Surprises in my yard

I did some yardwork in the backyard today (as usual on Sundays), and came across some accidental happy things:

1. The "weed" in my deck pit. I had noticed this "weed" growing about a month ago. It grew very quickly and kept getting taller and taller! I was kind of amused by it, and decided to let it go to see how big it would get. A few days ago I noticed some buds on the top of it. Well lo and behold, it's a sunflower! Like an eight foot tall sunflower plant! Just poking up out of my deck pit. One sunflower is already blooming and there's about four more buds on it.

2. Next to the sunflower, I noticed some type of petunia looking flower. Now, to my understanding, petunias are annuals, right? And I certainly didn't plant this there. There are about three purple petunia-looking flowers.

3. Last summer I had about three big containers in my "courtyard" area (at the foot of the deck) that I grew herbs in: basil, catnip, and sage. When the ice storm hit last December, huge tree limbs fell on all of the containers and busted them, and knocked what was left of the dead plants out. Earlier this spring, I cleaned them up and salvaged the containers as best I could. Apparently the herbs re-seeded themselves in the ground where the containers fell in December... Because I have a ton of baby basil plants, a flowering sage bush, and several catnip plants growing in the ground *next* to the containers!

Just goes to show, I guess, that good, beautiful things come from accidents. I assume the flowers are growing in the deck pit because the previous owners had those things planted there before they built the deck... And now that the deck is gone, and light is shining on that area again, the flowers have returned! How beautiful is that? That deck was there for three years. These plants were dormant for three years, then just sprung up as soon as sun hit that soil again.

Kinda gives you hope... That if an eight foot tall sunflower plant can spring up after living under darkness for three years, then all kinds of things in life are possible.

As kind of promised...

So, I haven't had time to clean my house enough to post pictures of it here. But, I have been working on the yard, and I think it's gorgeous right now! All I've really done so far is weed, and put mulch down in places where I didn't last year (already used ten bags).

It really makes me happy to see things doing this well in my yard. Last year was pretty rough. A month of torrential rain, three weeks of standing water, the deck collapse, and then the ice storm. I let the garden get out of control last year, and spent most of my time just trying to catch up. When all the lemon basil came up, I didn't know what to do. When all the rudebeckias came up, I didn't know what to do. When all the zinnias came up, I *really* didn't know what to do. This year, I know that's all coming, and about when! So I can be prepared! Things will be a lot better this year. Really, this does wonders for my mood and outlook on life and being a homeowner.

This week marks the one year anniversary of closing on my house.

So here's a bunch of pictures of my backyard!

I chopped this garden in half this year. Previously, it ran all the way down my fence. But there was nothing growing down there. And it floods. None of the things pictured here bloomed last year, as best I can remember.

This is a yellow "Lady Banks Rose" vine. I think last year, the previous owners must have planted some clippings from my neighbors.

So pretty! I love them.

Also, there's this thing. I think it's a trumpet vine! It's sticky.

My Japanese Maple tree, which has grown *a lot* since last year.

Blooming irises!

My clematis vines are already blooming, and they look a lot bushier and healthier than last year.

I have no idea what this is, but it's cute!

In a few days, those clusters will open up into white flowers. It's a yarrow plant!

Last year, I pulled this up, because I thought it was weed. Then I saw a bunch of it growing plentifully at a local restaurant known for its gorgeous patio garden. Oops.

Here is a close-up of the flowers. I didn't edit this photo, that's the actual color! So vibrant.

My lilies, which are still growing, and will soon bloom in red, white, and purple. They multiplied like crazy over the winter! Last year, there weren't even half this many. These are asiatic lilies, and I have trumpet lilies on the other side of the garden.

Poor tree. This is the damage from the ice storm. I think this is the oldest tree on my property, and he fared the worst during the storm.

Looking out from the deck. I'm giving up on weeding that "courtyard" area, as I call it. I need to plant some ground cover there.

Yes, the deck pit is still there. Oh well.

The clumps of green leafy things are my coneflowers and rudebeckias. They'll start to bloom in May, and last through July or so. They've still got a lot of growing to do. Last year, some of the coneflower plants came up past my waist.

The taxman!

Being a homeowner is stressful!! It's that time of year, when the county tax assessor updates their records. I got a notice that the "taxable value" of my home had increased by some $20,000! I wasn't aware that I had sunk $20,000 into home renovations lately. And that's because I didn't. What happened, seemingly overnight to raise the "taxable value" of my house by $20,000? IT SOLD. Yes, I bought it last year. Unfortunately that little transaction caught the attention of the tax assesssor, and they re-valued the property for the first time in ten years. Ouch.

I'm just holding my breath over how much this will raise my monthly payment. See, even when you don't have some predatory-lender-backed ARM, your monthly payment can still rise!

Boo.

A little bit of saving grace from this letter that informed me of the $20,000 valuation hike, though: I get an extension in filing for my homestead exemption. I goofed. I thought the deadline for applying was April 15, since that tends to be a widely popular tax deadline... No, apparently for county property taxes, the deadline is March 15. So I missed it. But I get a 20-day extension. That lowers the amount the county can tax by $1,000. So, kind of a big deal. But I can still file! Whew.

They're gone!

I do believe that at some point during this past weekend, my neighbors moved out! They left behind a recliner in the front yard, and a futon frame, "patio" table and chairs in the back yard! Oh, and the swan figurines are still on their front porch.

I'm wondering, should I freecycle these items for them? Maybe I'll wait a few days... But I really don't think they're coming back for any of it.

Here's hoping that even worse neighbors don't move in soon. And here's hoping that the slumlord who owns the place spiffs it up a little before new renters do move in.


In other news, I am having some artwork commissioned for my living room! Yes, commissioned. I'll call it that. I'm expecting some Lichtenstein-inspired paintings on vinyl records. Pretty cool, huh? I can't wait to see them! My friend Paul is painting them, and you can see a test run of his interpretation of Lichtenstein here.

Oh and... All of the projects that I possibly had planned for this spring are hereby ON HOLD. The taxman raped me this year. Because I was stupid and filled out my W-4 for my second job incorrectly, so I guess in this instance I was asking for it. Those little economic stimulus checks we're all supposed to get will just barely cover what I owe the feds, and the two states of which I was a resident in 2007. Live and learn, I suppose. In the meantime I'm just going to save my money, and maybe this summer I can do it up big with an even nicer dishwasher, screen door (or two), and new deck. Sometimes I feel like an ant climbing a mountain, living in this house. It's very hard for a goal-oriented person such as myself, to have to keep postponing these things due to issues like taxes, unexpected ice storms, etc.

And yeah, it would still be nice to have a house husband. Even if he only just stuck around long enough to clean my gutters. (....No pun intended? I think?)

Stupid ice storm.

I haven't had power at my house since Sunday night at 11:00 PM. I've lost one whole tree in my backyard, and most of the other two. The front yard isn't so bad. So far no structural damage to the house, as far as I can tell. There was no freezing rain today, but it rained all day long. So not only is my backyard full of tree limbs and parts, it's also flooded. I've been staying at my parents' house, because they have power.

If I think too much about the clean-up that awaits me, I feel paralyzed. So I'm trying not to do that. I'll do what I can, when I can. The house will eventually warm back up (it's hovering around 40 degrees right now). New food will fill the fridge. Everything will be okay.

This town looks like a warzone, though. Last I checked, still over 24,000 without power. And I'm one of them.



This has been a very trying first year as a home-owner.

Potential craigslist score.

Look what I found!

http://oklahomacity.craigslist.org/fur/445907495.html

Stuff like this is SO hard to find in central Oklahoma. I am so excited about the possibility of owning this. The water stains the lister mentions in the ad might be a concern, but for that price for both pieces, I would be willing to refinish them. Especially since a darker color wood would look better in my dining room, anyways.

But wow.

One time I went to an estate sale here in town, and they had a complete set of mid-century modern dining furniture. The table, buffet, hutch, chairs, all in perfect, pristine condition. And they wanted something like $800 for the set. Too rich for my blood. I'd mostly given up on the idea of having this type of furniture in the dining room, and was going to probably settle for an IKEA tulip table knock-off or something. I hate my current dining room table. It's that standard blond wood and white legs country style thing you can get at any furniture store for $100, with the four chairs. It's a leftover from college days, and was given to me for FREE by a friend when I moved into my first apartment on my own. I've only kept it thus far out of necessity.

But if I can get two pieces for that price... I think I should, don't you? Both pieces look like they have good bones, just maybe some cosmetic issues. And I'm no stranger to refinishing furniture. I would have to find some type of chairs to go with it, but that wouldn't be urgent.

I hope the lister responds to my email!! Wish me luck on scoring this awesome find.

House drama

1. A huge tree limb fell off one of my trees in the front yard this morning, for no good reason. There was no storm. No rain. No wind. It just fell. My dad came over to help me chop it up into tiny pieces. I guess it was just dead. There were huge ants and crickets and weird millipede things in it. It was gross.

2. Discovered this morning that the french door in my living room has ceased functioning. Needs a new lock. Needs sanded. Spent $40 this afternoon at Home Depot on another freakin' lock.

3. My dad, who works in the construction industry, can get all the lumber I would need AND lumber decking boards for my deck for only $300. Worth it? I'd have to do all the labor myself, well, with my dad and whoever he and I could find to help. Right now, I'm leaning towards doing this. Originally I thought I wanted to redesign the entire area and do something different. But, I am not a rich woman and this won't be financially feasible for probably a couple of years. My dad insists that the lumber used by She Who Shall Not Be Named was UNTREATED, even though she told me it was treated. Obviously she is also a Big Fat Liar. He thinks that with good grade, treated lumber I would get another ten to fifteen years on the deck- but would have to keep up with the maintenance, with washing, sealing, etc. So, $300 to buy me some time until I decide what I really want to do? $300 to make my back door usable (as long as it opens and locks) again and to not have a huge hole in backyard? I'm starting to think it's worth it.

Accomplishment!

Guess who has a fully functioning, fixed front door lock?? That would be ME. Guess who did it completely by herself?? That would be ME! I'm pretty proud of myself.

And just like everything else in this house, I discovered what had gone wrong while I was fixing it. The reason my front door lock was all gunked up and stuck half the time?? The damn hole where the deadbolt went was completely filled up with WOOD PUTTY. And was gunking up the parts of the lock that needed to move in order to, you know, operate. The hole was filled with wood putty because for some reason, even though the door holes were drilled correctly for the locks, the surface of the door was chiseled off in a wider circumference- so they had moved the deadbolt casing around to cover that up, and had to fill the hole with wood putty to get it to stay in place! Oh my goodness. She Who Shall Not Be Named was truly a moron.

Anyways, the whole thing is fixed now and everything fit on correctly. I even have four keys now to my front door! Previously, I only had one that worked all the time, and another that worked half the time.

I'm pleased with myself!

Attn: robbers, murderers, and rapists!

I discovered tonight that my front door has not been locking AT ALL. My deadbolt was already out of commission, because the bolt wasn't lining up with the hole. So I had just been using the door handle lock. And I thought I was locking my door. As in, you couldn't get in from the outside. When it was "locked."

Apparently all this time a simple shove would've opened the door, even with the door handle locked from the inside. At least a rapist didn't teach me this lesson, right?? I guess that's a positive way to look at it.

Oh, how I love the previous owner of my house. She Who Shall Not Be Named did so many FABULOUS things to my house. Tonight I discovered another one. See, the problem with the door was that both of the strike plates were not aligned properly with the locks on the door, and sticking too far out, not leaving enough space for the locks to "catch" inside the door frame. I saw this and thought to myself, "Self, this could be a simple fix. I just need new strike plates, or at least ones that are installed correctly." So I took them off. And oh lordy me.

I think the door frame is the original door frame to the house, and I think it was retro-fitted for this particular door and these particular locks. And I think She Who Shall Not Be Named had her genius brother or father do this (for further examples of her brother's genius, see: deck collapse). There are giant holes chiseled in the door frame to allow for the locks. So big, that a normal size strike plate cannot be properly screwed in place. At least, not that I can discern.

The temporary good news is that with both of the strike plates removed, BOTH locks work properly! Tonight my deadbolt is locked for the first time in months. But, the locks are sitting in an old wooden frame, which I know is not safe. Someone could kick it in pretty easily. But, at least the door is actually locked now.

And also lucky for me, I purchased an entirely new lock set at Home Depot last week. So I just have to figure out how to install it. Or have my dude friends help me figure out how to install it. :) Looks like I have a weekend project. And I need to tackle my kitchen door too, because the deadbolt there doesn't work anymore, either. Oh, the joys of owning a 57 year old house.