Correction

Last night the Hubs read the linen closet post.

He reminded me I didn’t explain all the upgrades we (he) did.

So I’m gonna share the rest.

I think I forgot to post a pic of the less-than-ideal footprint of this closet:

They did it like this to add space to the hallway, but it makes for a weird closet. Although if you look up the word closet in the dictionary, it probably says, “space to make homeowner think they can store stuff, but really just odd places within a home the builder didn’t know how else to use.”

Anyway

After the painting, and before the shelves, the Hubs wired up some joy in the linen closet for me. Originally we were going to use a string of Christmas lights, but he decided the rope lights would work better.

That’s a nice digger on the trim, huh? I can’t even imagine how that might have happened. If I were more conscientious, I would have sanded all the flaws out before painting the trim. On the other hand, it’s trim, it’s lucky it got painted at all!

It took a while to find lights that were warm and not daylight colored. Then the Hubs had to tap into an outlet on the outside of the closet to add an outlet to the inside. In order not to have a traditional switch, he found one of these:

When the door opens, it’s on, when closed it’s off. Nothing to do on my part, which is great if I have an armload of linens.

There was some back and forth about tearing up the walls and wire fishing, but in the end we decided to surface mount all of the wire so if we leave we can take it out and no one will ever know (except you) that there was once light in this closet!

It was a lot easier, and I didn’t have to do a lot of drywall fixes.

Win-win

As you can see, there’s still a lot of space I have not yet filled. I always like when that happens. But it never lasts.

Mayhem is pretty obsessed with this closet. He always has been because the door is rarely open (mostly because it blocks access to the office). This is next level interest. It’s like he can hear me getting ready to open it because he comes from noplace and scoots in. I should just leave the door cracked for a few hours so he can get it out of his system.

Today I saw an article about unclaimed funds. So I went to the website and searched for some. I did get a hit on a utility refund from when we lived in Richmond, that’s nice. I’m pretty good about cleaning up after myself, but you just never know when you’re gonna get a surprise.

I searched the Kraken and found a few things, then I searched some other names. I found some stuff from my stepmother, my sister, and some friends. I sent notes off to them hoping they won’t think it’s a scam so they can claim what technically belongs to them. Afterall, if you have stuff out there and don’t claim it, eventually the Fed will absorb it.

I hope you find treasure!

Yellow

Fair warning, this is a very bright post.

As you may know, we took on the linen closet this month. A lot of stuff got in the way, and it took way longer than it should have. I was not in any hurry, it was not a big deal.

We took a few days cutting and painting the shelves and supports. The wood was not as straight as we would have liked, but what can you do? We live in a subpar society now.

Out in the garage, the color looks mellow.

In situ, the color is very much not mellow:

This is all carefully curated to suit my needs perfectly. I was concerned it still would not be enough space.

Today I filled it. I was pleasantly surprised at how much space one added shelf gives me.

Granted, right this minute everything is folded neatly and stacked according to use. I’m pretty sure it will not stay that way. I did cull some towels, and corral some loose items in bins. I went around the house looking for other stuff to put in here. You can’t see the top shelf, but there’s big long term storage bags up there. To the right stacked neatly are sheets and bath towels for guests. I moved my towels and bathmats from a dresser into the closet where they belong.

I have at least a shelf and 2 drawers empty now. I’ll do some rejiggering to fill the space at some point. Which reminds me, the basket on the left seems to have repurposed itself. I’ll have to find that. I suspect Mayhem has been using it for a bed! 

I’ll have the Hubs put up a couple of hooks for extension cords. You ever notice when you don’t need one they are everywhere, but when you need one they are never around? I’m also considering relocating a few things from the laundry room into the linen closet. There’s something so satisfying about closing a door.

And with that, the inside of this sad house is transformed!

In other yellow news, I painted up some blocks around the rain barrels this week. The platform is finally all painted, and now the pavers are pretty, too:

I think we’re gonna embrace the cacophony of color back here. That blue bin on the right is holding some compost I had to get out of the rolly bin. At some point soon that bin will hold a couple of tomato plants. I hope it’s heavy and study enough that it won’t get blown over!

Dominique said it’s nearly time to plant, so that’s happening. Potatoes should be planted soon, but I think everything else needs a few more weeks. I’ll pick up a few more bins to house peppers, potatoes, garlic, and some herbs.

Cats

Work continues on the linen closet. Monday I got the first coat on and then spent the rest of the afternoon beating myself up for not starting the shelves and supports.

First coat:

I’m still annoyed that Behr has somehow changed the paint formula and it is no longer a 1-coat wonder.

Tuesday I got right on painting. I put on the second coat, set up all the shelves and supports in the garage and got some paint on them.

The challenge is working around the Buggy. It’s an accident waiting to happen for sure, but I’m a fate tempter at heart.

We had an appointment in the afternoon, but when we returned, I put a second coat on all the shelves and supports. Since we are using actual wood for the shelves, it’s going to take one or two more coats to get the coverage I want.

I’m working at the thrift store this AM, but when I get home I’ll flip everyone over and start fresh. I’m hoping to get 2 coats on the other sides by tonight. At this rate, and if the weather holds in the 60s, I should have this all done by Friday.

Monday night I went into the office and found this:

I know, completely adorable, right?

Upon closer inspection, you see Havoc with her long suffering expression:

Those are Mayhems legs in the air.

It’s hard to tell who is who:

What is actually happening is Mayhem not-so-subtly pushing Havoc out of the bed. She was probably there first, and he came in behind her and eventually edged her out.

He can be such a jerk.

Cold

I know, boo-hoo, it’s chilly in FL. In my defense, it has been cold here. Not freeze-your-nuts-off cold, but enough to break out the flannel.

I know, it’s been cold all over the place, and I’ve heard -30 being thrown around. Now that’s actually cold. And at my advanced age, you will not catch me anywhere near that! There’s been snow, there’s been ice, and I’m pretty thankful we’re not dealing with that here.

What has happened is plants dying. We covered the lemon tree the first below freezing night. In the morning I went to check on it, and found the tarp had blown off. Well, not much I can do for it now.

This is after the 3rd night in the cold.

It will either survive or it won’t.

This one had a blanket and a barrel over it:

I don’t know what to think here. The harder we tried to protect them, the worse they look. It’s supposed to rain and be pretty warm all week, so we’ll see what happens.

We’ve decided to go ahead with the fence project. It was supposed to begin this coming Friday, but there is rain in the forecast all weekend, so they postponed. Not sure when the next start date is.

Here is a last look at it:

This will be gone, and the new fence will match the height of the next door fence.

We’re also taking out the bamboo:

I’ll be surprised if even half of it is actually bamboo at all. There are so many other plants mixed in this monster. It’ll be weird to have it gone. I sure hope something like grass grows in its place.

They will just cut it, so over the course of the spring I’ll be trying to tackle the root system. I have no idea what to expect, but I suspect it’s going to be more than I care to take on.

I have not really worked on the linen closet this week, but the Hubs completed the electrical part yesterday so now I have no excuse. Today I finished the mudding and sanding.

I already painted the baseboards, so the next part is painting. I have the walls, the supports, and the shelves to do. The weather has not been cooperating, so I have been using that as an excuse not to start. I will probably get a coat on the walls tomorrow AM and see how I feel about that. Maybe work on the shelves in the garage in the afternoon.

Here is the footprint of the space:

We’re doing 12″ deep shelves, which leaves about the same amount in front of them. It’s not ideal, but the diagonal wall is making everything harder. If I can get some tall items in here, that will go a long way to organizing stuff.

Either way, this week the last of the ugly beige will be banished from this place for good. No more sticky, no more gross, no more beige.

In other news…

The Kraken is in the process of buying a house! I’ve been bursting with the news, but didn’t want to steal her big announcement! 

How stinkin’ adorable is this place?? I totally have porch envy. I am currently trying to get her to think about painting the door something bold.

She’s so excited in that constantly wanting to throw up way. It’s good to see her doing this in her own way with no parental interference. Well, except about the front door.

Winter

Yikes, it’s been 10 days since my last post. I might need an intervention.

This morning the home inspector guy came to do the inspections we need to get insurance. We have had Farmers the last 2 years, but like all good, reliable insurance companies, Farmers is leaving FL. So we’ve been calling and getting estimates and trying to figure out what to do for next year. I think we know, but I needed $175 worth of inspections to lower my rate, probably by $200.

Nice racket, right?!

After that, the fence people came. We told them what we wanted and they measured the area. They didn’t say it, but I am pretty sure they were making plans to send one of their kids to an ivy league school on what this is going to cost us. I budgeted a generous $5k for this, but the Hubs thinks it’ll be triple that. After they left, I put it out of my mind because I don’t live in a world where a damned fence costs $15k.

Panic in the streets has alerted us to the fact we might be having winter next week. And when I say “winter” I don’t mean it like you think. For 4 nights, not in a row, the temp is supposed to dip into the 20s. I know, the horror, right? Bust out the puffy coats! I’m not kidding here, people are freaking out like it’s a thing that’s never happened. Except it did, last year about this time.

Since we were already outside, we decided to take some action. We emptied the rain barrels and put them to bed:

We brought one of them into the shed because it’s already compromised. The other 2 will tough it out. Probably by mid-March we’ll set them back up again – after all danger of a rogue winter night has passed.

While they are out of service I will take the opportunity to paint those last 4 pavers, and touch up any of the other platforms that need it.

We made plans to cover and protect a few of the more delicate plants. Since we really don’t understand whatall is involved in this operation, it’s a crap shoot. But really, if I have to baby a tree, it really doesn’t belong here, does it?

I met a lady recently who loves gardening. She offered me a bunch of plants, cuttings, and starts. I’m actually kind of excited, because she’s got some natives I quite like and some really cool plants. I’m both dreading and hoping she’ll come over some day. After she tsks tsks my lame gardens, I hope she decides she needs to help me make a beautiful yard.

This afternoon we began work on the linen closet. This is what we have been using for the last 2 years:

It’s a generous size, but it goes around a corner with a diagonal wall, and only has 4 shelves. We are going to attempt to add a shelf, somehow use the diagonal wall, and get some light inside here. 

I’m hoping to get more linen closet stuff in here as well. Right now it’s scattered around the house wherever it will fit. Part of the reason I don’t stuff items in here is it’s gross. The shelves are sticky (I have paper and cardboard covering them), and the walls are the same old gross all the walls in this house were.

The shelves and brackets are in the garage waiting for the metal man, and the walls are waiting for mud. We marked out where we want the shelves and then double checked that like the rest of the house, there are hardly any studs. So that’s awesome.

The Hubs will make a shopping list tomorrow and we’ll attempt to move forward. He has a little (or a lot of) electrical work to do, and then I’ll do the repairs needed. When that’s complete, I’ll mix up some cheery yellow paints and get the gross covered.

This is the last major inside project for this house.