The Graveyeard

The Graveyeard
Originally uploaded by smithbradkatie.

Everything we pulled out of the basement plumbing. Yum.

Complete!

Complete!, originally uploaded by smithbradkatie.

It's amazing, it really is. From the left to right, Shower, toilet, sink.

2" superhighway for waste water

2" superhighway for waste water, originally uploaded by smithbradkatie.

Toilet Thruway

Toilet Thruway, originally uploaded by smithbradkatie.

Quality Workmanship. That's what it is.

Getting there...

Getting there..., originally uploaded by smithbradkatie.

this is the good stuff... nice and clean, smooth as silk. Toilet's in the top left, the rest is yet to come.

How embarassing!

How embarassing!, originally uploaded by smithbradkatie.

So I'm debating even as I type whether or not this picture should be made public. But in our defense, there is 70 years of buildup that we had nothing to do with.

Flaky Goodness

Flaky Goodness
Originally uploaded by smithbradkatie.

It's time for you to go, Mr. Cast Iron, allow me to show you the door.

The drains have been slow lately. Very slow. Katie is quoted saying "This has now become first priority, over the kitchen." Saturday I'll be down there banging away at the old pipes and wrestling new ones in it's place. Wish me luck.

Gooey Awesomeness

Gooey Awesomeness
Originally uploaded by smithbradkatie.

Extreme close up of the gooey awesomeness that oozes out of the fitting every time we (or you) wash our (or your) hands in our sink.

Cast Iron Dreams

Cast Iron Dreams
Originally uploaded by smithbradkatie.

Where old meets new. It's time for the old corroded flaking gooey cast iron pipes to leave us forever.

House in progress

How strange that we put wreaths on the windows last weekend and were wearing t-shirts when doing so. When we put the candles in the windows on Tuesday, we went out side to see how they looked, and we were bare foot. Perhaps we'll have to bring back Berl Ives (or whomever sang White Christmas) to do a remake entitled I'm Dreaming of a Balmy Christmas. Photos soon. Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving.
Katie

Walmart Accident

walmart accident
Originally uploaded by smithbrad.

This is an actual photograph from a recent accident at the walmart in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. It was captured via the security cameras that walmart has in it's parking lots. What a wild occourance!!!

Impromptu College Reunion

So we had a little college reunion of sorts. It was fun... we tasted some wine at newport vineyards - which comes highly recommended by the way. Click the pic for more fun weekend pictures.

After

Yeah... so we had some trees taken down. A few anyway. It's a big difference, but it will be nice once it's cleaned up a bit. The stumps are being ground as we speak.

Before the destruction

So we had some trees taken down this past weekend. Fun. Crazy. And all that. BIG difference. See the next pics for the changes.

Hi folks. Here's another shot of the progress on the fridge room. Brad has taken out the back wall and the insulation (which I'm really having a difficult time spelling. Does that look right?) The panel is also off the door to the basement. If we were going for that antique country look, the cracked paint would be perfect, but alas, we are not so it is not. The other two photos are just the result of me standing in the same spot and turning so you could see the other progress. The wall around the doorway to the sunroom will stay put; Brad will just put a sheet of dry wall over it. No need to remove it. He didn't want to take out the back wall either, but needed to in order to put in new insulation. I think I've covered everything. Up next, gardening progress. Have fun!

More Demo

The chimney pictured below is completely removed now. It's sitting down in the basement in pieces waiting to be put one by one into the automated trash pickup bins. It's our sly little way of getting rid of all that concrete. Unless someone out there wants it all. Come and get it. Anyways. Worked in there today for about 12 1/2 minutes tearing the next piece of the wall off, but had to quit just after starting because the 95 degree heat & humidity was causing me to sweat so much it was going in my eyes and the dust and debris was sticking to my skin. Gross, I know. So maybe I'll wait until it cools off a little bit. Later. Brad.

Sunroom

Hello all,
I hope this day finds you well. I'm writing from Panera Bread today, as the library is closed. The boys are camping for the weekend and took the camera with them, so I can't post a photo. But I wanted to let you know that the windows in the sunroom have trim!!! My dad came over yesterday and got them all squared away! We still have the issue of the outdoor window on the inside wall of the room, but we'll worry about that another time. I'm watching a guy teach two little girls how to play "I spy". Funny to watch. The girls are about three or four and he's trying to teach them how to not look directly at what they're trying to hint at because it gives it away. It's making me laugh, so I should probably stop typing and go home before I start looking creepy. Have a great rest of the weekend.
Hope you had a happy birthday, Leon!

Kitchen Chimney

kitchen5
Originally uploaded by smithbradkatie.

OK, so we've officially started our kitchen remodel. First thing to go will be the large chimney that runs through the kitchen and the "fridge room" as it is so affectionitly called. We'll be accepting applications to pound cement with us - it's gonna be a fun, messy, dusty job. Be warned, if you show up - you may be put to work.

Lily

Lily
Originally uploaded by smithbradkatie.

Brad took this picture this morning with his new camera and lens.

talllillies

talllillies
Originally uploaded by smithbradkatie.

Today. (Need I say more?)

shortlillies

shortlillies
Originally uploaded by smithbradkatie.

May 29.

diningroomgarden

diningroomgarden
Originally uploaded by smithbradkatie.

Here's some of the vegitation currently enjoying life on the inside of the house. We've got quite a few, and the spider plant is due to have loads of babies in just a few weeks. Any nice families out there looking for a low-maintenence houseplant?

frontporchpansies

frontporchpansies
Originally uploaded by smithbradkatie.

Here are the pictures, as promised. I finally remembered to bring the camera to the library. If you click on any of the flower photos you'll be able to see more. Enjoy!

House in progress

Hello everyone. It's Katie. Just to warn you, this post is entirely unrelated to the house in progress. I'm here at the library doing some research on incorporating character education into my ELA curriculum because I now feel it's my lot in life to instill some sort of values in my students. I figure if MTV can do it, so can I. Of course I'll be teaching about trustworthiness, honesty, and loyalty, not bling, cribs, and grills. Anyhow, I'm sitting here, minding my own business, doing my research when this couple, half of which was wearing extremely loud flip-flops storms over to one of the tables in the otherwise quiet area. The way-to-skinny-for-her-own-good girl noisily complains to her larger than life male companion about the lack of open computers for her use. I'll omit some of the choice vocabulary for those sensitive to such words. She proceeds to go on and on about how much she hates this library because there are no open computers. At this time, I feel it is necessary to point out that there must be 50 computers in the library, and if she just waited a few minutes, one would surely have opened up. Anyway, she decides to storm the circulation desk where she is informed that with the library closing shortly, there isn't enough time for her to do the paper work to borrow a laptop as well as get whatever other work done that she needs to. I know the specifics of this because of the volume at which she relayed them to the boyfriend. She then sits to sulk. When out of no where, a young man who had been using one of the computers walks by and she barks, "Are you done with that computer?" He timidly replies that he is. So she flip-flops over to the computer, which must require you to enter your library card code before using, because she then flip-flops over to the circulation desk, and then back over to the boyfriend to noisily rummage 50 cents from her purse. it would appear that she did not have her library card with her. There is a 50 cent charge if you need the librarian to look up your number. Upon her return to the desk with her money, she discovers that two girls, who may I point out, must have remembered to bring their library cards or memorized their numbers, had set up shop at the computer she was planning to use. The result? You guessed it; more flip-flop maddness back over to the boyfriend where it was demanded that they leave this $%&&*(@ library "like right now". My problem with this? I'll let you figure that out. It is situations like this that I'm hoping to head off or at least minimize by teaching the kids some social skills/character values next year. The fact that the girl could not use the computer today was her fault. It was clear that she needed to do something on the computer and that's why she was here. Yet she failed to bring her library card which resulted in her having to wait a few extra minutes at the desk, which lead to her not being able to use the computer. And yet her response was to blame every one and everything except herself.
I hope you have enjoyed my rant. Have a wonderful weekend! Next post, lillies, lillies, everywhere. The stems of a few of the plant are waist high!!!!!!

House in progress

Hi folks! It's been a while, I know. Here's an update, sans photos because I (Katie) neglected to bring the camera to the library tonight. The tree in the front of the house has a new outfit (?). It's got new mulch around the base of the trunk. There are a few Dutch irises waving in the breeze on the yard side of the house; the hydrangeas are about to bloom; there are going to be LOADS of Asiatic lilies on the driveway side of the house; the potted flowers are once again adorning the edge of the patio; and there are some very bold squirrels patrolling the yard. Oh, and Brad is in a full out war with the birds over who gets to live in the house. No new guitar news to report. The sunroom trim is finished. I just have to cut and hang it. And last but not least, there's a chair in the basement that has just been refinished and is awaiting a new seat. Hope all's well with all of you. Happy Summer!

cemetery

cemetary
Originally uploaded by smithbradkatie.

This is from the new Holga camera. It's an incredibly cheaply made camera that somehow produces some really cool effects, including vignetted corners soft focus. Comments?

tinydaff:grape

tinydaff:grape
Originally uploaded by smithbradkatie.

So Cute!

pinkdaff

pinkdaff
Originally uploaded by smithbradkatie.

I've been waiting since October for this one. Isn't it lovely. I'm still rather awed by the pink daffodil. So far, that's the only one open, but I'm expecting about 8 more. I've also posted a picture of my tiny daffodils and some grape hyacinths. They're both about the same height, and I think after the bulbs divide in a few years, they'll really compliment each other well. There are other flowers that I haven't blogged available for viewing on wherever it is that you usually click to view the other photos that are on the web, but not the blog. ENJOY!

newpotty

newpotty
Originally uploaded by smithbradkatie.

So here's a picture of the new toilet. I don't really have much to say on the matter other than it's working well.


UPDATE: THIS IS NOT THE NEW TOILET... THIS WOULD BE A PICTURE OF THE OLD ONE. OH WELL... IT LOOKS VERY SIMILAR BUT MUCH BETTER. - brad

A good day for a bike ride

bike
Originally uploaded by smithbradkatie.

Katie loves her shiny new bicycle - it's super fast!

House in progress

Your wish is our command. Saddly though, I can't recall how to insert a picture. If I could remember how to do this, I would probably post a pic of our new potty!!!! It's a real beauty. I might also show you a picture of my birthday bike. It's an orange and white Shwinn. As a matter of fact, I rode it to the library today. Oh, and I can't forget to mention Brad's new Old Guitar Rehabilitation Project. He takes old guitars, removes the old/damaged/sometimes ugly finish, and makes them look young again. Sort of like plastic surgery for stringed instruments.
I don't have any pictures of the new neighbors, but I have spoken with them. Very nice couple. They're in the process of making the basement livable so that they don't have to travel back and forth from worcester every friday and saturday and sunday as they work to remodel their new home. But it's a slow process because the house is a "disaster". (Her words, not mine, Mom.) I think there are some plans to work through the over grown mess that blocks their (and our) view of the water. That's all we had time to discuss, as they needed to get back to making their house habitable, and I needed to show a bunch of renegade tulips who's boss.
Speaking of tulips, you'll be happy to know that the chrocus were (and still are) lovely. We had purple, white, and yellow. But only on the yard side of the house. (I mention this because I find it strange that they were planted on both sides but only bloomed on one.) This morning, some of our daffodills bloomed. They're bright yellow. The pink ones aren't open, but they're working on it. We have some signs of green on the hydrangea plants; there are some irises on their way up in the two new gardens. The hyacinth will be wonderful and strong. I'm not sure yet what I think of the grape hyacinth, but we'll see. There are also signs of lily stems peeking through the mulch. I think those are the ones for which I am most anxious. I didn't think that the bulbs would split this winter (because they were just put in last spring and I was under the impression that it took a couple of years), but the closeness of the stems to one another is leading me to believe that they did split and that we'll have twice as many this summer as last. YIPEE! Ok, I think that's all we've got. Sorry about the pictures - or lack there of.

View from an upstairs window

Movers are here!
Originally uploaded by smithbradkatie.

Well folks, we are delighted to report that we will soon have new neighbors. We have seen neither hide nor hair of the Jack Daniels family all week. Their garbage is still forming a mote around our mailbox, but we haven't seen them. This morning as we were leaving for an exciting day at the library, a pleasant looking couple in a large pick up truck arrived at the house followed shortly by a locksmith. Our assumptions, either they were there representing the real estate company and wanted to change the locks in order to ensure the previous owners did not change their minds and trash the place for the insurance money, or they were the new owners and wanted to ensure that the previous owners did not stop by to "visit". Either way, things have been a little bit calmer on Terrace Ave. this week. Although for some reason, an old addage, the exact wording of which I can't quite find keeps passing through my thoughts. Something about the enemy you know versus the enemy you don't? Not that they were our enemies, but you get my drift. Our only neighborhood enemies are the dogs, who under their owners' guidance, keep making pit stops in our yard. I don't want to put up a fence, but it might just have to come to that.
Well, my friends, I've got a paper due Wednesday, and sadly, it doesn't look like it's going to write itself, so I must let you go for now. Next time, pictures of the garden sprouts and a neighbor update. Enjoy the weekend.

Playing

Playing
Originally uploaded by smithbradkatie.

Here is Nate, ripping out the licks on this brand new piece of craftmanship. He played us a little BB King, some Stevie Ray Vaughn and some other fast finger music. Ask him to play for you sometime. He's wild.

BEHOLD!

BEHOLD!
Originally uploaded by smithbradkatie.

BEHOLD -

IT is done.


Does it not look incredible?
Brand new tuners, knobs, strings - cleaned up - tuned up - beefed up - hooked up - well you get the idea.

We are taking name suggestions... anyone?

click the pic for more glamour shots of it.

Books!

I know this has little to do with home improvements other than that it's all this darn reading that keeps me from finishing the trim, but I just have to recommend Lorie Notaro's Idiot Girl books to any 20 somethings in our blog-reading audience. She is hilarious and brutally honest. Brad isn't necessarily a fan, mostly due to the fact that whenever I'm reading something of hers, whatever he's engrossed in is interrupted by my wanting to read the current chapter aloud. A very annoying habit, I know, but sometimes I just can't help it.

In some house-related news, I'm eagerly awaiting the first signs of life in the gardens. You may remember that I dug up two patches in the front yard by the ends of the driveway and have decided to call them gardens. I'll post updated pictures of our floral happenings as soon as they start happening. I've heard that the crocus (sp?) should be making an appearance very soon. YIPEE!

We hope that all are having a wonderful 2006 so far. See you soon!
Katie

tahoe

tahoe
Originally uploaded by smithbradkatie.

How much worse can this get? A 2007 car, coming out the first week of 2006? Does anyone else understand this? Comments?

primed and ready to go

primed and ready to go
Originally uploaded by smithbradkatie.

Here is The Rocket all primed up... We're taking requests as to what color it should be... Anyone? Click the pic to see other shots of this horribl- i mean beautiful guitar.

el cheapo guitar

el cheapo body
Originally uploaded by smithbradkatie.

Here's the El Cheapo guitar "The Rocket" that Zach is revamping. more like a complete overhaul.