Looking back at home goals 2014

Posted on January 7, 2015 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Before we dive too much into 2015–boy it feels weird typing that–I’m going to take a little look back to my Home Goals from 2014.

I’m proud to say that Matt and I kicked butt in 2014. I don’t mean to sound boastful. But we got a lot done around the house over the past year. Today’s post is about celebrating some of our accomplishments. Woo-hoo!

Here’s the list of my original goals and how we did on each.

1. Painting. Check!

Main floor hallway
Kitchen
New addition – Living room

Painting the hallway and kitchen was the first project we tackled last year, and we crossed them off the list in February. The living room wasn’t on the list at first, but over the course of the year we slowly got it painted one wall at a time. In fact, we finished the final wall just last week (okay, so it was Jan. 2, but who’s counting?).

2. Laundry room. Check!

The laundry room was my first participation in the One Room Challenge. I love how I was able to transform this utilitarian space with just a bit of paint, some simple updates to the cabinets and a few fun accessories.

3. Master bedroom. No check.

We were not very successful at the master bedroom makeover. I was supposed to scrape the popcorn ceiling back in the summer but never worked up the effort.

… That is until last week. Yup, the master bedroom makeover is underway.

Matt and I bought a new bed (a king-size one–yipes) just before Christmas. Its imminent delivery motivated me to deal with the ceiling. We’ve got a bit more work yet to go, but that’s what Home Goals 2015 are for (that post is coming up next).

4. Furniture. Partial check.

I had a few pieces of furniture that I wanted to find/make last year. I can cross off about half of my list.

~~Refresh bookshelves and living room TV stand with new trim and paint~~ – More on the bookshelves here and the TV stand here and here
Coffee table for the living room
~~Sofa table for the living room~~ – Details here
Hutch/cabinetry/built-ins for dining room
~~Narrow dresser for my office~~ – Details here
Hutch for my office
~~Free-standing cabinet for the hallway to the laundry room~~ – No details, but you can see it with the ironing board hanging on it here

5. Living room fireplace. Big fat check!

I honestly did not expect to be able to cross the fireplace off the list this year, but I can. And it makes me a little bit giddy. We squeaked it in right at the end of 2014. The full wrap-up post is still coming, but I can let you know that the fireplace is fabulous. It was wonderful to lounge in front of the fire over the holidays.

And no, you’re not getting a picture of this yet. 😉

6. Landscaping. Maybe a partial check.

Landscaping continues to be my nemesis at the farm. I did some work outside, but not as much as I had hoped.

Reestablish the flowerbeds around the house. I’m about halfway around the house and have come to the decision that we don’t need flowerbeds on the south side or the back. It will take a lot of work to rip out the old beds, but once I do mowing will be quicker than weeding.
Plant grass seed where old firepits were and clean up the detritus that’s still hanging around. Again, halfway done. The grass is growing, but there are a few more piles still to clean up.
Tidy the east shore of the pond and build a new firepit near the water. I decided that this task is too big to take on myself, but budget constraints prevented me from recruiting some professional help. Maybe next year.
Continue to plant the turnaround. Half the turnaround is in really good shape. The other half we’ve gone with grass until I can work up the energy to make it a flower garden.
Put in a vegetable garden. Oh I had such ambitions around this one, but it was a complete non-starter.
Continue with the landscaping master list. I don’t think this task is ever going to go away.

2014 was much more successful than 2013. Last year at this time I was quite frustrated with how little I had accomplished. This year, I’m over the moon by how much we’ve done.

Having my goals was really important to help me stay focused. What made the difference this year was translating those goals into monthly projects. Thanks to all of you for sticking with me and encouraging us through 2014. Coming up next, Home Goals 2015.

Was 2014 a productive year for you? What was your biggest accomplishment last year? How do you stay on task?

Fall iris

Posted on October 27, 2014 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

So apparently it’s not fall after all.

One of our irises has popped out in bloom.

Should I be concerned? I know the climate’s changing, but this seems a little off. This iris bloomed already this year back in the spring. Isn’t that normal? Aren’t irises usually spring flowers?

At the base of the iris, the blooming sedum and fallen leaves give away what season it really is.

Tell me. How weird is this? Have you ever had a flower bloom out of season?

Transplanting season

Posted on September 24, 2014 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

In case you missed it, fall is here. (The autumn tablescapes, fall home tours and Hallowe’en decorations proliferating the blogosphere are a big clue. We bloggers appear to have trouble living in the moment). Anyways, we’re officially into fall. And it’s official transplant season.

Now I have to confess that I got a bit of a head start this year. I transplanted peonies back in August, and a couple of weeks ago Matt and I moved a few trees around.

I generally pay little attention to gardening timelines. With our gardens in the state they’re in, if I wait until the “right” time to move my plants it will take me decades to get things where I want them.

You’ve seen that we have lots of peonies spread all over the property. My mission this year was to move a few of them into the gardens I’ve established.

I don’t profess to being any type of transplanting expert.

My usual technique is to try to keep as much of the soil around the plant intact as possible. Of course, the first peony I dug up was surrounded by weeds, and I had to hack at the roots to get rid of everything non-peony. If you’re curious, here’s what peony roots look like.

The other thing I’ve learned over the years is to not replant the plants too deep. Transplanting makes it easy because I just keep them at the same level they were.

The other component of my not-at-all-scientific transplant process is to water the heck out of them. I remember when I first started gardening I read an article that recommended aiming for “quagmire”-like wetness. So far, September has been pretty rainy, so we have had plenty of help keeping up the quagmire factor, although we have supplemented with hoses and buckets as needed.

We have a few more trees and bushes yet to move before fall gets too far along. Oh and bulbs to plant. Don’t forget to do those too. The transplanting PSA just never stops.

Are you doing any transplanting this fall? Do you have any transplanting tips?

Sweet cherry tomatoes

Posted on September 10, 2014 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

She’s my cherry ~~pie~~ tomato, Put a smile on your face, Ten miles wide…
Tastes so good, Make a grown man cry, Sweet cherry ~~pie~~ tomato
(Badly paraphrased from Warrant)

After my lack of success last year attempting to grow tomatoes, I refused to plant anything edible this year.

But Matt wanted to try tomatoes again.

He got some plants from his Dad, and he carefully tended them all summer. He cleared an area on the turnaround, put the tomato cages in place, suckered them and watered them. When they outgrew the cages, he improvised with other trellises gathered from around the property.

It took nearly all summer, but his attention paid off. We finally have ripe, edible tomatoes! So much better than last year.

Even better, most of our plants turned out to be my FIL’s cherry tomatoes. These are wonderfully sweet. My absolute favourite tomatoes.

These tomatoes sprout every year in my FIL’s garden. However, just to be safe, I’m going to try to save some seeds this fall to grow our own plants next year using this tutorial from The Art of Doing Stuff.

Yes, my reluctance to grow edible plants has apparently been overcome by sweet ruby spheres.

How has your garden grown? What’s your favourite kind of tomato? Have you ever tried saving seeds? On a topic more likely to make you lose your appetite, can you believe that Warrant music video? There’s absolutely nothing like 80s hairbands.

Plant problems

Posted on August 15, 2014 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Anyone know anything about lilacs, Japanese maples or holly? Each of mine is feeling under the weather.

The lilac is probably my biggest concern, simply because this plant has tremendous sentimental value to me. My bush grew from a shoot that sprouted off my grandmother’s lilac. It survived the move from our first house to the farm and up to now has thrived in the front flower garden. However, this summer the leaves started getting dry spots and then the tips curled under.

When I unfurl the leaves, there’s a dirt-like substance inside. If there’s parasites, they’re too small for me to spot.

Anyone have any guesses what might be wrong? I’d really rather not lose this plant.

The Japanese maple has his own problems as well. First, I will concede that he’s pretty crowded. I’ve been working at thinning the ferns since spring. The walnut tree is obviously another problem. I don’t have a good excuse why he’s been allowed to invade the maple’s personal space so much. Whether it’s crowding or some other issue, the tippy top branches are losing their leaves.

Like on the lilac, the leaves are drying out and falling off.

The Japanese maple took a beating during the ice storm. The trunk was completely wrapped in ice that was a quarter inch thick.

I was wondering if the tree is still traumatized from his winter ordeal. He’s just a bit weak this summer. He’ll pull through and grow more leaves next year. Won’t he? Or is that wishful thinking?

The final patient is my holly bush. Now I have to take most of the blame for this guy’s misery. He used to live in the front flower bed. However, I redrew the border of the bed, and he fell outside the line. I dug him up and moved him around the corner to the well garden. He was fairly well established in the front bed, so I cut through some pretty big roots when I transplanted him. He’s not fully recovered yet. You can see the leaves are pretty sparse and fairly yellow.

In my defense, I do have to say he wasn’t the healthiest guy before I moved him. He had very few leaves and probably produced all of a half dozen berries for the two years we’ve lived here. He seems to be plagued by ants. When I dig around the trunk, both at his original home and now in his new location, I unearth what looks like a whole colony. There’s not much bark left on his thick old trunk, and I wonder if the ants are eating him.

When I pulled off a leaf, though, I found a different type of pest.

Is this little green caterpillar the culprit? Is it the ants? Or the transplant?

I’d really appreciate any ideas anyone has. Anyone else having botanical illnesses in your own gardens this year? Let’s commiserate in the comments.

Snapshot

Posted on August 4, 2014 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Milkweed

Posted on July 23, 2014 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

And why it matters.

Six-month performance review

Posted on July 4, 2014 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Not to alarm anyone, but we’re halfway through the year. (Sorry. Tempus fugit.)

It’s been nearly six months since I posted my home goals for 2014. Time for a mid-year performance review.

I had six projects on my list. Here’s how I’ve done so far.

1. Paint the main floor hallway and kitchen.

Big fat done on task number one. Matt and I knocked this one out in February.

2. Laundry room.

I haven’t started this one yet. I figure it will be a good fall project when I don’t want to/can’t work outside anymore. Besides, I can’t start anything until Matt digs out the foundation wall and fixes the basement leak. Hello summer honey-do list.

3. Master bedroom.

For the most part, this is another fall project. However, prep starts this month with removing the popcorn ceiling.

4. Furniture.

I’ve done fairly well in this department.

Sofa table for the living room. Found this one in an empty office at work (I asked permission before I took it).
Narrow dresser for my office. DIYed this one out of two nightstands.

Cabinet for the laundry room. Bought this one from Canadian Tire. (There was some DIY, since we had to assemble it ourselves).
Ottoman for the basement reading nook. Made this one out of a plastic barrel.

I have a few more pieces that I’m still on the lookout to buy or make. Top on the list is refreshing my bookshelves and the living room TV stand. My books have been packed away for more than two years. I want them back.

5. Living room fireplace.

Hope still springs eternal. The fireplace will be redone some day. Whether that day is this year depends solely on how much we’re able to rebuild our post-solar bank accounts.

6. Landscaping.

Reestablish the flowerbeds around the house. I’m slowly, ever so slowly, working my way around the house.
Continue to plant the turnaround. The turnaround is looking awesome, albeit a bit weedy.

The pond shore is even more overgrown than last year and is pretty much inaccessible. Since this is my favourite part of the property, that is a bit of a downer. I’m willing to cut my losses on the pond this year, but I’m still hoping I’ll be able to clear and fence the vegetable garden before the end of the year.

And that brings us to the bottom of this year’s original goals.

However, there are a few things we’ve done beyond this list.

Obviously, the solar panels are a pretty massive project.

We’re also revisiting the basement, finishing off the reading nook, adding the ping pong table and making over the doors (in progress).

I’ve had a bit more success this year staying on task thanks to the monthly projects. Thanks as well to all of you for your encouragement along the way. It’s nice to look back and see that I’ve actually made some progress. We have half a year to go, and I have a bit more work to do yet, but I think I’m on the right track.

Have you ever given yourself a mid-year performance review? Who else feels like time is flying by? Is there anything you’d like to accomplish over the rest of the year?

Pretty peonies

Posted on June 25, 2014 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

We’re fortunate that we have numerous peony plants growing around the property.

I’ve moved a few into the gardens that I’ve reclaimed, but most are still out in the undomesticated wilderness.

They’re all different shades and are a beautiful splash of colour.

I never pick a bouquet of peonies because I’m cautious about ants, but it would be nice to have some the beauty inside as well as out. Am I worrying unnecessarily?

Who else is a peony fan? Do you have a favourite colour? Any tips for peony care?

May progress report

Posted on May 30, 2014 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Let’s see how many excuses I can come up with to explain my attitude towards working outside during most of May.

Weather was cold and rainy.
My Dad jetted off to England.
The tractor still had the snowblower attached to it up until the middle of the month.

Despite sounding like a big whiner, I actually did accomplish a few things this month. In fact, I surprised myself by how much I was able to cross off my ambitious list of landscaping to-dos for May.

Here’s how I did.

Turnaround

~~Weed the flower garden half~~
~~Spread wood chips on flower garden~~ – I nearly didn’t get to this one, but knowing I had to report back to all of you made me get my butt in gear.
Make a top for the bird bath – I still haven’t figured out what I’m going to do for this one. The idea that I had for the top is a little bit… well… little.

Put the bird bath in place
~~Place the bench~~
~~Continue to fill in the garden with more plants~~

The turnaround is looking awesome IMHO. It’s turning out even better than I expected. Obviously the plants still need to fill out a bit (okay, a lot) more, but I think it’s going to be beautiful.

Front garden

Edge the garden
~~Transplant a few bushes, trees and other plants out of this bed and into some of the other gardens~~
~~Fill in the pit from the woodstove chimney~~
Fix the downspouts
Weed as I go

Trees

~~Pick up fallen branches~~
~~Cut branches to firewood lengths~~
Split firewood
Burn brush – We have three massive piles of brush, but the wood is still a little damp and isn’t that interested in catching fire.

Matt got an in-depth hands-on session with his new chainsaw when his Dad came over to help us with the clean up. This to-do was definitely a team effort. Lesson learned: The chainsaw is heavier than you think, a fact that becomes obvious after working with it all day. Second lesson learned: Your wife doesn’t care that you just learned how to use a chainsaw. She’ll still send you up an extension ladder to trim branches off the pines outside the kitchen window, all so that she can have a better view of the pond. Third lesson learned: Baxter was a big help, as usual.

Baxter supervising ice storm clean up

Grass

Add top soil beside the front stoop and seed
Overseed in front of raised bed under the dining room window
Rake solar trench smooth and seed

Wop-wop. Big fat nothin’ on the grass front. We did mow before it got knee-high, which is an improvement over the past two springs, so I guess that’s something.

Hoses

~~Turn on water to exterior taps~~
~~Install hoses at side~~ and back of house
Install a proper hose bib at the driveshed, so that the hose isn’t laying on the ground. – My Dad’s going to help me with this one, but he couldn’t do very much from England.
1. Shorten waterline
2. Attach to waterline to wall
3. Install a splitter so that I can someday add another hose bib at the opposite corner of the driveshed
4. Reinstall tap on shortened waterline
5. Install hose hanger
6. Hook up hose

My plan to focus on one area per week (or weekend) went a little off track due to weather, support crew and motivation, but I still feel like I put a good dent in this year’s landscaping plan.

Work is ongoing and will continue for a few months (years) yet.

What progress have you made outside so far? Have you learned to use any new equipment this spring? Are your four-legged friends as helpful as Baxter? How do you handle your hoses?