until that happens, this is my solution.
Someone also has previously painted the inside of the tub and the paint is now peeling off. At least it hasn’t fallen through the floor.
One of the most difficult things for me to do since moving to the northeast is finding firewood for my wood stove. Actually finding it is not hard, but finding good wood – split nicely and seasoned – is what I’ve been having trouble with.
A couple years ago I called up a guy from a newspaper ad and he was happy to deliver a truckload for a reasonable price. Once I began stacking it, I realized that the pieces were about as big around as tree trunks. Fortunately I had a big wood stove, but still, some of the pieces were just too big. I don’t use an axe so there was no way I’d be able to split them and lugging them was back-breaking. I wasn’t too happy.
Now I’ve sold my old, mid-Moe stove and replaced it with a new Jotul that is quite small, but perfect for my little living room fireplace. I definitely need decent size pieces of wood and not tree trunks. But where to find good wood? I asked the guy who came to fix my chimney and roof, but he didn’t know because he cuts his own. That is usually the answer I would get from any guy I asked. “I cut my own”. Now, I can’t even imagine having a husband who would go out and cut all the firewood needed for a season himself, so any of you ladies out there who have a guy like that – be grateful! But that didn’t help me.
Then I took a walk the other day and ended up passing by my neighbor’s house and they were – you guessed it – lugging wood that had been dumped at the edge of their yard. So I asked where they got it and now I have ordered my own cord from Northern Lights Landscaping in Milford, NH. I won’t be getting it for a few days, and then I’ll see how I like it, but the woman who took my order over the phone said it’s cut 14-16 inches which is perfect.
I guess the only advice I could give about finding firewood is to ask around (if you find people to ask!) or go with a company (such as landscaping) who has a reputation to uphold. They will want you to be happy, even though the wood may cost more.
Now I am deciding where to stack it for easily bringing inside during the winter. It’s a new place and this will be a first time winter, so it will be trial and error. At least I’ll have some wood to burn.
In all the time I lived in the northeastern U.S. as a kid, I don’t remember ever seeing a Bleeding Heart plant. I never saw them in Florida either – they probably can’t handle that heat.
They amaze me with their hanging stems that are full of heart-shaped flowers in either pink or white. The plant itself seems very delicate and the stems break easily, but it is a perennial and survives the long, cold winters to come back in Spring with it’s light green growth.
I planted a white Bleeding Heart next to the rental I lived in for three years and that is when I took the photo above. Unfortunately that plant only lived one year. The cat kept digging in that area and I think she killed it.
What I love about this shrub is that it will grow well in the shade, so I plan to add some pretty Bleeding hearts to my new yard which has a lot of shade out front.
New England's Narrow Road 