You didn’t think I would talk about the basement project without showing photos did you? Here is the embarrassing before.
Lots of boxes, which are now being kept in the garage (on my side interestingly enough) waiting to be broken down and recycled. A bookshelf which made it’s way into my office, and is now holding a fish tank on top. Lots of old computer things. This I can blame all on my husband, who saved them all “for parts”. A note about things like that though, thrift shops won’t take TVs or computer screens, even if they still work. Did you know that? You have to take them to get recycled, and it’s going to cost you. The best deal we found was to take them to Best Buy because even though they charge $10 a piece, they give you a $10 gift card per piece.
And now the “during” because we also put together a Bowflex gym (which my husband had wanted for years) and isn’t in the photo. Also, we would like to finish the basement someday.
Isn’t that SOOOOO much better? It feels so much nicer to go into the space and workout now. Room to move, and even some room for aerobics! I was especially proud of how many things we donated. As you know, I am a bit of a clutter clearing freak and do it often, but I have often had a hard time getting my hubby on the same page. My motto? If it’s not used or loved, it’s out the door. His motto? This could come in handy someday. LOL.
I have been spending most of this week playing catch up on all the things that I didn’t get to do during the project. The Bowflex was the hardest part of the whole project. Clearing out only took one afternoon, and then about an hour to load it all up and take it to the thrift store. The Bowflex on the other hand took us 2 whole days to put together!! It wasn’t so much that it was hard, but just that there were so many parts and steps. Hubby had better LOVE that thing!! 
There is a state holiday here every July 24th. Some people refer to it as “Pie-n-beer” day, but it’s really called Pioneer Day. We didn’t have pie or beer, but we did enjoy lots of yummy food, playing badminton, and of course, a long weekend. Long weekends mean one of two things at our house. Either doing absolutely nothing, or working on a house project. This weekend we worked on a small house project, celebrated the holiday with family, and lit fireworks. Baby also enjoyed playing with her new IQube toy from Think Geek (she is doing a review for our animal site).
Anyway, back to “Project Basement”. The basement in our house had become a dumping ground of all things homeless or useless. This weekend we decided to tackle one half of it and get rid of things that we no longer used, no longer worked (that were being stored for “parts”) or we didn’t have space for. What a big project! We were mainly clearing space to create an awesome workout area. Something we have both wanted for a long time.
A good clear out is always so nice. There are lots of other spots in the house that I need to tackle, and of course getting a reward from clearing out one space makes me want to do more.
In the future we hope to finish our basement, but right now it works well even unfinished. What did you do over the weekend?
The first roses of 2010 (photo taken June 6). Notice that there is still snow on the mountains in the background? Yep, June in the Rockies is quite the mix of weather.
Today I rescued two baby robins from my parent’s window well. The nest was in a tree not too far from the window, and had obviously been broken apart (probably thanks to the snow storm on Monday). My mom was in the basement this morning and saw movement in the window. And luckily for the baby birds, the parent birds were aware of where they were. I was able to get them out with a pond skimmer, almost like a net, but they didn’t seem to like it that much. I’m sure it was scary for them.
Here is one of the babies after being rescued. This one seemed to be a lot more scared of the ordeal than the other one was, and found it’s way into a bush to hide. I had to get it out of there though so it would go over to where the other baby was, who was getting worms from mama bird.
Also, I called the wildlife department to find out what we should do next. They said that the best thing is to get them back up into the nest. With the nest half gone, that wasn’t an option. They said that if the babies are on the ground and the parents know where they are, they still have a good chance of surviving, other than cats and dogs. The cats are going to be the biggest problem, as my parent’s neighborhood is full of strays and pet cats that live outside.
We did our best though, and now will just keep our fingers crossed that they make it.
My favorite time of year, when trees start to blossom. Everything smells so good! Our flowering pear just started to let loose, so here are some photos I snapped today.
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