On to Number 7

Every time I sit down to write one of these posts, "Oops I Did it Again" pops into my head.  Guess what??? We're buying another flip!  So for all of you who have been asking about the next and telling me how much you miss my flip Fridays, you've been heard- I'm buying a flip just for you!  I kid.  In reality, we've put in about a dozen rejected offers before we eventually got one accepted- and that's the way it is for most flips.  I keep my realtor/hubby busy like that.  This one is already fast moving- we saw it for the first time last weekend and we're hoping to close in the next 2 weeks or less.  

Let me tell you, the house itself is just OK to start with, but it screams LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION from the top of it's housey lungs.  Built in 1920, it has zero character, but that also means that it's a blank slate.  This '20s ranch-like bungalow boasts a different floorplan than the mid-century ranches I've done (like Dori, Grover, Frankie, & Clark which ALL had a version of the same basic floor plan... which is very similar to the ranch I grew up in....), which allows for some different possibilities and I plan on taking advantage of every single possibility I can squeeze into the budget!  From the front, it looks like the tiniest house ever, but BABY GOT BACK!

Complete with a wood on wood on wood kitchen:

And a basement bowling alley.... I mean 'finished' space:

I already have big plans for this house including a portico at the front door, taking down a wall, shifting a few others to reclaim some space, a couple new windows, an added powder room, and LOTS AND LOTS of drywall.

Just like the last house when we were about to buy, I'm not settled on a name yet, so I'm hoping you'll help!

There are 3 ideas floating around:

• "Lake" after Lakeview Rd
• Nessie- as in lock ness, since it's near a lake
• Dudley because that's the nearby lake
• OR something else entirely.  What do you think??

I know it's not an antique, character-filled home like I would prefer to rehab 100% of the time, but I think this house has tons of potential and needs a facelift!  Instead of rehabbing original character, I'll have to get creative and put character into this home.  Should be a fun project!

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The Taming of the Yard

This post is sponsored by Toro, but all content and opinions are solely my own.  

My yard is approximately the size of a postage stamp.  A 3,000sf postage stamp.  That includes the house, shed, driveway, brick patio, 1 tree, 170sf of grass, and gardens around every corner- literally.  It's my little garden oasis.  At the beginning of every summer, it's a process to get it season-ready, though.  Between cleaning up leaves, weeding, trimming the bushes. and spreading what seems like a million bags of mulch (ok closer to 30), I always spend more of my free time doing yard work in June than I ever anticipate.  Luckily once the bulk of work is done, the daily and weekly maintenance is a breeze for the rest of the summer and we get to sit back, relax, and enjoy our little yard.

Prior to it's yearly taming each spring, the yard starts getting a little wild and with it's minuscule size, a little wild feels a lot wild.

In my minuscule yard, we also have a minuscule shed that needs to hold a snow blower, manual lawn mower, all of my shovels, rakes, and outside tools, and now a stroller.  For me, not only is having the right tool to get the job done important, but the more compact the better...... cordless is a plus, multipurpose tools is a huge plus, easy to store is a massive plus.  To help with this year's taming of the yard, Toro kindly sent me a couple Toro PowerPlex™ 40V Max* Lithium Ion Products to try.

I first set out on the front yard with the Toro PowerPlex™ 13 inch string trimmer/edger on the front yard.  All 170sf of it.  We use a manual mower that came with the house, but with each mow, we use a trimmer to get all the edges and anything the push mower missed.  And the morning glories.  I have a love/hate relationship with morning glories.  Every year, by the end of summer, the metal fence is covered with beautiful morning glories (yay!) but they grow like weeds and will try to take over my lawn, garden, and anywhere possible (boo!)- string trimmer to the rescue!

This handy little trimmer has an extra long battery life (up to 45 min!) which was an issue we had with our previous trimmer.  It can also easily rotate to be used as an edger with a guide and wheel.  Multi-purpose tool?  Sold!

String trimmers/edgers are nice and handy, but what I was more excited to use was the Toro PowerPlex™ 24 inch hedge trimmer.  This was my old hedge trimmer.....

They work great for small tasks, but trimming larger bushes... say a 12+ foot tall burning bush... is pretty much impossible with it.  Toro PowerPlex™ 24 inch hedge trimmer to the rescue!  Please excuse the stank-face...I was glaring at the sun, not the trimmer.

I'm loving that it's cordless.  In years past I've tried borrowing my dad's corded trimmer for the task, and this trimmer is so much easier to navigate than a corded one that you're constantly afraid of cutting the cord.  It also feels so much safer since you need to have both hands on the trimmer or it will automatically turn off.

When at long last (or so it seems) the yard is finally tamed for the season, I get to take a deep breath, pull out my folding hammock, and enjoy the space all summer with minimal maintenance.

Thanks Toro PowerPlex™ 40V Max* Lithium Ion Products for helping me get my yard summer-ready!

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Copper Dot Baby

Somehow I blinked and I already have a 6 week old baby!  It was a race to the finish line in April with Shorty, and we've been trying to find our new 'normal' ever since.  Part of that is figuring out where blogging fits in- rest assured that it WILL, it just may be a little sporadic until we figure things out a bit more.  BUT I had promised you a post about Copper Dot Baby and here we are weeks later!  Where has the time gone?! Introducing Miles George Goodman!

Born 3 weeks early (and was already 7 lbs!!), proving to us that we are no longer in control.

The night before he was born was definitely an interesting one.  We had been joking that the 31st would be the MOST inconvenient day for him to be born because we had so much scheduled at the flip.  We had all our contractors at the house and had movers scheduled to move in the staging furniture.  The little guy heard us and laughed in our faces apparently.  It really came as a surprise to me- after working on the flip and design work all day, I had a phone call with a client, picked up fire place doors for Shorty off of Facebook Marketplace, and grabbed Chinese food for dinner... THEN mild contractions started while I ate and our plans started to change.  I was in the hospital the next morning texting contractors and rescheduling movers all before Miles joined us mid-afternoon.

He's such a good baby so far.  Not sleeping through the night, but still pretty good natured, not too fussy (unless he's hungry or gassy), and rather chill most of the time.  With the craziness of trying to finish the flip and Miles coming early, his nursery is still in progress.  The pieces are starting to fall into place though.  Handy Dad is going to help me build him a bookcase this summer and aside from that, all that's left is decorative elements.  But enough about design... this post isn't about that.  It's about Miles.  The little guy who has already turned our world upside down.  I can't wait to watch him grow!!!