Two Down, Two to Go

We knew that today was going to be our day to finish the gardens by the Florida Room by actually planting the bushes that we purchased yesterday.  What we both underestimated was the amount of time and energy that "just a little planting" would take.

We love the firecracker plants in the corner
and ends of the garden.

We had to start with soil preparation.  We knew that part of the garden was filled with stones, so once again, as Rick started to remove some the excess soil, we knew we would have to remove a great number of stones.

We used crotons called "Sloppy Painter"
on the south wall of the garden.

The easiest way to remove the grass and stones from the soil was to dig out our trusty "shifting table" that we have used in the past.  This little patio table has an open mesh tabletop that we found works wonders to remove palm seeds, stones, and debris from the soil.  Three buckets of stones later, we actually had some soil that we could use to house the new bushes.

Another kind of croton called a Batie Croton
graces the eastern-facing wall of the garden.

We also had to turn over all of the soil in the rest of the garden to get the grass and weeds out.  We spent over an hour just getting the soil prepped and level so we could start the planting.

The eastern walled garden had plants with room to grow.

The southern walled gardens complete the look.

For each bush, we had to dig the hole, mix in a little fertilizer, add some water, and then position the bush.  We needed to make sure the bush was planted not too deeply into the soil since we still must add landscape fabric and red cedar bark stone on top.  The stone will come later.

As the day grew warmer and the sun started to fill the garden space, we worked as quickly as possible to get all ten bushes into the ground.  The whole process took the entire morning, which was longer than either of us had expected.

We also discovered that although the process seemed fairly simple, we were both exhausted by noon. This puzzles us. We know that we have been fairly inactive since Rick hurt his hand this past summer, but we have not sat around and done nothing. We cannot blame inactivity for the way we feel.  We also cannot blame "old age" since neither of us are THAT old.  The only thing we can figure is that we are not used to working in the heat, humidity, and strong sun.  The environment takes a lot out of us, but we will persevere.

We have now completed the corner garden and the Florida Room gardens.  Two gardens are complete, and two more gardens -- on the south and west sides of the house -- are yet to finish.

The hibiscus blooms only last a day or two at most, but each
day new blossoms open.

Meanwhile, Polly continues to offer new, gorgeous blossoms each day. Gladys is beginning to love the flowers that we are bringing to make her pretty again.

Blooming' Crazy

Eden Nursery loves us.  We went there this morning to talk to Anna, one of the owners of the nursery.  She has helped us in the past with our gardening needs, and she is a valuable source of knowledge. We left after two trips there with 10 plants.

Rick and I disagree about gardens.  If he had his way, the entire house would be surrounded with one kind of plant.  He likes things "uniform."  News flash, Rick:  Nature is not uniform!  His ideas of gardening are boring, boring, boring.

I had other plans for the back gardens, so we took those ideas to Anna.  She helped us reach a compromise that works for us both. She talked me out of some plants that I thought might look good, but agreed with me on others that we are thrilled to try.

The gardens need color to bring them to life.

A Firecracker plant will anchor each end
of the garden and will fill the inside corner
with soft foliage and color.

Long story short, we took two trips to Eden Nursery to get everything we need for the back gardens.  The ends and the corner will be anchored with Firecracker plants. On the wall facing south, we will have three Crotons that some people nickname Sloppy Painter because the leaves look like they have been splattered with yellow paint.  On the east-facing wall, we have four Batie Crotons.  They have a thin leaf that starts out green but then changes to reds, oranges, and yellows as it matures.  I'm a little concerned about having four Batie in a row, but Rick is happy because they will be "uniform" for his tastes.  I think that they will have enough variations in color that they should be fine.

Firecracker plants and Sloppy Painter Crotons
will fill the southern-facing wall.

Since the other crotons are in the shade, this picture does not
do the colors of those plants justice.

After the morning at the Nursery, Rick started to lay out the gardens on the south and west sides of the house.  That planning caused us to do something we really had not planned to tackle today.

The Spirea filled the corner space for the house.

The bundles of Spirea now rest against the house,
awaiting brush pick-up on Monday.

We had a Spirea -- which my mother always called a May Bush because that is when it blooms in Wisconsin -- that came with the house.  It was on the southwest corner of the house, and sadly was in the way for our new gardens.  It really had seen better days.   Just to satisfy my curiosity, I took a shovel to see how deeply we would have to dig to remove the bush.  I was astonished when the shovel slipped under the bush and I could move it upwards by pushing down on the shovel handle.

OK. Obviously, Spirea are not deeply-rooted bushes.  Then Rick got into the dig, and the next thing we knew, the bush was lying on its side.  We cut it into three bundles that will go out to the curb with the brush on Monday morning.  Had I known it would be that easy to remove, I might have tried to pry it out this past weekend so it could have hit the curb with the other brush.  For now, it will just have to rest at the side of the house.

By the time we got home from Eden Nursery today, the back gardens were in full sun, which made prepping the soil and planting what we purchased a task that will have to wait until the gardens are in the shade early tomorrow morning.  We have learned that working in full sun in Florida after 10:00 a.m. is not something any sane person wants to do.  Tomorrow will be just fine as we continue to make Gladys beautiful.

P.S.  Polly loves her new home by the sheds.  Each day she shows off with gorgeous new blooms.

And the Work Goes On

By 7:30 this morning, we were outside gathering the materials we would need to continue to outline the house with flower gardens.  The north side of the house is all concrete and pavers, so that is safe from errant weed-whackers.  Half of the east side of the house has a patio on it, so that, too, is safe.

We had put a garden in front of the Florida Room a couple of years ago, so that part of the east side of the house also was protected, and today we continued that garden around the corner the Florida Room  and to the end of the house so the whole side is now enclosed.

Rick works his way down the garden on the southeast side of the house.

We found that part of the ground we dug into was really rocky, the remnants of a long-forgotten garden that disappeared years before we bought this house.  Roots from long-dead shrubbery also were present in the soil.  At one point, I am sure that Gladys had a beautiful back yard.

The garden curves around the contours of the house.

The work today went well, although it was physically draining. The elevations from one end to the other of the garden edgers was about was a couple of inches, so we did not have to put in a double row of edger bricks.

The humidity was extremely high this morning, but at least the area was in the shade.  We worked until almost 11:30.  By that time, the sun had come around the side of the house, so working conditions became almost unbearable.

The east side of the house is now safe.

The result is a defined garden that still needs a lot of attention.  I need to dig out and to turn over all of the soil in the garden, removing some so we have room for plants, landscape fabric, and a layer of red cedar bark stones.  That will have to come later.

For now, we are making progress as we continue to work to protect Gladys while we are adding beauty and color to our home.

A Wall and Polly

Exhaustion is the key to our existence right now, although Rick worked harder than I did today, so he is even more tired than I am for once.  However, we both are pleased with our accomplishments today.

Before church, we stopped at Lowe's to buy some landscape adhesive for concrete and stone structures.  After services, we returned home, changed into work clothes, and gathered the materials we would need to complete our task for today. After a light lunch, we were ready to work.

Last year, we planted the Areca Palm in the corner to stabilize
the soil and to add a little visual interest to the corner.

We wanted to take the old edgers from the Florida Room garden to complete a garden wall around the Areca Palm next to the sheds.  That area is raised a bit from the rest of the yard, so mud from that area is prone to slide downhill in a heavy rain storm.  While that is not all bad, it does make a mess of the paved area in front of the sheds. Thus,  keeping the soil in place and preventing a mess were two of the three reasons we wanted to build the edger wall.  The third reason was to have symmetrical gardens in both corners of the back wall in the yard.

In the left-hand corner of the yard, we built a wall
to house the gardenia tree and garden.

Since the garden in that area slopes, we knew that the edger wall had to be two levels high (just as the other garden is) and that the bottom course would almost be buried at one end.  However, that was necessary to keep the wall level on top.

Rick checked the level of the first course of edgers
as he laid them in the paver base.

Once we laid out where the wall would be placed, Rick dug out a foundation area.  As he worked down the trench, he added and compressed paver base while checking the level of the edger bricks with each one he placed.  My job was to feed the edgers to him, fetch tools as needed, and to watch the outlines to make sure the wall was even and aesthetically pleasing.

The second course of edgers is almost in place.

With the first course level and in place, the second course was easier to place.  We still had to chip apart a couple of bricks to fit the pattern, but the rest was just a matter of adding glue and placing the edgers so they would overlap the bottom course by half a brick and would follow the curve of the wall.

The completed wall now matches the garden in the other corner of the yard.

By a little after 2:00 p.m., we were finished with the garden wall.  We cannot do more with the area now since the glue will need at least 24 hours to cure.  Thankfully, we had sunshine and a good breeze blowing today which both kept us from dying in the heat.  Sunshine tomorrow will help the glue cure, so we are happy for this stretch of warm and sunny weather.

After we finished with the wall, since we both were sweaty and dirty, we decided to go to Home Depot to get 30 more edger bricks for the house gardens that we want to work on tomorrow.  Along with the edgers, we also bought two more bags of paver base.

Rick asked me if I wanted to look at any plants.  At first I said, "no," but then a beautiful hibiscus caught my eye.  While he maneuvered the brick cart to the checkout, I went over to check out the selection of hibiscus.  I found a full, fat, beautiful hibiscus with three open flowers and a load of blossoms ready to bloom.  Rick saw by the look on my face that we were not going to leave the store without that plant.

Polly looks small now, but with luck she will
grow to fill the entire space.

As I carried it up to the front counter, one of the blooms brushed against my throat and face.  It left a yellow trail of pollen all over me, so I decided to name the plant Polly.

We were beat by the time we got home, but we pushed ourselves to unload the edgers and the paver base.

I love the color of Polly and know it will delight us
as we see it from the Florida Room.

I knew that I wanted to out Polly next to the sheds.  If she grows to her full potential, she will be as wide as the sheds are deep, and she will be just as tall.  We added potting soil and fertilizer to the hole we dug just to give Polly a good start.  We'll have to water her each day for the next couple of months to get her established before we leave for the summer.  With luck and no major hurricanes in the coming year, she should add a wonderful bit of color in front of the neutral colored sheds for years to come.

Out with the Old

We decided today to tackle the landscape project that we have debated about for the last few weeks.  In the end, the weather is cooperating with us, we have the time to do the work, and we are going to cautiously take on the work with the idea that Rick's hand still is not completely healed.

We want to surround the house with flower gardens, both to enhance the curb appeal of the house and to keep the lawn service from chipping the paint off the bottom of the house with their weed-whacker.

Our main problem is that the edgers we used in the back yard are no longer available, so we have to change gears to get a somewhat uniform look.  Our gardens in the back yard have last year's edgers.  We want the current corner garden and the future corner garden to have the same edgers, so we started today with a little landscape rearranging.

The Areca Palm needs to be enclosed with its own garden wall.

We took the older edgers from the garden under the Florida Room windows.  We will use those edgers in the back corner of the yard around the Areca palm.  That way both corner gardens will have the same edgers.

The pile of slightly lighter-colored edgers await their
place around the Florida Room garden.

In the place of the older edgers, we put in the new edgers in the Florida Room garden.  We will continue with those edgers around the whole house, keeping that look uniform around the complete structure.  That way when we add a second garden in the front, around the palm trees, we (hopefully!) will have the newer edgers still available.

The new edgers will go around the corner of
the house to extend the garden that will surround
the house.  

I still have to pick out what plants to put into each garden, but for now we will work on the two current gardens in the back that already have plants.  We took out all of the edgers around the Florida Room garden and replaced them with the new edgers.  We expanded the garden slightly, and we have made provisions to take that garden around the corner of the house and into the side and front yards.

Thankfully, we do not have any edgers around the major front garden since it is enclosed with our driveway and sidewalk, so we do not have to do any reconstruction with that garden.

We will see if we can finish the Areca Palm garden tomorrow.  That will need two layers of edgers since the ground is very uneven in that corner.  With planning, a couple of good levels, and some patience, we should eventually have a symmetrical look in the back yard.

Leaves and Pieces

Today promised to be a warm day, so we wanted to get outside early, while the temperatures were still cool enough, to estimate what we needed to buy to put pavers behind our storage sheds.

The main live oak tree on our property looms over the sheds. While that keeps the contents shaded and cool, the tree also subjects the whole area to its annual leaf dropping each spring.  That means a mess of leaves fall behind the sheds each year. We know that just blowing the leaves off a hard surface is the easiest way to deal with the mess, so we had planned on going today to pick up a few pavers that we could cut and fit into the area.

However, when Rick stepped out of the shower today, he slipped on the wet terrazzo floor and injured his leg.  So much for hauling pavers around... His hip is quite sore and he has been limping around most of the day.  Just when his hand was starting to heal, something like this happens.  I guess we are just supposed to relax this year and wait for the healing to continue.

We did go outside to see if we could at least move some of the leaves out of the area.  With a couple of hours work, we were able to fill three huge black garden bags with leaves.  We probably have about six more bags' worth out there to rake and to haul to the curb, but that effort was enough for today.

The leaves were falling -- as they do each February and March before the trees bud in the splint -- as quickly as we could rake them up.  To add to the problem, our lawn service really does not cut the lawn short enough, so the leaves get embedded into the longer grass, and blowing them is not enough.  We need to use lawn and garden rakes to dig out the leaves from the bahai grass in the back yard.

After a morning of work, we came inside to cool down and to have some lunch.  Just before lunch, I completed the puzzle I have been working on for the last week.  Lindsay and Chris bought me this puzzle this past summer in Door County, so I brought it along for winter entertainment.  It was fun to do because the pieces all were oddly shaped, so even though the road was all one color and the leaves were enough to drive me crazy, sometimes the shape of the piece helped me complete the whole picture. After I finished it, I put the pieces back in the box and passed it on to Aunt Chris.  She loves to do puzzles, so this will keep her busy for a couple of days.

The puzzle is made from a photograph of one of the
roads in Door County. 

I suppose tomorrow we will venture back outside to see if we can work a bit more on the back yard.  Rick is threatening to cover the whole thing with artificial turf that we could just blow off and hose down when it gets dirty.  I think that is almost as much work as raking!

When Experience Isn't the Best Teacher

Generally experience is good.  As we become more experienced at doing something, our skills improve and the task usually becomes easier to complete with better results.  However, experience also can cause us to become complacent and thus not pay close enough attention to our actions.  That's what happened to me this morning.

I had decided to try a new blueberry muffin recipe that Lindsay had sent to me.  We bought all of the ingredients at the store, and, as usual, I assembled everything on the counter top.  By habit, when I bake and I use something, I immediately put that container back where it belongs.  That way I know what I have and have not added to the mix (should I get interrupted), and when I am finished, all of the containers are in their proper places, so clean-up is quick and easy.

OK, so everything was assembled and ready to go.  I preheated the oven, zapped the butter in the microwave for 15 seconds on power 5 to soften it, and I was ready to roll.  I have been around a mixing bowl a time or two in my life, and this is where my experience -- and my complacency -- took over.  I cannot begin to count the times a recipe starts with "cream together the butter and the sugar," so that is what I did.  I added the sugar to the softened margarine and mixed it together.  Then I added the other "wet" ingredients to the bowl.  Hm-m-m.  I still had the eggs on the counter top, and I did not see instructions to add the eggs with the other "wet" ingredients.  Perhaps, I thought, I should read the recipe more carefully...

That is when I discovered that I was supposed to whisk the eggs and the sugar together in the bowl and to save the softened butter for the streusel topping at the end of the recipe.  Oops.  Since I already had so many expensive ingredients in the bowl, I decided to go ahead with the rest of the recipe.  I figured at most I would have to increase the baking time (which I did) and that I would have a greasier muffin at the end.  I used about half of the required butter and half of the other topping ingredients for a lighter streusel topping.

The results?  Well, I have 12 browned muffins that, thanks to the muffin papers, came out of the pan intact.  They actually have a light texture inside, probably more "moist" with the added butter than they should be.  Are they my favorite?  No, but thanks to delicious Schwan's blueberries,  they are edible.

Blueberry muffins, anyone?

So lesson learned.  I need to start to pay closer attention to what I am doing.  Experience is great as long as it does not morph into inattention and errors.

My sister and brother-in-law have been in Florida all week helping my nephew and his wife remodel their newly purchased home.  After a hard week of work, they called and asked if we would like to get together so they could get out of the house.  We drove down to St. Petersburg to pick them up, and then ventured onward to St. Pete's Beach.

Tom and Sue enjoy the sunshine on St. Pete's Beach.

While Rick and I have been to Madeira Beach, we have never stopped to stroll along St. Pete's Beach.   Sadly, our  beach parking permit did not cover parking for that beach, so that was an added expense.  The beach was great.  A slight breeze and the earlier morning hour kept temperatures tolerable, and we had fun walking the not-too-crowded beach.

Dining on the deck allowed us to enjoy good food and
a fantastic view.

Owen wanted some shells, so Rick spent most of his time seeking some colorful varieties of shells to take home for Owen.  We stopped for a delicious lunch at a beach-side cafe, so dining while we could watch the waves was refreshing.

Rick has his hands full of shells to take to Owen.

As the afternoon wore on, the temperatures climbed to the point where the beach became unbearable. Florida is experiencing record-breaking temperatures this week with highs in the upper 80s.  That is 10 degrees above normal for this time of year.

We drove north a bit to John's Pass, a conglomeration of touristy shops and a boardwalk.  Our boardwalk stroll included a view of The Royal Conquest,  a pirate ship that, for a price, one could sail on.  If Owen ever comes down, I am sure that will be a required trip.

For a price, matey, you can sail with the pirates.

We did a little shopping and then ventured home before the traffic became too hectic.  Altogether, we had a relaxing, fun day.  I am glad that we got to spend some time together, and that we all got out into the fresh air and sunshine... even though I did end up with a sunburn despite my use of sunscreen!

Spring Ideas

While Rick has been busy trying to get coats of paint on our new outdoor chairs, I have been busy with my sewing machine stitching outdoor cushions for the chairs. The "inner" part of the cushions is weather-resistant foam, and the outer covers are sun and rain resistant. I made the cushions so they are removable and hopefully can withstand a few washing cycles.  We will bring the cushions in each time we are finished using them, but I am sure that eventually they will get soiled or dirty.  So be it.

Rick likes the toucan on this cushion.

Two small birds highlight "my" cushion.

At this time of the year, average temperatures generally are in the mid-70's, but after a rather cool winter, we are expecting temperatures in the low 80's for the next few days.  That put us in the mood to think about our spring landscape plans and if Rick's hand will be able to tolerate laying edging pavers around new gardens.

This morning I went out to our backyard to see how my frost-nipped crotons were fairing.  I planted the plants in January, and then weeks of cool or downright cold temperatures caused all of the leaves to drop from the plants.  I was left with just "twigs" in the ground, but a woman at the nursery assured me they might bloom again, and they are doing so.  I cannot wait to see how these plants bloom once the buds all grow back into leaves.

Small, green buds adorn the bare stems of
this croton plant.

A couple of leaves survive on this croton while
new buds burst forth from the center stem.

Since today was so nice, we packed a picnic and headed for the Florida Botanical Gardens for a little more garden inspiration.  Lunch in the palm garden, next to a bubbling fountain, was peaceful and delightful. Since it is early, early spring here, not much was in bloom.  We saw one species of pink azaleas that was outstanding, but the rest are just bare bushes yet.

Bright red camellia caught our eye as a possibility for our west or south gardens. Apparently, camellia also come in yellow or in white.

Camellia might find a place in our garden.

We also found Princess Flowers; their vibrant purple flowers were gorgeous. These, too, are a possibility.

I wonder why they named this species the
Princess Flower.

Gladys would look good with this flower
in her gardens.

And although I don't know where I would put it, the vine garden section identified for me the Flame Vine.  We have a tree in the neighborhood that is covered in this vine.  The whole tree seems to be a huge flame ablaze with the bright orange flowers.  Rick isn't too excited about vines, so we will have to see where we might incorporate this vine on a small trellis.

Perhaps a trellis by our back sheds would look
good covered with this vine.

The sculpture garden is a part of the Wedding Garden, and inside the sculpture garden I spotted a mischievous little bear trying to peek over the garden wall.  I thought Owen would enjoy the pictures because the bear reminded me of Winnie the Pooh.

Hm-m.  What's on the other side of the wall?  

That same garden had a Powder-Puff tree.  As the name implies, the tree was covered with four-inch-wide powder-puff blooms. The tree was wonderful to view but was alive with bees and wasps in practically every bloom.  Even in the picture I took, the bloom housed a fat, happy bee gathering nectar.

A bee nestles in the center of the powder -puff bloom.

Our first task still is to choose an edging paver with which we can outline the gardens.  Once we make that choice, we can start to choose the shrubs and flowers that will add some curb appeal to Gladys as she faces the street.

Chairs and Chores

On Friday we were blessed with warm enough weather to work outside for the afternoon.  Since we both were anxious to continue work on the chairs that we are "refinishing," we hauled them to the back yard and attacked the second one with a wire brush and with emory paper.  We both worked on the second chair until the rust was gone and the chair was ready for priming.

Rick had primed the first chair a few days ago, but it still needed a little additional primer where the first coat was too light.  The first coat of primer on the second chair went well. Since the primer sets quickly, the instructions said that we should either paint the final coat within an hour or wait for 48 hours.

After we sanded the second chair, Rick sprays
on a coat of brown metal primer.

Rick was able to get the first white coat of paint on the first chair with little problems.  When he started the finish coat on the second chair, however, the wind suddenly picked up making the process (and the overspray) a little more difficult.

A spray booth in which we could hang the chair
on a hook to spray all sides would have made
the job both quicker and easier!

He was able to finish the first coats on both chairs as far as we could go.  We still need to turn the chairs upside down (on Monday, if possible) to finish the bottom rungs and rockers.  A second coat probably will follow to finish the process, but for now we are happy that the chairs are clean and sealed from future rust.

The first coat of finish coat returned the first
chair back to its original color -- minus the rust!

The second chair also has its first coat of
finish color on most of the chair.

Will these chairs require attention in the future?  Certainly.  We will have to apply touch-up paint or new coats of paint every few years to protect them, but I hope that once I figure out what to do with the cushions for the chairs, we will be able to sit in them and to enjoy them on our back patio.

Yesterday we spent the day in St. Petersburg with my nephew Jon and his wife Rachel, helping them prepare their newly-purchased house for their move-in day.  They have their current home until this summer, so they have the luxury of some time to get the new house up to their expectations.

They have purchased an older home with good bones.  Yes, some things need updating, and in time they can add what they want.  For now, we took care of some immediate needs.  They have a wonderful 16 x 32 foot family room across most of the back of the house.  This room was added after the original home was built, so when Jon took down some mirrors hanging on one of the paneled walls in the addition, he discovered exterior windows hidden in the wall.  By the time we arrived, he had removed one louvered window that used to light the bathroom, but the double-hung aluminum window hidden in the small bedroom was still wedged into the wall.  Sadly, the bottom pane was all broken, so jagged glass rimmed the inner frame of that part of the window.

With a little work, Rick and Jon were able to remove that second window. Our motto for the day was, "No blood," and they were able to remove everything while still adhering to that sentiment.  We chipped out the old windowsills with a cold chisel so that we could have a flat surface on which Jon can build a frame to hold new drywall to fill in that now-missing window.  The old windows now rest in the garage, ready for disposal.

Rachel and I prepped the rest of the smaller bedroom's walls further renovation.  They have decided to add wainscot to the bottom of that bedroom to remedy earlier decorating errors (think 1970's paneling) and to add a fresh coat of paint to the top portion. Their next task will be to find bi-fold doors that will fit into slide-by closet door openings.

Rachel and Jon just had the terrazzo floors in the bedrooms all refinished, and they are gorgeous. The floors shine and have no pits or damage at all.

Rachel wants to prepare their guest room before my sister and brother-in-law come next week, so we spent some time spackling holes in the walls so that Rachel can paint the room.  She took down drapery rods and the blinds in that room so she can paint it this week.  She already had painted the ceiling in the room, so a couple coats of a new color on the walls and in the closets will do wonders for that room. I am sure that her guests will survive without closet doors for this first visit.

Rick and Jon went out to their covered back patio because a few of the screens needed repair.  In a little over an hour, they had removed the old screens and put in new screening materials. Good work, Jon! Now they have an enclosed, screened-in room so they can enjoy spring evenings bug-free.

Jon wanted us to cut the baseboard molding for the guest room, but the room needs painting first, and we were not ready to cut the molding yesterday.  We need to cut each piece and fit it before we move on to the next one. Sadly, every remodeling task has a sequence of events so that materials are not wasted and so that tasks do not have to be repeated.

Since we are retired, we will return later this week to cut and install the baseboard.  Once Rachel lets us know that the spackling is complete and the painting is finished, we can install the baseboard. We need to make a couple of modifications to our saw to make it safe.  Then we will take our saw, our compressor and finish nailer, and we will complete that task within a couple of hours.  Rick and I work well together, so this will be a small job to complete.

By the time we left yesterday, Jon and Rachel had a plan of what they want to do with the rest of the house.  It will take a little time, a lot of cleaning,  a little renovation, and a bit of money, but in the end they will have an incredible house that will shelter them for many years.