<rant> There are times that I feel like the ‘Little’ part of “Little House on 17th Street’ is very apropos.
I want so badly just to sink the money and DO IT. Be done. Just drop the greenbacks and do this place up the way we want to. Add on the master bedroom and bath, redo the yards, just flat go buck wild. Just make it the place we want. RIGHT NOW.
… but we’ve approached this project by the little’s A little here, a little there, as money allows, as time allows. It’s maddening at times, but it really is the wisest course of action. Time and money – that’s all it comes down to right?
So why is there so little of both?
I think my frustration stems from having what feels like a half a million projects going all at once, and as we get materials, we progress on one. As we get time, we progress on another, when we get money we can pick up the needed items to progress… and it moves the whole process forward a little at a time… but it’s like Home Improvement ADHD.
Everything’s started – but next to nothing is finished.
Currently on my docket…
Front Yard:
- Replace the drain lines from the house to the street
- Move the dirt into the beds
- Gravel the pathways
- Replace/repair the arbor (which blew over in a windstorm last night)
- Build the raised beds
- Plant the part of the fence between the yard and sidewalk
- Plant the garden beds
- Much, Much More…
Rear Yard:
- Replace the pieces of side fence that rotted out and blew over.
- Put in the Retaining Wall to separate ‘lawn’ from pathways.
- Burn out the weeds that have encroached on our pathway.
- Re-gravel the back area.
- Dig out the side yard to drop the level of dirt to prevent fence from rotting out in the future…
- Gravel the side yard area.
- Remove the hazelnuts
- Pop the stumps
- Gravel in over the top of where the hazelnuts were
- Garden. Ack.
- Trellises for the Peas.
- Weed and Plant, Weed and Plant, Weed and Plant.
- Dig out back area.
- Replace drain field.
- Put in urbanite for patio.
- Finish the Chicken House
- Permit the Chicken House
- Get the chickens out of Tom and Lindsey’s hair.
- Mow the Lawn (No seriously.. YIKES)
- Move all the piles of stuff strewn on the lawn preventing me from getting to the lawn.
- Burn the whole place to the ground. (Wait what?!)
That doesn’t even include all the stuff we’re trying to do to the house…
The fact is – while doing things ‘by the little’s is probably the wisest course of action, it can at times be the most stressful and most frustrating option.
</rant>
I suppose you score touchdowns by moving the ball, and as long as the ball is moving – you’re winning. I guess I should just focus on moving the ball. A little here, a little there.
Eventually – this Little House on 17th Street will become the home we have dreamed of…
Right now – it’s just a headache.
Little House on 17th Street 