I know a place, where the grass is really greener...

Unfortunately, unlike Katy's song, this house is not in California, and I am not a "California Gurl." Anyway I'm trying to get some pictures uploaded here to track some progress of the house.

Our little brick and block rambler was built in the 1940's (I think, or maybe it was the 50's) and we have already upgraded some unnoticable (but highly important) parts of the house. We switched from a fuse-box system to a breaker panel. With this we also got a 'heavy-up' on the house, meaning we have now have more amps to support the new electronics that were not supported by the old fuse system (40'' TV and 2 game systems, anyone?). We also upgraded the original furnace to a more efficient model. My brother-in-law, Jamie, works in Heating and air conditioning, as does his father. While the old monster was a Bryant, Jamie's dad had not seen that logo before. I guess the cute little dog logo didn't last long. Jamie kept it as a souvenir.

But some progress has been made around the house to help spruce it up.

First up: The front yard. 6 large bushes (not boxwoods, but not sure what they are), 2 cedar trees, and 2 hollys. They were all overgrown and I hated the holly bushes from the day we first looked at the house. Adam didn't like the cedars, as they blocked the view of the front door from the window, I guess he was scared of strange people coming to the door (and forgetting we have a peep-hole).


So when I asked my dad to help trim up those 6 bushed one Saturday, we decided to just go for it and chop the holly and cedar down.


I think the front looks so much better, more open and inviting. However I would like to plant something with some color near the steps. My brother will help sketch up some ideas, ahh the pleasures of knowing people who do many different things. There is still some work to be done: I want to paint the front door and shutters, and change out the street numbers and rusted mailbox for some shiny new ones.