Room with a View

Well, we've done it. While the room doesn't actually have much of a view, it DOES have daylight now. We've come into the light. We actually have GLASS in our walls now! In fact, that was how we celebrated Zombie Jesus Day (Easter). We cut the holes in the sheathing and put in the windows. It wasn't bad, actually. Windows, especially as big as these are, are heavy, and at first we didn't know what we were doing.

Maybe we shouldn't have tried to install our first window in the dark.

At any rate, we got them in last weekend, and this weekend we're going to attempt to do the glass door, since our track came in on Friday. We didn't work on the house this past weekend because we were in Mount Vernon partaking of acres of amazing tulips.

The structural engineer also paid us a visit last week, since it turns out the second beam we have to install will end up being a few inches lower than the one that's there right now. As you well know in our house of low ceilings, a few inches is bad. BUT, he said that we didn't have to do much, so my spouse is going to do up the drawings ASAP (the pressure's on, now!) and we'll get it stamped and update our permit.

We HAVE to get this room mostly done by the end of May, not only so we can get to cracking on the nook and kitchen, but also because I refuse to let the room be in the same state it was when we ripped it all out last year.

Anyway, here are some pics of the windows. You'd almost think we were living in a real house...

The window on the east side of the house

The window on the south side of the house

That Woman's Poison

So I really like plants. Maybe I'm not great with them. But I KNOW I've planted more trees than I've cut down. One of the things I'm really excited about now that we have a nice, big yard is putting in some great plants. That includes our hedge, the plants for which we've already posted. Preparations must be made, though, such as flattening the ground, raking out the dirt, etc. The beginning of the preparations entailed poisoning the strip of land between our driveway and the street that runs parallel to it. Yay, Roundup. It was a pain in the ass, spraying all that vegetation (okay, so it wasn't particularly thick) with a 1 gallon pump-action sprayer thingey. And it's sad to watch all the plants die. They might just be weeds, but still...

In other news, our front neighbor planted his new conical conifers. They're nice and tall, and actually let in more light than I thought. They also provide a nice view from our window instead of having to look at the pink stucco as well as some good privacy. Plus, since he moved the deciduous trees, we won't have nearly as many leaves in our gutter come fall. Hooray!