Pantry Makeover

This year for the holidays Superman and I requested that family give us gift cards instead of actual items. The main reason for this, is our desire to get things done around the house! That is one of the best gifts anyone can give us! So first thing we decided to do was fix our pantry shelves!

When Superman and I first moved into our house we were in a rush to get things set up so we could start making it our home. Also, to be truthful, we just closed on the house, we were broke. So we bought the cheapo $10 plastic shelves at the local home improvement store to serve as our pantry shelves. While they worked, it irritated my CDO (it's OCD but with the letters in alphabetical order, like they should be) to no end that I COULD NOT ORGANIZE IT because the shelves were too far apart to really do it right. So one of the first things we KNEW we had to do was fix the shelves. So we went to Home Depot ( we LOVE Home Depot) and got the metal shelves, I think they are associated with ClosetMaid but I'm not 100% sure on that.

So now Superman and I have wonderful metal shelves in our pantry that allows me to organize the pantry. It also means things don't fall off the shelves every time I try to get something out so I can cook.

So yay! That was our main project for today. Although, we (and by we, I mean Superman) also replaced the spray nozzle on our kitchen sink, and made the first change in our bathroom makeover by installing a new shower head. Next up is painting!



~)O(~ Elfie ~)O(~ 

The War to Clear the Backyard: The Battle of Oak and Pine

I've decided that the backyard fight isn't a battle.. it's a war because it's going to be fought in parts. So the second battle happened yesterday and on our side it was myself and my Dad against the backyard. The focus was clearing the stack of fallen wood that Superman and I had accumulated next to the house. I also wanted to start clearing some of the smaller trees, pulling them up from the roots if possible so they wouldn't grow back. However, some of them, mostly the oaklings (baby oak trees) I ended up just having to cut because they were growing from the roots of the big oaks. So while looking out the back window it might not looks like a lot was done, in fact a lot was, so I'm going to go ahead and declare the Battle of Oak and Pine ( so named because we have mostly oak and pine trees) a victory.

We filled up Mom and Dad's van about half full of wood- all cut down so it will fit- this picture is from the side

And the van from the back. Now if you're looking at this picture and saying to yourself "well the wood on top looks a little wet" that's cuz it was. It started raining on us about an hour before we were done. It had been sprinkling off and on but no, it started RAINING. But did we stop? No! Because we're stubborn...and maybe a little insane. 

While Dad was sawing away to cut down the pile of wood, I was pulling up some of the baby pine trees that were taking over our yard. This made me pretty sad cuz I LOVE PINE TREES but it needed to be done. I left two nicely sized (but still baby) pines. If they will remain but the time we're done...I'm not sure, but for now they will. One plus side from doing this was that my work gloves smelled AMAZING for a while.

This was before the Battle of Oak and Pine (you can't see the wood pile here)

After the Battle of Oak and pine, you can see one of the pines that I'd like to leave for a bit there on the left, but you can also notice a lack of little pine trees all through the middle, also a lack of the oaklings around that middle-ish tree (ok the left most middle-ish tree)

So there you have it, photographic evidence of the victory that was the Battle of Oak and Pine.

Battle of the Backyard...

On December 1st I decided that it was time to start attacking the backyard so that when spring comes around it might be usable... I'm thinking that a hammock at least would be nice, especially so that I could go outside to read :-)

When we started the backyard looked like this :

Only less green and more leaves EVERYWHERE.. and I do mean everywhere. I'm pretty sure there are more fledgling trees growing as well.

Now....after this many bags of leaves, that didn't really make a dent....

And filling this hole left from a fallen tree trunk with leaves (not that you can tell from this picture that it is a hole).....

Now the backyard looks closer to this:

Since I'm pretty sure the only reason the pictures look any different is because this one doesn't have all the baby trees in bloom I've decided that for this first Backyard Battle... the backyard won. 

However, we do have a nice stack of wood piled up in the back for my parents to use in their fireplace. Right now though, it attracts squirrels and that entertains the cat.

~)O(~ Elfie~)O(~