hoarding light
Our summer travels have come to a close, and we're soaking up the final days of warmth & play before we settle into the colder, quieter, contemplative seasons. As we feel the air become ever-so-slightly cooler and the days gradually shorter, we're also thinking ahead & busying ourselves with projects that we've been planning since we moved into our house 3 years ago. The time has finally come, and we're hacking away (literally) at several big projects at once.
Most of these projects involve allowing more light into our house - transforming our vampire death cave (i.e., living room) into a space where one might occasionally be able to feel a tinge of hope & happiness. Ok, I exaggerate. But only a little. Our living room very cosy, but it is daaark. But it's in the process of becoming the brightest, most lovely room in the house. This will happen over the next couple of weeks by way of the following:
1. Stockpile wood like a mad woman. I thinkwe I may have crossed the threshold of insanity with the size of this year's wood pile. At least that's what Baine thinks. I think this looks like quite an adequate amount of wood for 1 winter - maybe not even enough. What do you think?
2. Have a professional remove the enormous almost-dead Blue Spruce in our front yard. This has let a ton of light into our house. While I also felt sad about cutting down our tree last week, I was reassured about this decision by the reality that our spruce was indeed dying and ready to be replaced by a healthier tree - maybe an apple tree?!
3. Remove the hideous hedges in the front and side of our house. It's so very ugly, but more than that, it functions as a wall that isolates us from the rest of the world. It also blocks even more light from our living room, which is no good. We're about a third of the way through this project, and let me tell you that it's no small task. We live on a busy street, and people driving by last night were literally laughing at us wrestling & bouncing on these enormous bushes in an effort to break the roots. Grrrr.
4. Replace the chain-link fence with a wood fence. This should be interesting. We're going to start this process this weekend, and I think it might kick our butts - but hopefully in a good way. Part of the excitement over this project is being able to extend our fenced area enough for a chicken coup. Yep, chickens - who will provide us with eggs to eat. We don't have them yet, but it's in the plan. 1 step at a time.
5. Have a professional install sky tubes (like skylights but smaller & brighter) in our living room. This is happening in 2 weeks. More light. Yes!
We have even more projects than these in store - especially for our yard. Once it's been fully gutted, we'll actually plant, build, and cultivate it into something beautiful (we hope). I'll keep you posted with some before and after pics. But I think these 5 projects are quite enough for now. It's all very exciting - to us anyway.
What about you? What are you doing to prepare for the fall season? Playing, hoarding, building, storing?
Most of these projects involve allowing more light into our house - transforming our vampire death cave (i.e., living room) into a space where one might occasionally be able to feel a tinge of hope & happiness. Ok, I exaggerate. But only a little. Our living room very cosy, but it is daaark. But it's in the process of becoming the brightest, most lovely room in the house. This will happen over the next couple of weeks by way of the following:
1. Stockpile wood like a mad woman. I think
2. Have a professional remove the enormous almost-dead Blue Spruce in our front yard. This has let a ton of light into our house. While I also felt sad about cutting down our tree last week, I was reassured about this decision by the reality that our spruce was indeed dying and ready to be replaced by a healthier tree - maybe an apple tree?!
Before (taken 3 years ago)
After
3. Remove the hideous hedges in the front and side of our house. It's so very ugly, but more than that, it functions as a wall that isolates us from the rest of the world. It also blocks even more light from our living room, which is no good. We're about a third of the way through this project, and let me tell you that it's no small task. We live on a busy street, and people driving by last night were literally laughing at us wrestling & bouncing on these enormous bushes in an effort to break the roots. Grrrr.
4. Replace the chain-link fence with a wood fence. This should be interesting. We're going to start this process this weekend, and I think it might kick our butts - but hopefully in a good way. Part of the excitement over this project is being able to extend our fenced area enough for a chicken coup. Yep, chickens - who will provide us with eggs to eat. We don't have them yet, but it's in the plan. 1 step at a time.
5. Have a professional install sky tubes (like skylights but smaller & brighter) in our living room. This is happening in 2 weeks. More light. Yes!
We have even more projects than these in store - especially for our yard. Once it's been fully gutted, we'll actually plant, build, and cultivate it into something beautiful (we hope). I'll keep you posted with some before and after pics. But I think these 5 projects are quite enough for now. It's all very exciting - to us anyway.
What about you? What are you doing to prepare for the fall season? Playing, hoarding, building, storing?
I'm amazed at the amount of firewood. We barely get to have any fires here in South Louisiana. I recently saw some pictures of Christmas Eve here from last year. Everyone was outside in short sleeves.
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