Gardening Help

Last week, we had Art and Linda's Wildflower gang over to steward the beginnings of our gardens.

First, they raked and bagged all the leaves. Watching from the window, I had to admit I was glad we didn't have to do this... Although, we did have to do the parkway over the weekend. We did it the smart way, and mulched all the leaves with the lawnmower. The bag was changed over 30 times... and the tree's aren't even half way done with shedding their leaves.



Next, notice how we no longer have a mud pit. Yep, here's the bright shiny new mulch on display.



And, here, Michael, Art, and a helper prepare our new garden bed for the spring. Not sure you can see all the flags in the picture, but we will have a nice sweeping garden bed all around the yard.



The one thing that bugs us about the backyard, is we have a big telephone pole and attached to it is an alley light. The light shines into our bedroom window, but it's also a huge eye sore and kills the ambience when we're chilling in the backyard on any evening. Art told us a good idea is to plant a fast growing tree, which will block the light. We had a couple options of trees, we opted for the catalpa (hoping I won't be cursing the mess of the spring flowers and bean pods) but it's a really unique and pretty tree. It also grows about 4 feet per year. So the options, plant a tiny tree, a 4 foot tree or a 6 foot tree. We told Art we'd think about it, and let him know. He surprised us when he popped over on Saturday and gave us a little tree to plant for free.



Should be fun watching her grow.

Third times a charm...

Yes, third times a charm, for giving up on the front lawn.

After tilling twice by a big heavy tiller, and once entirely by hand, and finally having a master gardener come and look at the lawn, it's been decided there is no way we can get anything to grow in front.

I started the search for a landscaper a few months ago on Angies List. The company I was interested also happened to be at the Bungalow Expo we attended a few weeks ago.

We talked to Art and Linda's Wildflowers extensively, and finally decided to have them come out to take a look. Art concluded that we have such intense shade by the Norway Maples that there is no way to get anything to grow. He gave us several suggestions.

Option 1. Contact the Alderman to get permission to cut down a major limb of one of the maples. This could easily cost us $1000 plus to get done. We hate option 1.

2. Try to work with what we have. This involves putting mulch on the yard (the only thing that will obviously survive) and attempt to plant ferns is select spots. He's not sure if the ferns will survive or not. He can also move our gutters to create a pretty rock/rain garden in front.

We are going to try option 2 and wait and see.

We also contracted them to do our backyard. We just don't have the time, knowledge or expertise to do it on our own, and his idea's were superb.

Art took us on a garden tour of several homes around us to get idea's, and his work is awesome.

So, there you have it. Hopefully by next summer, we can post some pretty pictures of the front and backyards of the Happier Bungalow.

The countdown begins

I've been sleeping on this sorry excuse of a bed for almost 3 months now, and the day has finally arrived... Just saw on the website that the other bed I want to try is going on sale on 10/15. I can't wait to get rid of this one! I'm looking forward to the day it gets carried out of the bungalow, never to return again.

Now, I'm really hoping the new one is better. If it's not, then I'll be really sad, and will probably go get one of those old spring mattresses.

We haven't had much going on lately. We did finally get the bungalow furnished (thanks to Beth's Miami house!) We may try to tackle cleaning out the basement, and moving the storage to the attic this weekend, which once again, won't be as easy as we thought. Since the attic stairs open over the basement stairs, we'll have to carry everything through the outside basement door, through the outside kitchen door, and finally up to the attic stairs. This will really be fun when it gets even colder. Good times.

Erica's no friend of mine

This is what Michael came home to last night. Ahh, the joys of the first week of school.

So, today I went to the Crafty Beaver to pick up something to get rid of stupid erica. Upon coming home, and pulling into the driveway, one of our neighbors came over to ask if I want to know what to use to get rid of the spray paint. Heck yea I do!

He said Gum out Carb cleaner works on silver spray paint. Who knew.

So now I gotta run to the auto parts store. Hoping I get to post a clean garage door in the near future.

On a pretty funny (and not so clean) note, I was telling my co-worker that we got tagged, and also the garage next to us got tagged with Bella. So, the guy googles Erica Bella. Who knew we had a celebrity in our midst...

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0068610/

The attic is DONE!

Wow. I can't believe we got this done in a month. We ROCK.

By Saturday we were completely finished hanging the beams, which left 2 things left, seal some bad flashing on the roof, and cleaning up the attic, which included bringing all the storage we currently had up there back to the basement.

As usual, I eventually used my trusty moving method, which is "I'm tired, and look out below, because boxes are now being kicked down the stairs". I used the same method when moving out of the condo. I must say, it works quite well, as long as those fragile boxes are carefully labeled.


Here's Mike fixing the flashing on the roof. It was a pretty terrifying experience, considering the roof was pitched way more than he thought it was.



After all the boxes were down, it was time to clean up all the sawdust from the sawing and drilling.

Keep in mind, this is a GIANT broom. Yea, that's a lot of sawdust...

Check out the roof! Yay us...


By Sunday afternoon, we were done, and waiting for Eco tec to come for the installation on Monday morning.

Well, we hit a snag...

Eco tec came Monday morning around 8:30am. They set up the attic, taped up the windows and brought the hose into the attic. We waited, and waited... around 10am they told us they had to run to Crafty Beaver because the hose was broken, and they were going to try to fix it. By 11:30 they told us the bad news, they couldn't fix the hose, and would have to come back tomorrow.

Ok... now, Michael had to shuffle all his Tuesday meetings around so he could work from home again. He wanted to be here to make sure everything looked good.

Fast forward to Tuesday, they arrived at 11am, right when they said they would.


Here, they bring the hose from the truck, through the kitchen window, and straight up into the attic.


They were here for 4 hours. And this is what occurred:



Pretty cool huh? Already, we notice a huge temperature difference upstairs. Now, I'm hoping this weekend will have at least an 80 degree sunny day for the real test. Usually, 80 and sunny = over 100 degrees.

And lastly, Safety Inspector Sid, upset that he can't perform his duty upstairs...

Cats

Here's a post about Radley, the resident kitty from the Empty Bottle. Everyone should raise a bottle to this cute cat, who marked his last drum...

Speaking of cats... Safety Sid had an adventure last night. For some reason, the back gate was left open, and as I was doing some weeding, I turned around to look for him. He was not in the backyard. A scary 5 minutes later, we found him around the corner and in the neighbor's bushes. Grrr. Now inspector Sid will be going for a micro-chip appointment...

Longing for some longan

When we were in Kauai, we happened upon some wonderful fruit called longan. The best way to describe it is sort of a mix between a grape and a plum. It comes in bunches on a branch, and the fruit is wrapped in a tough outer skin. You have to break through the skin to get to the yumminess inside.

We would eat them all the time, and I've really missed them since we left. Anyways, yesterday while shopping at Mayfair market, we happened upon something that looked very similar, but it was called limoncillo quenepas. Thinking we struck gold, I bought a pretty big package, but for only $2.

I washed the outer skin, bit through, and was left with a funk in my mouth that really didn't go away for several minutes. It was pretty sour, and instead of a translucent looking fruit, it was kind of a peachy color. But, alas, not the hoped for longan.

So, now we're left with a huge bowlful of crappy fruit. Maybe the squirrels will eat them?

Oh, Mark and Tina, lucky lucky you, apparently, the longan grow mostly in China. You should see if you can find it, and thank us later.

Almost there...

This is been a crazy month, with almost all of our time dedicated to hanging the 2x4s in the attic. I'm so happy to report that we are almost done, I'm thinking Saturday is the day, which is a good thing since Eco tec comes to install the insulation on Monday!

The last thing we have to do is install the beams over the attic ladder, and this requires Michael to remove the pulley system for the ladder. This makes me very very nervous, but we've recently bought a 16 foot ladder, so if needed I can bring it to the window for him to climb down to safety if he gets stuck up there.

Luckily, we've had mostly nice weather for August, absolutely unheard of, so lucky we are.

Also, along with the insulation, we get a freebee rain barrel! Whoohoo! My lawn will be happy.

Speaking of which, our lawn is not happy. I'm about at my wits end with it, and a prairie garden is looking better and better instead of the grass. We've decided next Spring, before the leaves are on the trees, we'll seed again and hopefully the sun will get and keep it established. If that doesn't work, I'm done with it.

Now, onto the most exciting news... I got the Wii game Rockband. It's uber fun, and I've been enjoying working my drumming chops back up.

After I bought it, I came dancing into the kitchen to tell Michael about my new fun purchase, something we can enjoy after the evil attic is complete. His response? Honey, we have a basement FULL of REAL music equipment. Why don't we play those instead of the fake instruments. Hmmm, good point. But Rockband is fun, and Michael's getting into it. Last night, we downloaded 10 new songs and had a blast. Living in the limelight the universal dream.... (yea, we had to get some Rush...)

Michael's TV appearance

One of the bands Michael plays with, Reely Dan, had an appearance on the WGN morning TV show. Load in was set for 5:30AM, ouch, and luckily the studio was right down the street from us, as someone woke up at 4:51. Whoops.

So, here's the video: Reely Dan

What Not to wear at Lolla

Lolla 5 has ended

Lolla started rainy and chilly, and ended a hot sweaty mess. Jane's Addiction made it all worth it. Best set of the weekend by far. Now, let the recovery begin!


1. Intro to Up The Beach
2. Mountain Song
3. Ain't No Right
4. Three Days
5. Whores
6. Been Caught Stealing
7. Then She Did
8. Ocean-Sized
9. Ted Just Admit It
10. Summertime Rolls
11. Stop!

(encore)
12. Jane Says

(M&T - Don't hurt us, we stayed for the whole Snoop set. It was just that good... but we did catch about 20 min of Lou Reed, since he ran over by 20 minutes...)

The injury list

I'm hoping I don't need to add to this in the future.

Anyone who knows us is aware that we always incur an injury whenever we travel. A sprained ankle, a broken shoulder, cracked rib, it always happens.

Now we can add injuries incurred in the attic.

Me: Sprained wrist
Michael: Concussion.

Mike was hanging a piece of wood. He tightened the first screw, and, ala the Three Stooges, the board swung around really fast and nailed him in the head. He actually fell back, but then continued working.

Cut to the next day, and had he told me this right away, a trip to the hospital would have certainly happened. He was still feeling a bit out of it, but he said he began to feel better in the afternoon.

My mom threatened to drive to Chicago to drag him to the hospital if I didn't take him, but, after looking online at the symptoms, and making him talk and tell me stories to check for slurred speech and delay time, I was pretty convinced that he would be ok.

Last night, there was no work on the attic, as I prescribed rest and relaxation.

Today Lollapalooza starts. Forecast for the weekend? Thunderous downpours, and heat upwards of 98 degrees with a heat index at 107.

We're thinking of skipping most of the afternoon to try to let the afternoon rain and heat pass.
Today's band's to checkout:
STS9 (Sound Tribe Sector 9
Thievery Corporation
Andrew Bird
Depeche Mode

Although, I must say we're really looking forward to Sunday's lineup. Seems to be the best day.
Neko Case vs Vampire Weekend? May be a tossup, but will try to catch a bit of both.
Still struggling with Lou Reed vs Snoop Dog. I'm thinking Snoop Dog will win out, as he'll put on more of a crazy show.
The Killers vs Janes Addiction? Easy. JA wins. I've seen the Killers 3x.

Hopefully no injuries this weekend. 5 years running, no injuries at Lolla (KNOCK ON WOOD).

Attic 101

Here is what we've been up to lately on our pre-insulation installation:

Oh what fun it is doing construction in the attic in August. Why we didn't finish this in July when it was always 75 and below is a good question, guess we were too busy enjoying the weather with BBQs.

So, now that it's always 100 degrees and above upstairs, time to start the attic project!

Here is a very quick tour of what we are doing.

I'm now known as "the drill girl". It took me a while to figure out how to handle the drills, as I sprained my wrist during the first 5 minutes I started. After it healed, and we actually got the correct drill bits which didn't jerk my wrist around, we were all set.

So...

Step 1: Purchase 150 2x4s.
(1 down, 149 more to go!)

Step 2: After getting up the funky ladder to the attic, make a saw horse. Measure and cut wood. Luckily, most of the pieces don't need to be cut, but for those that do...


Step 3: Let the drilling begin...
First, we need to drill a half inch pilot hole. Next, grab another drill, and drill the remainder of the way with a small hole. Lastly, grab yet another drill and screw in the 3 1/2 inch screw.


Step 4: Attaching the wood (the real fun, and also Michael's part)
Here's where it gets tricky. I have to make sure I've made all the screws even, as we have to press the 2x4 against the existing beam for Mike to make pilot holes. The existing wood up there is so hard (he's thinking walnut, but not sure), that without the pilot holes, the screws won't go in.
So, another drill to make the pilot holes, then change the bit to screw in the 2x4.

And.... repeat.

It's a hot, dirty, messy, exhausting job, but I'm happy to report we're almost half way done!!

And she's going back...

Last night, Michael decided to once again sleep on my side of the bed, aka the evil side. I told him the bed is broke, and I still wake up sore every day. I think he thought it was just me.

Well, this morning, he looked like crap, and once again was a tad on the grouchy side. I came back in the bedroom and he was sitting on HIS side of the bed.

Me: Are you ok? What's wrong?
Him: I feel like crap! I was up every hour.
Me: Yea, I know.
Him: I can't take it. I didn't sleep at all!
Me: Yea, I know.
Him: I need to try to sleep before I have a meeting in an hour.
Me: Yea, I know the feeling.

So, he wants to try to flip it over, I want to send it back. $20 bucks I win...

The fun continues...

We have been working very hard on the attic - and we'll post about it soon.

In the meantime, I'd thought I'd share what happened last night.

We took a break from the work around 7 for a BBQ. After said BBQ, we decided we were just too tired to continue, even though it was probably only 70 degrees in the attic due to the wonderful 60 degree day August 1st blessed us with.

So, Michael goes to close up the attic, (we have an insane pulley system we'll have to show you all later) and all of a sudden, the ladder (probably built sometime in the 40's) starts retreating up crooked. CRAP. There's a box blocking it's path to push it up, and now it's gone of the track. So, up Michael goes on the crooked ladder to investigate, with me wincing each step he makes.

He gets up there, and says, Ahh, I see the problem, and KABOOM - The ladder (which still attached) goes crashing off the stairs and into the wall, of course shattering the light hanging on the basement stairs.

So, there we stood, me on the main floor, Michael stuck 15 feet higher in the attic, and a slight panic starts, as we realize this could be very very bad.

Somehow, we get the ladder pulled back up, and realize both sides of the track are split. Double crap! He somehow gets it back on track, but this will be a priority to fix since we'll be using this oooold ladder a lot, since it's our only access to the furnace, er, I mean attic.

Yea, the camera is still in the attic, so I can't post any pictures of all this fun, but, stay tuned...

Sometimes, people are smart

I'm referring to our neighbors, who came over yesterday when we were completing the last of the re-seeding on our front lawn. They made the suggestion that we have the city come and trim the trees on the parkway, therefore enabling more sun to hit our lawn. Hmmm. Hadn't thought of that. Call the city of Chicago and actually have them respond?

One of the great things about this house is the shady factor, and being able to leave the windows open in the heat, and not having to run the air conditioner, so we had a decision to make... keep the shade on the house, or request the trees be trimmed, and get some sun.

The major deciding factor was we didn't want a storm to blow down a branch, and crash down on our roof, so a call to 311 was made, where they told me they'd be out as soon as possible. I'm betting on next year. Any takers?

Busy weekend

What an eventful weekend!

Friday night, Michael decided to reclaim the wood that we tore down from this closet to use to build a foundation for the spawn of hell (yes, I've nicknamed the bed). He measured and cut up 4 pieces of wood, which should have precisely fit onto the slats of the bed frame.

Turns out, the existing box spring we had from our previous bed was bad, and we believe it's what ruined the old mattress. This box spring was 1/3 the size of a normal box spring, and what it consists of is wood and metal, and the problem seems to be the metal beams poke through and do not balance the mattress.

So, here's Mike cutting up the wood, of course being supervised by Safety Sid. He gave his stamp of approval.



First, we need to remove the box spring and bring it downstairs. That was fun, as we got it halfway down the stairs, and realized it wouldn't fit since the basement ceiling is in the way. Up it goes to sit in our living room next to the old mattress.

Next, he brings the new wood into the bedroom. Uh oh. The existing slats are not sitting on a ledge, but instead, they're built into brackets holding them up. Michael didn't count on this, and now the wood would have to be strategically balanced to support the mattress. We finally got it sort of balanced, but a trip to home depot is needed to purchase brackets to secure all boards together.

That night, both of us slept amazingly well.

Next morning, Home Depot was holding a lawn and garden clinic. Wonderful, just what we need! We arrived 45 minutes early and were planning on doing some shopping for other things, but inquired as to where the clinic would be held. Turns out, since we were so early, the garden expert decided to give us our own personal clinic where he answered every single question we had. He spent almost an hour with us. One of his main theories about our lawn, is it's actually getting too much water, and the roots of the grass are being stunted, which is why after 2 months of being established, we still can't mow the lawn without them being pulled out. So, we will now water way less, and on top of everything, he gave us a new bag of grass seed for FREE! Total score!

Once we left, we stopped at the store for some barbequables, and on the way home, noticed a store right near our street had a bunch of crap sitting outside. Looks like a sale, so of course we stop in to check out crap. We walk in, and notice it's all crap, total badly used 80's furniture, but I walk right up to a 4 drawer file cabinet which we are badly in need of. Hmmm, these are really expensive in the stores new, well over $150, so I ask how much.... $30, and SOLD! We told him we'd pay for it, but would have to walk back with a dolly since it wouldn't fit in my car, and his wife said she was just leaving, and would deliver it to us for free. Double score!

Next on the agenda, Michael hung up our new address sign outside. It looks awesome, and hopefully we will now be getting all of our mail... but only time will tell.

Lastly, we decided to start on the yard again, and re-tilled by hand all of the bare spots in the lawn where grass hadn't grown. We couldn't believe how much there was to do, and got about 1/3 done (which took 3 hours). Hopefully, this will help, but we know it's an ongoing process.



We ended the night with a yummy BBQ and finally went to bed after midnight, where again, we had a great nights sleep.

Pre-insulation Installation

After doing much research and getting several quotes for insulating the attic and master bedroom walls, we've reached a decision.

1. We will not be insulating the bedroom walls.

2. We're insulating the attic with what we believe to be the best product on the market, and it's a green product called Icynene.

The reason we have decided not to do the bedroom walls, they will need to drill a hole every 18 inches from ceiling to floor board to inject the insulation, and neither of us are ready for that mess. Instead, we think we'll try to tweak the furnace to pull the air into the bedroom, but that's another post for another day.

So, the product is called Icynene, and it's a spray foam which expands to the roof of the attic in seconds. We believe (and research seems to back up our thoughts) coating the roof with this product will keep heat out in summer, and cold out in winter, to make the attic very close to the house temperature. Now, Michael knows more about this, and I've been pestering him to write a post, but alas, nothing. So, you get to hear from me. Want to know more about this cool sounding product? Check out http://www.ecotecinsulation.com/

We need to have 5 1/2 inches of Icynene sprayed on the surface, and there are 2 ways we can have this product installed; either directly over our joists in the attic, or by building up the joists with 2x4's, and having the foam sprayed between these joists, thus leaving the beams exposed. The pros of adding the wood, if we ever want to drywall the space, we can. And considering we want to use it for a ton of storage, the less likely my head will poke through the foam, since it will be covered. So, we're gearing up for this fun construction project.

So, before anything can be done, we need to add quite a bit of wood to our attic. In the summer.
Granted, we've had what I believe has been the coolest summer since I can remember, but I'm sure that will change the day we head up to start this work.

First order of business? But a cordless drill. Michael has been drooling over this cordless drill, so I can see that purchase in our future. Next, measure and purchase all necessities, wood, screws, nails. Finally, say goodbye to our nights and weekends for the next month or so. Currently, Peoples Gas plus the Federal Government are offering rebates on this work. But, in the case of the gas company, it's offered until the money runs out... so, we're sort of in a bit of a hurry to get this done.

Also, the reason I'm typing this post at this ungodly early hour? Because I lost the bet and won the bad side of the bed last night...

Pain in the back

It's been one week since we've had our new bed from Costco, the Grande Elegance. Doesn't it sound just dreamy?

The bed comes in a box, and the instructions state it will take about 72 hours to fully decompress, but it also states you should be able to sleep on it the first night.

The first night, I had the worst night's sleep that I can remember. Although, I'm not sure I can really use the word sleep, more or less tossing and turning. My back hurt, but the worst was my arms and legs. It felt like I had slept on the floor all night. This bed is FIRM. Not exactly what I expected from this description:

"Your comfort begins with the breathable, top layer of one inch patented memory foam. The second layer of three inches of premium density memory foam along with the one-inch top layer, are supported by an engineered layer of patented high resilient poly spring foam. These three layers are then mounted on a seven-inch layer of polymer enriched base foam creating a sleep system second to none."

Finally, around 5:30am, I couldn't take it anymore. I got up, and paced the house. I checked more reviews on-line, but I couldn't find any bad reviews, only how this was such a wonderful bed, and blah blah blah.

Then I hear Michael get up. I was dying to hear what he thought. I walk in the room, and he proclaims "I love this bed! That was the best nights sleep I've had since I can remember!" He knew something was wrong since my jaw dropped and I was shooting daggers at him. So, we agree we'll wait the 72 hours for me to make up my mind.

After 7 full nights, the bed is still awful, and Michael loves it. What to do...? We decide to switch places last night.

Now, I admit, his side is a bit softer, but still, not very comfortable. He wakes up and said "There's something wrong with the bed. My arms and back hurt."

Now what? Well, he thinks it could be the box spring (I think it's the bed). So, couple things to try. Rotate the bed, and see if my side is still bad. Also, he wants to try putting plywood between the mattress and box spring.

I'm game for trying, but not sure how much more I can take. Maybe we got a defect?

What NOT to do to a Chicago Bungalow

Today, I bring everyone a new series titled "What not to do to a bungalow". Lately, we've been driving around, and just cringe when we see what could have been a beautiful house, but the owners have destroyed it by either adding what they think looks good (usually doesn't) or hiring people or doing work themselves that they clearly shouldn't be doing.

So, Part 1 of this series will start with our own Happy Bungalow. I'm not sure what the PO (previous owners) were thinking, but they sure have left us cussing them out.

Do not use a gray silicone-like material to patch tuckpointing. It looks like crap, and causes me to frown. Also, when painting outside, mask off area's to be painted and try to be careful. Little drips of white paint all over the red face brick doesn't look cool.



When you actually do the right thing and use mortar for patching the tuckpointing, USE THE SAME COLOR as the rest of the mortar! No, pink is not red.



When you have beautiful wood crown molding and beams in your bungalow, do NOT paint them.

Well folks, there is part 1 in our upcoming series.

Also, I must mention that last night, Sidney discovered fireflies. For awhile we were convinced Sid is not a cat, but last night proved us wrong. He went straight into hunt mode, and was running around the yard like crazy. Turns out, we have a cat!