Being the computer geeks that we are, some of these projects took a little more time and effort than we thought they would – but its kind of a learn as you go sort of thing.  Of course as all building adventures go, we did miss a couple of things.  Like extra boards for framing the glass blocks in that bathroom window.  His wife was less than impressed with us on that one.  Especially since it was a holiday weekend and we couldn’t get more boards till Tuesday evening.  We did however get that one finished up Wednesday evening, so we are back in her good graces.

The bookshelf project is going pretty well.  I have the boards cut for the frame, I just need to borrow Ede’s belt sander so I can make sure the ends are smooth and exactly the same size.  (It is going to be a 7ft long and 4ft high bookshelf – I have named it “The Unit.”)  Once the frame is together and the backboard cut, I have a nice cherry wood stain for it.  It will go really well with the darker color that I painted the room.  (Deep red, Victorian Garnet I think the technical name of it is.)  So the office is slowly coming together.  I hope to have it finished this weekend actually.  (Both the shelf and getting the office put together.)

I also managed to buy and install blinds this weekend for the master bedroom.  So that room is looking a little more finished now as well.  Once it dries out a little bit, I will bust out the Weed wacker I got for my birthday and straighten up the outside a little bit.  Other than that – there are a zillion little projects, but most will be of a more low priority nature.  The one exclusion to that being the leaky relief valve on the water heater.  (Fortunately a couple of the guys on my fire department are plumbers, so I will be able to get help on that.)

All in all though – it is nice to be able to do these projects.  Yes owning the house means potentially great expenses if something major breaks, but being able to make the place like we want it to be is also a lot of fun.  I am having fun having a garage with electricity as well.  Won’t claim to be the best Mr. Fix-it, but I am having fun trying and fun building stuff.

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Post from: Jake's Corner

Mr. Fix it – kinda

Since it is raining, and I managed to mow the lawn on Monday evening, probably going to start prepping the upstairs room for painting.  Once that is done, I should be able to start unpacking and organizing the office stuff.

"Is it time to go in yet?"

Other than that – nothing too exciting here at the moment.  Sparky is doing well and a very happy puppy   We are having a blast with him – and nothing has been destroyed yet in the house!

Still working on the whole getting used to the kennel when we aren’t home thing, but that is going pretty well too.  I think we aren’t going to show him the upstairs till after it is painted – don’t need puppy assistance for that!

Technorati Tags: Sparky, olorinpc, Logan Adams, Jamestown, North Dakota, puppy

Post from: Jake's Corner

Hump Day

Moving in general usually means a WalMart trip for supplies and stuff. Moving into your own house – more so I think. We have been renting a house for two years, so there are various places we are a step up from people coming from an apartment. Yet, there have been things we are lacking that one needs when they are the landlord. Though it isn’t just that, and it leads me into this installments topic: The Lawn. (Queue music and trumpets please.)

In renting our place, the neighbor kid mowed the lawn for a reasonable rate, so we never had to buy a lawn mower. His dad had his own well system, so turned the sprinkler system towards our lawn all the time. Plants, we did a little, but what point was there in investing a lot of work into someone else’s house on stuff that we couldn’t take with us? Long and short of it is, we never really had to do anything outside.

Now that we are moving into our new place, we had to get a lawn mower, hoses, sprinklers, etc. It added up pretty quick, but with a little looking around not that much. (The mower cost us $15 at a garage sale. Not the best thing in the world, but it will do the trick.) This does mean we will have to put more effort into the outside, but since the place is ours, there is an inherent desire to see what we can do with the place. I am sure there are a ton of outside tools or whatnot that we don’t have yet. However we have enough to make a start and keep the place looking decent.

The next project (and so installment) is painting: Geek or Chic?

Also, in future pieces I am planning on linking to other blogs I find that discuss this topic.

Technorati Tags: olorinpc, jamestown, north dakota, homeowner, walmart, lawn and garden

Post from: Jake's Corner

Issue 1: The New Homeowner Chronicals