Some Breeze in our Way

Last summer's pre-appraisal breezeway clean-up stuck with us. First, we never wanted to deal with mice droppings and that much grossness again. Second, we actually liked being able to see a lovely little sitting area from our kitchen. We don't use the space much, but we like having everything in its place and the room looking inviting. Not that it has stayed spotless. It got cluttered again this spring as we focused on gardening, but not to the extent that it was before. And a garden party last month kicked us into gear for cleaning it until it sparkled and for putting some pretty lights.

There was just one problem. This ugly monstrosity:

It wasn't just that it was old and ugly. It also shook and spun whenever the fan was on, making whoever happened to be in the breezeway fear for their lives. Needless to say, we didn't turn it on very often.

We've been "saving up" electrical projects for an electrician and we decided now was the time to work on this project too. That way if we took the fan down and were surprised with what we found up there (you know how the wiring in old houses can be), we'd be within a week or two of professional help.

We decided on the Hunter Allegheny outdoor fan from Lowes, tempted by their free two-day shipping and the cool, industrial-looking light fixture.

 Old fan down! Ew - probably should have dusted up there occasionally...

 Fortunately, the wiring looked ok. No weird surprises here.

We did, however, finally learn the difference between pre-assembled ceiling fans (they say they are 90% assembled already), which I guess is what we installed in our master bedroom, and one that arrives completely in pieces. There were a lot of pieces. We didn't take a picture of all the screws, bolts, blades, and casings. Mostly because we were too busy putting everything together. Attaching the hardware to the fan blades and then those to the base took far more time than the actual electrical stuff. The worse part - the most suspenseful part - was that we had to do all of that before we could turn the darn thing on to see if the wiring was right.

Thank goodness it was! Otherwise it all would have had to have come off again. But fortunately we got it right the first time! The exposed tungsten or whatever it is in the bulb looks really pretty and has a nice effect for an outdoorsy look. Though we did realize that bugs will probably love it as much as we will and so we'll have to take the cover off and empty it frequently. The fan moves a lot of air and doesn't shake at all, so now maybe we'll start sitting out there more often on summer evenings and enjoy the space a little more. (And yes, we did move the strings of twinkly lights so that they are no longer resting on the fan blades...)

Meanwhile, in the backyard...

We've spent so much time gardening in the front yard that it might seem like we're neglecting the back. But actually, it's in pretty decent shape. The lawn looks relatively healthy (though the ratios of weeds to grass is about 1:1).

Our back patio is more or less free of debris and inviting. We liked the little flowers poking out between the brick, so we didn't bother to use Round Up to kill them off. They are all over the grass too, but again, I guess "weed" is in the eye of the beholder and these are pretty cute, so we'll keep them around (who am I kidding? we're keeping the weeds around too, this year).

Last week, I even enjoyed an hour relaxing in the hammock, enjoying the lovely spring weather. I haven't actually "enjoyed" the outside (read: not forced myself out to garden and weed) in a long time. And I'm hoping that we might enjoy the outside even more this year. We splurged and decided to hire one of those monthly pesticide services. The repeated use of chemicals made me nervous, but they claim it's safe and non-toxic. And frankly, dousing myself in strong Deet-based mosquito repellants just to take out the trash or water the lawn didn't seem all that healthy either.

But no rest for the weary. While cleaning out the backyard to get ready for a big party we were hosting, we were reminded of a few other projects for later this spring.

Time to retreat the wood of our railing, which we just noticed was badly molded (we last treated it in March 2010, so I guess it's about time):

This sand box, inherited from the previous owners, has got to go:

Plus we have some more yard clean-up. The back fence line could make a really good area for shade plants, but is still overgrown, so we want to rip it up and turn the soil and actually make an effort there. And we want to maintain the controlled wild area in this back corner, so that it doesn't get completely unmanageable again.

Turning our attention back to the front garden again, I noticed that they already desperately need weeding. The problem is that I threw down a lot of mixed wild flower seed last month, in an attempt to fill in the bare patches. So now I can't really tell what is a weed and what is a growing wild flower. So I think the weeds will free reign for a while - I don't want to pull the wrong thing!

And it's a little off-topic, but check out our clematis!!!