Progress Report: Living Room Remodel

I know, the picture above doesn't look like a living room, but I'm having garden withdrawal, so I just had to take the camera outside around sunset for some rest and relaxation. This is Malus 'Louisa' in nearly full bloom on the west berm.

The fragrance of this tree is simply delightful, it sure raised my spirits tonight.

We started off the day by crawling through the chaos in the house and into the living room where we determined in the bright light of day, yup, the walls need a second coat of Peach Fizz. I started rolling while Carl worked on painting with a brush around the obstacles. We worked until noon and the painting was done, at least. We took an inventory of what needed to be done next but had to abandon the cause to head to Carl's father Don's 80th birthday party at Doxbee's. We had a very good meal and it was nice to see all the relatives in attendance.

Joel left for kayaking after the meal and Dave & Kayla left too, so we sat around for awhile yakking with the relatives who hadn't left and then headed home. We were going over to Carl's parent's house to drop off a gift and then come back home to work on putting everything back in order, a task neither of us was looking forward to. Carl was quite stiff from helping put the floor down the day before and I'm still having lingering effects from my fall off the H tractor a couple weeks ago, with some swelling in the ankle now, of all places.

When we got back here, Joel hadn't left yet because he was looking for his kayaking helmet (which we had in the trunk of our car) and just as he got ready to jump in the truck with his friends he said to me, "Why don't you go see Leo? The paint should be dry when you get back." (Our friend Leo owns a retail greenhouse called Rosehill Gardens.)

The more I thought about what Joel suggested, the better I liked it and so did Carl. We had to buy some odds and ends to put the curtains back up anyway, so why not? Wet paint was the perfect excuse to take it easy this afternoon.

'Magic Carpet' spirea showing color

Rosehill Gardens is a wonderful place to shop. I selected a wide range of rock garden plants for the new berms. I know we'll go back again and again, we always do, and every time we go, I leave with a trunkload of plants. Leo is one of the nicest people you will ever meet and very knowledgeable about gardening, every time we go there, we have to tour his beautiful gardens to see what's new.

Here's a 'Fine Line' buckthorn I bought from Leo last year, love the texture.

After leaving Rosehill, we went to Home Depot where we bought three area rugs for the living room and some paint rollers to replace the ones Cody & Briana lent us Saturday night. We picked up some other odds and ends too, but when we were driving home Carl remembered he didn't buy any wood for the curtain rod installation, so we made a u-turn and headed for Menard's and bought the lumber.

We didn't get home until 6:30 which was rather silly of us, because the house was still a catastrophe. (I have to admit though, we had a very pleasant afternoon). When we got home, I took a quick walk through the gardens and could hardly believe how much the garden has changed since Friday and the warm rain. The light was good, so I grabbed Joel's camera and took the pictures you see here.

Then the guilt over the state of the house kicked in big time, and I marched back inside and set to work immediately replacing the switchplates for the lights. Carl started replacing all the floor trim and heat registers. Joel and Dave hauled the cardboard and plastic out of the living room and Dave cut it into small pieces for recycling. Joel applied some temporary floor protection material to the bottom of the chairs and tables.

One of the pastel pink primula from seed in the formal garden.

We worked together until midnight when both Carl and Joel went to bed much too late. I vacuumed some but then decided to quit making noise. We have the house 45% back to normal, anyway.

Another unnamed primrose, but I love the coloration.

A tripod would have been in order here as it was getting a bit dark. Still, what a color!

Trillium with tiny yellow primrose beneath.

As I tiptoed through the tulips, these magenta beauties were putting on their show.

I took so many pictures in the garden tonight, I forgot to get one of the floor. It took until 12:30AM to get the room in a bit of order, so I ended up taking a very dark picture of the living room:

I promise a much better picture soon!

Now I'm gonna tiptoe to bed.

Karen