July 4th 2010

We are light years ahead of where we were this time last year. This year's Fourth of July weekend was HOT! HOT! HOT!

We put up a new flag pole where the old locust tree used to be. It still needs plantings and finishing touches, but its way too hot to worry about.

The heat was intolerable all weekend. Fortunatley, Lee got tickets to go ballooning so we got up early Sunday morning and boarded a hot air balloon.

At six o'clock in the morning, the air was cool and still as we floated over the Hudson River near Poughkeepsie, NY. This is looking Northwest at the Catskill Mountains.

South of us is The Mid Hudson Bridge with some of the other balloons taking off after us.

More Balloons followed. Weather conditions were perfect for a sunrise launch.

This one dipped into the river as we had done a few minutes earlier .

That evening we ended up at Jack and Anne's for a great barbeque by Jack complete with sparklers

Paul and Anne usually end up dancing regardless of the props or circumstance!

Mike came by after the fireworks with his girlfriend and her son, who was already wiped out.

The heat never relented over the three day weekend. Monday, Vinny came by and we spent all afternoon in the pool with him, taking breaks for lunch and cold drinks.

Not much home improvement this holiday, too hot to work, we played this year instead.

TIMBER!

We'd been planning to open up more yard for a while.

Lee had an issue with how much shade the pool was getting and wanted some of the trees blocking the sun removed. We had our friend Jeff come over with his tree cutting gear and get rid of the problem

After we moved all the shrubs out of the way, Jeff removed some of the smaller trees at the base of the big one we needed down
Then he put his skill into action, climbing the tree, cutting the limbs and taking the upper sections off a little at a time Jack was on hand to help, here he is guiding the rope for Jeff who, if you look carefully, can be seen about 40 feet up the tree

Before tying the trunk of the tree to his truck, Paul assessed the job and also made sure Jeff had not fallen from the tree

With a tug from Paul's pick up, the tree came down with a loud thud

The back yard hardly resembled what it was that morning. A great deal of clean up will be needed. We planned on one tree, and ended up taking down three in back. Why stop now? lets move to the front of the house

The old locust tree in the front corner of the house was nice shade, but Paul wanted a flagpole there. So down it came, and just in time. The locust tree was full of ants and even a mouse nest, the branches were quite rotten, so we saved ourselves from a potential problem

With trees down all over the property, some of them very large, we broke down a purchased a 25 ton log splitter. This should be helpful in getting the debris out of the way and also supplying us with a nice stack of fire wood for the winter months.

Poolside Color

We did not have much time to clean up around the pool during our first summer in the house. Since most of the projects inside the house are complete, we can focus this year on the outside, especially around the pool.
Before uncovering the pool, we power wahsed the parts of the house that had not been resided, like the bump out near the pool.

Even cleaned up, it still seemed drab, so replaced some mouldings and painted badly chipped the eves and trim. Better, but we need some color, after all this is supposed to be a fun place to spend time. Even the furniture we put outside was old and dull, so we might have bought new furniture, but then we thought, "Why?"
At $4 a can, spray paint seemed like a good idea, so we stocked up on some Caribbean colors like yellow, pink, bright green and blue. Hmmm this might just work!
We were happy. The cement patio will need to be addressed, some of it is crumbling around the fence, then we will stain it but that can wait for now.

A bright blue base around the bottom of the house and re-painted entry floor brightened up the patio and helped bring out the color of the pool while the light blue ceiling in the entry added a "sunny" effect.

Okay, we are not ready for House and Garden magazine yet, but its an improvement.

The Garage Door

We painted the original garage door last fall because leaving it the way it was took away from the face lift. The opener suffered from electrical problems and didn't work, the spring was broken and the door was extremely heavy to open. Not to mention, it was pretty unattractive. So, we sprung for a new door.

After the old door was removed, the racks were replaced and new springs installed.

The panels of the doors were put in place one by one. We ordered the door to match the colors of the siding job that was installed last fall

Once the door was in place a new door lifter was installed. The old one was chain driven, we purchased a belt driven lifter. Its as quiet as a whisper, well, almost

We picked a carriage house style door. The square windows compliment the 6/1 design on the rest of the house. The decorative hinges were not shipped but are on the way.

Now that the front of the house has been restored, lets look at before and after shots. It doesn't seem possible.

We took this picture the first time we saw the house on January 4, 2009. We had visions, but completion seemed a long time off

A year and a half later we are quite settled in and the transformation on the face of the house is almost complete.

Taking Claim to the Property

After we cleaned up the brush and weeds beneath the pine trees on the north side of the property, we added at least 60 feet of usable space beneath the trees

The afternoon shade was broken by dabs of filtered light beneath the trees, the cleared ground now green with ground cover and sprouting ferns will offer tranquility and relief from heat for the approaching summer.

As we worked up the slope of the property we considered where we would place a hammock on which we could relax in the shade on a given hot summer afternoon.

Looking up the slope toward the east we have not quite cleared all the space under the pines, nor have we cleared the meadow up above.

On the south lawn we see some cleared patches that had previously been covered with wild prickers, vines and other weeds. Even though we have planted areas, only sprouts and seedlings are growing now. We expect the arrival of summer will bring with it a burst of life in the areas we carefully cleared.

The wall along side the pool will require some more TLC. Atop the wall we have cleared the grass and planted various plants and shrubs that will provide an abundance of color and fragrance. Beneath the wall, we have begun planting ground cover that will be difficult to grow on the gravelly surface.

As the sun sets behind the pine trees, it looks so open and peaceful compared to the mess we cleared. There is plenty left for us to do, we have not even started on the far reaches of the property.

This Really Is Cosmetic

Finally, a job that was cosmetic. The room did need a paint job badly. We had already fixed the guestroom and many have spent the night in this room already.
We put it off a while, but a rainy weekend afforded us the chance to do it. We had already purchased the paint and new beddings, which is really all this room required.
After cleaning up we painted the room blue. The convector covers had been cut, we suspect there had been shag carpeting in the house at one point.
We set the room up the same as it was before, though the desk chair got a coat of paint and we included some details that had been stored away since we moved in.
The new paint brightens the place up substantially and the blue will blend with view of the pool right outside the window.

Spring Cleanup

With all the focus last year on the structure and the inside of the house, Spring 2010 brought with it the chance to focus on the grounds outside.
The forsythia in front of the house had grown so thick the bottoms were only a thick mass of dead branches. We had to drastically cut them back so we could get the dead debris out revealing a stone wall that with some work will dramatically improve the driveway entrance.
Years of rambles and prickers had grown up around the edges of the property and up in back was almost grown over. The pine trees on the north side were covered in grape vines and wild berries and other pricker bushes blanketed the area around and beneath the trees.
As we began pulling the branches and vines from beneath the trees we added usable land to the property. This was going to take more time than we anticipated since several years of neglect could not be cleared up in a day.
We ended up chipping most of the smaller branches that we would use for mulch in the gardens we planned. The old stone barbeque came in handy for burning some of the larger branches we pulled. Sitting by the fire in the evening was also a relaxing way to unwind from a long day of work.
The maple tree near the pool had to be pruned back as well. Towards the end of last summer the branches had grown so long they were hovering over the table and keeping light from the pool. Even thought the tree is beautiful, we chose the branches that needed to be removed and carefully climbed up with a chainsaw to remove them.

Lee has big plans for the back of the property, but there is a lot of cleanup needed here. Even with the old tires and junk left behind by the previous owner, there is a sense of charm around our old barn. We will need to get back here with the truck to haul away all of the debris, junk and old rusted lawn equipment that was abandoned here.

The power of mother nature is still a predominant force in Spring. The crab apple tree we pruned last fall blossomed brightly for us. The daffodils and tulips that were admittedly planted by the previous occupant sprouted up to our delight. We've also begun planting all sorts of shrubs and flowers around the property we expect to enjoy this summer.

Amidst the spring flowers we noticed plants growing that we put down in the fall and will brighten this area later in the year.

We decided to eliminate some mowing by putting some new plants and shrubs in front. Its a pretty small dent in our chores.