A Bit of SA in US ;)

There's a narrow strip of garden space on the one side of the house that had grass-like growth coming up that we couldn't identify and didn't really like the look of, so we planted a row of flower bushes native of South Africa called Fynbox, which means "fine bush" in Afrikaans.  They're so pretty and vibrant against the yellowish/tan stucco on the exterior wall. 

Entryway Tile Project

This project took about two weeks to do - from selecting the tiles and ordering them to lifting the old tiles to cutting and laying the new ones.  I'm glad it's over because we discovered that the entryway gets a lot of traffic from other points of the house, not just from the front door.

We chose a ceramic tile in light gray for the floor.  It's goes well with the white walls and is a nice transition into the living room which has a charcoal heather color on the walls.  Unfortunately, I don't have any Before pictures, but just imagine old, mismatched, rigid slate tiles and you'll get the picture.

Project: Entryway Floor - New Tiles

Slam Dunk!

Bye bye rusty, old basketball hoop!  Even before moving in, we knew the basketball hoop's days were numbered.  Aesthetics aside, it posed a problem as it was within an inch or two from a major electricity wire attached to one corner of the house, which made me quite nervous when winds were intense the other week.

Project: Goodbye basketball hoop!

Project: Craft Room

I finally have a permanent space to create things!  Things that involve sewing, knitting, scanning photographs, editing video, painting, drawing, and so much more.  Let the crafting/creativity begin!

Project: Craft room! - paint ceiling, walls; remove carpet; replace outlets and light switch

Milestone: One Month

This week marks one month - ONE MONTH! -  since we've been homeowners.  It honestly feels like our settlement was just yesterday!  The overwhelming shock of being first time homeowners and fear of the unknown has slightly diminished over the last month - just slightly.  We're now in a new phase of shock called wowzers, this house and all its projects are expensive with no end in sight!  But we're having fun and we have our very own space to put our stamp on, and that is priceless.

Some things I'm still adjusting to:

- Long-term renting has conditioned me to think all walls are shared and to be considerate of noise, volume, etc at all times.  I was playing music in the house and for a brief second forgot that our walls are no longer shared.  Not waking up to screaming kids and/or people talking loudly is both amazingly peaceful and strange... like there's an empty space that desperately wants to be filled with noise.

- Lots and lots of doors.  Little space, fewer doors.  Bigger space, more doors.  In and out, out and in.  Dr. Seuss would have a field day with all these doors! ;)

- Having a garage door.  It's an on-going relationship full of misfits and tweaking, but I'm determined to make it work.

- The kitchen.  It's definitely spacious but not very functional.  I'm still figuring it out.

- Random noises.  Some of them aren't so mysterious anymore but with every one I can label, a new one appears.  It's like a game.