Trees, Shrubs and Conifers: Road Trip to The Possibility Place, 1 by terryr

terryr wrote:
Lauren, I swear you must be over my shoulder! I've just spent the last 2 hours making a list. Whether I can afford everything or not is an entirely different story. So far, I have (using common names)
American Filbert
Bladdernut
Smooth sumac
Button bush
Common Witchhazel
Gray Dogwood
Wahoo
Winterberry
Prickly ash (not real sure, but it looks neat)
Withe Rod Viburnum

I'm debating on the tree, either a tulip poplar or the bebb oak. These are for sure, Hop hornbeam and the prairie crab.

Regarding houses....we built our first home way back in 82, one year after we were married. I had the whole thing landscaped (by me), the house had character because I added the character. I had, over the years, changed out just about everything. Including interior doors and all the trim. Bought a different front door, redid the kitchen, added hardwood in the kitchen, redid the bathroom, new vinyl, vanity, vanity top and faucet. I had oak plywood down the hallway, the bottom 1/3, with picture framing on the oak. It was just home and so much a part of me. Then we move to TN (for 17 months). We couldn't find an older house, so we went with new construction. The house was done on the outside, but no sheet-rock or anything inside. So, I picked it all out. Spent a lot of money getting it "my way". Repainted some of what the builder had painted. Landscaped like a mad woman. Just was doing everything to make it "home". Then Harper-Wyman goes belly up, and were bought out by a company we knew, we knew not just in our guts, but in our hearts, would send almost all the machines to Mexico. So we put the house up for sale down there, and Krista and I came "home". John continued working down there till he could find a job up here. Finally he did and had to take a huge paycut in the process. In between our house down there being listed and us moving back, I came up for 3 weeks to just visit and house hunt. I was specific in what I wanted. The Realtor took me to house after house and I kept saying, well you see, I want an open staircase, or why did they change this or that, add on, whatever. I don't want painted woodwork etc. Finally, he says, I know these people that had this house up for sale for 3 years and nobody bought, so now it's got renters in it. Would you like for me to contact them and see if they're still interested in selling? Of course! And I walked in here. It had this crappy carpet thruout the downstairs, vinyl in the kitchen, peel and stick in the 1/2 bath, hardwood showing in the dining room. Carpet all upstairs, including the stairs, and carpet and el cheapo tile in the full bath. Dining room has a pass thru cupboard. Big wide baseboards. Open staircase. Balcony upstairs (that peak on the right side above the porch? Last PO redid the porch roof and changed it. So the balcony is barely visible now. I'd love to put it back). Yep, huge walk up attic with hardwood floors too. I knew as soon as I walked in, this was my house. My eyes only saw the good, they ignored the bad and some of that bad cost boo coo bucks. We did what we could, hired the rest out. I have a beautiful coal burning fireplace that no longer is usable. Unless I rebuild the chimney, where again, the last PO had it knocked down where it came out of the roof. Except for the plaster, I gutted the whole upstairs bathroom and had everything reconfigured to make sense. And what's a 110 year old house without a claw foot tub? But, now I'm out of money. I do what I can inside as my funds allow. And of course, right now, my mind isn't on the inside, it's on the outside. Oh, and this house has 2 pocket doors....I love pocket doors. We (meaning my husband, my sister and I) refinished all the floors downstairs, and I had the bath (full up and 1/2 down) tiled, and we refinished Krista's room and ours. I really don't have a lot to finish up inside. I'm working on the spare room now. It need a skim coat and the woodwork stained and polyed. And all the doors for that room, plus Krista's closet door. Paint the walls and that room should be done, minus the floors being refinished. When it's done, I've got the hallway and the back area where the servant stairs is to finish. That area also has painted trim and the door to the attic is painted, so I need to strip it all. Fix the plaster walls. Then I just need to have someone make me some trim for the kitchen. To recreate the trim like the rest of the house. Oh and finish the rest of the floors upstairs. Down is maple, up is wide plank pine. If I got the right pic, here's the living rooom. The pic color lies to you, the color on the walls is directly out of the little 1x3 tiles surrounding the fireplace.