The urge to make things go kablewie!*

(you may or may not be able to tell from the above title I read way too much of mad and cracked magazines as a kid)

So, Saturday night we decide to blow our little popsicle stand in the 'shwa and go visit Jodi and Andrew in swanky-town (aka Burlington). There, being the lovely people they are, they have a lovely new house with lovely new fence, lovely patio furniture, and landscaping. It was Jodi's birthday, and a little get-together was planned. It's so nice catching up with friends, having a few laughs and relaxing in the gorgeous weather we've been having. We reminisced so much about our undergrad days together in rez that Dave said "wow I really wished I'd lived in residence" the next day.

When you see their house all you hear is the chorus of angels going "aaahhhhhhhh!" and everything is all sparkly and clean and new. Then you see our house and hear a combination of frogs ribbeting, swampy noises and the porch monkeys down the road belching and swearing.

So, not surprisingly on the way home, the little green monster snuck up on me, and since then I've been barely able to speak a sentence that somehow didn't involve us getting a patio.

I am hell-bent that we need to blow out our dining room window (which I like to imagine would make a Kablewie! noise) and replace it with doors (otherwise we'd have more animals than we currently have and likely be breaking some kind of by-law, to say nothing of moral codes) and build a deck. Where we can drink booze! And grill things! And have friends over! And tie people to posts for using too many exclamation points in blog posts!

I've had this thought before, and I think it's a completely do-able idea, given that the window is pretty big, I think it'd be about the right size for just such a project.

All of a sudden, reality hits though. It's not like we have nothing else to do in our house that should take priority. Or, I dunno, about 8 weddings including our own to plan/attend.

We have MOST of the wallpaper stripped from our front and upstairs hallways (save the tall bits which require a ladder which is something we do not own, and the ceiling), but some serious plaster work needs to be done after that's done, then sanded, then primed and painted.

Our kitchen? We think it's original to this 1942 house. Apparently they didn't care to do things like actually store goods in kitchens back then. I am dying to get a new kitchen (and even have a line on a place for granite countertops for cheap!) and know it'd be a good investment when we officially grow out of this house.

The basement? Lately it seems that it's barely a step above a dirt floor. It's been a bit weepy and in dire need of some measures to make it un-leaky. I've already done some patching with quick mixing concrete (which, if you're wondering I will remind you mixes to a solid REALLY fast, so don't turn your back on it for even a second, or you'll have sore arms for a week from trying to stir solid concrete, and a hoarse voice from swearing at the damn container of solid concrete), but it's in dire need of more attention, and, after that, some painting over it to add another moisture barrier.

The living room/dining room? Still BEIGE! We're not beige people (gah I hope we aren't!), but we're living in a very beige house. We're actually hoping to have the woman/genius who re-did my parents' house come over and give us some colour ideas, but so far? Still beige! Also on our big to-do list. There are parts of the ceiling that need work as well.

The original hardwood floors? Look in some spots like a hungry beaver inhabited the house for a while. Neighbour down the street gave us a SWEET price on re-doing them and I know he'd do a fantastic job. Sadly we'd actually have to leave this place for 3 days and find a spot to put the crap that's currently occupying the living room/dining room/front hall in the meantime while they were being re-done.

The bathroom? Yeah there's still vinyl wallpaper in there. It really would be a one-weekend job to strip, paint and prime it along with the ceiling, but we seem short on weekends of late so that has yet to be tackled.

But right now? I'm still obsessed about having a deck and place from which we can enjoy our under-used but full-of-potential back yard. Think of the margarita parties! We could have sangria! Think of the vines I could try to coax to grow along the top of the deck to create shade! Think of the extra living space we'd have a few months a year!

I spent last night obsessing over the home hardware catalogue/web site. I got my tape measure out, looking at how big our deck should be (I've decided! 16x10 so it'll almost be the exterior width of the house! (and yeah, our house isn't actually much more than 16 feet wide. Yes, that is probably smaller than your garage). I am also in love with the idea of having a roof that's just posts across the top like this trellis, only spaced further apart. Then, we get clematis, and other viney plants to scrawl across the top of it giving us interspersed shade (something I'm big on as a pastey person with a family history of skin cancer). And, think of all the cute little patio light sets there are out there! The possibilities are endless, and my mind is racing with every one of them at once. Ooh how it would be nice to sit out on hot summer evenings and relaxing.

Dinner last night (which I thought was especially yummy) could be repeated regularly. We had grilled zucchini strips (about 1/8th inch thick) with olive oil and salt, grilled corn on the cob, and I had a grilled portobello mushroom while Dave had locally raised organic beef. With that we had warmed bread with balsamic vinegar and olive oil for dipping. Leftovers for lunch today were SO good.

So, I think the new goal is to get the other work done on the house between now and early next spring, when some true kablewie work can happen to replace the window in the dining room with a patio door (or maybe french doors!) and a deck can be built.

Hmm anyone in the GTA feel like a good old fashioned deck building party next spring? They're almost as cool as barn raisings, only without the manure smell!

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*Dave maintains this is properly spelled "kablooey." I say he's wrong. Jury says? My blog! I win! :P