New Furniture 2017

I had a ton of goals during the holidays. I didn't write most of them down, but I do think I actually accomplished most of them.

One of my goals was to go look at some furniture. At least go look. If I saw something I wanted, I could think about purchasing it.

So I think I went to three different places. I saw some furniture I wanted at one of those places and I made a purchase. (Well, I financed it. It will be paid off well before summer).

So I like dark woods. I purchased some cherry wood furniture, a chest and a dresser, for my bedroom.

(I  bought that 15 inch flat screen TV/DVD player 10 years ago. It costs $500 way back then. It may be $100-200 now. My oh my, how times have changed. Technology is something else).

I like that. And while I was decluttering, I found a few beautiful scarfs. Apparently I got them as gifts over the years, because I would never up and buy pretty scarfs. My sister had even asked me for a scarf for her head so her head wouldn't be cold when she went outside, and I handed her one of the colorful scarfs. She scoffed at the thought of putting the scarf on her head. "Lisa, this is the type of scarf you wear around your neck, not one you wrap around your head."

*crickets*

Uh, ok. I wasn't going to argue with her. She is a diva. She's an expert on such matters.

I am a bit weary of scratching up the furniture. So I placed the scarf on top of the dresser.

(I have looked up and seen Sister Callie Jo sitting up there. I have even seen the scarf on the floor. This unnerves me something awful. I have been talking much trash about it. Alas, Callie Jo thinks twice about jumping up there).

Now for one of the upstairs bedrooms, I have purchased some white furniture. I purchased a chest and two end tables.

What I LOVE about this set are the tops. The striated wood caught my attention.

(Excuse the messy bed. That is my sister's fault).

I did not like this for my bedroom, but it is nice for upstairs. The drawers are MUCH deeper in this white set. My set has shallow drawers, and this is fine, as I don't have many clothes. It is just right for my clothes. My sister can use the upstairs set for her and Justin's clothes. It is good to have extra clothes and diapers and such at my house.

So that's the furniture I purchased. That was fun. Maybe later this year I will do something in the other spare bedroom. I would love to turn that into an office, where I can get some writing done. Right now I sit at the dining room table and write.

Over the years, I think I think to hard about such matters, instead of doing what I did this time: just simply go out and enjoy the act of window shopping and perusing furniture. And IF I saw something  I liked, take a day or two to think about it, then come back and order it.

And that works out fine. And I know it will work out fine next time.

In Bloom (Too Early)

So...

I was backing out of the driveway this morning, and I saw this.

These are the stairs to my front porch, and the plants on the side.

Those shoots came up in one week, and they are in full bloom.

How beautiful.

And it is only February. 

These usually bloom in mid-March.

I wonder what's up with that?

I think it is because of our unusual weather patterns as of late. We've had a couple of 75-80 degree weather, and I think that was just enough time to cause the early bloom.

This climate change is a trip.

Oh... I forgot. According to some folks, there's no such thing as climate change. 

I beg to differ... 

The flowers in my yard tell a different story...

Happy 11th Anniversary to MEEE!!

Check it out...

Today is my House Anniversary.

I have been in my house for 11 years!

I could find only one early picture of my house.

I know I have some more around. I think I only have this one because I didn't have a digital camera or a camera phone. Both of those devices are common place now.   I have to look around for some more, because I have a small photo album of it as it was being built.

That was October 2005. Here it is today!

The bushes are taller. And I had it painted around a year and a half ago. But overall it looks the same.

One of my goals is to get the roof extended over the trellis area. I don't do anything fancy with the trellis (I imagined these wonderful ivy or roses going on). So I would love to get the roof extended. There is a house across the street from mine that's just like mine and they had it done. I should've gotten the fella's number that did it some 8 years ago.

But I love my home. I love the location. It is not a big house, but there is just me, and I basically live downstairs. (I rarely go upstairs, as my master bedroom is on the bottom level). That has to change. I have always pondered moving upstairs, especially for the fall and winter months. My sister stayed with me for 5 years, and that was always her domain. She was upstairs and I was downstairs.

Like I said, I love my home. I lived in the area (about 1/2 a mile away) some 22 years ago when I was in graduate school. I always thought if I could catch a house in the area in the future I would definitely get it, no doubt.

So happy I did!

A Special 10 Year Anniversary

On October 5th, I celebrated a very special anniversary. On  that date, 10 years ago, I purchased my first home.

This blog is 10 years old, so it is amazing to go back and read about my feelings so long ago. I was only 35 years old, practically the age my sister is right now, when I purchased  it. It was an interesting time. I'd lived in that particular area of downtown ATL in my early 20s, and it was the best place I'd ever lived. I was a couple of blocks from the ATL zoo, and it took me only 45 minutes to walk to school (17 minute walk to catch the school shuttle at the Braves Stadium). I had an old '73 Chevy Nova, but I didn't drive much. And living in downtown atlanta enclaves put me approximately 20 minutes from all sides of town.

I couldn't afford a house in that neighborhood back in 2005, but I bought a house nearby. There are 4 neighborhoods around there, and I caught a good deal on one. Here's an old picture:

Wait... here's the earliest picture I have:

Look how small the bushes were way back then!

And here's the current picture of my house.

As you can see, the color was lighter earlier on. I recently had it painted. People think it's yellow, but it's peach in color. (Man, you would NOT believe the number of people who argue me down over the color of my house. And they get really O_o when I try to explain the scientific genetic particulars behind why some see it as yellow and some see it as peach).

My bushes are a little higher than the porch because locals know they be trying to look all in my windows as they walk down the street.

Humph.

I like the paint job. It is amazing how the house looks practically new. It had faded badly.

I know when buying a house, I was concerned about the upkeep of it. There are always things to be do. But little by little, I get it done. I know I've spent at least $10,000 over the past 10 years on upkeep. And that is fine. It's a lot when looking at the amount in one big chunk like that, but that's alright. It all goes with having a house.

I also think about all the things I wanted to do over the years. Sometimes I imagine that if I only had an apartment all this time, I could've traveled the world. Shoulda woulda coulda. But I know if  I lived in an apartment all these years, then I would be thinking the total opposite: If only I had a house. 

But I've managed to travel over the years. I have been able to save and be a blessing to others also.  That makes me happy.

And over the past few months, I've meditated on how God has blessed me to take care of myself  and my home. No, it's not Better Homes and Garden laid out. I don't have the first inkling or notion about decorating anything. But it's mine. And I have maintained. And that's great.

So here's to 10 years in a happy home...

May it continue to be a happy home...

My House? It is Done! (Whew!!!)

So...

My house, The House of your friendly Neighborhood Oldgirl LadyLee, was painted last week.

I'm still a bit O_O about it all. Well, how it all occurred, that is. It was a bit like the whole Lucy Jr. thing... I won't write about it. Like that situation, I have to spend much time thinking about it. This post would be waaaay too long if I hashed out my thoughts here. So I will just leave that alone for now. Sometimes I think I get a bit too deep off the pages for y'all.

So like I said, the house was painted. I was loooking at my house last year, and I'd noticed how much it had faded. There were also some dry rot issues. So I knew that either this year (2015) or next year at the latest, it needed to be painted.

So imagine my thoughts a couple of weeks ago when I was backing out of my driveway, and saw the house across the street being pressure washed.

I stopped my car in the middle of the street and went over to talk to the people, because I knew my house needed a good pressure washing. Maybe they could pressure wash my house and porch. I was having some interesting algae issues. And maybe they could give me a reference for some of the wood work and painting that needed to be done.

I talked to the guy, Mr. Al, and he said he was prepping the house for painting. He said he could give me an estimate, and he walked over to my house. I had to get my car out of the middle of the street, so I pulled back into my driveway. By that time, he'd walked around my house and had come back around. And he gave me an estimate that was right around what I needed to pay.

I asked if he could give me a reference for woodwork. He said he was a contractor and he could take care of that. As a matter of fact, he saw what needed to be done when he walked around the house. And he gave me an estimate for that.

And it was about $500 below the money I had set aside.

I told him to go for it.

He said when he finished the house across the street, he would start on mine.

And I was good with that.

He even threw in the porch treatment. I needed it, because the porch was all jacked up... brown, and it had some algae going on. I needed it stripped and repainted.

And he did that. 

I wish I would've been around when he stripped it. He used some indoor/outdoor bleach or something like that. All I know is that I came home and it was done.


And some tomfoolery was happening around the fireplace.

The wood had begun cracking a few years ago. Then it just fell off. O_o.  I remember jumping out of my car one morning and just knocking it off.

And the garage frame needed repair.

It wasn't looking like that before they pressure washed it. That water knocked all kinds of stuff off.

Then there was the trellis... The wood holding the other pieces began to rot. And the corner had cracked open.

I noticed that back in October. Ugh.


Well! Mr. Al saw all that before I could tell him about it. And he said he would fix it.

GLORY!!

There they are prepping my house last Wednesday.

And then the painting began...

I didn't get many pictures. An Oldgirl was trying to go to work, you see. I wasn't hanging out watching them all day.  He would get there in the mornings before I left for work, and we'd walk around the house discussing things. But I would leave. Have at it, dude.

It was interesting to come home every day for 2.5 days and see the house looking different. Here's one intermediate picture.

And here are my final pictures!

Look at the trellis! All nice, clean and white! I noticed one day while leaving that they had to pop off those small boards and replace those. I was thinking "Lawd... don't let that drive the price up!"

Look at my front porch!

We were discussing the color. I told him I wanted a clear stain. I'd applied some dark stain a few years ago and I didn't like it and it wouldn't fade out. So my porch was way uneven.

He came back with some expensive stain/paint.  What the world?

We discussed it more. "You need some good protectant on that porch. This is a nice color, and it will be better."

I looked at the steel gallon of deck paint. I remember seeing that particular brand in the store. And I remember moving on down the aisle towards the cheaper stuff.  I pay no more than $25 for a gallon of stain. But hey, I thought that I would try something a little different.

When he put it on, it went on BRIGHT red. I looked out the front door with a raised eyebrow. He said, don't worry, it dries darker.

And you know what?  It did. And that happens to be my favorite part. The porch!

How beautiful is that?

If you know anything about me, I don't like colorful stuff. But this is awesome!

They even painted my front door. I told my sister "Since it's spring time, I should paint my door a nice pretty bright green!"

"No," she hollered. "I will just make you a wreath!"

I was just joking anyway. But wouldn't a bright green door sing "Hello Springtime!!!"

LOL

Here are pictures from the back.

He edged the corners of the house and the chimney in white. They weren't edged that way before. I like it! It's a nice touch!

One of the locals had been curiously watching all of the action... And he came over the day after all was done and offered me a $15 special on cutting the grass and trimming the hedges. I was going to do it myself, but hey... I told him to go for it!

Here's a final picture, taken early in the morning during the sunrise.

I really like my house. It looks like a brand new house, just like it did some 9.5 years ago when I bought it.

A fresh coat of paint made it all spiffy! So glad that all went well.  Everything went way better than I could ever imagine. (We've all heard  the crazy contractor stories). I'm thankful for that.

He'd given me a ballpark figure of how much the work would cost. Like I said, it was $500 below my budget. (Of course I didn't tell him that).  So when I got the final bill, the price was $458 below the original quote. So in all, I spent $958 less than the amount I budgeted for. GLORY!!

I thought about going and buying one of those nice big screen kindles... but I did the right thing and put the cash back in the bank the next day.  (My finance group would be so proud. I am learning to watch my money a bit better. I am a true Financial Freedom Fighter! Go Triple F Posse!)

Like I said, I am happy with the house.  And I referred Mr. Al out to three folks. Hopefully that pans out for him and his crew.

Now it's time to take care of the inside of the house. Hmm...