Saturday, May 8, 2010

It's Spring...time for home improvement projects!

My husband has been doing some major home improvement projects lately. First, he tiled the mud/laundry room. Then he did all the spring clean-up in the yard - creating a new flower bed in the back, trimming the bushes and trees, adding dirt and mulch, etc.

His next project is to redo the master bathroom with marble tile. He'll be starting with the area around the bathtub. Here are some before pictures (well, after deconstruction, before refinishing):






When the bathroom is complete, it will be quite beautiful. In the meantime, my husband has lots of work to do. My contribution will be...staying out of his way.

In the middle of these projects, nature and the weather gave us another project to complete. Five years ago, we bought a mini rose to put at the corner of the house. It had these fabulous clusters of pink roses, and stood less than a foot tall. My mom called it a Seven Sisters Rose. At the end of the first season, there was one odd branch that had grown out of the base. We left it. The next year we had a few more of the odd branches. By the next year, the odd branches had completely overtaken the mini rose and killed it off, and we had to build an arbor to hold up the odd branches. This year, the weight of the monster rose bush combined with the wind ripped the arbor completely apart. We had to rebuild the arbor (using screws instead of nails, and sinking the supports a foot into the ground).

I think the rose will take down the house next. Therefore, I nominate this monster rose bush to win Aunt Becky's Nobel Prize for Awesomeness. I think she was thinking that people would win that prize, but a rose that is attempting to take over the earth ought to qualify!




At least it's a very pretty monster...

20 comments:

  1. I second your nomination. The bathroom is going to be awesome, can't wait to see it. xoxo

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  2. It is a pretty monster...and wow...bathroom projects. Yikes. Those kind of projects are worth it in the end, but are a monster all their own.

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  3. I love watching home improvement projects unfold. Good luck! We have a few we need to tend to before we can get out of this house but Macho and I do NOT work well together and we need to do it as a team. *sigh*

    Loving the rose bush's quest for world domination. At least we'll smell good. : )

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  4. Ah, husbands and home improvement.

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  5. Plants are people too...or something like that.

    I am very impressed with the home improvements and having your husband do them himself. I have high aspirations, but I fail in terms of having the practical knowledge.

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  6. Oooh, good husband. And good rosebush - if a little over-keen.

    Nice garden too. (I can't believe we have houses and gardens. So grown-up.)

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  7. I would like to third that nomination! Better keep an eye on any small animals that get to close to that thing. It is pretty though.

    Best of luck with the home reno's. Those can take a lot out of a person, but so worth it in the end. Looking forward to pictures of the completion.

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  8. That is an incredible rose bush, yes, you have to prune those suckers or they take over the house for sure.
    Love the tub next to the window, Best Wishes w/your reno!

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  9. That rose bush, though annoying for you, is beautiful. I'm sure you'll get it under control.

    I agree with Martha about the tub next to the window. Pretty! I am sooo envious that your husband can do that kind of work. I'm sure you enjoy it.
    Tiling is just not easy for most of us.

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  10. That's quite a rose plant!

    My mom had one that was *almost* as big. She cut it down at ground level and it came back the next year, looking much less unruly. :)

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  11. Can't wait to see the after pics. I'm sure it'll be absolutely gorgeous.

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  12. That is awesome- also I have some odd jobs around my house that need doing- and my husband is a crappy handyman- could I borrow yours?

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  13. Good luck with the home reno project! It sucks while doing it, but ahhh feels good afterwards!

    Sunshine

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  14. Send that man my way. We need a new patio poured.

    But keep that rosebush in your state. If you can.

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  15. We had a rosebush like that. Every few years, my step-Dad would go out with a chainsaw and attempt to beat it into submission. 18 months later, the damn thing would be tall enough to drop rose-petals onto the car roof again.

    Good luck with all the DIY. I am very impressed.

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  16. Love watching husbands work! Ooh, squeaky clean new bathrooms are the best!

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  17. That rose TOTALLY wins the Nobel Prize of Awesomeness!

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  19. Looks like quite the project! Good luck :)

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  20. We had our bathroom done a few years ago, and it was the best huge chunk of money I've ever spent! But to have a husband with the skills to do it himself must be marvelous. You should post progress photos. I took photos every day when our bathroom was being done (however I am a bit sad like that!).

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