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.
Hark!
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- Published on Wednesday, 28 November 2012
Authors: Heather
Disco Jesus wept . . . for his aluminum tree was awesome.I am reluctantly getting into the spirit but I really just want to hibernate.
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I can't leave well enough alone
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- Published on Monday, 19 November 2012
Authors: Heather
This is our entry way. It was fine but I've been itching to paint the doors black. I'd been resisting this because black doors are de rigueur right now and I try to avoid trends. But then I realized I was being a stupid hipster and it's okay to follow trends sometimes. It's just paint.So I painted the doors here and in the kitchen...
Want to build your own rain garden?
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- Published on Saturday, 17 November 2012
Authors: Heather
Hey Portlanders! If you've ever been interested in building a rain garden on your property, now's your chance!There will be a free Rain Gardens 101 workshop on December 1st. I took this class last year and it was excellent. They give you all the tools to plan and build your rain garden and the presenters are great.
My friends have a...
I missed bloomsday and probably your birthday
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- Published on Friday, 16 November 2012
Authors: Heather
So I missed garden bloggers' bloom day, even though I still have things blooming in my garden. I have been incredibly distracted lately, flitting from one thing to the next.I'm hosting Thanksgiving, so I'm in full-on house-crazy mode. A couple of years ago I decided to install a range hood and patch the hole in my kitchen ceiling ri...
Kahanu Garden Tour
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- Published on Monday, 12 November 2012
Authors: Heather
While we were on Maui we visited the Kahanu Garden, a national tropical botanical garden. This garden focuses on endemic plants and the plants that Hawaiians have used for food and medicine. There aren't a lot of flowers here but it's still lovely. Foliage is the star.The big draw with this garden is the Pi'ilanihale Heiau, a stone...
Vacation pictures! With zero spiders!
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- Published on Friday, 09 November 2012
Authors: Heather
Feel free to ignore this post if you don't like looking at pictures of warm places when it's so cold out. We went to Maui! I've never eaten so much banana bread in my life!
We got up at 3am the first morning we were there to see the sunrise atop Haleakala. You can drive a paved road all the way to the top, which is way easier than...
Some quick updates
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- Published on Thursday, 08 November 2012
Authors: Heather
Greg and I just returned from 9 days in Maui. Have you guys ever heard of Maui? It's freaking fantastic. I highly recommend visiting before the rest of the world discovers it.I kid. October/November is a great time to visit--we had loads of sunshine and didn't feel like we were elbow-to-elbow with tourists the whole time. While we...
I'm still on the fence
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- Published on Monday, 05 November 2012
Authors: Heather
I'm still not sure about my rusty wheelbarrow planter but the agave pups I put in there are so much happier. They got water every day this summer but the drainage is very sharp, so they've gone from skinny desiccated things to being fat and happy.I'm hoping that the sedums fill in next spring before the weeds can.
I'm...
My poor tree
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- Published on Friday, 02 November 2012
Authors: Heather
I'm practicing tough love with the Cryptomeria in the backyard. After a year with stakes and wires, we're burning its bra. It's going to have to learn to stand on its own.Rise up!
Initially it flopped forward, now it seems to want to go back. If it can't support itself by next winter I'll relocate it and plant the tree I...
The saddest new planting bed ever
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- Published on Monday, 29 October 2012
Authors: Heather
I whined and complained that I wanted rain so the ground would soften. After about five days of heavy rain we got a sun break and I headed out to plant the future meadowscape:Despite the rain, the ground was still hard as a rock in places. Despite my sincerest desire to not hurt the dogwood, I ran into a lot of roots and might have...
