And the walls come tumbling down...

It has begun.  Refreshing the kitchen has been on our minds for years now, and finally, after I taped down a(nother) rip in the linoleum with purple duck tape, we caved.  We called up our favorite contractor, Coastline Construction, and asked them to help us out.  And so, before...

All of the wood is great, as long as you aren't seeing it day in and day out.  And every little thing that spills, it sticks to the cabinets until the end of time.  I'm still not sure what the opening above the stove and through the stairs is all about, and forget that tiny little corner cabinet.  The microwave is ancient and weak, but tied to the electric oven.  And notice the duck tape on the dining room window?  You wouldn't believe the draft that was coming in through that window.


Wednesday was the beginning of demolition.  We aren't officially remodeling, as nothing is moving (or wasn't to start with!), but instead, nearly everything is getting resurfaced.  Our desire started with the floor, crawled up the walls and over the cabinets and ceilings.  It's happening in a somewhat more orderly fashion.  The first steps were to pull down the wood that clads all of the walls and ceilings in this part of the house and assess the damage time and water has caused.  

Damage was not nearly as bad as it could have been.  There appears to be termite damage in one of the headers, but it looks to be pre-construction.  And there is water damage under the big window in the dining room - but we were expecting that.  Ralph & Sean have repaired the air return to the furnace and the damaged header.  We've decided to replace the 10' long window with a pair of doors (6' wide) and some side windows.  We're putting in a large built-in hutch in the dining room for additional storage.  The hole over the stove is getting a face lift.  And bonus!!!  Ralph & Sean cleaned up the garage so that they could pull their trailer in to ease the removal of extras.

I'll try and keep you up to date with the goings on.  We're quite excited to see it done!

Linens and Other Things

Still working on getting "to done", as I sit here in the waning sunlight, listening to the sound of a chainsaw outside my living room window. It's getting later in the afternoon, but the weather is just beautiful today - probably in the upper 60's, lower 70's or so. I can hear the frogs chirping in my potted plants.

This morning I managed to clean out my 1/2 bath - I figured I'd start small, with something that doesn't appear to need that much work anyway. I've only got one day and I'd like to make sure I actually get something accomplished today. Mostly, I use the 1/2 bath as a linen closet for my tablescapes. I emptied out all of my drawers and cabinets and laid down new liner - it's a black and white tole print. Very sweet. As I was cleaning, I could see mouse sign - fortunately for the little rodents they didn't decide to nest in my linens. I don't think they've been there for a while, but you know I'll be keeping a closer eye on things.

I managed to get all of my linens refolded and took some pix along the way. I don't know what it is about the vintage prints, but I just love them - the more color the better. Or throw in some hand embroidery and I'm all gushy. I love the way the embroiderer on this one used a variegated pink in all of her perfect lazy daisies. And then, don't get me started on checks. Evidently, I have a thing for them. (I think I'm missing one or two in this picture!)

I need to remember that I have quite a few pieces of copper tucked into a cupboard - they would make great vases for flowers once in a while.

I boxed up a whole bunch of rejects - ready for donation to Goodwill or the like. I'll make sure they get out of the house this week - or maybe next weekend. And then I can look for additions to my collection - wahoo!!

Check one thing off my list!

Carnage

Damn Squirrels!

May 2001 - Pineapple Anyone?

When was the last time you cleaned out your pantry? It's been a while for me, but yesterday found me emptying the shelves of everything and taking stock of what's been hiding back there. About half the stuff has a "best by" date of sometime prior to today. And it's a lot of the same thing, over and over again. Like 6 cans of Chicken Noodle Soup. And 12 boxes of Jell-o/Pudding Mix. Beans and Diced Tomatoes.

So I'm going to set up an "interim" pantry - where I have to use one or two items from the old stock every day. Most of it's not bad, it's just not "best". The old rule about canned items was that as long as they weren't leaking, dented, or off in color or smell, they were probably OK. So we'll use up what we have. And how bad is Jell-o or Pudding going to get in it's hermetically sealed little pouch in the box? Especially when it's sugar-free?

What's going back in the main pantry are the current items. Doesn't look like much does it? I mean really, what are you going to do with four cans of boiled peanuts? And 6 cans of hominy - just because you can't find it in the first place. You know it's in there, but it's been buried under who-knows-what. And just how many jars of Mayhaw Jelly does one diabetic South Georgian need?

I can tell that we have a definite Southern influence in our pantry - jams & jellies, cornbread, black-eyed peas, hominy... But there's some regional influence as well - like 5 different brands of barbecue sauce. And 4 different salsas. And fish sauce, and rose water, and anchovy fillets.

What's the oddest thing in your pantry?

Purging

It's only a few, but they are leaving the house. I've got about 60 cookbooks - which sounds like far to many, but really, it's not. I like to dream about the cooking I'd do if only people would come visit me on a regular basis. There are some that I like just for the fabulous photos, and some I like for the timeless and normal, sturdy cooking they show you how to do. Food when I was growing up was not something you particularly enjoyed - you ate to eat, not because it was good. Slathering the pancakes with peanut butter and drowning them in syrup - because that was the only way you could actually eat the inch thick burnt puddles of goo. There were a few things that turned out well - split pea soup is one of my favorites, but mostly, it was food.

So I look to the books to learn how to cook. Even simple things like pancakes, or pizza, or believe it or not - how to boil an egg (do you put the egg in the cold water, or do you put it in when the water is boiling? How long will give me soft set, hard set? For whatever reason, this just will not stick in my head!) And I watch too much food TV. But, now, I'm a pretty darn good cook. Oh, I still cook the same things week after week, but I'm not afraid to try something new, especially when it involves new gadgets. And I look to the books to try something new - a different kind of ice cream, a new cookie, something good for dinner.

The books that are heading out the door fall into two categories: 1) somebody else bought them for me - while I appreciate the thought, they just don't inspire me. 2) diet cookbooks - I'll admit, I bought most of these. I thought that maybe a different cookbook would inspire me to cook healthier. Right. They are full of weird foods and weird combinations and that just won't work for me.

So off they go. To the library for their library fund, and a tax deduction for me.

Day Eighteen (or Hooray! It's a Floor!!)

AFTER

Well, it would be a floor if I could get blogger to upload the pictures. I've finally gotten to the point in my studio that I can steam clean the carpets and move the daybed back in. Once I do that, then it's just down to some straightening and some editing of "stuff" I'm so excited you just don't know. And thank goodness, it'll be done before the kiddos get here. I've got a list a mile long to get finished, but I know that I can do it, I just gotta stick to it. But one room (almost!) down, 20 more to go.

BEFORE

Day Fifteen (or Happy Halloween!)

If you look very carefully at the black blob on the left, you will notice a small claw sticking out from the side of the coffin shaped critter. And what is this critter? A very small, very clean mummified bat.

I was doing my laundry this past weekend, shook out a shirt to put it on the hanger, and lo and behold, a piece of black fluff fell to the floor. I picked it up, EWWWWW, and immediately let it drop back to the floor. So what do you do with the clothes once you have found a bat in your clean laundry? I decided that a rewash, without the bat this time, was in order.

We get bats in the house occasionally when we open the doors after dusk and leave them open for a short while. I've had to catch them in a pillow case and release them outside, or even chase them out an open window when I can manage to do that. But this is the first time I've found one in the laundry.

Happy Halloween!

Day Twelve (or Any Random Saturday)

Why is it that the Saturday's are always filled with chores, and tasks, and to do lists and not so much with the fun things in life? I know it's because we work all week long, and in the evenings we just sit our honeys on the sofa watching TV, but I'd like to change that in my life.

This morning I've been watching out the window on the deck and the d*&m squirrels are running back and forth along the railing eating everything green. I've tried to go out there with the BB gun, but they disappear when they hear the screen door open. I am not going to get any apples off the tree this year, thanks to the birds and the squirrels.

This morning tho, I did see a buck run across the yard. I see doe all the time, but a buck is few and far between. I think it must have been September, we had eleven doe and two bucks in the space of 15 minutes walk past on the deer trail right outside our living room window.

Things to do, and posting another entry is not going to get them done. I leave for Austin tomorrow night, and I'd like to get the house picked up before I leave. I'd like to kill the damn squirrels too.

Day Seven (or On the Home Front)

It's so good to be home. And I mean even working today. I love the drive in, even tho it really is time to get the car fixed, and I love where I work. But that first cup of coffee in the morning, man that will wake you up.

I woke up this morning at my new and improved wakey-wakey time (ugh:30) and spent 30 minutes admiring my hard work yesterday. It's still not quite ready to put the furniture back in place, but it looks soo much better. And I have a lot of work still to do, but you can see the floor and things are sorted out. Once I have everything put away, I'll need to spend some time and money making it "pretty". BBSis is going to want to paint some of my furniture, and so do I, I just can't manage to haul it down to the garage for painting until I can get some assistance. And everything is fitting on the shelves, just is it fitting right. I am glad I purchased the wire shelves for the deck, they fit perfectly in the closet.

I just look around the house and there are so many things I need to do to just spruce things up a bit. But I think I am going to just take one room at a time. Get it done, maintain it, and move on to the next room. The problem is, there are 21 disticnt living areas in our home. That means, I need to take dedicate each month to two areas and take care of them completely. I think the best thing is to look at the list at the beginning of the month and see which ones are bugging me the most. It appears that October is my Studio. I'll rely on my BBSis to help me get rid of the excess in there when she comes.

Day Six (or Progress Made)

Sunday's are wonderful. I've had enough time to recoupe from the week, and start to get my second wind for things around the house. And I love how progress in one area makes it so much easier to progress in another. This next week should be very satisfying.


Yesterday I was able to get the suitcases unpacked - all the way! And the laundry is started.


I worked for a while in my studio/guest room and things are looking more organized, to me at least. Spousal Unit 1 (SU1) still can't see where anything is going. And how all the stuff on the floor is going to make it onto the available storage. I'll show before and after pictures when I am able to put the beds back. And just for you BBSis, I'll let you look inside my drawers and closets. And then you can tell I have far too many notebooks and paper items. And where should I donate them? I can't just let them go. And I will need to pull out the two to ten sheets I've actually used out of each of them. Oh my. Another task for another day. Today is just about moving forward.

I'm }{ this close to the halfway point of the Nina shawl. I've been avoiding it because I know that now, I'm going to be disappointed with the length of the shawl. I think I knew that when I did the OBBSis Peas & Carrots Scarf so I added interest between the striped blocks by doing another row of checks and useing this really wonky chenille with the wool used in the main. Now how to make my Nina a bit longer. . .

Day Five (or Home Again)

It wasn't supposed to rain last night - the front was supposed to be headed north. But there I was all snuggled under the blankets, next to my honey, in the easy light of the one lamp, listening to the rain on the roof. Thank you. (Quilts by G'ma-watermelon Pattern Unknown, MIL-blue Storm at Sea, FleaMkt Purchase-Made in India red & white Postage Stamp)

In the quiet of the morning, I've had a chance to get my first cup of cream & coffee. There's no cars rushing by on the highway, not even the sounds of the neighbors getting their Saturday morning chores done. The sun is starting to climb the ridge line and brushing the tops of our redwood trees in the clean light. It'll be noon before it reaches the clearing, but that's OK. I need the peace of a morning like this. Even tho there are always a million and one things to do, I need this time to gather my thoughts, to savor the sounds of nothing. It's actually quieter (more quiet?) than normal - I think the birds must be sleeping in too.

In the spirit of "write it down, get it done" I want to set a few tasks for the weekend:

1. Unpack and get the laundry done ~ I am the worst at this... I hate seeing the suitcases strewn about the house, but all I want to do is be home.


2. Cut and prepare to mail the quilts to MIL ~ She'll be looking for them now, and I hope she'll be able to get working on them. I think they will help keep her mind active and busy.


3. Work on my creative space ~ The kiddo's will be here soon, especially when you subtract the time I'll be in Austin, and they need a place to sleep. And, BBSis is going to be interested in what we can do when she's here.

That should be more than enough. Keep it easy and don't overwhelm yourself.