Oliver’s Bungalow Blog

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Pepper Plants

Christine

Three of the four pepper plants have peppers so far.

I think this is my Golden Summer pepper, the first one to appear. It got to this size and has just been hanging out there. I couldn’t tell when it would be ready, so I looked it up. It has been this color for a while, but I guess it still has some color changing to do.

Golden Summer Bell Pepper- lime green to light yellow to golden orange-yellow

This one is a good size and has also looked like this for a while.Purple Bell Pepper- green to chocolate brown or purple

These appear to be an ornamental pepper, albeit edible. Sweet Pickle Pepper- mature at 2″ and fully ripened when deep red or purple

The White Bell pepper has yet to make an appearance.

White Bell Pepper- white to yellow to red

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The Great Book Case Shuffle of 2010

Christine

I completed nearly every task in my 34 step plan this weekend. Mostly on Friday, very little each on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Oli was pretty good about staying out of the way for the most part. Except when I had the camera or the vacuum out. For the camera, he poses. For the vacuum, he chases and barks. It is a game.

I won’t go through it all because, well, that’s boring, and I already bored you with the plan. I started fairly early Friday morning and mostly I followed it, but I did hit a snafu midway through, adjusted my plan, and got through most of the list by bedtime Friday night.

the dining room stacked with stuff waiting to go back on its shelves; Oliver looks on at the activity

I dusted and vacuumed and washed nearly every surface in my living room this weekend, getting to corners and nooks and crannies that can’t normally be reached. A good thorough spring cleaning- in the middle of July.

The big bookcase I moved from Oli’s room, now in its new spot in the living room. When I had all the shelves out, I thought maybe I could slide it out of its spot to clean. As it turned out, it was quite easy to slide. I popped the feet onto those furniture moving sliders and carefully pushed it straight through the dining room. It is heavy, but manageable.

Also, I knew mom had asked Bill to come over around 6:00 to measure for some new windows (more on that later). So, I got some L-braces at the hardware store and Bill kindly helped me level the book case and install the L-braces.
my big shelf, finally in a good spot, braced to the wall, and loaded with books
my extensive collection of (no less than 26) bungalow-specific books

Oliver posing in the empty spot where the big bookcase had been

This is to be my new “pantry” area, with storage for small appliances that I don’t want cluttering the kitchen counter. Even though I measured, and measured, and measured, I still came up 4″ too short here. As you can see, I miscalculated. The wide shelving unit was to be flanked by the two shelving towers. That didn’t work out. Here is where the plan adjusting came in.
I ended up leaving the record tower where it was, but I emptied, dusted and cleaned the corner, shelf and contents, then gave it a quarter turn. The wall actually looked too empty there anyway, so I think it all worked out for the best.
I guess I did everything on the list, except I’m still working on the last item- finding homes for the clutter. That’s kind of never ending. I do have a small stack of old cassette and vhs tapes in the dining room. Not sure what to do with them yet. I loathe to stick anything else in the back bedroom because that is going to soon need clearing too.
I’ll take some more pictures of the whole living room now that it is finished. Quick! before it gets dirty again.
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Lagging Zucchini

Christine

While this photo was taken about a week ago, my zucchini and summer squash plants have not really grown much bigger than this. As you can see, this is that last 20% of the veg garden that has not been weeded yet. Could the crab grass, clover and other weeds be the cause of my squash’s slow growth?

The zucchini are normally filling the kitchen table by this time of year. I bought plants this year, got them in the ground at a reasonable time, but they aren’t doing very well. The soil here is decent, and I’ve never know zucchini to be that particular. My mom is having the same problem and we did get our plants at the same nursery. But one of my coworkers was talking about here zucchini harvest already.

Is anybody else out there having trouble with their summer squash?

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My 34 Point Plan

Christine

I have a lot of furniture I want to move around. I’ve been itching to move things for a while now.

The shuffling part comes in because there is no empty spot at the moment. Currently there is a piece of furniture in every place that I want a different piece of furniture. Make senses? If it does, don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll loose you soon.

So here it is, my grand plan, in 34 steps:

1. Organize embroidery supplies.

2. Empty shelving unit that holds art books, stack books in dining room.

3. Dis-assemble art book shelving unit, set pieces aside, in dining room.

4. Clean empty spot.

5. Move crescent table and green chair to entry, temporarily.

6. Empty embroidery cabinet.

7. Carefully move embroidery cabinet to empty spot.

8. Re-fill embroidery cabinet.

9. Clean second empty spot.

10. Move Oliver’s toys and chair aside.

11. Empty shelving unit in Oli’s room.

12. Move dining room furniture aside, clearing path.

13. Get big guys to move big shelving unit to second empty spot.

14. Secure big shelving unit to wall using L-brackets.

15. Load genealogy materials and art books onto lower shelves.

16. Clean empty spot in Oliver’s room.

17. Re-assemble first shelving unit in third empty spot.

18. Empty shelving unit in dining room.

19. Dis-assemble wide shelving unit.

20. Re-assemble wide shelving unit in third empty spot.

21. Reload wide shelving unit with stuff recently removed.

22. Carry all record albums from living room to Oli’s room, re-loading first shelving unit.

23. Dis-assemble album shelving unit.

24. Re-assemble third shelving unit in Oliver’s room.

25. Clean last empty spot.

26. Use baskets from Oliver’s room to stow small stuff on large shelving unit in living room.

27. Move cookbooks to big shelving unit.

28. Stow large counter top appliances on new shelves in Oli’s room.

29. Use baskets to stow extra non-perishables on new shelves.

30. Move green chair back.

31. Move crescent table to dining room, beside china closet.

32. Move peacock chair to dining room.

33. Vacuum everywhere.

34. Find homes for any clutter left behind.

It sounds like a lot, but I think I can knock it out in one solid day, if I stick with it. Of course that will depend on the availability of a guy to help move the giant bookcase. It doesn’t have to go far, just straight out Oli’s double doors, straight through the dining room, thought the double doors to the living room. Nothing to lift only 1/4 turn through the whole move. But it is mega heavy. I will also need someone who can install the L-brackets with minimal damage to the plaster.

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Busy, Busy

Christine

Two weeks later and I have finally gotten the porch tidied and cleaned the kitchen windowsill.

I forgot to take a picture of the windowsill now that it is clean, and I wasn’t brave enough to take befores of either the porch or the kitchen windowsill. Just take my word for it, this is a drastic and great improvement. Ghetto-porch-b-gone!

I’ve also weeded about 80% of my garden, and now it is much easier to keep after. I know this every year going in, but what can I say, I’m lazy. As you can see from the front crescent bed, I’m a lazy gardener. I’m going for the wild, naturalized look this year. Yeah, that’s it, naturalized… This does look better now, thought, as compared to a few weeks back.

First, I weeded and pulled out several dozen volunteer tomato plants, leaving only the strongest so that hopefully they will be productive. I see a lot of fruit on the plants I left, so that’s promising. The malva has gotten taller than I imagined and for a little while I was worried that my cucumber (tucked way back in the corner) wouldn’t get enough sunlight, but it seems to be doing just fine. I started the seeds a little late, but I think it will be okay.

You may also notice some new plants. Some purple leafed thing whose name I’ve forgotten and some purple petunias. I’m hoping they’ll fill out a bit more to hide the ugly black landscape fabric. See how lazy I am? I should just mulch. But I’m cheap as well as lazy.