Housework weekend

With the puppy and all the other activities we've had going on, its been quite a while since the house has gotten a good going-over. So this weekend was dedicated to cleaning and yard work. I know, not fun.

Saturday:

Saturday entailed a complete wipe-down of the entire house. Everything was put away, vaccuumed, wiped down and over-all spiffed up. Even the dishes are put away. :O The house looks so pretty now (and less like an abandoned shack with leaves and dirt all over the floor).

After all the cleaning was over, Duff and I headed to Reading to enjoy free tickets to the Reading Phillies (the minor league team for the Philadelphia Phillies). The game was great fun (my favorite part was the tooth fairy that came out after the 4th inning to brush off the bases), except for the ending...Its a tie game going into the bottom half of the 9th, the bases have just been loaded, 2 outs, we sit forward in our seats in anticipation for the next batter, and the skies open up. Literally, it came out of nowhere. There weren't even any sprinkles or signs of rain before that. It was like turning on a a shower spicket. So we sat in our seats until the next batter hit a grounder to the 2nd baseman for an easy out. Then the game was put on rain delay and we went home. :( Despite the rain, we had a good time eating funnel cake and hot dogs and arguing about the game.

Sunday:

Sunday was dedicated to the yard. The grass was cut, the bushes were trimmed and the flower beds were weeded. The new weed-whacker was marvelous.


We also continued our efforts to clear out the overgrown back section of the yard. Here is what a clippers, hand saw and brand new weed-whacker can do for you...

Before:
After:
Before:
After:

Why do the after pictures never look as drastic as in real life? Anyway, after a lot of hard work and hauling away of thorny bushes, we can actually start to see some potential in our wooded back area. I'm gunning for a fire pit, but we'll see how Duff feels. He wants to put up a utility shed. I think fire and smores sounds like way more fun...

In other news:

We have also been discreetly hard at work on fixing up the house. We currently have three estimates outstanding for different projects on the house that are beyond our DIY powers. Depending on costs, we may do all three or just one of the projects.

Other projects, however, are currently in the works. To give you a hint of what we're up to, one project involves this:

And another involves this:

Oh, my baby Bernina, with all your buttons that I don't know how to use. I have read your user's manual cover to cover and hopefully next weekend will put you to good use. :)