I finally removed enough dirt to plant the podocarpus, which ideally will create a nice hedge to block the view between us and our neighbors. They are wonderful neighbors, and we love them, but the houses in our area are built EXTREMELY close together. So I started digging the first spot, right behind that front plant in the next picture.
Of course, it couldn't be easy. We are planting under two very large Australian Pines, on our neighbor's property. The roots are soft though. But I didn't hit a root. I hit a....5-gallon bucket, turned right side up! Lordy. Took 2.5 hours to get the sucker out because the roots had cemeted it in place, combined with the dirt inside which made it too heavy to just lift out.
This is where I was as of the Saturday before Easter. I have since begun planting the plants. My husband brought Azaleas from his job, he is an Agriculture teacher in Polk County, Florida, so we bought plants the students raised. They are already blooming!
More to come! If you want to see the project from the beginning (I recommend you do so you can see how *beautiful* the house was before), use these links: Part 1 and Part 2.

Sorry I haven't written in a while, I haven't had much to blog about.

However, this thing happened to me yesterday in the Publix parking lot. We have a very oddly shaped lot that requires a driver to twist and turn around the end to get to each row. I was quietly minding my own business and was in the right part of the road, when a crazy driver drove towards me head on. She had the window down and was screaming at me (with a child in the front seat), and with a bluetooth headset.

Crazy woman. Then I realized that she had an advertisement for a business on her car. I was so flabbergasted that I didn't know really what to do. But she didn't leave the lot. She parked the car!!! This is the advertisement:
Now the funny thing is the name of the business -- Friendly Cleaning Service by Yira Lee. Sorry Yira, you're not fooling anyone. You are as friendly as a pit bull that has a tooth pulled. Seriously, get a grip. I would definitely say if you live in Brevard County to find a happier person to clean your house.

PS - I hate to do this, but I just had to. I can't deal with that kind of maniacal driver in the Publix parking lot.

Hilarious video. Yes, I'm a liberal. Deal.

Last weekend I was pretty busy but managed to work on the side of the house project a bit more. I began by removing the screws in all of the wood planks that are rotting. The screws are still as good as new (although I don't think I'll reuse them). Too bad because I have a gazillion.
Next I removed the planks, although it got dark before I finished them all.
Just a reminder, this is before:
Next step is to remove the rest, then start digging out the dirt to lay the foundation of gravel. I chose gravel under sand as the base because this needs to drain water well (otherwise it gets very muddy). I probably could get by with just sand, but I want this to be 100% wetland free. We have a pool pump on this side of the house as well as our A/C unit too. So mud is not so great.

Here is what it looks like laid out. I have to begin thinking about ordering the sand and gravel soon. You may have to click on the picture to enlarge it so you can see what I mean. The AZ are azaleas my husband is growing in a greenhouse. The BR are Bromeliads I've already bought. We are going to plant podocarpus along the chain link fence which will act as a screen between us and our neighbors. Their kitchen window now views our swimming pool since we removed the sheds.See Part 1 of this project here.

I have been wanting to work harder at sewing throughout the year for some craft fairs and also to make gifts I thought people might appreciate. I made another of the larger tote bags two days ago for my best-friend's birthday. It had more blue in it. They were a little smaller than I realized, but very easy to make with a small amount of fabric. I got the pattern here. I probably will make different sizes by just scaling up the fabric size.
I also tried to make the Buttercup bag by Rae twice. The first time is on the right, which looks cute but is very very flimsy. The fabric I chose wasn't thick enough. A little girl would love it though, and it closes with a small magnetic closure, which means things will definitely fall out. The second one I made without a strap, but it has a zipper closure. First try with a zipper on a purse, it is not as easy as it looks and her tutorial didn't include instructions so I tried my best. I also don't really need a light-tan purse, but it was the only thicker fabric at the store that I liked. These extras will go in the pile for sale/gift ideas.

Okay, so I finished the attic project last weekend with the help of my sister, Katie. And a little help from my dad. Here is the picture of more notable items that we found:
The tallest item is a floor scrubber...I checked it and it still worked! The blue "Gas can" type item is actually a foam fire extinguishing tub. It was empty. I also pulled down a ton of trash, chairs, and other items not in the picture, but notice on the right the white thing? It is a meat slicer!!! OMG!

DH and I went to Epcot for our Valentine's treat to each other, courtesy of two FREE tix I got for singing in Candlelight this Christmas. It was really fun, we had dinner at China, and dessert in Paris.

Here is what I got with my 20 $5 Kohl's Coupons:
Dr. Seuss Plush 5.00*2
Candle .59*3 (saved 2.40 on clearance each)
Easter Towel 4.99 (saved 5.00)
Easter Hand towel 2.99*2 (saved 5.00 each)
White wash cloths 3.99*2 (saved 4.00 each)
White hand towels 4.99*2 (saved 5.00 each)
Pillow 4.99 (saved 5.00)
Pillow 3.99*3 (saved 6.00 each)
Green Bath towel 6.74 (saved 8.25)
Green Bath towel 6.99*3 (saved 8 each)
Green wash cloths 4.49*4 (saved 4.50 each)
Kitchen Scissors for Knife Block 8.24 (saved 2.75)

My mom also got 3 bath mats for 5.00 each after tax approximately, which are usually 24.99 before taxes

Total merchandise regular price: 298.74
Total savings (I did lose a few receipts): 249.64
Total out-of-pocket: 49.10
Savings: 83.5%!!!!!!!!!! Yahoo!

It could be that it is my luck. But I think that it is weird when people sell you a house and leave piles of items inside it. Not to mention that (which we took care of before we moved in) but now the attic is on my to-do list because of this:

I know it is hard to understand why people would leave such beautiful and useful items, like:
1968 wall paper, a golf bag with the clubs, and a piece of multicolored blue/red/orange carpet. Wish the carpet had been bigger, I could have gotten it bound! Do you have people that left stuff at your house? What have you found in your attic? I have a long ways to go before this project is over!

Very awesome experience. I'm glad I killed myself getting out there. There was a guy at church yesterday who had room in his car to go onto the base and see it as close as you can get. So I did that. We met at 12:15 am and got back home at 5:15 am. Worth it!!! We were in Cape Canaveral on Merritt Island, FL.

Now, because of Tropical Storm Fay, not only did our dock get submerged, but we also had some bush damage. We had a very very large bouganvillea that was quite beautiful. So beautiful I decided to pose in an ugly bathing suit the first month we lived in our house, with my nephew.
Well, Tropical Storm Fay actually pushed this over, till it hit the dock pilings, which are behind me in the above photo. It was leaning at a 45 degree angle. This won't do, Gidget!
See above for how the bush landed after the storm. Next step was to cut down the bush, which I ended up doing to ground level. Behind it, the bush had destroyed the chain link fence, so I employed my father, who nicely came and helped me with this part. We saved the links, and got the connectors and bars at Home Depot. I still have to spray paint to keep it from rusting further.
You can see above what is left of the bouganvillea, which is a stump, and new growth that I'll have to make stay smaller than what was there before. Nice job on the gates, huh? I know my dad is a genius.
We needed them replaced on both sides of the yard, so the above is the other side. Finally, we had a gate leading to the front yard that was not able to swing, so we had to cement in a new post and change out the hinges. Note the special piece on the right. My dad had that made in a machine shop. He is a mechanical engineer so he is good with these things (I'm only a lowly aerospace engineer.) Before it was just the pole on the left, which left a large enough space for a small child to creep through, which always worried me. Now it is impassable!

Gosh we didn't have much space on the left side of our house before. I realize now that it was because the sheds were much larger than I thought. The roofs were both damaged due to cutting down the tree above them. So we removed them completely. Before pictures here:

Here is what it looks like now that we have removed the shed walls (we have to pry up the shed floors after we remove the wood planks).Also note that in the picture above, I have removed all the pavers and rocks that were surrounding the air conditioning unit (they were up behind the unit about 6 inches, covering it...not good!). You can finally see the concrete it is sitting on. See the lovely shed floor below. Fun times. Also, they stored a biminy top frame behind one shed...it is stuck for now.