Dream Home

Where is winter?

2012-01-28T19:08:00.000-08:00

Where is winter? We have been spoiled this year. When it comes, we are going to cry though.

Happy New years!!

2012-01-02T14:55:00.000-08:00

It's time to set goals in your life. Whether physical, spiritual, financial, social, or career. Think big and set high attainable goals for your self. I like the quote from Charles C. Noble, "You must have long-range goals to keep you from being frustrated by short-range failures."

Remember: "If you you aim at nothing, you will hit it."
Aim high. Set some goals for you life.

Our Country Tis of Thee, The Greatest Nation to Ever Be

2011-09-10T15:55:00.000-07:00

I wrote this as the day unfolded on September 11, 2001.

Our Country Tis of Thee

The Greatest Nation to Ever Be

With no warning of this raid.

Down goes two great towers of trade.

With smoke filling in the sky.

All people know to do is cry.

As planes are directed to land.

We ask, “Where is God’s hand?”

People are now really feeling the scare.

With planes unaccounted for in the air.

The fear of war,

Is from shore to shore.

As we watched with fright.

Now is the time to be humble and contrite.

Has our Christian ways been left in the past?

Is this why our flags are now at half mast?

We are the home of the brave,

But is it money or God we crave?

How our nation is in an uproar,

Is the problem we’re rotten to the core?

In schools we’ve taken prayer out,

Now in the halls drugs roam about.

Now our freedoms we have to fight in court,

Like the Ten Commandment plaques they want to abort.

What about the people on meth?

Or what about a doctor taking a baby’s last breathe?

Through this there is only one place to be,

With a broken spirit and down on one knee.

As our revenge will be quick and just,

We are now realizing only in God we can trust.

With our power we like to boast,

But we really need is the Lord of Host.

We know what the Bible has to say,

We need to humble ourselves and pray.

Cling close to God with all your might.

Then once again we’ll be a beacon of light.

God help us to seek your face,

And don’t hold back your amazing grace.

This country was built with you as the Corner Stone,

Help us to follow you alone.

As “Old Glory” flies high,

Remember the men and women who had to die.

To make this the land of the free,

There’s not another country in the world I’d rather be.

Our Country Tis of Thee,

The Greatest Nation to Ever Be.

Written By Brian Hill on 9/11/01

Photo found at: http://picsbox.biz/key/american%20flag%20pictures%20with%20boy on September 10, 2011

Pokeweed

2011-09-06T10:00:00.000-07:00

I actually just recently learned the name of the weed with the large leaves and purple-black berries that hang in a cluster. This perennial is known as pokeweed. It is a temptation to kids with the pretty berries, but the plant is poisonous.

Sunflower

2011-08-14T09:00:00.000-07:00

This randomly started growing by my back door. It started to bloom out the other day. I was waiting to get a better picture when it was fully bloomed, but it was looking a little rough yesterday and today. So I thought I'd better get a picture while I still could. If it turns around, I'll get a better picture later when it is fully bloomed.

Stop a Leaky Toilet

2011-08-13T09:00:00.000-07:00

I know in my part of town, for what the water department charges for water, they must think there is gold in it. So you want to conserve water whenever possible. According to the EPA, "Ten percent of homes have leaks that waste 90 gallons or more per day." In one year, thousands of gallons of water could be wasted through one leaky toilet or faucet.

A simple do-it-yourself fix for a leaky toilet is installing a new fill valve and/or tank flapper. This is a very simple job to attack.

I purchased the fluidmaster brand fill valve and tank flapper replacement parts. The box says it can be done in fifteen minutes. I was lucky to have a newer flexible supply line, which makes removing and hooking up the water line very quick and simple, so I did it in half the time. Be prepared for the worse when attempting any plumbing project. I would go ahead and plan on purchasing a new flexible supply line to speed up the installation. The only tool I used to install this was my favorite pair of pliers (adjustable pliers, water pump pliers,...).

If I had to install a new supply line I would also would have needed a crescent wrench and/or a monkey wrench. (don't forget your Teflon tape to put on the threads of the shut off valve).

Shut off water. Flush toilet. Disconnect supply line. Remove and replace flapper and hook chain to tank level arm. Disconnect the refill tube. Loosen the nut on the bottom of the toilet for the fill valve. Have a bucket under the fill valve to catch the final bit of water. I like to have the new fill valve ready to install (don't forget the rubber washer), so only a little water dumps out (because the water never hits the bucket). Swap out fill valve. Install the new refill tube. Install the supply line. Pray that you did it right. Turn on water. Flush and check how it fills up and adjust if needed.
Good Luck!

Grasshoppers

2011-08-12T15:49:00.000-07:00

Because of the warm, dry fall; there are many grasshoppers this year. If you have a garden, you might have noticed these herbivores. I have had tons of them, but they haven't really bothered anything of value. They did clean out a big area of mint that I had, which I had mixed feelings about that, because the mint was out of control. There are pesticides you can use to detour them, but I went the green route and let my chickens and guinea hens after them.

Go get them girls!

Concord grapes

2011-08-08T20:28:00.000-07:00

Nothing taste better than a concord grape. I had planted a few plants last year and this year I got a few clusters grapes. Not enough to do anything with it. But every time I walk out to the garden, I grab a few to snack on.

Wasp

2011-07-29T20:45:00.000-07:00

I was doing some work on the roof of my chicken coop and I found out that there was a wasps' nest there. A swarm appeared around my head and actually started bouncing themselves off my head. I very slowly got down without getting hurt. I am very thankful, that would have probably hurt really bad to get stung in the face and head area.

Lawn Tips

2011-07-27T18:52:00.000-07:00

Actually some truth coming from the evening news. Don't get use to it.
http://www.kmbc.com/news/28681620/detail.html

Courtesy of channel 9 ABC.

Check your garden for pests

2011-07-27T08:16:00.000-07:00

Check your Garden for pests, so you get the fruits of your labor and not the bugs.

Dividing Iris'

2011-07-26T21:14:00.000-07:00

Found this video about dividing iris'. Now is the time.

Crunch

2011-07-25T19:59:00.001-07:00

The grass is starting to get a crunching sound when you walk on it. Not Good.

Ahhhhhh!

2011-07-24T13:18:00.000-07:00

I feel better just looking at this picture.

Water, water, water

2011-07-23T10:07:00.000-07:00

Think Big

2011-07-23T09:30:00.000-07:00

"As long as you are going to be thinking; Think big." Donald Trump

watching the birds

2011-03-26T11:37:00.000-07:00

Just seen four cardinals out in the lawn feeding while we are getting these snow showers.

Prairie Landscape

2011-01-03T18:24:00.000-08:00

We did this landscape late summer. In the back are the tall Spartan junipers. The tree is a river birch. There are many different styles of maiden grasses, lilies, and perennial flowers throughout. The rock is 2" Missouri river rock.

Beautiful Tree Bark

2011-01-01T17:26:00.000-08:00

We need some trees around here with bark like this. More pictures at NPR's web page
http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2010/10/25/130811023/bark

Cool Weather Pansies

2010-12-31T14:18:00.000-08:00

These are cool weather pansies. Plant these in the fall for beautiful fall color, then they will come back in the early spring.

Late Summer Landscape

2010-12-31T07:06:00.000-08:00

Here is a landscape that we did back in August. The crab apple tree was already there. This is a front of a restaurant. There are some maiden grasses and ink berry hollies in the back. To the left are some yellow mums (This will be for the annual flowers throughout the year) As a backdrop to the annuals are a couple Russian sage plants. To soften the sharp turn in the sidewalk, the barberry's were put on a curve and they will grow together to make a nice curved hedge. The barberry's has a river rock pea gravel and everything else is large rounded river rock.

Frosted White Pine

2010-12-30T21:04:00.000-08:00

The other day, we had a frosty foggy morning. Everything was beautiful. No picture would give it proper justice. Here is a 2 year old white pine with frost on it.

Poinsettias

2010-12-18T13:42:00.000-08:00

Add bright colors to the inside of your home this year by purchasing some poinsettias. Many different colors are available.

Divide Perennials

2010-10-27T21:46:00.001-07:00

If your perennials are overcrowded, fall is an ideal time to divide the root ball and replant. Cutting back the plants prior to transplanting can help reduce shock.

Crape Myrtle

2010-09-02T12:41:00.000-07:00

This crape myrtle is on the side of my house and keep it trimmed back to around 12' tall.

Okra

2010-09-02T04:36:00.000-07:00

Add vegetable plants among your flower garden for interest and personal consumption.

Whirling Butterfly

2010-09-01T12:33:00.000-07:00

Pink phlox

2010-09-01T04:30:00.000-07:00

Russian Sage

2010-08-31T18:30:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite perennials. Russian Sage. Add it anywhere in your landscape for contrasting color.

Weeping Hornbeam Tree

2010-08-22T13:00:00.000-07:00

Terracotta colored concrete curbing, missouri rainbow river rock, weeping hornbeam tree, and zebra grass, up against a lime stone wall.

Serenity

2010-08-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

Custom terra cota colored concrete curbing, missouri rainbow river rock, and a corner perennial garden. The man-made stepping stones are going nowhere, but it makes your eyes go to this garden area.

Lily

2010-08-21T12:00:00.000-07:00

Just a lily.

Over Grown Bushes

2010-08-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

Sidewalk? What sidewalk? Here are some negelected and over grown bushes that has grown over the sidewalk. These are infested with bag worms. Be sure to trim your bushes at least twice a year to avoid them from getting out of control. If they are out of control already, wait until late fall and prune them back to a controllable size. Be sure to occasionally look up close at your bushes to be sure that they are growing healthy. Losing a mature plant is costly to replace, plus it leaves a huge gap in your landscape to fill.

Canning

2010-08-20T21:42:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year for canning. Not that I personally do it (I just pay for it all and eat the treats), my wife loves to can.

Bush and shrubTrimming

2010-07-16T19:46:00.000-07:00

Advantages of Trimming Bushes and shrubs:

Removal of diseased branches
promotes healthier growth
gives desired shape
limits the size of the plants
optimizes flower production
it just makes your yard look better than your neighbors

Looking to expand into new neighborhoods.

New promotion: "YOU NAME THE PRICE"

check the web or call for details.

Change

2009-10-19T21:16:00.000-07:00

I prefer the hot summer weather, but I really love the changes that comes in the fall. The colors are just amazing that come out of dull, mundane plants and trees that we walk and drive past everyday without noticing.

Pictured here is a service berry bush. This last couple of weeks is actually the first time that I had been introduced to this unique bush. In the spring, there is eye-catching clusters of white blossoms. Purplish-black edible fruit comes in the summer and in the fall it changes colors. It's leaf slowly fades from green to yellow, to orange to red. It is my new favorite fall plant. I just purchased two bushes and I am thinking about getting a couple more.

Change can be good and sometimes it can be scary. As I look around and see the changes during fall and in the world politically, one thing that I do know is that God never changes.

In Malachi three, God says in verse six, "For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed." God had a plan for Israel, but Israel was not living how she should have. Since God is unchanging, He showed grace to them which guaranteed the preservation of Israel, though they did not deserve it and should have been destroyed.

This attribute of God is called "immutability". This means that God is unchangeable and unchanging. This attribute of God gives the believer comfort and assurance that God will keep his promises. In a world where people can let us down and not keep their promises, it is great to know that we have a heavenly Father that does not change.

2 Timothy 2:13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.

Moon Flower

2009-07-17T20:40:00.000-07:00

Here is a white moon flower. They are a fragrant evening blooming flower. In less than a minute, they open their bloom. The bloom lasts all night until the morning sun touches it. Then it closes back up until the next night. This was taken at 10:30 at night.

Hens and chicks

2009-05-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

Here are some "hens and chicks". I just recently found out that they store water in their succulent leaves. This year they have really grown. I thought that they were worthy of a picture.

Fairy Garden

2009-05-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

My daughter seen this done at a local nursery, so we thought that we would make one. The one that we seen had a little 'fairy' house with a clothes line and all. Ours isn't that fancy, but it was fun helping put it together. Any low growing plant will work. I know that the top right is an iris moss, but I did not pay any attention to what the others were that we picked. Some that was recommended was: iberius', speed well, herbs. Just thinking, If you wanted a small herb garden, this would be a cool way to get the fresh herbs. Peat moss was added on top of the dirt and a sand path was added. Also a store bought fairy was added with some rocks and stones. Later, we might do a fancier one with a house and more detail.

Red dianthasis

2009-05-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

Here are some red dianthasis'. Every chance that I get, I will insert these in a landscape project. This is a nice low growing spring to mid summer plant.

Yellow Iris

2009-05-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

I really like this one. I was in the process of transplanting several pots of these and they started blooming in the bucket. I didn't really expect them to bloom this year. Now, I can't decide where to put a row of them at. I peppered a few around my landscape to give me some color, until I get all of the other plants that I want installed. (That's a little maple tree in the back ground that also needs to be planted)

Pink Peonies

2009-05-16T07:00:00.000-07:00

Last year, I had a customer that had about 30' of peonies surrounding a deck. When I seen that, I had decided to get a lot of those for my own yard. Thankfully, the house that we just purchased had multiple peony plants. This is the first one to bloom. Right now the bush is glowing with multiple, huge pink flowers.

Purple Iris

2009-05-15T17:44:00.000-07:00

This is my first year to mess with iris'. I've really been enjoying them as they have been popping up all over the yard. I don't know the names of any of them, but this was the first one to bloom.

Think down the road

2009-05-01T17:30:00.000-07:00

When adding plants and trees to your landscape, be sure to see how big they are suppose to get when they are fully mature. It seems that when landscapes are put together, the landscaper tries to sell extra plants to fill it in. It looks great when he walks away, but usually the home owner has requested a "low maintenance" landscape. His theory is that he should not ever have to touch it. Then before he realizes it, the landscape is out of control. I am constantly hired to cut out bushes that have gotten way to big for the space that they were put in. The reason that I bring this up is because I noticed on one of my properties that I maintain, there was an identification tag on one of the trees that the last landscaper installed. To my surprise, it was a white oak tree that says it grows 50'-60' tall and to expect that for the width. I about fell over. I could not believe that someone would plant a tree like that in the spot that they did. That tree is going to be a constant maintenance for the owner to keep it at a descent height.

When planting that new bush or tree, be thinking about when it is fully mature. Is it going to grow into the power lines, crowd out another plant, or will it be hanging over the sidewalk. The house I just bought has a 5' deep landscape area up front. The bushes that were installed, filled the 5' area plus was hanging completely over the 3' sidewalk. You had to walk in the mud to get to the front door. I lived in the house right at a week before I cut down all of the bushes up front just so I could walk on the sidewalk.

Tips for your grass

2009-04-30T21:20:00.000-07:00

Work has been real busy so I haven't had much time for extra stuff (i. e. blogging). With all of the rain that we have been having, it has probably been hard to keep up on mowing your lawn (I know it has been tough for me to keep up). Here are some tips for a nice deep rooted lawn. Do not mow below 2 3/4" for Blue grass and 3" for Fescue. This will allow for deep roots that will help push out weeds. If your mower can handle it, you can even cut it higher. (I cut all of my accounts at least 4" high) Do not cut off more than one-third of the blade height. This causes extra stress to the grass. This means that you may have to mow every four days or so. Only cut your lawn with a sharp blade on your mower. A dull blade will tear and rip the grass instead of giving it a clean cut. Again this causes extra stress and could allow diseases to come in. As the summer comes upon us, make sure to water in the A.M. hours, so your grass has all day to evaporate the excess water off the blades. Watering late in the evening could allow diseases to come upon you grass. Use the proper amounts of fertilizer on your lawn. I had some one tell me that they put on a lot more than what the bag calls for because his lawn was in bad shape so it needed extra. To much fertilizer could easily burn your lawn. Spring is not the best time to plant seed, but if you have some bare spots you could seed it. I usually do a rye and fescue mix. The rye germinates usually 7-10 days, while the fescue is much more durable, but it takes around two weeks to germinate. For best results with your money, aerate and overseed your entire lawn with a fescue in the fall.

Roof top garden

2009-04-13T18:52:00.000-07:00

This is a job that I done last week. This is a roof top garden in the city. Minimal work was done now, but as the summer comes upon us, we are going to add a lot of plants that will water fall out of the boxes. Right now there are variegated liropes installed. The four bigger containers are sky pencil hollies with white pansies.

Beautiful view up here. The new Sprint center is seen from here. There is a wall behind the picket fence. The free standing fence was installed to hold the containers and to keep people from hanging over the edges.

160 one gallon liropes were planted.

Bedroom Add-on

2009-04-04T08:00:00.001-07:00

The customer here had a double car garage on a raised ranch and they needed a little more space, so we eliminated one of the garages by building this nice fourth bedroom.

Before and After Bath Remodel

2009-04-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

Here is a before and after of my last bath remodel. The pictures were taken with a camera phone, so they are not the greatest.

The tile was turned up on the wall as a trim and it also holds water in the bathroom (for those who are messy getting in and out of the shower). The walls were textured because they were in rough shape.

I really dislike shower doors. The ceramic tile was painted with a latex paint. Yeah it looked as good as that sounds.

Above the sink was a soffit that the lights set on. I removed it and installed a bar light on the wall.

It was a 5' single bowl sink. A dual bowl sink top replaced the single one. Nickle faucets, mirrors, and towel accessories were added for the final touch.

Two GFI's and a light/fan/heater combo was also installed.

Sky Pencil Holly

2009-04-02T21:39:00.000-07:00

Today we installed many plants in containers for a customer (213 to be exact). It poured today, but thankfully we were able to fill the containers in their basement. This one was my favorite. This is a three foot tall "sky pencil holly" with white pansies around it.

Walking path

2009-03-31T21:24:00.000-07:00

Here is a tiny landscape project that we did last fall. Those are man-made stepping stones laying around pea gravel which is held in by black jack edging. Nothing fancy, but it cleaned up an area that wouldn't grow grass.

Pansies

2009-03-24T11:28:00.000-07:00

I had a customer interested in having some spring color for a party coming up in a couple of weeks. There is not a ton of choices right now, since it is still early, but you can't go wrong with pansies.

Daffadils

2009-03-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

The bright yellow is exciting to see this time of year.

Unknown bush

2009-03-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

It is awesome to see dormant plants starting to come to life. This bush is at a home that we are trying to buy. The verdict is still out on this one. I am not sure what it is. Probably once it fully blooms, I will recognize it. The bush has a nice red glow to it at a distance. Right now, I am leaning towards calling it a "Minuet Weigela". I hope so because humming birds love them.

The buds are small red balls.

Forsythia Bush

2009-03-20T12:28:00.000-07:00

Forsythia bushes proudly announces that spring is here. This one needs trimmed back it is about 8'x8'.

Cut off a handful of stems and place them in a vase for some bright spring color in your house.

Spring cleanup

2009-03-19T17:26:00.000-07:00

Time to dig out your mower.
Spring is here!! Yeah!

It's time to clean up your lawn and landscape. Remove leaves that has blown up against the house and buried themselves under your bushes. When to many leaves are left in the lawn it could choke out your grass and become replaced with weeds. This makes your lawn and landscape look better, but it also removes the homes of unwanted pests. Trim back your fountain grasses to a few inches from the ground. Remove last years stems and withered leaves from your perennials if you haven't already. If you have any flowering bushes that are getting out of hand, trim them back right after they are done blooming, so it will have a full year to recover and it won't interfere with any upcoming blooms. Cut your grass shorter on the first mow. This encourages a faster green up. After the first mow, when you cut your grass raise your mower deck as high as it will let you (At least 3"). This encourages deeper roots that is more likely to have a fighting chance up against weeds.

Chickens in the House

2009-02-23T07:30:00.000-08:00

On top of our kitchen cabinets are these stuffed chickens. The box is an old egg crate. There are two wire egg baskets and an old 6 pack egg carton.

Fat Robin

2009-02-22T07:30:00.000-08:00

Just seen this fat robin and I thought that I would share it with you. Hopefully spring is real close. To find out, she did not want her picture taken.

"What are you looking at?"

Coffee Grinder

2009-02-21T07:30:00.000-08:00

Here is a old butter churner that is in real good shape. I went back to a garage sale to buy one that was a replica, but it had already sold. The lady said she had an original one inside. It was a real good price so I bought it.

I usually do not spend much on antiques, but these two items, I spent more. Here is an unique coffee grinder with a mason jar looking top on it. I was doing some work on a house in the inner city and had to clean out a closet to get to the back of the bathtub. When I dug the stuff out, this was laying back in the corner. Obviously, not wanted and forgotten. So I asked it she was interested in selling it. She then went on saying how she liked it, how old it was, and that it was probably worth a lot at an antiques store. She was wanting me to throw a price out, but I waited on her. She quoted $20. I looked in my wallet and only had $17. She took it pretty quick. I did not have my poker face on when I asked if she wanted to sell it. She could tell that I wanted it.

Purple Winter Creeper Euonymus

2009-02-20T16:54:00.000-08:00

Since I have started blogging, I have realized that I am terrible about taking pictures. I have done countless jobs in the past, but I have no photos of most of it. I need spring to come quick, because my picture supply is getting real low.

Here is a tree ring that fades in to the grade right behind a composite deck. It has black jack edging, muscatine brown rock, and purple winter creeper euonymus. Euonymus is very invasive and turns red/purple in the fall and winter. By the next season the euonymus had totally filled in that area. Some big rocks were added to give it some height. Also the solar lights were added. It gives it a soft glow at night. The white trellis was there for a clematis.

Terracotta Concrete Curbing

2009-02-17T11:00:00.000-08:00

The two yews were already there when I started. The customer wanted a lot of knockout roses. There was another red rose to the left of the picture and several down the side of the house. In the middle is a yellow knockout rose that the customer purchased at some nursery. I actually haven't seen any besides this one. On the end is dwarf Alberta spruce.

The side alternated between a knockout rose and other plants such as hollies, burning bush, and hydrangea.

Here is the back. The concrete curbing is a terracotta color. The cheap brown rock was in the front yard. We moved it to the back, and in the front and side we installed a Missouri river rock.

The plants in the back here were transplanted from the front.

Cedar Deck

2009-02-16T17:46:00.000-08:00

Here is the back of the house. The garage wall goes off on a 45 degree angle. It is an odd design, but the finished result looked pretty good.

The floor joists and stair stringers are CCA, but the rest is cedar.

It doesn't look that big, but there was plenty of room for a big table with chairs.

Springs Coming

2009-02-12T19:08:00.000-08:00

Walmart had these tulips at a decent price, so I could not pass them up. I was hoping to plant bulbs last fall, but I did not get around to it. That will give me something to do this fall.

Bead Board

2009-02-11T15:59:00.000-08:00

This is a tongue and groove bead board ceiling over a front porch. Bead board makes a nice looking ceiling as you can tell. It is time consuming nailing those 5" strips up, but it is worth it.

Garden Plans

2009-02-10T04:30:00.000-08:00

I was looking for some garden/landscape ideas and I ran across this website for better homes and gardens: http://www.bhg.com/gardening/plans/ . It had a lot of container gardens, vegetable gardens, and landscape ideas, plans, and tips. You might find it useful (warning: it will throw a lot of pop ups at you to sign up). Winter and early spring is the perfect time to get a plan together, so you don't go out and buy a ton of spring blooming plants only. Your yard will look great in the spring, but the rest of the year it will not be attractive (I've seen this more than once). Plan for all seasons and install plants with the room to grow to its full mature size (I get many jobs a year to remove unwanted bushes/plants that are crowding each other or they just get to big for the area). Remember what your garden/landscape looked like during the winter months. You may want something for winter interest (evergreen, grasses, plants with berries, ect...).

Old Seed Catalogues

2009-02-09T06:00:00.000-08:00

Here is the old seed catalogues as promised. Notice the one on the right is 1915 and the one on the left is 1925.

Again this is the display box that all of this came in.

Seed Packets

2009-02-08T06:00:00.000-08:00

Here is some of the old seed packets that came in the seed display box.

My daughters just started taking a photography class, so I let them take the pictures. They got real creative with their pictures.

Seed Display Box

2009-02-07T17:24:00.000-08:00

Here is an old seed display box that we found at a garage sale. It is an E. J Bowen, San Francisco, California Seeds display flat box.

It came with several old seed packets and catalogues. I'll post those in the next couple days.

It says that "all seeds are five cents a paper." Pretty good deal.

Book Shelf

2009-02-05T18:45:00.000-08:00

Here is a 4' tall book shelf used as a room divider. This was made out of MDF. I built a half wall and sheet rocked it. The sheet rock acted as the back of the book shelf.

A 1"x4" pine was used for the bottom face. Regular 3 1/4" trim was used for the base. The vertical front faces were made out of pine 1"x2" 's. The adjustable shelves holes were drilled every 1 1/2". The shelves are MDF with rounded over edges. The top horizontal face is a 1"x6" pine, with crown molding wrapping around it. The top was cut to hang past the crown mold a 1/2". MDF must be painted with an oil base Kilz for the primer. Then paint over it with an acrylic/latex paint.

This is the back side of the book shelf. The top was probably 24" wide at least.

Walk in Shower

2009-02-03T14:23:00.000-08:00

Here is a walk in shower with a glass wall. The glass wall was added mostly for more light in the shower area. I do not remember the name of the tile, but I am assuming that it is an Italian style. In the bathroom area, the tile is a 12"x18". This size can be laid at an off set each row and it looks awesome when you do. A 2"x4" was used to block up the entrance to keep water from backing out. It was wrapped with backer board, then tiled over. The tip that I can give in laying tile is to find what catches your eye when you walk in (wall, tub,...) and use it to run parallel with it. When you lay your tile, hit it with a rubber mallet (not to hard, especially when doing walls). This helps it seat better. Also I have seen to many people use the wrong color grout (white tile with black grout). Your eye should go to the tile, not the grout lines. Make sure that your grout compliments your tile.

The floor was concreted with it all sloping to the drain in the middle. The tiles on the wall are the size of actual bricks (just a 1/4" thick). Each one had to be placed on the wall individually. The tile went up to the ceiling. Yes, it was a huge pain and it took forever.

The floor tiles are 6"x6" 's, laid diagonally. Laying them this way looks the best, but you have to cut on at least three times the amount compared to laying it parallel with the walls.

Random Flowers

2009-02-01T14:17:00.000-08:00

I have recently noticed that if I am going to blog, this season I am going to need to take (a lot) more pictures of individual plants. That is something that I never really thought about. I am terrible about taking pictures anyways, but I have installed many unique plants and all I have is distant pictures of the landscape (if any).

Here is a few individual pictures that I found. Seeing pictures of flowers in full bloom gives me hope that spring is close. Cabin fever is setting in and I am ready to play in the dirt and to install some plants.

Thanks for looking.

Ugly Raised Bed

2009-01-31T01:01:00.000-08:00

Everyone needs a launching area, so this idea might work for you. Here is a raised bed made out of cca 2"x6" 's (2'x8" is nicer) that I had laying around. Four stakes were driven in each corner with a screw in it to hold it down. The ground around this area is not the greatest and I needed something quick. I bought bags of top soil and compost and threw it in. The dirt is awesome and you can grow anything in it. I am using it as a place to start trees or if I need to get something in the ground quick. In July I had received ten trees from "the Arbor day foundation", so I am not even sure what some of them are. I had a few maples that I found growing in some flower pots under the maple tree, so I threw a few in here. There was one maple that took off and it is well over 3'. It got transplanted already. These are a little slower. I have no idea where I am going to put these, but it's fun watching them grow. A pet peeve of mine is to have nice looking trees that grow straight. This will be a spring project to get these trained early on.

Old Junk

2009-01-30T12:47:00.000-08:00

Here is some more dollar decorating. Just cool and useless junk that others were selling very cheap. Old cameras, film, postcards, pictures, and a wooden picture viewer (second shelf on right). On top is an old mantle clock and some old alarm clocks. The cabinet I got for free at a burn job. The roof had caved in and punctured the glass out of it. I had to install a new 1/4" oak back and new shelves (pine 1"x8" 's with rounded fronts and stained oak color), and the whole thing had to be stripped. Added new glass and polyurethaned it. It was a cheap restoration. Notice the decorative "acorn" on the front legs.

This old trunk was a nice find. I came upon a several garage sales on one block. I noticed that this other guy was following and trying to race me, so I decided to skip a few to get up the road quicker. We got down to the last two garage sales, and he went to one and I went to the other. As we met back in the street, he commented that we were after antique junk. After talking a while, I asked him what was up with the four trunks in his truck bed. He said that he bought them all for $3.00. Then he asked if I wanted to buy one for $5.00 each. They were nasty and wreaked with must and mold. I picked this one with the intention to leave it outside under the porch to set flower pots on. After getting it home, my wife found a website that told you how to clean these old trunks. After cleaning, this is the treasure that we ended up with.

Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

2009-01-29T11:27:00.000-08:00

This is a dwarf Alberta spruce. I had seen this at home depot toward the end of the season and I felt sorry for it. I paid too much for it especially for the condition it was in. I dropped it in the ground here temporarily. It has actually filled in pretty nice. I'm not sure where to put it though, but every landscape needs winter color.

Deck with Storage

2009-01-28T11:56:00.000-08:00

This is a 6'x16' deck that we added on side of this homeowners house. Nothing fancy with the deck portion. The lower section was closed in for storage. There are 4"x4" 's in the corners, on the hinge side of the storage door, and one where the fence attaches. Three 2"x4" 's run horizontal (like a regular picket fence), then the 1"x3" 's were nailed on vertically. Base rock was added under the deck.

The stairs are 4' wide. The steps didn't go down to a concrete pad, so the 4" x4" hand rail goes down 30" in concrete and the side by the wall has a short 4"x4" under the tread going into concrete.

Fountain

2009-01-27T18:40:00.000-08:00

Here is a fountain that we installed a few months ago. It's probably spraying about 8' in the air. They could have gotten away with putting a bigger pump in because they had the room, but this looks really nice out there and the community loves it.

The green base is 2' round and the pump goes down about 4'. Red lights were installed for the Christmas season. It was a scary mess to install. The 12' jon boat was loaded full of electrical wire, the pump assembly, and cinder blocks to anchor it. This was installed at a retirement center. People were bringing there chairs down to watch us put it in. I was just praying that we wouldn't give them any entertainment by falling in or tipping the boat, because it was overloaded.

Curb Appeal

2009-01-26T09:45:00.000-08:00

This is a job from this past summer. Again, I don't have a before picture. This updated front totally transformed the look of the house. The yews on the right was already there. They were just trimmed (a lot) and shaped.

"Buff colored" concrete curbing was installed around the existing yews and then around the side of the house.

This area had many different plants. They were removed and three maiden grasses, two knockout roses, a magic berry holly, a lirope, and a crimson barberry were added. The bottom left is a (green) pop up emitter for the downspout behind. In the flower box area, purpleleaf wintercreeper euonymus' were installed. They are very invasive and will fill that area very quickly. They are 12"-18" evergreens, while in the winter they will get a shade of red on them (easy to grow, hard to kill).

Victorian Farm House

2009-01-25T12:01:00.000-08:00

This is our old house that we sold a little over three years ago. It is a 1880's Victorian farm house. We had to restore most all of it. The front balcony was nearly falling off when we bought it. The right corner of the balcony had to be rebuilt. I didn't get to finish the railings on the balconies, landscape, or redeck the roof and install timberline shingles on it like I was hoping.

Cedar lap siding with wide trim under the soffits. The house had to be completely scraped and I think that it never had a primer on it, because the bare wood just drank up the primer.

The second story windows actually sat on the floor and they were a little under 6' tall.

As you can see, the back corner shed roof was redone. The shed roofs on each side use to be porches many years ago. The height of the wall there started a 6'. The old door there was cut down to fit, so I added the gable above to accommodate the new full glass door.

This is the north side of the house. The left shed roof was the laundry and the right side was the bathroom. The four windows were in the kitchen (16' wide), it was unique to have no upper cabinets because of all these windows. Above is a little balcony for the master bedroom.

The skylight was installed in the master bath shower so you could stand up in it.

We used the side door here as the mudroom/main entry. That room was the most transformed, because I wanted it to look sharp when you came in. That door there was a ten commandment door (door with 2 glasses in the shape of the ten commandments).

The front door is inset about two feet with glass side lights and a transom above. The house also had 9' ceilings. I'll post more pictures of the inside later on. In the background on the right you can see our general store chicken coop. I was wanting all of my outbuildings to have the 1800's theme.

Bath update

2009-01-24T15:00:00.001-08:00

Here is a before and after of the main bathroom in a house that I rehabed. The medicine cabinet was removed. Notice above the window that goes to the master bathroom. I think that the idea was for the natural light to go through the master bath window then through this window to give it a little light. (????) Weird! Well..., it got removed.

I thought about painting the bath tub, but a new tub was only $109.00. It was cheaper and easier to replace it.

The 18" vanity was replaced with this 24" vanity. A new tub and toilet was installed. 12"x12" tile was added on the floor and around the tub.

Kitchenette

2009-01-23T12:02:00.000-08:00

This is a basement remodel that we did. Under the light is where the homeowners "game table" is going. You can see the kitchenette in the background. I'm standing in the living room/TV area.

I had to fir down the ceiling because of all of the existing vents and pipes, so I firred down the entire area here and inset the fan/light combo.

Nothing fancy, but very handy to have in a basement. There is a 3' counter top with a bar sink. To the left was some wall space for a microwave. The door on the left goes into the bathroom.

Also there was room for a 32"x48" shower.

Thanks for looking!

Cedar Shredded Mulch

2009-01-20T19:37:00.000-08:00

Today I did a mulch job using Cedar Shredded Mulch. I usually use a hardwood mulch, but this is what the customer had before. To find out this is actually excellent for steep grades, where washout is common. It has a mixture of cedar bark and cedar chips mixed with a stringy hair like shreds. The hair like strands is what weaves it all together to help hold it on the steep hills. I'm not a cedar mulch fan, but it looks like an excellent alternative in places where your mulch gets washed out. From a little distance it looked like normal hardwood mulch. Working with it, it reminded me of my grandparents old poodle with matted hair, but hey if it stays in the landscaped area, I'm for it. Also it was a little more expensive than typical hardwood mulch. O yeah, it is still a little to early to mulch in Missouri (1/3 of the bags had frozen mulch that we had to chip apart).

Chicken Coop

2009-01-18T11:28:00.000-08:00

Believe it or not, this was our chicken coop. Years ago, some friends of ours was getting into the chicken business, so we thought that we would join them. For several weekends we went around to the couple of other families houses to help build their chicken coops. When I told them that I wanted mine to look like a general store, they laughed at me. "No really, I serious.", I told them. It didn't cost that much more to make a nice looking outbuilding. I wanted all of my buildings to match the time area of our old house.

I framed the floor like a deck (2"x8" cca). It was a 10'x10'. I put plywood on 8'x10' and decking boards on the front 2' (porch area). The front wall was 10' tall, leaving 2' showing above to put our general store sign on. I had the front door laying around and the windows are storm windows fastened to 1"x4" 's.

Then we decorated it with antique junk.

When we sold our house, our realtor liked it so much that he wanted one too. He wanted a saloon. Real barn wood was used for the siding on the front and right side.

I couldn't find a finished picture of this. The steps are missing and the masonite siding is not painted brown. Also there was another chicken run on the right side. The door was painted black to give the illusion that there is no door there.

The side walls are 8' tall. There is shallow pitch on the roof. Roll roofing was used. The chicken run is 6' tall with a 2' door for entry. (bottom, far left). 1" chicken wire is wrapped around the sides and roof.

Thanks for looking!

Remove Unwanted Walls

2009-01-15T16:07:00.000-08:00

Some half walls was removed here (I wish I had a before picture. I always forget to take a picture). The header above already went from wall to wall, so there was no structural work done here. In houses they went through a time period when they would do alot of half walls with spindles. Going into the kitchen is that same theme, just the spindles were removed.

I knocked out the half wall, moved an electrical outlet, and redirected the vent into the floor. Minimal sheet rock work was done. Retrimmed the walls, and the homeowners painted it.

There was a little hardwood floor work that had to be done. A friend of mine pieced in the floor, stained it, and sealed it. Look at that shine!

Botanical Gardens

2009-01-13T14:55:00.001-08:00

I am fighting a cold and it is freezing here in Missouri, so I was just in the mood for spring. So here are some random photos that I took from the Arboretum and botanical gardens in Overland Park, Kansas in early October.
A butterfly on some knock out roses.

A Cardinal in hiding.

I believe this is a purple Hyacinth bean vine. Very pretty in person.

I think this is an Ornamental pepper 'Black Pearl.'????

I'm terrible at guessing plants with only a picture.

Exciting Entry

2009-01-12T15:11:00.000-08:00

I used the existing edging and design that was already there. It was full of mostly perennials and ground covers.

Under the window on the right are some magic berry hollies. In the middle is a maiden fountain grass with wild looking flowers around it.

Going up the steps are knock out roses.

This picture is from the front step. The landscape was so deep that it felt crowded on the sidewalk, so these stepping stones were added (going no where) to make it feel like there were other options besides going down the steps. It gave a nice illusion, plus your eye is drawn to the decorative tree. Those are boxwoods on the left of the steps and on the right are lilies.

The two bushes in front of the window were already there (I think they are witch hazel bushes). The far left is a variegated dogwood.

The little tree is a lilac bush that was trained to grow like a tree. Under it are three sedge plants. The pink flower is a hydrangea bush. The green bush is a sea green juniper.

Outdoor Living

2009-01-11T14:58:00.000-08:00

Here a 10'x16' deck that was added to an existing deck. The homeowner needed a little more room for the grill, a table and some chairs. This has a 2"x8" cca floor joists on 16" centers with a double rim joist. The decking is 2"x6"s. It was stained a redwood color.

In an existing flower bed, these double knockout roses were added. Knockout roses are a must have in your landscape. They are very low maintenance, and they yield flowers all of the summer right up to the first frost.

Kitchen Update

2009-01-10T00:01:00.000-08:00

Here is a before and after of a kitchen that I rehabbed. This is nasty looking, but I have to say it is better then most that I have torn out or painted up. The window was replaced with a new vinyl sliding window. The soffit above the cabinets was removed and the light over the sink was moved strait up to the ceiling. To the left of the microwave, there was a 2' wall (to cover the side of the stove) that was removed.

Everything here can be purchased at home depot. The cabinets are oak and you can stain them every how you want. They come individually. Just decide what sizes you need and screw them together. (Screw the backs into the wall, shim up the front to make it level, and put a short screw into the next cabinet. I usually take one of the hinge screws out, drill it deeper, than add a bigger screw.) Here minwax oak stain and a high gloss poly urethane was used. The counter top comes pre-cut with 45 degree cuts. I have found it the easiest to cut them for length by cutting on the back side of the tops (be sure to put masking tape on it to help avoid chipping). The end strips on the counter top are a pain, but I have found if you use liquid nails and clamp it, that works really well. Measure out you kitchen sink, mask it off, and cut it out with your saw. On your door hardware, make a jig, so the handles are all in the same spot. Minimal sheet rock work was done, the ceiling had to be retextured, and everything was painted. Finally,12"x12" tile and new appliances were installed.

Summer Landscape

2009-01-09T08:55:00.000-08:00

Here we have a summer only landscape. Downspouts were ran under ground to the side of the house with pop up emitters. This wall was added and dirt was filled into it.

The top cap is about 12" wide (Your skate boarder would love it). A maiden fountain grass, two pink knock out roses, dianthus, and peppered about with a flat of white pansies to add contrast.

The end had a weeping cherry tree installed.

I had transplanted several of these plants, so I'm not sure the names of some. In the back middle is a rhododendron, next to it is a butterfly bush, and there was several lily type plants.

A tree ring was added. Pink begonias were added around the inner circle and the outer circle had red begonias. With in a month, it was filled in and very vibrant. It was clearly seen the minute you would pull into the sub-division.

Dollar Decorating

2009-01-08T14:17:00.000-08:00

This was in our laundry room. The wall color is vivid lime, it made the room alot brighter. Here we have some theme decorating with garage sale and antique store finds. Most all the antique stuff we buy is usually for a dollar or less at a garage sale. We would use different wall sections of the house for different themes. Old irons, ironing board, a washboard, clothes pin bag, and some old spools were used here.

This is the upstairs hall. This door went out onto a 8'x15' balcony. The lamp, table, and mirror are some more cheap finds. The door was junk and the balcony rails weren't very safe (at that time), so I put a thin flat trim around the gaps of the door and caulked it up to make a nice window that overlooked the driveway. There was 9' walls, 6" wide wood floors and 10" base trim upstairs. It is painted angelic pink which continued down the stairs into the living room. The wall going down the stairs was filled with family pictures.

Here in the kitchen is some more bargain finds. Inside there are old tins, milk bottles, nut and coffee grinders, toaster, ice sign, and old grocery boxes (eggs, butter, cheese). I added the corner shelf and had the chair rail and base trim tie into it (to make it look "built in"). Then the cabinet was painted inside and out with gloss white.

Bath Rehab

2009-01-07T20:43:00.000-08:00

This is a before and after picture of a house that I rehabed. As you can see, this master bath is to gross to use (it was taken with a good camera, so the picture is better than it really was.). My guys were hating me on this one, when they had to hug the toilet to carry it out.

Didn't really do nothing fancy. The shower was moved back against the wall to accommodate a 32"x32" shower. The pedestal sink was removed and replaced with this 2' base cabinet with an inexpensive top and a moen faucet. 12"x12" tile was installed on the floor and around the shower. It's hard to see, but the floor grout is a couple shades darker than the wall grout. In person, it makes it look like there are two different styles of tile that match really well. The floor vent was moved over. A clean kohler toilet was installed. Minimal sheetrock repair was done. Six inch base trim was added, then it was painted.

Entertainment Center

2009-01-06T08:37:00.000-08:00

This was fun to build. This is perfect for your man cave to display your sports memorabilia. (or ladies: knick knacks) It looks complicated, but if you have average woodworking skills you could easily do this. All of the components are hidden behind the tinted glass (on right) that opens easily with a light push.

The entertainment center is made out of MDF board. It comes in a 4'x8' sheet. Just get a straight edge and rip down how wide you want it to be. (I think this was 18" deep). The back of the entertainment center is the sheetrocked wall. A 1"x2" cleat was put on the inside of the left upright to keep it from moving. The shelf above the TV is fixed to help hold it together. The front has a 1"x6" holding the top in line, than a crown mold on top of it. The bottom has 1"x4"s going horizontal to hold the bottom and for the doors to screw to. The verticals has 1"x2"s just so you don't see the mdf edge.

The front of the shelves has a rounded edge. Holes every 2" were added to adjust the shelves. (This was the worst part. I recommend buying the metal adjustable style). The speaker wires were fed behind the sheetrock wall. The cables and wires for the TV go down and are hidden in the storage below.

The base trim wraps around the unit. The trim under the TV is a 1" flat trim (like a chair rail). The doors can be purchased at Home Depot in the kitchen department. The doors come with Euro hidden hinges. They come in white, but they are paintable. Caulk up all of the seams, paint the mdf with an oil base Kilz. Then paint the entertainment center the color of your choice. Here we added accent lights on a dimmer to show off the displayed items.

Enjoy Your Backyard

2009-01-05T14:23:00.001-08:00

This is my favorite landscape job that we did this past summer. When we started, there was the concrete slab with the hot tub, the fire pit, and several huge (ugly) evergreens around the fire pit/slab area.

The pink flowers above are dwarf crape myrtles. I just discovered and started using these flowers this year. They have a very pretty flower. The bottom right yellow leaf is a golden privet.

This is the fire pit that was converted to a flower bed. I wasn't really thrilled about leaving the pit, but I went back latter in the summer to do some other work for the customer, and I found that the "trailers" that I planted were water falling over the edges and sweet potato vine was crawling out onto the patio. I should have gotten a picture of that. It was awesome.

To the left is the "fall" corner of the display. In the fall, the fountain grass would turn bronze, the spireas turn red, yellow, and orange. The berry magic hollies are evergreens that produce red berries for the birds. The green and white leafed (upper middle) is a variegated dogwood. The branches turn red for fall and winter color. The barberry stays the burgundy color into the early winter.

The green leafed plant is a Texas flowering quince. In the spring, the stems has little red flowers. Around it is many perennials. White: shasta daisy. Dark pink: phlox. Middle right little white flowers: whirling butterfly.

The curbing going around the patio pavers is a concrete curbing. This one is buff colored. It's very nice because it has a high back to hold in your mulch in the landscape and the grass grows up to the low front. It looks sharp when the grass is grown in around it.

Knock out roses are added throughout the landscape. Mocha brown mulch was used. The stepping stones are man-made, but you can not tell it.

The patio pavers that were used are a venetian stone.

Here are two green tower boxwoods on each side of the stepping stones.

The little grass with purple flowers are liropes.

Master bedroom

2009-01-04T13:37:00.000-08:00

Just some pictures from our last house. This was our master bedroom. The wall color was gunmetal (shade of grey), with white trim, and olive carpet. The bottom step was hinged to hide valuables.

This house was a 1880's victorian farm house, so we added some of that theme throughout the house.

This door opens to a small walk in closet.

The door opens to a 3'x3' metal balcony that overlooked our 5 acres.

The bathroom was tiny and yes, the toilet is inset in the wall.

On the left in the bathroom was the shower. A skylight was installed so you could stand up in the shower, and wave at the planes as they went over. (Just kidding)

Thanks for looking.