Confession

I haven't posted because I just haven't had the time. We are very busy! I've been hemming and hawing over whether to blog about the mess we have over here. You see, it's a little embarrassing. I don't want you to stop reading my blog out of sheer disgust. Please don't judge, but it's time we came out to our family, friends, and strangers......

via Google Images

We have a mouse problem! I know, I know...almost every house has some at some point... but come on -  gross!!! I debated whether I should wait until the problem was solved before I said anything to anyone. There's a little less of a stigma applied if you are the homeowner who, had a mouse problem vs the homeowner who has rodents running amuck in their home. Problem was, when people asked what I did this weekend and I said, "some spring cleaning" the look on my face signaled to everyone that there was a story behind it. I just can't lie!

I guess I was only half joking when I wrote about a Mickey who wanted my cinnamon.  Shortly after I pushed publish on that post we discovered a torn up oven mitt in our drawer. I blamed the washing machine. Then, we opened another drawer and found corn kernels and black beans shoved in the corner.  Everything (!!) was pulled out, washed, scrubbed, and sterilized. Cabinets were scrubbed from the inside out. Traps were laid.

Death toll is currently four. We do feel a little bad for the cute little vermin. I thought about doing the catch and release traps. Problem with that is I would need to drive the fur balls at least a mile away if I didn't want them to come right on back! I pictured my mouse family, the dad waving his little bus ticket, 5 little ones, and a pregnant wife to boot, out there in the cold, running from barn owls and hawks, just trying to get back home. I think the current plan is working out better for everyone. Fact of the matter is, they are dirty little pests. Nobody would dream of catching cockroaches and setting them free.. ..    I hope...

Good news is..my kitchen has not looked cleaner! We cleaned and scrubbed like crazy. We still won't eat here until we know the little ones are gone. And then, we'll need to clean and scrub it again...just to be sure..

I've already learned a lot from this experience....both from research and personal accounts. First off, cheese is so 1950's. Modern mice love peanut butter. This last run I left them a chocolate chip on their traps too. Also, people are just as inclined to go into detail about their history with house mice as they are to tell their birth stories. I felt a little better as I stood in home depot with 4 other people picking out just the right traps for our little buggers. Speaking of birth, mice ovulate every 4 days!!! Yikes! Gestation period of 21 days. Gotta move fast. I WORK at a pregnancy and birth center, but despite feeling like it sometimes, I don't LIVE at the pregnancy and birth center.  

Ortho makes this trap. So far so good. Out of the seven we have out only one hasn't worked as advertised. It's meant to be disposable after one use but for 4 dollars for a pack of two they are completely re-usable. No need to even touch the mouse! Super easy to set.

Few other tricks and tips -  Mice hate peppermint. Once I know we have them gone I'm going to put a little peppermint oil on a cotton ball and put it in the corner of my cabinets. Mice can fit through a hole the size of a nickel!!! I think they are coming from the sink hole. You can plug up the holes with steel wool. It's difficult to chew through. Mouse with a tooth ache? It's only suggested you plug up the holes when you know they are out..otherwise you'll have dead mouse in the walls... stinky.

I'm giving it another few days...then I'm trowing in the oven mitts and letting Dad come over and see if he can add exterminator to his ongoing resume.

So please, don't hold my confession and lack of blog updates against me.....Or I'll catch and release them in your backyard!

THIS! Has got to END!

I have the Twisted Sister song, "We're Not Gonna Take It" lyrics in my head as I type.
"We're Not Gonna Take It
No, We Ain't Gonna Take It
We're Not Gonna Take It Anymore!"


Aside from looking cluttered, this set-up is far from functional.

First off, I spy with my little eye, two identical canisters of basil leaves. Who can tell what you already have when it's all jumbled like this?

Second, spices are supposed to be kept in a dark, dry, not too warm area. Pretty sure the top of the oven/stove does not fit this criteria.

Third, they fall down. A few times they have fallen while I was cooking. I try to be a good Christian but how the *&$#! can't you not curse when the parsley leaves container just fell into your nice hot meal?!! Two nights ago, a few of the spices crashed down at the respectable time of 0330am. We hadn't used them in a few days. Did our kitchen suddenly become a wind tunnel? Do we have a Mickey Mouse with a craving for cinnamon? I don't know. All I know is that after nearly 1 year, I'm coming up with a better solution.

I have a few ideas in mind. But let me ask you - How and Where do you store your spices???

Master Bedroom Reveal!

***Please forgive me. Blog layouts are more difficult than I gave credit to. I had a hard time getting the pictures to come out o.k. I'll learn.*****

Our master bedroom was one of the first rooms to be ALMOST complete. Mostly, because it was one of the easiest to finish. I'll let the pictures do the talking here.

BEFORE

The room when we moved in.  It wasn't the worst example of wallpaper in the world but it definitely wasn't "us" I wish I had a good picture of how disgusting the carpet was. We did some major cleaning before we were able to do anything. We had that "things are crawling on me" feeling several hours after the vacuuming was complete.

  

DURING

 My husband used a steamer rented from Home Depot to remove the wallpaper.  I used a combination of warm water/vinegar in a spray bottle. Once saturated, it would just peel off. That is what is SUPPOSED to happen when you remove it. Large sheets SHOULD come off. We spoke wayyyy to soon when we said to each other, "Why do people say this is so hard?"

Wallpaper had it's revenge in other rooms.

Not pictured, because this was before I had a blog, but once all the wallpaper was removed I took one of those mops that look like a sponge on the end and I used vinegar and a putty knife (?) to get off EACH  LITTLE PIECE of glue and wallpaper left behind. Then, we patched up any holes (created by us or ones already there from the previous owners) with compound. Let that dry...sanded..and then the fun part!

When choosing a color we tried to find a good compliment to the bedding my parents got us as a wedding present. It's a tradition in my mother's family to get the bedding for the new couple when they get married and the crib for a new birth. The color is Behr "Rain Washed." We love it! It is very relaxing. We wanted a blue that wasn't aqua but also wasn't "baby blue." It is perfect!

ALMOST DONE

We DID NOT install new carpet ourselves. Steve did rip out the old carpet and we took it to the dump together. They were going to charge for it and half of the carpet was already coming up on it's own so we figured it couldn't be that hard. It wasn't. Really easy. The new carpet is so clean, plush, and wonderful!! Very good investment! Oh, back up. Some might wonder, "Why did you not install hardwood if you were putting down new flooring?" We did think about it. But, we like something soft, warm, and cozy under our feet in the morning! We decided that we will carpet the bedrooms and do hardwood in all other living areas.

We did things "the traditional way" in that we had separate residences for our 6 year courtship before the wedding. We had pretty much NO furniture! We both had twin beds at our prior residences so that wasn't going to work! Ricky and Lucy Ricardo bedroom set up??  Both our parents' had their bedroom furniture for 25+ years. They don't make furniture like that anymore but we did want something that would last! Our furniture from Raymour and Flannigan was delivered a few days after the carpet installation. We are so happy with our decision! Our mattress came from them too. Initially I did not like it but now it is wonderful!

So to recap, since everyone loves a Before and After: 

BEFORE                                                       

AFTER 

Bed set and Matress: Raymour and Flannigan, Bedding (from my parents): Bed, Bath, and Beyond,  Curtain rods and sheer drapes: Bed, Bath, Beyond, Room darkening curtains (room gets a lot of light for this night-shifter): Target, Lamps: Walmart, Paint: Behr Rain Washed on the walls in flat finish, Glidden semi-gloss white for the trim.

I have a blog

Welcome to The Handyman's Granddaughter! Here, I hope to share our hopes, dreams, successes, and failures, photos of our first home. "Our", you might ask? The man behind the woman with the blog is my husband, Steve. We bought our first home, in Portland, CT, last March. It's a 1980's cosmetic nightmare. There's pretty wallpaper out there and then there's wallpaper that haunts you in the middle of the night. We chose the house with the latter. The flooring...I'm pretty sure some of the carpet (and yes, I did look underneath, this may be my first blog but I could make a career out of reading how-to's, just plywood) is the 1980's original. The 80's are kind of "the lost years" in homemaking. Too soon to be relished for it's antique charm or "character" but too long ago to be anything worth desiring in 2012. The reason we bought the house is for it's amazing potential. Plenty of square footage, 2.5 bathrooms, 3 bedrooms, open-ish floor plan, all bedrooms on the same floor, nice storage areas, decent size kitchen with a dining room, garage, (which we don't use except to store the "projects" I'll get around to some day) and the potential to re-finish the basement into a woman's cave playroom.

We are willing to put in the work to make this our dream home. Problem is, my husband is not handy. He wasn't handy when we met so I'm not sure why I thought this was suddenly going to change with the addition of a ring. I'm not what I'd call "good" with paintbrushes, ladders, wallpaper removal tools, hammers, or power tools. I'm definitely not afraid to try though! So, where are we getting our DIY savvy knowledge, skills, and tools from?? The Handyman's son! Dad to the rescue! He can do much of what he does because he learned it from his dad. Hence, the name of this blog. The three of us, are much of the same in that we aren't afraid to try something new, we aren't afraid to royally mess up, and I think we can see a bigger picture in projects that some just can't see. Most of all, we are way too cheap cost-conscious to pay someone to do it for us!!  More about the Handyman and his son in future posts.....

I hope you stick around to read more! I'm not sure where this blog is going to go but right now I'm picturing it containing house repairs, decorating, cooking, organizational, and cleaning trials and tribulations....and of course, lots of photos!!