Yucca - Be Gone With You

In the photo below (from Summer '07), you can see near the left by the for sale sign a Yucca plant. This monstrosity was huge and took up probably 6 sqft of valuable front yard space. What bugged me besides that fact that it was a Yucca; was it's placement. It wasn't centered or lined up with anything and when you pulled out of the driveway, it was in your line of sight (most obnoxious).

Well, Sunday it had to go. My Dad took on the task of trying to put this Yucca in it's place. After about 30 hour of digging, he made the discovery. This location was a tree stump and someone in the previous owners' history decided to cover up the stump with a Yucca plant. I wonder how that conversation went?

We dug up what we could; but the plant had taken hold and the root system was enormous. I transplanted 1 large, 2 medium and 1 small piece in the backyard by the fence. Hopefully it will take hold; but if it doesn't I'm not sad. Because in all honesty, I'm not a Yucca fan.

Aftershock

10:15 -Aftershock #1...will there be more, who knows.

4:37am Earthquake

They say that animals have a special sense of danger and I truly believe it.
I awoke this morning to the sound of my parakeet making the most horrible noise and could hear her bouncing herself around the cage...then it happened.

Not 10 seconds later, it sounded and felt like a freight-train outside. Afterwards, I immediately turned on the TV...why you ask? My mind couldn't comprehend that an earthquake could have happened. It must have been a huge crack of thunder or a tornado, hence why I turned on the TV, to see if the storms we were expecting on Friday afternoon came in early.

After doing a quick survey of my house, I tried to go back to sleep; but was restless whenever I heard the slightest creak, the wind blow or a car pass by.

Sufficed to say that having now experienced an earthquake (even one 100 miles away), I can say that is the scariest and most helpless feeling ever.

Weekend Finds

This weekend I found a lot of cool things for around the house, some were necessary (Dehumidifier), others just fun. My Dad and I hit our local ReStore again, looking for what else; but another door. This door is for the 2nd Bedroom. While I don't have a great image of the door just yet, it is very unique and I can't wait to paint it and get it hung. Photos will follow of course.

On a hunt for a lock for said door, we went to one of our favorite Antique Malls and ended up walking out with more then we went in for.

I bought an old door hardware set. My Dad already started the clean up with Brass-O and as you can see in the below images, the difference is amazing. I don't want them to be completely clean as a hint of tarnish gives them character.



Here they are again, this time with the doorknobs. See what a difference a little cleaning makes.

I don't know if I ever mentioned it before; but I collect old cookbooks. While I have the usual Betty Crocker and Good Housekeeping kind, I also have some which are just fun to look at. For example, this Cutco one below which I found at the same Antique Mall.

Here is a page from the book, aren't the illustrations funny. I love how the pigs are happy on the farm, little do they know that the recipes are for Pork...haha!

Finally, my Dad came across these hidden on a shelf in one of the booths. These are little ink illustrations of old-style homes. The frames measure approx. 5x7. These were $6.95 for the group of 5. A steal if you ask me. I have to do some digging on the internet to see if I can find out anything about the artist, Doug Landis.

The Final Shot

So here is the last image I'll probably post of the well-known Alien Bedroom. While it isn't Alien anymore...it will always be referred to as such.

This is the last image I had posted...

and this is what the room looks like with some furniture, in it's finished state.

Welcoming Madison, Wisconsin

There has been some tension at my work the past few months, as there were talks of the company moving its headquarters. Well, today we have our long-awaited answer. The Brown Shoe headquarters will remain in St. Louis and our office in Madison, Wisconsin has been asked to relocate. You can read the full story here. Below is a snip-it.

"All of the approximately 270 Madison-based employees will be offered jobs and relocation assistance. For those employees who choose to remain in Madison, Brown Shoe will offer generous severance packages...; outplacement assistance; and job fairs. In addition, Brown Shoe will continue its support of major charitable and civic partners in the Madison community for at least the next three years, and honor all longer-term commitments."

While I am sympathetic to our associates in Madison, please know that we welcome you and your family with open arms. St. Louis does have a lot to offer and I'd be happy to help anyone if they have questions about the area.

And if there are any housebloggers out there involved, just know that we do have a lot of history here in good 'ol St. Louis and homes to match.

Freebie Finds

The PO must have owned stock in brick. For no understandable rhyme or reason, I would find a patch by a tree, a pile under some low-lying brush, etc.


When the tree removal people cleared my yard last September, they uncovered a huge neatly stacked pile of bricks way in the back corner. My guesstimate would be 200 red bricks. Then we realized that under a thin layer of grass and weeds was another pile built in a fort-like fashion, maybe another 50-100.


Our latest discovery happened this weekend. I started raking the area by the timber wall, when my rake made a horrible sound. I stopped, examined the area and to my amazement...brick. After a 1/2 hour the count was 54 of the red devils. My parents took up the task the following day and uncovered another 75 or so.


What's funny is that I remember when I was at HomeDepot last, they were clearing out on bricks for 25cents a piece. Looks like my freebies total a little over $110...sweet!!!


Needless to say, I have enough brick to go around and it was ALL free.

Another Room Come and Gone

Most of my chatter recently has been about the Alien Room. Well, now that it is done, here are some photos of the other bedroom and what we've done to it.

Here it is before...

And here is after...

We rebuilt the closet area and turned it into a little office alcove. We then painted the ceiling, walls, trim and most recently the floor. Yes, we painted the wood floor. It was a horrid shade of yellow/green and stripping it wasn't an option.

As I mentioned at the beginning of my post, I'm 98% done...but that didn't stop me from already starting my next project-the yard. I'll save that adventure for another day.