Some surprises you get with a new house can be less than positive. They can range from annoying (Surprise! The sellers left a giant oil painting of a quarterback in the attic.) to slightly more horrifying (Oh look, the faucet suddenly has no water pressure!), but luckily, there are lots of good surprises too.
Good surprise exhibit A: Discovering the new-to-us garden. Since the yard thinks its spring (It was 70 degrees yesterday…in February.), each day we’re seeing new bits of green shooting out of the ground. And almost every day, a different flower pops out. Of course, as gardening novices, we have to run to a flower book (or to the all-knowing HGTV gardening editor, Marie) to identify most of them.
Everything from crocuses…
Freshly-sprouted purple crocuses
…to daffodils…
Yellow daffodils, after the rain
…to rambling vinca. And more is popping up every day!
Vinca major
Read Liz’s previous House Diaries posts here and follow her home inspiration board on Pinterest.
What surprised you most (good or bad) about your first house? Tell me in the comments below.
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when we put an offer in for our house, the ground was covered with about 12" of snow. we had seen what the front and backyard looked like from pictures the owner had taken and knew our yard would be beautiful when all the snow cleared. but a pleasant surprise was in store…once the snow started melting off we realized we had a huge cement slab patio off the back of the house! a few weeks later a large area of lilies popped up aside the patio. what nice surprises!
12 inches of snow — brrr. I'm cold just thinking about it. But yay for the surprise patio! We also have a group of what appears to be lilies, so I'm looking forward to that.
We built on the Tenn-Tombigbee River 8 years ago and since it is on the river, had to be elevated. When the guys got the subflloor in and we could see the view from up there—WOW!!
We did not realize, until after we moved in, that the master bedroom was directly over the unheated garage. Now, every winter, we suffer dreadfully from the cold. Thank goodness for electric blankets.
We bought a lot with a steep bayou bank, covered with briers and cut vines. This lot has never been built on, however, we have discovered concrete steps down to the water's edge, lined with daffodils. We also found lily of the valley and English ivy covering the slope. Spring is full of surprises!!
Janelle, that sounds beautiful. Congrats on the new property!
I miss the gardening shows so much! Am I the only one? And what happened to Lynette Jennings who helped us develop our own designer eyes? She taught us, and showed us the differences between what a room would look like depending on what you did in the room. And the how tos of gardens. Now that Americans are out of work I would like to see us growing out own Fruits and vegitables, and sharing the produce with others. If so many are out of work doesn't this make sense to anyone else. Maybe it's too practical and there isn't any way to make money out of gardening shows. It's kinda like opera and orchestras, dying arts. There won't be any beautiful gardens left. I have been studying the Victorian gardens and how they sustained large house holds of hundreds of people with all produce and plants, and flowers year round! Think of the savings!
HGTV is now HTV. Only our PBS gas some garden shows. I count on them to get me through the winter.
I was so looking forward to having a home to call my own and didn’t realize that I was in trouble from the time I signed the papers. The city inspector missed a lot of items from the lose tile on the porch steps, the missing chimney cap, gutters that filled and didn’t drain, the large hole in the air/heat unit that distributes the air to the different rooms, the gas pipe that leaked and even the dryer that was vented to the crawl space. The best one is the appraiser stating that the home has a modern kitchen. The appliances date back to the 70’s. The closing attorney and 21st Century realtor (sellers/neighbor/previous owner) had to add their two cents into it by adding a restriction of no trailer or modular home is to be located on the property. Why? Because I stated that my mom would be moving in with me when she is no longer able to climb the 39 stairs to her home. I guess the realtor didn’t get along with her mom.
The other thing that I love is when you are looking at a house to buy and someone will say “Oh that won’t be hard or expensive to fix”; however those items do add up and where are they when you have to have it fix or fix it yourself. However, I’m doing what I think everyone is doing and fixing the items one at a time and moving on to make a house a home that I will be proud of and love for a long time. First on the list was to change the dryer vent to outside, put on a chimney cap, removed the lose tiles from the front stairs and divided the only Hosta Blue Angel plant I had up to make several new plants. Friends gave me some of their plants that were getting overcrowded and I planted those as well. When my neighbors got upset because I had mowed a strip of their grass, I got some boxwood hedge clippings from my mom and working on making a boarder. That way we know what blade of grass is theirs and which ones are mine. LOL! Got to love thee neighbors.
I'm sure everyone goes through this, but I definitely thought certain things would take less time or be easier than they have been so far. It sounds like you're making progress though, bit by bit!
We bought our 5 acres in 1986 and didn't build on the lakefront property until 1995…we walked over the land alot but one winter day I noticed under the Bald Cypress trees the large sandstone rocks….there was a carved out date on it May 4, 1892 oh my my first thought a headstone grave marker…but it is so rocky there I really don't think that is the case it is right beside a spring fed pond…. Love …..it…
I have been planting over 500 bulbs….so one day there will be a major surprise for someone…come spring time……
Heron's Landing, Richmond KY
Wow, 1892! What a cool find. I'm sure the the far-in-the-future owners will love the bulbs as much as I love ours.
Moved into my amazing magical house last summer, 2 acres of nature , apples and pear trees, wild life, birds, river curving, who can ask for more ::) .
Also discovered a very wide stepping stone walk way leading to front – was covered with almost 2 inches grass….
Looking forward to experience my first Spring here….loved Wilson "surprise" above…Might just do the same
Michigan
Your property sounds amazing. And great that you found a surprise walkway!
Those would be beautiful surprises to get with a new house.
[...] light switches, homeownership comes with a bucketful (or maybe more like a truckload full) of “Aha!” moments. Signs of spring at our [...]
[...] Along with a ring of keys, lots of possibilities and a bunch of mysterious light switches, homeownership comes with a bucketful (or maybe more like a truckload full) of “Aha!” moments. [...]
Don't you just love the surprises of a new place! The previous owners here remodeled the home, now I am remodeling the land. The Ice storm damages were severe here and most large places like this haven't been cleaned up. I am so glad we have great neighbors here with heavy equipment! The place is really coming along and I enjoy the surprises here. Finding amazing places that have so much native elements. I did this not long ago and wow, these bones ache! I need an HGTV crew for the landscape at the house! I planted so many bareroot items last fall so they are going to be fun to watch. The daffidols are up, surprise lillys next, forsythia and pears and redbuds blooming. The mint is back already! It is so warm here now and I will be planting veggies on my decks, the critters here beat me to everything until I get a greenhouse. I did the fenced garden and the raised garden at my previous place, I dream of a greenhouse. Have fun in the garden, enjoying spring here.
Those flowers are so lovely and their colors are very vibrant and fresh. You should have a deal with the <a href="http://www.perthfloristdirect.com.au” target=”_blank”>www.perthfloristdirect.com.au because they do sell quite refreshing and pretty flowers. It's nice to have a business out of your hobby.
This brings me back to when I was looking for a new house. I went through the extra trouble of having pre purchase inspections in melbourne check for enough space for a decent sized garden. I can definitely say that, with the paradise in the back yard, it was all worth it.