Duke Manor Farm Notables…..first project of the year
Duke Manor Farm Notables…..first project of the year, squirrels and other random stuff going on around here.
I’m not sure what caught your attention. My first project or squirrels? Let’s start with the squirrel. You know I love my animals but squirrels…..I loathe them. Really I do, especially when I know it is lurking around looking at me but I just can’t seem to find it. As you know I live around quite a few trees. Squirrels love the trees and to find a way into warm homes in the winter time. This is the not the first time that I have had a pesky little critter in the house. Despite preventing any such critter from coming in to the house via the roof , they do….and we have no idea how. So I my hubby will be squirrel trapping this weekend. Got any squirrel hunting tips?
Duke Manor Farm Notables…..first project of the year
Updates to the Family Room
Remember when we planked the ceiling in our Family room a few years back here? I love that ceiling. Well it appears that some of the wood knots are showing through so a paint refresh is in order. While I am at it, I will give the side walls a fresh coat of paint and some new trim and caulk. The bead board on the upper side walls was what we installed when we built this room out 15 years ago ( and they were stained a cherry color and look a bit yellowish) and rather go through the expense of replacing it all for wood planks, we’re just gonna trim it out to tie it all together.
The before shot
Here’s what the room looked like once upon a time. Oh lawd….I think I missed the mark on the curtain lengths!
Besides the painting I’ll update a few decorative elements in the room as well. I just ordered these lights last night to put on the wall where the tv goes. And I have my eye on some artwork from here to surround around the tv. And since I sold the accent chair I had in here, I’ll be replacing that as well. The sectional, console and rug will all remain the same.
I have gotten a few questions over the years about how in the world we can reach some of our taller ceilings in the house. Well, after our first planked ceiling project and watching my hubby going up and down on extension ladders, we decided to invest in one of the best tools that we have around Duke Manor…..scaffolding.
We have this one and let me tell you, it was worth every dime. It saves so much time when you are tackling projects like this or on the exterior of the house. And when I am not using it… friends are. If you don’t have a friend that has their own scaffolding….you do now.
I can’t wait to show you the finished space. And although you have seen it over the years, you have never really seen it finished. We temporarily moved all the furniture to our sitting room. Once we move it all back we will start on that ceiling as well. Oh by the way, this time I am applying some Kilz primer.On this ceiling I did not originally apply primer, just a couple coats of paint. On the other ceiling I did and it still shows the knots. So there you go.
Other randomness
This article made me cry, smile and motivated at the same time.
For the last few weeks I have been using these cleansing wipes to remove my makeup and I love the way my skin feels so refreshed afterwards.
My pre- teen son ( i am sobbing) is getting a bedroom makeover this winter and this is the direction I am heading. Now that he is a middle schooler, I thought it was time to take down the decals and paint over the a-e-i-o-u vowels since it’s doing nothing to slow down his aging process.
Gotta go and look for the squirrel.
Happy Weekend!
Grateful
for memories
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We had rats in our attic a few years ago. No squirrels so far, but they have chewed the outside of our house in quite a few places. Geesh, leave the house alone and stay in the trees!!
My daughter did have a squirrel in their attic and got some kind of traps and they worked.
Our home inspector found a raccoon living in our attic before we moved in! An tons of squirrels here in Hall. Dig in the yard, the flower beds, run across the roof. They are cute to watch though….had to have several huge oaks taken out due to Irma damage, so hopefully they will be cute down the street……
Could hardly believe its your same room. Its so nice and light now. Amazing what paint can do. Really like how you transformed it, and looking forward to seeing your updates!
BIG trouble wth chipmunks and Squirrels. Tried all the preventative steps and expensive traps (expensive feeders!) To no avail. Finally tried mothballs, and that did the trick. Put them in eave soffits And around Holes They Had Dug. Also Around Foundation And in crawl spaces. Only smelt the mothballs less then a day, Buy they Have Not Been Back. Love Your Redo. Great Taste. Thanks For Sharing.
Oh my lions,tigers & SQUIRRELS!!!! Don’t like them & we have four oak trees in our yard.We had one come down the chimney lucky the damper was closed took my husband & son to get it out before any damaged was caused. After that my husband put chicken wire on top of chimney problem solved. Good luck.
Squirrels are a disaster but people have dropped off cats at our home and I feed and make warm beds so they pretty much keep the squirrels at bay I love your room it will be beautiful
Funny story–we had squirrels in the attic; hubby read that they don’t like noise, and in particular “humans” talking. We put a remote controlled radio in the attic and when I’d hear them around 6am or so, I’d turn on the talk radio station on that radio. It worked for a while til they figured out there was no human sharing their space.
Next up hubby read that they don’t like blinking lights. Yep, he put a strobe light, remote controlled again, in the attic. I was tempted to turn the radio station to an oldies station so they could have their own disco party 😉
The light never worked. We finally found the entrance-they chewed a huge whole by a gable. We actually had the house re-sided which was needed anyway, and with all the noise they went away. Don’t know why but they’ve not come back…yay!
One thing we were told is to be careful when trapping and make sure that it’s not a mama who has babies in the attic. If you only catch mama, babies will die and, of course, stink up the attic not to mention you might feel bad if that happens.
LOL! You and the squirrels is killing me! Scott calls them rats with tails 😉 My dad made me a “table for one” squirrel feeder years ago and I loved it! Happy Painting! That’s on our agenda, as we are selling our house. Yikes!
they are rats….aren’t they?
I love to watch the squirrels on my patio, but I’m sure I don’t have nearly as many as you do! Now if I had that scaffolding, I could finish painting in here! But then where on earth would I store it?
Brenda
my least favorite animal. are you staying warm?
Single girl here with a 20 foot ceiling and a smoke detector at the top-grrrrr. I should get me a single girl scaffold! Let me know if you want to brand that with me 😂😂😂.
Good luck on the squirrell……. no bueno.
ha. sounds like a good idea! what do you do when you need to change the batteries?
I have only been in the house 6 months, so I haven’t had to. Dreading it though!
Nice one. This is such a great post. Thanks for sharing this.