2014 Goals

I never published this so I thought it would be fun to update it.

1.  Lose more weight.  Start exercising regularly.
2.  Landscape side yards.  I'm so excited about this because it means the entire property will be basically done.  I'm thinking about a small pond on the north side.  Depends on the amount of work.  I want to plant Blue Billow, Bombshell, Limelight, Royal Majesty, and Snowflake hydrangeas.  They would have a northwest exposure.
3.  Finally finish the guest room.  Right now I'm totally stuck with what to put on the floors after sanding them.  Tung or linseed oil?  I know polyurethane wouldn't look good due to their condition.
4.  Finish the last awkward area of painting and the minor touch-ups needed on the exterior.  It'll be nice to finally put a fork in it, y'all!
5.  Finally rebuild the front porch.  Looks like it might be a lot more expensive than I originally thought.
6.  Figure out the front side garden.  It got way overgrown and I moved some stuff to the backyard garden, but I have to rearrange some plants.  It also needs major mulching.
7.  Figure out the wisteria trellis.  I'm thinking I might want to move it once the porch is re-done so I can look at all the money I spent.
8.  Finally finish the doors in the kitchen and stuff left on the punch list.
9.  Finally dispose of tree limbs from storm damage and pruning.

Well . . .  about the only thing that really happened was the porch rebuild.  Once I discovered the broken footing I felt I had no choice but to rebuild.  I was afraid the roof (with the new roofing) would collapse.  The trellis footings didn't hold so it was leaning precariously.  I took it down which made the re-build so much easier, and therefore cheaper.  I dug the holes for the new footings but never got around to pouring the concrete.  It'll be placed at the entrance to the back garden.  I did start the side garden but I don't think a pond is feasible, plus I'm afraid of attracting more wildlife than I already have.  I think families of skunks, woodchucks and racoons is enough, don't you?  Okay, so the racoons were on my neighbors' property, but still!

I did finally paint the front door but haven't put the hardware back on.  My co-worker taught me a saying, "100 percent of my jobs are 90 percent complete."  So true.

I got really caught up in painting the porch so didn't finish up touching up the exterior except for the trim above the porch roof.  I had planned on working on the guest room during vacation but painted my mother's living room for her birthday present.  Many problems ensued, including needing three coats to cover the darkish turquoise color.  She likes gold so I chose Martha Stewart Malted, which I saw in the My Messy, Thrilling Life blog.  Then I got caught up in my nephew's Boy Scout project of painting the window trim on my sister's first floor.  Nothing like having new windows installed that makes everything around it look shabby.  I'm driving that family crazy by insisting that they scrape, sand, fill holes with wood putty, prime and caulk!  

Fleshed-out shade garden.

Carly surveying the pile of branches.

My nephew helped me with most of the branches; there are a few that need to be cut with a chainsaw, which I don't own.

Don't even ask me about my weight, especially after the holidays.