I see you!

It's a minor change, but our relatively newly revamped basement has some new wall decor.

I can finally run on the treadmill and not be snuck up upon (that's not quite a grammatical English phrase, but you get the idea).

Target made these mercifully easy to hang by making the packaging include a template, to know where to put the screws.

Here's the longer view. We are still really enjoying our pantry redesign and the purple wall, though the room still needs serious work to not feel like a basement (or maybe we just have to live with it). It doesn't help that the little one never tires of unloading the lower shelves of the pantry and dragging groceries all around the room. Why yes, I would love to enjoy a can of chilis in adobo sauce on the futon, thank you. And a jar of herbs de provence while going for a run? Perfect! (Did I mention we stock some pretty random things?)

On the to-do list to make this place little more polished? Spray paint this wine rack white, which definitely will have to wait until at least fall, since I don't spend more than a few minutes outside doing manual labor during the hottest months of the year.

 Get a new grate for the fireplace:

We debated painting the inside white and putting something decorative inside, but the jury is still out on whether this fireplace is useable (home was sold with this fireplace "as is" - the inspector agreed that we shouldn't use it but our chimney guy said it was fine) and we don't want to make it definitely unusable without more information.

 And maybe, one day, do something about the eyesore on this side of the room.

But at least I don't have to look at it when I'm on the treadmill.

Oh, a cool random find at Target when we went looking for the mirrors:

Back when we were searching for a solution for a nightstand in the bedroom that was compatible for our under-bed drawers and our cat-tunnel headboard, these would have been nice to have. They're little shelves that clamp onto the very top of the bed frame.

Neat, right?

Goodbye tree

Right around the time we were paying a fortune for our new AC, we got news of another costly problem. You may remember that I asked recently for a tree identification. That's because the big beautiful white oak at the front of the house has to go.

In fact, two branches vanished already - the town decided that they were at risk of falling on the street (or some cars).

We got two opinions because we really wanted to be certain before we took it down - it is the only shade tree in our front yard and probably as old as the house (or older).

But alas, the diagnosis is confirmed - fatal root rot.

 And so, this giant tree has got to go.

Apparently its placement between the driveway and the sidewalk put the roots under a lot of stress. And when they replaced the curb a few years ago, it may have made the roots more vulnerable.

Our plan for now is to wait until fall so that we can take advantage of the shade at least for the rest of the summer. Plus one of the landscape people who helped diagnose the tree suggested waiting until firewood season, so that we can use or even sell the oak.

And so, here we are shopping for a new tree and getting estimates to take this one down. We can't put the new tree where the old tree is, both because of the root rot and because of the stressful location. So we have to look for where we would put it, too.

Another window

When we replaced our main floor windows last year, we had to choose between two companies. The first was the company we had used for the upstairs windows several years earlier - we liked the windows but were not impressed by their follow-on service. The second was a new company that ended up getting our business.

We are so thrilled we went with someone new. After the initial install, we've had to deal with them twice and they have been nothing but helpful.

First, in December, we were left with a slice in our screen as a result of the burglary. Our insurance would have paid to have it fixed, but the company didn't charge us (this stuff is all supposed to be laid out in contracts, but it never is as easy as it seems, so we're never really sure what we have to pay for and what we don't). Not only that - they came out the week we called and fixed it on the spot. No missed pick-ups and delays and haggling over the whole process like when we needed our torn screen replaced with company 1. We even told them not to rush because, well, it was December, so it wasn't like we were anxious to open our windows. But they booked an appointment immediately, after confirming that the frame itself didn't get dented and need replacing. Yay for company 2.

Fast forward to about a month ago, when I noticed this in the picture window:

Of course, if anything were to break, it would be the biggest and most expensive window in the house. And one that doesn't open and pop out, for an easy replacement. Fortunately, it was only on the outer pain of glass and didn't go all the way through.

I called the company who put me in touch directly with the (local) window manufacturer they work with. When I called to set up a time for someone to come take a look, they answered "how about tomorrow" and even said I didn't have to be there, since it was accessible from our front walkway.

Then the day after that, they called to say they would replace the window and that -the best part -it was free! They would make a new one right away! I was surprised they were even going to go through all the effort of replacing the window with such a small chunk taken out and told them that if they didn't think it needed replacing, we were fine with ignoring it. No problem to replace it, they said. Could they come out the following week and install it (someone obviously would need to be home for that one) - they even worked with my ear schedule and gave me a 2-hour arrival window that wasn't horrible.

One hitch in the plan - after I left work early on the day of the install, they called to tell me that the tech had accidentally broken the window while it was in his truck and he was working on an earlier job. Oops. I guess it happens. At least they were really nice about it and gave me an even later window the following week, so I wouldn't have to miss as much work.

Today they came out and, in one hour of what appeared to be a fairly intensive two-man job...

I have a new window (and a few pesky flies darting around the house to keep the cats amused). Painless. I guess it pays to think about the follow-on customer service, as well as the product and initial work. If I still had an Angie's List account, I would definitely give them a stellar review.

Plant identification

This post has two stories in it, and the first of them is really part two of a story I haven't told yet. But you'll just have to hear that one backwards.

I'm trying to identify a tree that we might want to plant in our yard (I'll explain the "why" we are looking for a new tree in a future post). As is usually the case, my source of inspiration is my own neighborhood.

This tree, not far from us, seems the epitome of what I'm looking for. Huge (well, obviously that takes a lot of time), paler green leaves that seem to let in lovely diffuse light, and interesting pale and dappled bark. The leaves are too high up for me to get a really good look and picture.

I'm pretty sure, however, that this tree in another part of town is the same tree (but smaller). So some close up pictures might help with the identification process:

I'm pretty sure this is a maple (the leaf makes me think of the Canadian flag) - can anyone confirm that? If that's the case, then I'll start doing research to see if maples are hearty enough for a black thumb like me.

Plant identification, second story. Yesterday afternoon I decided to do some weeding while forced to hang out outside with a toddler who seems immune to these hot, muggy days. I tried weeding around the holly bushes that were freed last fall when we had the back corner of our back yard cleared out.

And this is what I stumbled on. More than stumbled - repeatedly tore from the ground. Until a small thought dawned on me, a mostly forgotten rhyme..."leaves of three...".

Quick image search - yup, classic poison ivy.*** Fortunately I was wearing gloves. And I thought, at least, that I had kept the toddler  from touching any of it. After some truly OCD washing with Tecnu and some rubbing alcohol, I hoped I was safe (I'm updating this post 15 hours after contact, so I *think* it's safe).

I'm not quite sure what to do next, because it's not just in the mulched area under some bushes but in our grass. And instructions on how to eradicate it basically sound like practicing a scorched earth policy over years. D says he knows someone who just sprays the individual shoots with Roundup. I'm usually anti-herbicide, but I think I'll make an exception in this case. I see Roundup even makes one specifically for poison ivy.

Have you had any poison ivy run-ins lately? Any luck removing it? Or done any plant identification of your own? I'd love to hear about them.


***Edit: thanks to my lovely readers, I've since learned this is a blackberry bush and not poison ivy (and upon further reading, can verify that's true - this had tiny little thorns on it and poison ivy does not). However, we also assaulted it with heavy duty poison ivy killer so it probably has no chance of survival either way.

Lawn and Garden - your turn to help

My last post about the yard and garden was all confident but really we have a few (well, more than a few) issues left to resolve. I thought I'd list a few of them here and get some suggestions from you.

The first is a sinking walkway to our backyard. Most of these slate sheets have sunken below ground level since we moved in.

You can see from this angle that the grass and dirt has overtaken them. It's not really an inviting walk into our backyard:

We did actually clear this area out next to the side of the house a bit, and plant some snowdrops that our neighbor gave us, so there's that at least:

While walking through our neighborhood, I saw someone with this and WANT (it's not creepy to randomly photograph strangers' yards, right? I mean they're in the neighborhood so that makes it cool, right?). I guess this would be pretty hard to do, given that ours is on a hill and curved. We'd need a lot of pebbles, too.

 Any other ideas on how to improve our walkway?

Second, I'm so happy that we finally got the salvia to grow in our front garden. However, for two years in a row now, the first heavy rain after they come up makes them sink to the ground and stay there. They are in the back against the stoop (because they are tall enough in theory to poke out above the hosta and azalea), but you can't see them here:

You can see from these two photos taken from above that they have basically fallen down flat in a circle out from the center. These kind of plants don't seem like they would easily be staked, since they are in so many parts. Do I just need to embrace the fact that they are flat and move them to a more prominent place in front of the other plants?

Next on the list, our mint. It's got black dots and holes on it. A search for this problem reveals that it is either a fungus or blight that makes me think we have to cut it all back and hope for better next year. But none of the descriptions and pictures look quite like ours:

And finally for today, some aggressive weeds trying to take over our brick patio. The holes between the bricks are obviously no longer well filled with sand or cement or whatever was there to begin with, so there are weeds everywhere. We're not fond of using weed killer anyway but honestly in this case it hasn't even seemed to make a dent. Here it is just before I cleaned it up by hand:

 Here's proof that after a lot of manual labor, it actually looked nice:

 And here's the same spot (with no hammock base) just 3 weeks later again.

Any quick fixes? Roundup had very little impact when we used it last year, so we haven't wanted to buy another bottle.

A Tale of Two Seasons

I took so much time getting around to posting some photos of our garden that it turned from early-May to late-June. So why not take advantage and give some comparisons. I'm so happy that after all these years, our garden looks nice for more than just one month of the year.

In the spring, we have flowering spiraea vanhouttei, phlox, and Georgian blue:

 In the summer, nothing flowering plants from this view but a lot of interesting greenery:

On the lamppost, climbing clematis - and below, flowering verbena:

6 weeks later, the clematis made it all the way up the post (but, oddly, with a total of only 3 flowers all season) and we have yellow and white flowers as well as an Stargazer Oriental Lilly ready to start blooming (you'd think since I planted them, that I'd remember what those yellow and white flowers are, but I have no idea):

In this side, some spirea, a tiny phlox, and alliums in May:

Now, pink hydrangea:

Here's a sequence of 3 photos for this garden. First, newly planted roses bushes and the very start of some tiger lilies, in April:

Then, in May, lots of roses, as well as some red weigela:

Now in June, red tiger lilies (though the red leaves on the rose bushes are slightly concerning):

Our black-eyed Susans are about to wake up, having pretty much overtaken the garden under the picture window (helped by their equally hearty spring friends, the irises).

We've come a long way from when we first moved in and everything bloomed for a few weeks in April and then turned a boring green. We still have the azaleas, camellias, and cherry tree that look great for about 2 weeks only, but we've definitely added some diversity to make the rest of the growing season more interesting.

Ducting

One of the advantages of the Carrier Infinity system is that it can calculate duct static pressure. Briefly, this has to do with the pressure of the air as it blows through the ducts. Like blood pressure, lower is better. The newer AC systems expect a reading of around 0.5 inches per water column. Our ducts are delivering a reading of nearly 0.9.

Why should we try to fix this? Well, the air blower is going to be working harder than it should, which is wasting energy and shortening its life span. Our installer told us for under $1000 they could add more returns to increase the amount of air entering the system, which should reduce the pressure. They also wanted to add some supplies to each room of the upstairs to help equalize the temperature in the house.

Before we had any energy improvements done the house, the temperature difference between the top and main floors was around 8 degrees. Afterwards it dropped to about 5 degrees. So doubling the AC vent numbers on the top floor should help!

Closet without the shelves, before any vent work

Where a return is going

Before the new supply was added

Cutting a hole in the closet to run the new ducts, which will connect with the existing duct, outside the wall

New return hole

Supply hole in the baby room

The return in the linen closet is the biggest problem. The air is being pulled from the hallway between the walls into the ducting. Only a couple of inches to fit a lot of air. So the plan is the put some proper ducts in. But we'll be losing quite a bit of closet space. Which is probably why the previous install ran INSIDE the wall. They are also adding a return next to the Chinese painting in our room. .

Results of the finished work:

New supply on the right

Much tighter closest. We lose a lot of shelving on the right

So, did we hit 0.50? Drum roll........

No we did not

Not even close. A bummer, really. From reading around the internet it seems that getting below 0.7 is just fine. So 0.73 is pretty close? Our AC guy says this is fine, but what would you expect him to say?  We are pretty disappointed but we have dropped way too much money on this project to do anything more now. It's not even clear what can be done - we are running out of space to install returns.

The system should be fine. I just need to stay on top of the filter cleanings to make sure the pressure doesn't build up too high. The doubling of the vents upstairs has also reduced the temperature difference between the top floor and main floor from around 5 degrees to 2-3 degrees. A noticeable difference.