It's a Brick . . . House

You all will NOT believe the amount of work that one motivated Goodglass can get done in a single weekend . . . it boggles the mind!  About 3 weeks ago, our backyard was kinda sorta an asphalt wasteland.  Then commenced the beginning of the backyard overhaul - which all of you have seen in previous posts.  Since then we'd gotten inspired to line our flower beds with found brick - we thought it would be a fun idea to "hardscape" with materials that matched our (brick) house.  Well, the bricks we'd been finding throughout our excavations - plus additions from a few neighbors and some roadside adventures - were pretty darn cute lined up around the flower  beds.

And then Jesse got a little Craigs List Crazy.  And then the materials REALLY started rolling in - bricks AND stone, cheap/free!  After a bit of online research, Jesse quickly set to the task of placing a stepping stone path around the front of the house, winding through the new gate into backyard.  This was a project we'd been thinking about for a long time - pretty much ever since moving in - and we'd just been waiting to find the right kind of stone for the job (ie a Craigs List posting for what we had in mind might have read: Wanted: Stones that are cute and cheap).  In a flash, Jesse was done with that project and ON TO THE NEXT!  The next being . . .
Lining the newly mulched driveway bay with  . . . more brick!  We ended up having enough of a certain type of brick (another CL find) to line edge of the driveway, the new bed along the fence, and two little beds up against the house - AND a small "patio" as a level spot for the grill to live!  Damian had pointed out the potential grill location on a recent visit up to the Cuse and, once we realized we had enough brick, it made sense to make a permanent little spot for it.    
Mixed into the weekend there was a trip out to the Regional Market for some annuals, meeting Gemma's mom who had flown in from Seattle for SU's graduation (congrats Gemma!!), and purchasing a picnic table and umbrella to place the icing on the cake that has now become our backyard.  I have to give all the credit to Jesse for his motivation and execution of all the work this weekend.  I did a bit of digging and replanting on Saturday, but mostly came outside periodically to survey the progress.  I AM, however, project manager for the annuals this week, so I'll be putting those in bit by bit, getting a little color into things here and there . . .
We LOVE OUR BACKYARD! 

We had our first dinner out there just an hour or so ago - a little dark as we're still on the hunt for big fat candles to go in our lanterns, but delightful nonetheless :)
Yay for weekend productivity!!

Technical Stuff

Soooo Jess has brought it to my attention that y'all might possibly be missing some of the posts whenever I get in a frenzy and post twice in one day :)  Make sure to scroll down when you see a new post (example: Soft As A . . . )  to check out the older posts (example: Backyard Overhaul: PART THREE!!) - don't want anyone to miss any of the backyard/baby/garden/foodie/baby action! 

So folks, be kind, please rewind. 

;)

Soft As (the Stuff Right Next To) Baby's Bum

Jess and I went to our first cloth diapering info session last night at the Syracuse home office of CNY Cloth Diaper Express.  We'd been toying with the idea of cloth diapering for this first little one but had NO idea how to go about making any concrete decisions.  As with anything when it comes to babies, there is a RIDICULOUS amount of info available on the internet, endless pros and cons, "horror stories" on both sides . . . and of course, no free lunch.  Overall, the following appealed to us in favor of cloth diapering:

• materials like 100% cotton, fleece, micro-suede, bamboo next to baby's skin (no harsh chemicals)
• potential for cost effectiveness (though you take a $$ up-front on reusable diapers and covers, we'd be paying mucho moolah each week anyway for disposables, and the reusables can last through multiple kids!)
• environmentally-friendly-ish (HOW environmentally friendly is debatable; you are upping your washer and dryer water/energy consumption and EVENTUALLY the waterproof covers ARE going to end up in a landfill, but it seems to still be less of an impact than chucking every single disposable that ever touches a soggy bottom)
• lots of options (this is both good AND bad when it comes to my decision-making abilities!) now that cloth diapering is becoming "trendy" again - and no sharp diaper pins!
• lots of options - color/pattern-wise that is . . . so maybe Jesse doesn't care so much about this but I do love cute bright colors . . . 

CNY Cloth Diaper Express also offers multiple service options (rentals, delivery/wash/pick-up service, purchasing your own), which is nice because we'll be able to adjust as we go along.  We may decide to utilize their diaper service for the first few weeks while we're settling in, we may just get them to wash/pick-up/deliver our own diapers, or (Who knows!) we may find out we are super cloth-diaperers and willing to take on all the washing and drying ourselves.  The company president we sat down with last night was obviously super-knowledgeable and ready and willing to trouble-shoot any problems/questions we might have (ie how do all the sizes fit, what cleaners work best, just exactly what do you DO with the poop???).

Mainly last night was a chance to get a solid foundation in the most well-known types of cloth diapers.  There are cotton pre-folds (which Jesse and I agree is a misnomer - these 4-8ply quilted rectangles themselves are NOT pre-folded, YOU have to pre-fold them!) which then need a (usually waterproof) cover, fitted diapers (these are a material such as cotton/bamboo that have snaps or velcro, making them a bit easier than a pre-fold) which also need a cover, pocket-diapers (the waterproof covers have a 'pocket' for an absorbant cloth that can be removed), and "all-in-one" diapers that are basically just like disposables except you wash, dry, and reuse them.  Like I said - LOTS OF OPTIONS.  It was good to just get our hands on them, try them out, feel the materials . . .Nothing is set in stone yet - we may still use disposables on long trips, in a pinch, etc.  At this point, we're going to give it a try and not drive ourselves crazy clinging to ANY method if it's not working out.  We're hoping to take this attitude with all of our baby/parenting (eek!) decisions: We'll give anything a try, we'll do what's right for us, we support what works for other peops!

Oi.  Babies!

*Picture source: http://www.atlantadiaperservice.com/images/stories/frontpageimage.jpg

Backyard Overhaul: Part Three

I have a feeling this will become a continuing series on The House at Fellows - the backyard is already so vastly improved, but making something look nice ALWAYS seems to bring up MORE possibilities, MORE improvements . . . I'm going to include some hard-core before pictures here as well for your comparing pleasure - ENJOY!

 

"Finished Product!"

Return of Gustav!

On a quick break from the Backyard Overhaul series (don't worry - we'll be back later this week!), we take this opportunity to welcome back Gustav!  Gustav is this beautiful blanket hand-made for us by Miss Faith Hale - it reminded me of a Gustav Klimt painting, so the name has stuck.  He had a spot or two of unraveling and so went to the blanket hospital in Brooklyn (ie Faith's apartment!) to get stitched up ("Word play!").  We got him back recently via post and he is now in his rightful place, gracing the sunporch amongst some green growing things . . . Thank you Faith!  Because I love this blanket so much, the rest of this post will be exhibit Caitlin+Gustav-Love+Camera . . . .

Backyard Overhaul: Part Two

We know you've been waiting for it - Part TWO in the much anticipated Backyard Overhaul series.  So big, just one post wouldn't do it justice :)

Thankfully, the rest of the week was, if not exactly warm, at least dry.  Monday was actually my last day of classes for this past semester, so Jess drove me over for my 8am class and then headed back to the house to START DIGGIN'!  The boys rented a two-person auger to dig the post holes - and that thing was a BEAST.  Even with the two of them hanging on for dear life (and one of them being Popeye-armed Stevo!), the auger kicked, bit, and generally fought back.  It also didn't help that our property apparently sits on plenty of rock, shale, and clay - the auger from time to time would wedge itself nice and tight into said rock-like materials, which then necessitated literally prying the auger back up from out of the bowels of the earth!  Margaret and I mostly stayed inside, listening for extra loud yells over the roar of the auger that might mean someone had lost a limb.  No worries, however, the holes were dug without any limb-losing excitement. 
On Tuesday (and I may be mixing around the steps now) the posts had to be placed into the holes, measured and leveled, and then the concrete went into the holes.  Stevo showed Jesse a method where the concrete was poured in around the post dry and then water added and then the whole soupy mess kinda mixed around with a big stick.  No racing to pre-mix various amounts in a wheelbarrow or bucket - nice for our wheelbarrow and buckets!  We had said goodbye to Mama Margaret Monday afternoon so she could get back to South Jerz and work and school - we missed her, but were glad to have been able to spend the weekend with her.
Weds morning the boys took a well-deserved break for a round of golf - and I headed over to my first final exam!  It was a beautiful day (a 9 or 10 for you golf/weather.com enthusiasts) and as soon as they got back from 18 holes, Jesse and Stevo dove into trench digging and placing the fence segments on the cemented-in posts.  The fence pieces went up in NO time - the TRENCH however . . . Now you'll remember that we needed this trench along the fence line in order to run the electricity from the house out to the garage.  And not just any old trench - it had to be a certain depth in order to run the conduit that would house the electric wires.  Now imagine setting a pick-axe to 50-60ft of dirt, asphalt, rock, and clay.  Jesse worked so hard to dig that trench we're pretty sure he actually gave himself a cold . . .
Stevo was going to be leaving the next day, so we took a break from our respective studying, trench digging, and fence hanging to head over to Texas Roadhouse for dinner!  Jess and I had never been before, and we thoroughly enjoyed the meat-fest that ensued.  We each got enough ribs, steak, and various sides to take home for leftovers - I must admit, I do have a dark side, I would have kept my mouth shut and let Stevo drive away on Thurs without his take-home container of ribs . . . but alas, he made sure to remember them  . . .
Thursday was a day of more ditch-digging, finally laying the electric to connect the juice to the ready-and-waiting garage, putting the finishing touches on a gate, general clean-up, and even installing a 3-pronged outlet or two inside the house so that I wouldn't have to keep running my laptop up and down the stairs whenever I needed to charge it up!
Scattered throughout the week was also renting and running a large walk-behind saw to cut through our layer(s) of asphalt and multiple mulch runs to spruce up the front corner bed and lay down a nicer (MUCH nicer than crumbling asphalt) surface in front of the 4th bay.  I was significantly less of a help with the manual labor this time around but I did get to chip in a bit with some easy digging, mulch spreading, and planting on my study breaks.  We got SO much done that week!  And we couldn't have tackled these projects on our own - Stevo and Margaret were awesome with their brains, their brawn, and with the bringing of the whole shindig's Mascot and ever-optimistic cheerleader - Miss Mocha!  Thanks so much for a wonderful week, guys!
I'll save the "after" pictures for Part Three - and we'll be adding to the "after" pictures all Spring/Summer I expect . . . Enjoy! 

Backyard Overhaul: Part 1

We've had dreams for our black-top-covered backyard ever since purchasing The House at Fellows just a bit over a year ago - big dreams!  The top of our list for this Spring?  Electric out to the garage and a fence!!  We wanted to be able to better utilize our big, beautiful 4-bay garage.  It's pretty dark most of the time in Winter and even by the end of our CSA season (somewhere around October/November), it got dark so early that our POD members were picking out their produce by the scant light of a single bulb on a VERY LONG extension cord.  So a little more light back there was what we've been craving . . . And as far as the fence, we wanted to create a nicer "backyard feel" and a bit of a spatial separation between our property and the next - especially because our two driveways were still connected. 
Woodfords to the rescue!  Margaret and Stevo generously offered to haul up to the Cuse during Jesse's Spring Break and offer their expertise in order to make these projects possible.  With BIG PLANS in motion involving trench-digging, fence post placing, and lots of general outdoor work, a RAINY morning on the first work day threatened to dampen our spirits (rain = no trench digging!).  Never fear!  The boys busied themselves with setting up almost the ENTIRE garage with outlets, bulbs, and some lovely outdoor lanterns - so everything was set except for actually running the electricity from the house TO the garage.  Mama Margaret and I stayed bundled up inside, alternating between kitchen, couch, and various laptops - I even got Margaret to show me a few verses of the rock song she is signing (yes, SIGNING, not singing) for a concert for the deaf in May!  Later that evening we decided to add yet ANOTHER Margaret into the mix, coaxing Miss Casazza over from her worm conference that day at Upstate.  We had a nice, relaxed evening of catching up on recent nematode break-throughs over good chinese food. 

The next morning was still rainy so the boys were out in the garage again.  It eventually brightened up enough for the ladies to do some splitting and re-potting of house plants and throwing some perennials from South Jersey into the ground outside.  So much potential for color and greenery!  The nice weather continued as we headed over to Slow Food CNY's Spring-season potluck (Jesse is on the board!).  We enjoyed good food in the cozy atmosphere over at Grace Episcopal Church of Syracuse where Slow Food member (and prolific Cookin' in the Cuse blogger) Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows is the residing reverend.  We were also treated to a powerpoint presentation about Slow Food USA - at the end of which Sugar Pearl Cafe was awarded the Spring season Snail of Approval Award!  You may remember our previous post about their fabulous food - yay for food joints offering food that is delicious AND local :) 

All in all it was a very nice weekend.  Stay tuned for "Backyard Overhaul: Part Two" where the work REALLY gets going  . . .