Pondelicious 2

It has been one year since we started our adventure in the Courtyard House. Here is an updated photo of our center courtyard pond. It is delicious this summer, as the plants are now settled a bit and the landscaping is finished. This is my favorite morning spot.

For details on pond building see "A Pond is Born" entry from July, 2007.

New Flat Roof At Last

After many months of battling our old ballast roof we finally have a bright and shiny new Modified Bitumen roof. The above photo shows our dining room on many occasions during the past few months. The chairs look like they are doing a line dance away from the deluge. A ballast roof is a rubber membrane that is put over the flat roof then sealed and held in place by tons of small river rock. The problem with our previous roof was that over time the sun compromised the rubber, bad repairs were made and the roof failed-big time and the leaks begin. Finding a leak on a rubber roof is problematic as the roof may have a hole many yards away from the actual point the water comes into the house. We lived 17 years with a ballast roof on our last flat roofed house-we know "leak searching".


The Calvary Arrives!


Look at the size of this truck! 5-6 workmen shoved for 2 days removing old roof and tons of rocks. The noise was unbelievable and the house shook! They loaded all of that into this handy truck.

The modified-bitumen system we had put on is a commercial application. Because our home has 2 center courtyards, one about 450 sq. feet and the other about 200 sq. feet, the application was similar to putting saran wrap and peanut butter on a donut. The new roof has asphalt build up which allowed the roofer to easily fit it around the courtyard opening.

The finish on the roof is a shiny, shiny silver, if you are ever flying over Central Illinois and see a giant silver donut, give us a wave.

Luscious Lilacs- Spring Surprises

One of the very best things about moving into a new house with an existing garden is the very first Spring. I am delighted almost everyday by a new arrival poking it's head from the ground or a fantastic bloom surprising me with radiant color.

Yesterday I was overwhelmed by the smell of my hedge of Korean lilac. The aroma drifts onto the deck and into the house. No perfume can compete with nature.

I have gardened for many, many years. As an apartment dweller my porches were cluttered with potted flowers and plants. After I graduated to houses I keep a variety of perennials, most of which I moved from one abode to the next.

While living in our previous house I lost my will to garden ( a tragic occurrence). We lived on a very busy street and the relaxation of puttering in the dirt was lost by the wind whipping semi trucks and wolf whistles (must have been blind men) that came when I worked in the yard.

I kept up the premise of being an avid garden, but the thrill was gone...

This new garden here at the Courtyard House has renewed my garden spirit. I can work without an audience, the only ones admiring me while I dig are hearty robins hoping I unearth a juicy worm. It is gardening as it should be.

It is during gardening that I am revived from life's challenges. I have the space of the outdoors, the quiet of the day and I can actually experience consecutive thoughts without interruption. At the end of the day, when my muscles are tired and I am calm I can say,

"Yes, this is good."

Blog Restart-it has been 6 months since my last post...

Here we are in May for goodness sake and my last entry was October!!! Life at the Courtyard House has been full steam ahead. I am resolving to once again enter the blog world with more misadventures.

A few weeks ago I ran into someone who said I should restart my blog...I was shocked I didn't realize that people actually read and enjoyed my crazy life!

I am including this picture of my daughter entitled "Lamphead", because it is nearly one year since it was taken...moving day!! This was how she felt on that day...she has since recovered.

Makin' Somethin' Outa Nothin'

When we moved into our house there were 2 very large, very ugly yellow bulletin boards attached to a hallway wall. When we painted we had them removed and in the process the frame came apart. I was getting ready to have them hauled away when we decided to recycle them into something usuable-a very cool bulletin board wall for my daughter's room.

First we cut one of them down from 4X8 to 4X6 and removed the remaining frame. Then off to the paint store to buy "bad mixes paint", (pints or quarts of paint that were not the right color). My daughter first painted the board white, then created a design using the colored paint. After it dried we reattached the frame and nailed it to the wall (to the studs) with 4 nails and WOW what a cool piece of art.

She now has it covered with tons of fun drawings and other pin up stuff.


I think the board material is homesote (recycled paper) which you can get at a big box store. The paint was all acrylic latex and the frame is just some sort of trim, cut and mitered at the corners.

Fun and Games in the Master Bath

It started out as an average day. The hub had just returned home after being gone on a long trip and we were glad to see him. My daughter and I were proud of all the work we had completed on the house while he was away.

He was impressed in that "road weary" sorta way.

One of my main projects during his absence was sprucing up the master bath. We're not ready to do the complete reno yet, so I decided to attempt some cosmetic updates. One of my projects was to replace the "soft, cushy" toilet seat with a real seat. My hub already had some concerns about the "space saving" aspects of the toilet, so I was trying to give it more appeal.

I was proud of the result. He decided to give it a try. The next thing I know here come the tired hub who is looking at me and saying "I didn't mean to do it".

Now, since I was without a clue what he was referring to, I just jumped to all the natural conclusions...After numerous guesses he said "I broke the seat". Now, I had no real reference to these kinds of events and since my loving hub is a big kidder I thought that was where this was going...

But as you can see here's the evidence. Poor guy, I can't imagine what a start that must have given him when it cracked and broke. The only "play by play" that I could get from him was that there was some sort of shift and then it went. I imagined it was a "slip and scoot" sorta event.

Welcome home honey, my next project will be less dangerous for you... I promise!

Home School

Each August you can find me working away on the upcoming year's curriculum and lesson plans. Here is what my work table looks like today. I wish that it was picture perfect, but this planning is a work in progress. This is our 8th year of home schooling, so that puts my daughter in the 7th grade.

Middle school is where the "rubber meets the road" in my book. If you notice there is a bright and shiny new book in the stack titled "Pre-Algebra", that alone is enough to send those who are faint of heart running to hide. Not my girl, she's also chosen to tackle that other big book in the stack titled "Biology". Now this one is a high school text and she is ready to jump into it.

One way I always describe home schooling is that it is a life style choice. We work hard, but my girl can study in the way that best suits her needs. If she decides to spend an afternoon reading and writing about spotted frogs-we shift the schedule and she can do that. Or if she gets tangled in an idea or concept we can take the time to untangle her and renew her enthusiasm and not let her become lost in disappointment and confusion.

The lifestyle aspect comes in because we choose for me to stay home and home school her-it's a choice we all three make. Its a choice that affects other parts of our life, I can't work more hours, my art studio stays empty, it is a ton of work and at times my daughter and I get tired of each other. It's a choice we keep making, because we see a bright and shiny kid who loves to read and learn and explore the world. She feels she can make a difference and I can't think of anything more important that I could spend my time doing than helping her accomplish her goals.

Back to work.

Pondelicious

Here at last is our completed center courtyard pond! From brick/concrete pad to luscious outdoor environment. We are delighted with the result. It is now inhabited by 2 tadpoles, 3 goldfish and one small Koi. A couple more Koi will join the family this week. I am still searching for outdoor furniture to finish it off and would like to climb up on the roof to take some photos from above.

For more pictures of the process see posts from June and July.

A Tree in A Tree

Last fall we noticed this tiny red cedar tree growing in a large maple tree in my parent's yard. This past weekend we were visiting and I snapped this picture of the two trees. The crook in the maple is about 15 feet off the ground and the little red cedar is happily growing in it's cozy home.

My parents live on a farm so during the dusty, dusty summers dirt and rain accumulate in the tree and little cedar has survived.

My dad tells me that red cedar tree seeds will not germinate on their own-but must be eaten by birds in order to soften up enough to sprout.

This easily answers the question of how the little tree seed made it into the maple tree's nook as this is one tree on the farm that no one parks their car under!

Studio 11

I have a complete floor in the garage loft-which is good because now I won't fall through if I have a creative stroke of genius. Half of the loft is to become my 11th art studio (the other half-family storage).

I've had a numerous spaces over the years-some more successful than others. As I think back some of the studios seem like mere figments of my overactive imagination and in reality actually were kitchenettes, living rooms, dining rooms and other various and assorted spaces that I claimed a corner in.

In graduate school I had a "real" studio in a house owned by the university. We fiber art grad students had spaces in a 4 bedroom ranch across campus. All critiques took place in the common area-the former living room. Generally these were fairly civil events-not the estrogen induced scenes that some think occur when 8 female artists are under one roof. Though there was one "studio mate" that I regularly wanted to throttle on principle alone!

The artists that were heavy into dyeing and caustic materials had spaces in the basement and those of us who had weaving or painting habits had bedrooms. I could never get use to the space though-it felt weird like "little Suzie's bedroom"- my urge was to decorate it rather than work in it. I spent much of my time looking out the window.

Over the years I've discovered that the space least likely to be conducive to art making are those that are shared with my office. For me stacks of file folders and bills are a major distraction. Those "real life elements" pull me off my purpose...just asking to be straightened or paid or read.

I had a great space in our last house (thanks loving hub!). It was beautiful...almost too beautiful. It had great light and white, white walls. Just gorgeous. I am still a painter/ fiber artist/sculptor, but now my tool of choice is an airbrush. My painting is intuitive and not particularly neat-well let's just say it-not neat at all. I am the queen of over spray. So those white walls and the office combo scene and a number of equally impressive procrastination alibi kept the production down.

So I am not finishing the new space much, except to possibly put in a ceiling and wall to separate the storage area. I am digg'in that window and can't wait to get a table up there-I think the lace curtains gotta go though.


Since the space is accessible only through a pull down stairs I am wondering if I can pull them up from the studio...hummmm..privacy!