Our realtor told us to get the cellar taken care of because it is scary looking. Why? Because DH decided to "open" the stone wall that separates the crawl space from the small full cellar we have. It has been this way for a good 3-5 years at least. Where the wall is down you can see all dirt where the crawl space used to be and now you can walk through. DH said we needed to open it up to get to the plumbing. He now has to pour a foundation and slab there or do SOMETHING. The beginning of the driveway (a long one that goes on to connect to 4 houses in a small compound) has many deep craters in it. The closet is a walk in closet in my MB. it will take literally a half hour to paint and may already be done (I haven't looked). My DH dug his heels in and made this go on much longer than it has needed to. I am beyond frustrated but fretting will not change anything. I am doing my best to push things but he works a lot (runs two businesses). Selling our home in Florida and clearing it out has not helped. He will not let me make the phone calls and line things up because he knows everyone he has to call. He takes his time though when making said phone calls. The guy who looked at our septic is a HS friend of my DH and is the best in town. He is actually giving us a deal. We had a cesspool and had a septic done (by the same guy) as a favor, a weekend deal, so now we have to make sure it is done with a certificate. CP I was first hoping to put the house on the market in April, then June, then September. This has been a nightmare trying to get DH to move on things. I have been nagging him since January. He dug his heels in and didn't see the need for rushing it. Now here we are almost to September. and he is saying we need to get moving, If I can get the darn thing on by October, I will only keep it on till December 20th (If no buyer) and then it will go off until next March. Believe me if I had been in charge the house would be finished and had been on the market in April. DH is lucky I love him so much.

I like what Bev shows too. Make sure the shutters are sized right and functional looking - you have the space to do so. The other items she added, landscaping and a different walkway as well as an updated door with sidelights, makes your home much more cohesive IMO. Link about shutter sizing: Shutters vs Shudders ^This is to show sizing and hardware (hinges and shutterdogs), not shutter type. You need wide shutters because your window area is wide (two rather than one).

Yes, it works great. I usually only do this the week or two before the thanksgiving holidays. But have been doing this at least every few weeks during covid. On the plan for tonight as well as some master stock but running out of steam. I checked my crisper drawer and all is still fresh so putting off another day. Tomorrow. Or I might start stock to simmer overnight. I loosely chop an onion or two. Pulse in my cuisinart. Mince not mush. Dump into a enamel cast iron with butter and a bit of oil. Then do the same with celery, carrot, poblano, garlic or what you like for mirepoix/sofrito. (I have a couple leeks I need to use up). Don't stir right away. Let the onions get going on medium heat. Then low and slow. Will give off lots of moisture on its own. Don't need to go full caramelization. Just low and slow transparent veg. Keep an eye on it and check your crisper drawer for any other things that need using up. Put a lid on it and turn down to low heat. If it gets a bit dry add some white wine or stock or just plain water. Let it steam. It should be damp/wet, not watery. Lid off and let cool down. Flat pack quart zip locks or pint/1/2 pint containers. I have two full organic celery bunches I need to use. I'll save the inner hearts with the leaves wrapped in damp p-towels. (they last forever for salads, etc)

@ci_lantro it would have been wise to consider changing out that half round. However, the front windows were replaced (minus the half round because it's still in good shape) about 8 yrs ago. This siding project is set to start the end of this month. We recently ordered some windows for the back of the home and the price had DOUBLED in the 8 years since we replaced the front windows. We wouldn't have enough time to order the transom at this point and we're probably at the point of "good enough". Hindsight is 20/20. There are things I would have done differently if I had a do-over button (window grid patterns etc. - I didn't know at the time that we could customize the grids in the windows we were getting and the installer didn't ask what we wanted). I've learned a lot in 8 yrs. Maybe these half round windows will come back? Yeah, probably not!