The Project - Week 11: Anticipation

I feel like I am waiting for the ketchup... it is taking so long!
For those of you who may be too young to remember the Heinz commercials....



But, like the richness of Heinz Ketchup, the wait has been worth it. This week we have the beginning of an entirely new look!

This week we:

• finished installing the wood floor - all 900 (give or take) square feet of it. Well, to be honest, we have two more courses to do in the dining room, but we should be able to finish that in about 15 minutes.
• transplanted one poor tree - a crab apple, we think.  All that has survived is one trunk which is about 1" in caliper (out of three) and one or two small branches. I couldn't just chuck it. Some day it may recover from years of abuse and neglect and be a beautiful tree again.
• planted two trees; our weeping larch (which took the place of the crab apple) and a red bud. 
• (my hubby) used the tractor to knock over and haul out root balls and metal baskets of about 10 dead trees. 
• prepared some of the holes from dead trees we removed to plant new trees. On Tuesday we will have 3 ornamental trees delivered; a Cleveland Pear, a White Snow Crab Apple and a Thundering Child Crab Apple. I love the name of the last tree, and can't wait to see it in blossom. These were deeply discounted trees we found at a market. Apparently the owner is collecting last year's stock from nurseries. The trees have a few areas of scuffed bark but looked quite healthy. They are all a nice size - 2" - 3" in caliper. They'll be a challenge to plant.
• trimmed ornamental grasses, a few shrubs and raked up some leaves and debris in the back garden. Saturday we had a beautiful sunny day with temperatures in the 70's. I was outside all day and loved every minute of grubbing in the dirt. Sunday it snowed! That's Colorado!
• discovered more flowers coming up from bulbs. We have lots of tulips and some beautiful narcissus.
• got our kitchen back - well, most of it. The guys came to install our cabinets. A gas pipe needs to be moved before they can finish on Wednesday. They still need to install the crown molding and two cabinets. Then the counter guys have to come measure. But that's OK because we have to finish our bath, get carpet for the bedroom and do some painting before we move in. Oh, and did I mention the miles of baseboard we will need to paint, sand, paint and install? I can hardly wait - (use tone of sarcasm while reading). 

Kitchen - Before

Kitchen - Making Progress!