Address Plaque

Got the address plaque put up today. I got this from Al Pisano on Etsy. It is hand cast polyresin -- hand painted and stained. I love it!

Solar Panels, More Plants!

I received a picture today of the solar panels as viewed from the street/driveway. I am surprised to see shade on the house/panels! I will evaluate where that is coming from the next time I am home. If the picture was taken late enough in the day, it could be from the woods. Which would be fine. I can't do anything about the sun setting... But there is a lone tree by the camper garage that might need to be removed if that's the cause of the shade.

I talked to my Mom yesterday, telling her all the deals I've been getting on my house plants. She said that I should get her a plant. I did have a bonus $10 Merry Money that came in my email. I told her I could use that to get her another Croton like the one I got for myself earlier in the week. I described it to her since she wasn't familiar with it. I think the colors will go so well with her kitchen/living room colors.

So, while I was at McDonald Garden Center, I was looking at the Crotons to get Mom one like mine. But you know I had already bought the most beautiful Croton that they were selling. And all of my other plants that are anything other than green are purple, maroon, and pink. So, I decided to give Mom my Croton for Christmas and I got the Mammy variety for myself:

The Crotons were still on sale 50% off, so I was also able to get a Cordyline - Calypso Queen (also on sale 50% off) and use the $10 Merry Money. And then I paid with a rebate card! This plant's leaves look almost black.

More Plants

I think I have enough plants now for the planter box. Today I used my Merry Money ($16), two coupons ($5 each) and 3 gift cards to cover the total due! Here's what I got today:

2 African Violets:

2 Bromeliads -- the tall one in the back is a Guzmania Switch and the shorter one in front is a Pink Quill:

This is a Dracaena - Magenta:

No planter box would be complete without a Golden Pothos:

And I got this beautiful Oyster Plant:

Solar Panels, More Plants For The Planter Box!

The solar panels were installed today. This is 29 panels for a 10kW system.

The planter box that divides the kitchen and living room is 9 feet by 2 feet. So, it's going to take quite a few houseplants to look nice. Right now, McDonald Garden Center is giving "Merry Money" -- $1 for every $10 spent. Then you can use the Merry Money this weekend coming up. Plus I have a bunch of $5 off for $10 spent cards. (I think I started with 8 or 9 of them.) And I have a gift card from there which is use it or lose it after I move. So, I'm going there and getting a bunch of nice plants on the cheap (free since the gift card has covered everything so far)! Today, I used 4 more $5 off cards and got these 4 plants.

Peace Lily - Domino:

Ficus - Ruby

Chinese Evergreen - Sparkling Sara

Fern - Birds Nest Victoria

Planter Box: Croton

I got this beautiful Croton for the planter box today!

Solar System

The rails for the solar panels went up today:

I happened to be in town, so when I saw my sister stop to take a picture, I did a photo-bomb!

Driveway Asphalt

The asphalt was put on the driveway today.

Moving In, Solar Panel Delivery, Gross Well Water

I finally got my big truck full and made the trip to Maryland. The family came over and what took me weeks (months?) to pack and load was unloaded in a few hours! Finally, some furniture in the Living Room!

It's going to take me forever to unpack all of these boxes!

I was also there for the scary delivery of the solar panels. This pallet was bigger than the platform that went up and down. Steve had to come and help the driver. Once the wheels of the forklift were off the platform, they had to tug on the pallet to bring it forward. Then, it still had to be lowered while the pallet was overlapping the back of the truck, breaking that edge of pallet when the platform was lowered. Thousands of pounds. Scary stuff. I told the driver, "You break it, you buy it!"

And some grossness! My first night in the house, I was drinking some water I had gotten next door at my Mom's house. When I was done, I went (in the near-dark) to the kitchen sink, rinsed the mug, and set it on the counter. The next morning, this is what it looked like... Pretty gross. And it smells like rotten eggs. I've been running the water to try to clear it out.

Planter Box: Fiddle Leaf Fig

I got a beautiful Fiddle Leaf Fig for my planter box. This will be the plant closest to the wall:

Certificate Of Occupancy!

Here it is! The Certificate Of Occupancy! I can start moving in now!

More Yard Pictures

The North Rain Garden is coming in nicely. The pink flowers are Joe Pye Weed. The white is a Vanilla Strawberry Hydrangea.

Rain garden to the left, hot tub on the right.

The posts aren't attached yet. The patio will also be screened.

The rain barrels are in place. They are daisy chained together. The empty area between the rain barrels and the heat pumps is where a standby generator will go -- when I can afford it... That's the back of the camper garage on the right.

I'm really not happy with part of the septic being above ground. I'll be landscaping to hide it.

The South Rain Garden is also coming in nicely. I love the huge blooms on the Summer Storm Swamp Rose Mallow.

I love how the front door area came out. I got a beautiful address plaque that will go on the front of the house. I'll post a pic after its in place.

This is the back of the camper garage. There's a water hydrant for the camper and garden. Mom's house is visible to the right. She only has to move next door!

Hot Tub Delivery and Various Pictures

I made a trip home to accept delivery of the hot tub. The stamped concrete had to be stained first. This is the front porch. It's supposed to be shades of brown. I don't think it came out very good. I have a friend who also has a stamped concrete sidewalk and she doesn't think the color came out very well on her sidewalk...

The hot tub arrived, right on time! It's a Thermospas Atlantis Silver.

Here's some pictures of the hot tub in place.

The posts have not been attached yet, since we didn't know what would need to be removed to get the hot tub in place. They will be straightened out now and attached and the screen can be put in.

They only needed to remove one post from this side.

Here's some other pictures that I took during that trip. The rain garden near the driveway on the southern side of the house is filling in nicely.

This is the rain garden on the northern side of the house. It's the bed that can be viewed from the hot tub patio area. The shade cloth is for the shade plants that will be shaded when the trees get a little spread.

There's a corner table in the center of this picture. It has little cut-outs for resting pool cues. I bought two if these tables for the outside corners of the room, but there wasn't enough room... I wish I had found these tables while we were in the planning stages.

The grading is completed, grass seed and hay has been spread.

The appliances and faucets are in place. I decided to go with Delta faucets. This is my kitchen.

This is Mom's kitchen.

We have the same appliances on both sides. The ranges are Kenmore 94183.

Range hoods are Kenmore 5535.

The refrigerator has a door-in-door on the right, for quick access to the most used items. They are Kenmore 73065.

Dish washers are Kitchen Aid KDFE304DSS.

Washers and dryers are GE GTWN5650FWS and GE GTDS560EFWS.

I've asked the builder to move the hanging bar above each dryer down about a foot...