That’s another finished item off the home improvement list, another dozen or so to go.

Next on the list: paint the garage. Well… maybe just the front…

Taken with my macro lens. The spider was about a half-inch wide.

The picture below (using a flash) shows a little more of the hairy details.

Finally got my kitchen window frames painted today.

With over a foot of heavy, wet snow on my roof I was glad I did that. Driving through town this morning, I saw several houses that already had some ice dams from the snow we got a few days ago.

Okay… ready for the next snow storm!

I couldn’t resist getting out the yardstick.

As you can see… 17.5 inches!

Took me about three hours to shovel it all.

The snow covered trees really looked beautiful.

Unfortunately, the snow was heavy and we lost a few limbs in the neighborhood. The branch on a tree behind my garage (below) couldn’t bear the weight and cracked in the middle.

Look at all that snow!

One of the things I was a little concerned about when I bought my house last March, was the fact that I’d have to do yard work.

Since I moved away from my parent’s house many years ago, I’ve been living in apartments and condominiums where all that was done for me. But the idea of sharing walls with other people (especially bad neighbors) was something I was growing pretty tired of. That was actually one of the major reasons I moved last spring.

I’ve been living in my house for almost seven months now. This afternoon I spent several hours working in the yard, most of which was devoted to taming a group of overgrown lilac bushes. While I was doing that, I thought about the time I spent working in the yard since last spring. I’ve come to the conclusion that the yard work really isn’t all that bad and definitely not worth paying condo association fees (or extra rent) to have someone else do it for you.

Like many things at this fixer-upper of a house I bought, much of the yard has been neglected over the past few years, and it’s taken some work to get it back in shape. In April I did some trimming of shrubs and trees, but it’s been apparent to me lately I didn’t do nearly enough, especially to those huge lilacs. Some of them were so overgrown they had six to eight inch wide trunks. As you can see in the photos I cut them way back. They were several feet higher than my neighbor’s fence, wide enough that they were rubbing against the house (right side in the top photo), and so thick you couldn’t walk through to the backyard on that side.

By the way, that thick trunk in the bottom photo is a nice maple tree. The top photo shows most of that tree (on the right side of the house). Maples usually show deep colors in the fall, and I’m sure that’ll look great when the leaves turn color soon. In fact, that small section of the yard is a nice microcosm of the whole property I bought. It needed some work, but there are a lot of nice aspects to the place that really shine once you get it fixed up.

I thought the orange paint would go well with the cabinets and floor, plus there are some orange specs in the counter top.

I discovered though that I should have primed it with an orange tinted primer first. Because I didn’t, it took four coats before it looked decent.

The bench under the window is something I picked up from an Amish furniture store. It’s perfect for that spot.

I’m real happy with how the whole project turned out.

As you can see I have more painting to do. The dining / living room is next on the list.

I ended up using white subway tile with a stripe of glass mosaic tile as an accent.

At first I wasn’t sure about the accent tiles, but once the grout was put on, I think it turned out real nice.

Here are before and after shots.

I say almost complete because I’m waiting for the the cabinet pulls (which are pewter). They should look nice with the appliances. And of course I need to paint.

I’m very pleased with how it’s turned out — just a few minor glitches to deal with during the whole process. The worst part was waiting four weeks for the kitchen to be functional again.

Having part of this wall gone makes a huge difference in the feel of both rooms.

Here’s a better view of the counter top. It’s Meganite, a man-made, solid surface product. You remember the old counter and drawers don’t you?

Much better!