Summer of 2015 in Photos……

Mimi Cat acting silly.

We have been hard at work this summer, restoring this old house.  It dates from the 1880’s and we are the third owners.  My husband decided years ago to design and build a two story extension, and until recently, it wasn’t finished, trim and such.  Now?  We ‘ve made great progress, but with each room there springs up another problem as soon as we finish.  It’s to be expected with an old house, but I am grateful for the time he has taken  from work to do this.  We haven’t had a summer vacation in years, but this will do.  He put in  a  lovely shower in the laundry room, and of course that involved moving a toilet and window 6 inches.  It didn’t have to, but he’s all about architectural balance.  Perhaps that is one reason this restoration has taken so many years.

We are also landscaping the back yards, and the best we could do this year is set in place 10 potted rose bushes along a brick walk and new outdoor furniture.  I did design and build a stone walk myself, and it looks pretty lined with potted geraniums. The grass of two years ago is finally taking off and lush.  Too bad that the mosquitoes are so bad this humid summer that we can’t spend any real time relaxing outside.  That will have to await the autumn and the death of pests. We should have bought stock in DEET.  As he takes more photos of the landscaping, etc…. I’ll post here.  We have been living in squalor for two weeks because of the construction on the bathroom, and today we decided it time to vacuum and sweep.  The 3 dogs thought this squalor would go on forever, and look relieved.

Lady Nyo

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Front door with new paint.

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“Token Rose” and out of control patio rose.  They grow quickly and you have to plan for them.

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Construction with dogs….They have taken over the den couch and tv.

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More dogs in Den.

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-Front Garden….

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Spring tulips that have to be planted each year because it doesn’t get sufficiently cold in the South for tulips to regenerate.

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Great Room with ficus….

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Heavy glass top to new coffee table:  Big Mistake.  We don’t have little children here much, but both of us are wearing bruises from the almost invisible glass top.  Cats like it, though.

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Kitchen.  Husband made the table from 14 inch wide pine boards from NC mountains.  He also constructed the new kitchen and the cabinets.

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My garden fish pond

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Half of the front hall…..

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Bonica Rose Bush…we think

New Dawn actually.  Have two and they are almost constant bloomers.  They grow huge so you have to plan ahead which we didn’t.

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Peach Blossoms in the garden this spring.

Unfortunately, we cut down this Peach tree this weekend.  After 20 years, it was only going for squirrel food.

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Woodstove in Great Room….

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Painted Dining Room orange…..quite an eye opener in the morning.

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New shutters in Dining Room.  Still orange…

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backyard corner, can’t see but the grass is living.

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Front garden.

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Not even a hint of fall and cooler weather. But it’s been a productive summer, at least the plaster dust is gone (mostly) and soon it will be possible to walk outside and not be dripping with sweat by 9am.

Jane Kohut-Bartels

Copyrighted, 2015

Tags: Atlanta, Old house, Summer of 2015 in Photos