Planters and Gardens

 We got all of our planters planted and our hanging baskets up. We added a few annuals to the garden beds as well. Everything seems to be thriving.

 These new garden beds in the side/backyard turned out great. They have nice colors and have filled in since being planted last year.

 Our watering helper.

Stained Glass for Kitchen Cabinet

 We still have one kitchen cabinet to complete. We decided to do leaded glass on the face and sides of the upper cabinet, so we designed a simple pattern. Then Kristen drew it out on the glass while Tyler cut.

 Working together, the pieces were all cut out quickly.

 Then they were fitted in the door. We have only cut the pieces for the front two doors, we will work on the sides shortly.

 Next came hours of copper foiling for Kristen. It looks so pretty once the copper is added.

 And then another laying out of the pieces. We built a frame around them to hold them in place for soldering. We will get to soldering it eventually but we have been working on other projects and don't want the lead fumes in the air when Sam is around.

Master Bedroom Carpet Removal

 When Kristen's parents were visiting, her dad ripped up all the carpet in the master bedroom. It is the only floor left in the house that needs to be refinished.

 It looks like it has less paint on it than other floors did so it may be a little easier to finish.

 We also bought new cast iron vent covers to match the rest of the house and will put those in once the refinishing is done. Tyler is just waiting for a warm weekend so he can have all the windows open when he urethanes and Sam and Kristen will need to take a mini vacation for a few days to avoid the fumes.

Cleaning the neighbor's house

 The neighboring house is in rough shape. It is a rental and not very well maintained. Years ago, someone ripped the siding off the side facing us to reveal the clapboards below. However, then never removed any nails, painted, or even cleaned the house. Since it is visible from our dining room, Kristen decided to at least go out and wash off the side of the house.

 As you can see, it was pretty dirty. She tried pulling staples and nails but was damaging the wood because it is so soft and starting to rot. It looks better now that it is cleaned off but we still bought some sheer curtains that we are going to put in the dining room to try to hide it better.

Stove Vent

Our stove unit was completed years ago but we never got around to putting on a vent cover. True to form, we couldn't find one we liked, so, we decided to make it. It was a simple project but we were glad to check another thing off the list.