a little bit off the top (slow and steady wins the race)

The monstrous maple who once encroached upon our roof and sprinkled our gutters with tiny helicopters has been scalped significantly. The results are startling. We thought it the perfect opportunity to compare the current street view with one from last summer.

Whoa.

Carry on.

here's what i think

An old friend reached out to me to ask if he could commission a drawing. He gave me these words:

"A bad mother funkin blues man! 

Thinking of a blues guitar player on a strat. 

What do you think?"

This dude measures 22x15 inches. He was signed and sent to the northeast side of Indy to live on someone else's wall. This was fun. Anyone else want to commission a drawing?

Holla.

holey dryer exhaust, batman

When renovating a home, sometimes one must make a four inch wide hole clean through an exterior wall for the purpose of venting one's dryer. This is just the way it is. Sooner or later, the time comes when cutting that hole just cannot be put off any longer.  You've got to hoist that monstrous ladder, crawl to the top rung and awkwardly handle sharp power tools at dangerous altitudes. But don't worry because if you measure and cut correctly, and if you're a little bit lucky, you just might be able to fit a dryer vent through that hole which can actually function to divert from your home the exhausted hot air that will soon be drying your recently laundered socks and undergarments. 

Here's a peek at the soon-to-be laundry nook in our soon-to-be family bathroom...

Things are looking right nice up there, folks! 

More on that bathroom very soon.

After attempting to install a less expensive aluminum dryer vent that fell apart several times, we returned to our local hardware retailer to exchange it for the more sleek, pricey, structurally sound model. As difficult as this decision was we were ultimately quite satisfied with the results. Sometimes, if you want a project done right, you got to spend them dollars. Amiright?

Ta-da!

Finally, as promised...

Batman.

So hawt.

the summer collection

Oh. Hello there, you. Can we all agree that it's been far too long since we caught up on things? I know, i know... it's been a super busy summer that was cut too short by the ensuing school year that just so happens to start up for our family in JULY FOR CRYING OUT LOUD ! ! !

No matter. We had a great summer full of hanging out with super rad people and equally rad kids at Camp Olivet for two weeks. We cranked out a few hundred t-shirts for friends and neighbors. We got to spend some serious chill time hanging with the folks in the Smoky Mountains and riding roller coasters on the island of kings with some old buds. 

Needless to say, we found a few minutes here and there to knock out a few projects and start a few more at the Rockey homestead. One such project included employing a jackhammer to slice and dice several obtrusive concrete shapes around the house. There are still a few jagged chunks available to anyone interested.

All of this was in preparation for starting some long overdue landscaping. We decided on an oversized dirt mound that can double as a place for the neighborhood kids to play king of the hill. The neighbors all think that it's super great and much better than boring old shrubs and flowers and whatnot. Also, it keeps the kids off the street. Until one of them goes rolling down the dirt mound, past the sidewalk, and then into the actual street. It's a work in progress, gang.

On a serious tip, bros, we've been dumping that dirt all around the foundation and planting live, green things in the front yard. Having live, green things around is important. It's really starting to look like a place where actual human people live. MJ is very happy about this development. Me too.

Finally, we've put off rerouting our plumbing to the second floor through a PEX manifold system until we could get someone with more plumbing-type know-how to lend us a helping hand. Time's up, helping-handy-type-peoples. We had to roll up our sleeves and take matters into our own pseudo-handy hands. More specifically, we had to take a sharp tool and cut the main supply lines for our hot and cold water (which both just so happened to be PEX due to previous plumbing repairs) in order to direct those lines upstairs while maintaining our current lines until we renovate our kitchen and first floor bathroom. 

Got it? It's cool if not.

My first reaction after cutting the main line was most definitely terror as i was certain that i had made a huge mistake and gotten in way over my head.

Then, we made all the necessary connections, turned the water main back on, and stood amazed at the fact that nothing seemed to be leaking... yet.

Hooray for us. Here's a wide shot of our current setup...

Fascinating, aye?

Maybe soon we'll have some bath renovation pics to reveal.

Yes. Let's definitely do this again sometime soon.

Thanks, you.

this is not my beautiful house

The day after having our gutter boards repaired and all new gutters and downspouts installed at our home, we checked in on ye olde google mapping page on the web known world wide. We proceeded to dangle and drop some poor faceless figure in front of our home granting us access to his visual perspective. It's rather perplexing when you consider the absence of any visible ocular organs.

But i digress...

This is how our blessed beast appeared the last time google and her legions of photographing minions paraded through our neighborhood.

And now, here is an updated street view for google maps to use...

Let it rain.

Soon, we shall scape the land! 

Soon we shall scalp the maple!

reconstruction of a porch

Before we bore witness to any of the hideous interior design choices made by previous owners of our home, we experienced the enclosed front porch. This presumed "smoking room" had it all: weird stencils, a corny limerick above the door, a former parlor entry repurposed as a plant stand. 

Did i mention stencils?

The above and below photos depict a confounded Mrs. Rockey and our optimistic friend who helped us purchase this blessed beast. 

Thanks, Phil... I think.

If you missed the deconstruction of this enclosed porch or simply need to refresh your memory, you can READ ALL ABOUT IT RIGHT HERE. After being ripped wide open last Summer, the porch has been undergoing a slow transformation into one of our favorite features of our new home.

After purchasing a new bench swing for their backyard, my folks allowed us to take this decrepit piece off their hands. With a bucket of clearance rack stain from menards, and some scraps of lumber for the arm rests, we gave this old relic from my childhood a second life. MJ even crafted a couple of darling pillow cases to repurpose some old INHABIT pillows donated years ago by brother Jere.

After having some aluminum siding repaired...

(oooh baby. what happened to that decorative shelving unit?)

we pulled up the carpet (yes carpet), and painted the entire exterior of the house. That you can read all about RIGHT HERE. We ran the wiring for an exterior lamp and VOILA!

Hot cha cha. Our lovely neighbors gifted to us the old milk jug which we painted and repurposed as an umbrella holder. We suspect that we could also comfortably fit at least ten ferrel cats in that thing. Time will tell. The front door was still a piece of garbage, but brace yourselves for the big reveal at the end of the post.

Last Fall, after scouring craigslist for months, MJ found a couple of metal porch chairs (a bouncer and a rocker) for sale in Knightstown. I made the nearly two-hour round trip to claim those babies and returned home in one piece before dinner. For some reason, i took that photo of the sun setting on my drive home. Don't do as i do, kids.

We sanded the crap out of those chairs, primed them, and there they sat on our front porch all winter long. As the ice thawed and Spring began creeping up on us, we used some leftover paint from our clawfoot tub renovation to finish the porch chairs...

That table used to belong to a starbucks coffee that i was fired from years ago. 

I win.

Now about that door.

We installed a new front door, gave it a paint job and some dandy hardware, and...

BOOM.

Again, this big front porch has easily become one of our favorite features of the home. Hopefully, before too long, we'll have some tasty reveals of the family bathroom that has been nearing completion for a year and a half now.

Yikes.

As you were.

april, fools

Been awhile!

Happy new year, btw.

Now, let's get down to brass TicTacs(R).

Did we throw in the towel and abandon this oversized project that we took on almost two years ago? Did we cut our losses and chalk it up as a lesson learned? Did we decide to return to a new construction home in which we would no longer need concern ourselves with an endless list of home repair projects?

NEVER.

Not when the opportunity to destroy something else lies around every corner. Take the multiple sets of concrete steps to nowhere for instance. These dudes have been begging to be put out of their misery since we acquired this blessed beast of a home. 

After a few humiliating attempts at breaking down these slabs of concrete with sledgehammers and masonite drill bits, we decided to rent a jackhammer. 

Grrrrrowl. Amiright?

 What resulted was a Saturday spent cutting up concrete and cleaning up the yard on the  sunset-facing side of the house.

A big thanks to Dave and Vaughn for helping us pile and haul debris to the street for distribution. There are still plenty of jagged chunks of concrete available. Feel free to help yourself to as many as you can pile into the trunk of your fancy automobile.

Act now. 

Supplies are fairly limited.

Coming soon... 

RECONSTRUCTION OF A PORCH!!!

Alright, you can go about your day now.

Thank you for your time.