Since we moved into 20 Gaye Ln in 1997, we have spent coutless hours fixing up the yard.  Dan was the chief stone wall builder and I was the gardener. 

I am a frugal gardener.  Most plants are hand-me-downs from my mother-in-laww, Anita.  She also handed down much of her gardening knowledge and sparked my love for perennials – thanks Neetsy!  Other plants were purchased at local plant sales or swaps.  Dividing and sharing is the way to go.

Bag by bag, we lined our pathways with pea stone.  Sometimes we could only afford 1 bag. 
I remember when Dan had a truckload of pea stone dropped off.  It was like he had delivered a truckload of gold.

The house warming gift fromour friends were two pee gee hydrangeas.  Dan built the pergola.  Anita contributed a male and female kiwi vine, which beared fruit and spent the summer climbing the pergola.  The twirly tree was rescued from the Home Depot end of the year sale by Dan.  Keeping it in that shape was my job.

 

You can see that Dan hit Home Depot at one of their 75% off sales and brought home a friend for our twirly tree.  And I go tto manicure both of them!  Actually, worth all the pricks you get while pruning.

After putting this together I suddenly have the urge to put on my boots, grab a sholvel and start digging.  Time to move my perennials to the lake house.

 

 

I can blab on and on about how we did each project but I think before and after shots are much more compelling.

 

 

 

 

One of our biggest achievements has been decluttering. We’ve gotten rid of a lot. There are a lot of advantages and I would recommend it even if you are not selling your home. Some of the advantages I have noticed:

With less stuff, I appreciate the items I kept even more.
It is easier to find things because most stuff has a place.

It is easier to keep the house clean – very important when your house is for sale.

Luckily, I found a buy, swap and sell group on facebook that exists in my town. To date we have gotten rid of the following.

There was so much more but this was the big stuff.

Each time we finish a project (we’ve been calling them hurdles) we wonder why we waited so long.  Some projects aren’t that hard.  And others are a complect pain in the neck.  Literally!  The ceilings have been painful.  That is why we rejoiced when we heard that Marley was coming home for the month of October and needed to make $$. 

Speaking of Marley, she has always loved DIY projects.  Once (when we weren’t home) she decided to paint the staircase to the basement.  She started taking the wallpaper down even when it ripped off the top layer of the steetrock, too.  And when that became mundane she just painted overthe whole mess – BROWN!  Let’s just say Dan used A LOT of spackle to fix those walls. 

 

One of the projects that was long overdue was our door.  It was ugly but it was not energy efficient.  I used to stuff a blanket in front of it at night.  Doing this project years ago could have saved us energy.

With about 20 days left in October I am confident that with Marley’s help we will get the final items crossed off the list.  The house has been shown once and the couple who looked at it liked it.  They called the relator back today with follow up questions.  You never know – this could happen sooner than later.  I wonder what it would be like living at the Lake House in the winter?

I haven’t blogged in a while becease we have been flat out trying to get the house ready to be listed. Many long nights but worth it…I think! I am a little nervous. Am I ready for the reality of it actually selling and leaving the home where we raised out kids? Here is the link to the listing: http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/20-Gaye-Ln_Dover_VT_05356_M37100-35068?row=10