Just a girl with a hammer
Blog URL:
http://justagirlwithahammer.com
My 1938 pre-war ranch was a foreclosure I bought in 2009. It had been vacant for four years and neglected for at least ten. There was half a garage door, a non-functional sink in the bathroom, a mildewing basement, the original furnace (which no longer functioned), a new roof but no gutters, and a cracked kitchen floor.
I'm fixing almost everything myself but my real passion is gardening.
Agave update
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- Published on Tuesday, 22 January 2013
Authors: Heather
Loree recently asked how my agaves were handling their first winter in the ground. They were planted back in May in the berm. I amended the soil with chicken grit and mulched them with gravel.I'm happy to say that so far they are doing great. No black spots or rot as of yet.
Of course, we have many wet months still to come. My...
Did I make a terrible mistake?
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- Published on Monday, 21 January 2013
Authors: Heather
We've had a tiny dusting of snow and many nights of frost and the castor bean leaves had all shriveled.People kept telling me it would turn to mush as soon as the temperatures fell but it was still solid as a rock. I pruned off what I could without a hacksaw and left this poor trunk.
Now of course I'm second-guessing this decision....
Me and curtain panel sewing are breaking up.
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- Published on Wednesday, 16 January 2013
Authors: Heather
Our dining room has always been a design nightmare with half wood floors and half ugly carpeting and a mishmash of furniture. It's such a fucking nightmare that of the 40,000 pictures I have taken of the house, there are about four of the dining room.Shortly after I moved in.Dirty, broken, plastic blinds
Now it's a fucking nightmare...
Garden bloggers' bloom day January 2013
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- Published on Tuesday, 15 January 2013
Authors: Heather
It finally got really cold here in Portland. As a result, I finished all seven seasons of Gilmore Girls (spoiler alert: everything turned out okay) but I'm still working on my knitting project. I find my mind wandering to the garden and I'm starting to obsess over problem spots in the yard again. I missed that.And things are...
Baseboard. Finally.
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- Published on Monday, 14 January 2013
Authors: Heather
Hey! I can finally tell you about my kitchen baseboard. I was sponsored by Tinkernation to install it and write about it but I had to wait to post it here. It happened so long ago that I don't really remember all that happened except that it took a lot longer than we thought it would and I was really sore from crawling around on...I need to get more of these
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- Published on Tuesday, 08 January 2013
Authors: Heather
I planted Festuca glauca 'Golden Toupee' last spring and it didn't do much. It didn't grow at all and it faded to an unremarkable white/blue.At planting
In August
But now?
In a sea of dead things this little guy is a cheery blast of chartreuse.
I think I'd like to buy 40 more of these. And I'd like to make it grow. Does anyone have...
Cutting the fat
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- Published on Monday, 07 January 2013
Authors: Heather
There's nothing like visiting people who have lived in the same house for 30 years to make you want to declutter. I came back from visiting family in December and I felt overwhelmed by the amount of stuff we have.Right around the first of the year we had a rare day of sunshine and I was like, "I'm going to weed the front yard!"...
Garden bloggers' bloom day December 2012, Should I be worried? edition
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- Published on Sunday, 16 December 2012
Authors: Heather
And one day late, to boot. I've been preoccupied with being cold, hiding out under blankets, knitting, and rewatching the entire run of Gilmore Girls. I am so good at doing winter.My salvia 'Black and Blue' is still going strong, though the weather isn't always kind to the blooms.
My Mahonia x media 'Arthur Menzies' is gorgeous...
Little improvements
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- Published on Tuesday, 11 December 2012
Authors: Heather
When I decided to make curtains for the front rooms of the house I bought the entire bolt of fabric, or 20 yards. If I'm going to go to the trouble of making curtains that I'm just "meh" about, well I'm going to make 600 of them, damn it. You don't change course mid-stream or something.I finally got around to making panels for the...
A mystery
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- Published on Monday, 10 December 2012
Authors: Heather
Do you watch Ask This Old House? They have a section where they pull out a random tool or gadget and ask "What is it?" and the guys go around thinking up ridiculous ideas for what it could be ("It's a lazy susan for Tommy's sandwiches."). It's super cheesy and I LOVE it.I could use them right about now.
We have a bolt on our...
