Summer Projects

We had a few projects that we finished this summer. The biggest one was the new shop. I last posted on the shop construction in May. In that post, the walls went up and the roof was put on. You can click here to go to that post. For previous posts about the shop, look under my Label section in the sidebar and go to Shop Construction. Lots has happened since that post. The siding has went on, insulation, sheetrock, painting, doors and windows, power, heat, and plumbing are all done. The shop is divided into several sections. My husband is a carpenter and he also has a passion for classic cars. This shop addresses both of those interests. As you look at the shop photo below, the overhead door on the lefthand side opens into the carpentry shop. The next overhead door opens into the mechanics shop. The man door enters into a small entry area off of the mechanics shop. Back from that door, you see a window. That is my part of the shop! I have a small "potting shed" with a sink and countertops. We're still working on the shelving, and there will be room for my stand for starting seedlings. Finally a place where all my gardening supplies can be kept all in one place! Right behind that is the mechanical room with bathroom facilities. The next overhead door is the entry into the storage area for the old cars. It runs the full length of the shop and all the old vehicles can be in out of the snow.
Now the fun part has begun. Marty has begun setting the shop up. He's got his tool boxes moved over from the garage and has a workbench and some of the shelving in for the mechanics shop. He has one workbench done in the carpentry shop and some of the shelves in place. He is still working on getting the dust collection system in, and he has more shelves to put up and another workbench on the back wall. Right now he is working on getting all his tools and various carpentry supplies in place and organized. You're asking, "Where does the fridge go?" That will be in the mechanics shop. He'll have one of his cars in the mechanics shop to work on over the winter. I think he's going to put his '56 Crown Victoria in. It needs a bit of engine work and odds and ends on the body. I expect that most mornings this winter he will head over to the shop and I won't see him again until it's time for dinner. He definitely will be enjoying his retirement.

The next project we got done was putting in a walkway from the driveway to the front door. Between the walkway and the garage we put down rock and then put planters on top of that. The edge of the lawn needs a bit of reseeding, but we'll get that done next spring.

Last summer we put a flower bed along the front of the house. It is mostly ferns, wood violets, dwarf delphiniums, columbines, and violas. Although I only got a small portion of the shop for playing, I do have my own play area in the house. Behind the two windows you see in the photo below are my sewing room and my office.

We moved into this house two years ago. We felt the front entryway was not well defined, and people got a bit confused trying to figure out which way to come into the house. To the right of the front door is the garage, and on the other side of the garage is a parking area with an entry door. That was the door most people were coming to, and that meant they had to come through the garage, the mudroom, and then into the hallway leading to the kitchen and dining room, and then finally into the living room. The photo below is the front of the house as it looked when we moved in.

The last project we did was putting a good surface on the driveway and parking area. It was pit run rock and sand, and sand was always being tracked into the house. We put down rap, which is crushed pavement that is packed hard. It's a much nicer surface and looks a lot better. You can see a bit of it in front of the walkway and in front of the shop. Next summer we'll do more work on flower beds and landscaping.