The Guest Bedroom Is Completed

We are finally 'finished' with the house remodeling! Here's the photos below. Please forgive the brevity. We are both so whipped that the mental processes are completely gone. And I'm sure normal people are more concerned with getting everything just right for The Big Day.

Before the stinky old carpeting was removed.

Preparations made, the first board goes in place.

I know that 'almost' only counts in horseshoes and grenades,

but we are truly Almost There. *grin*

Ta Da! The floor is finished!

This is the Guest Bedroom all put back together

and we are both long necking a Blue Moon.

It might end up being two ... *giggle*

I know everyone is super busy so I appreciate your taking time to stop by. And if you're really bored, the complete home remodel is here. I should have taken a picture of the money as it disappeared too. *lol* 

Have a blessed rest of the week folks.

A Monday Hodgepodge

Pearls Before Swine

It just dawned on me, that it has been days since I visited blogs or posted here. Y'all must have thought I fell off the face of the earth.

The cartoon above reminds me of our family. It will just be the two of us this year (their choice, not ours). What are your plans?

First some news, I think we have finally found a church in which to feel comfortable in. Sundays usually find us in the First Baptist Church. Being a "grace believer" I will not be "joining" (i.e. submitting to water baptism) but it's a pleasant diversion every Sunday morning. I spoke to the Pastor briefly about it, and he said it's not a problem. Without "joining" one just can not hold office or vote in the business part of their church. Thankfully, I'm not interested in any of that anyway. But the natives are friendly and there is a motorcycle club called F.A.I.T.H. Riders in which we are members. That should pacify even my persnickety side.

We have started on, hopefully, the final remodeling project in our 23+ year old stick built home. It's taken over a year to accomplish all the necessary interior projects but it's been well worth the financial and physical pain. The current project is the guest bedroom. It still has 23+ year old carpeting. First Hubby removed the smelly carpeting in the closet and placed nice easy to clean floor tiles. Today, we've removed everything from the bedroom except the ceiling tall bookcase out into the hallway. The bookcase needs another coat of white paint before moving on. Then we'll started pulling up carpeting and replacing it with the floating Pergo flooring.

And something else good came from all this work.

Experience is a wonderful teacher. For most who know me they know that one of my absolute favorite hobbies is genealogy / family research. I've been following people's migrations and habits for years. It's become second nature to figure out why an ancestor moved or did whatever they did during their lives. I also study a lot of old photos. This leads me to I keep all our photo albums in this closet that's being renovated. This week, whilst everything was in a disarray, I began thumbing through an old homemade photo album that belonged to my adopted mother, Helen, who had died in 1966 when I was 10 years old.  I have few memories of my mother. The reason being that like a monkey in a cage, my father was good at flinging obscenities or threats in my direction whenever I even so much as spoke to him, so, I quit asking him anything at a young age. Anyway, I happened on a couple of old Polaroid photos in the album that I'm sure I must have looked at a million times two and wondered "Who are these people?" since there was no writing on the photos. Well, I was sitting on the bed casually looking through the album and I had one photo of Mom in one hand, and this one below in the other, and I finally realized, this is my Mom at a very early age! She always had that serious look on her face. My Mom and her brother, Richard, where the only children of Richard Darrell Koethe, I, and Edna Margaretta Strain. This has to be her in that very treasured photo album. That was such a very joyful moment to discover a photo of my Mom for the 'first' time. It's a nice Christmas gift.

And I'm still enjoying, and learning about, my new Smartphone. I feel so modern. *lol*

If I don't get to post again before the Holiday, I hope everyone has a very happy, prosperous and safe CHRISTmas season.

Pining For A Pantry

It's been a hoopla of activity in our neck of the woods with yet another 'remodeling' project for our almost 24 year old home. (I blame the new hormones ... they're working splendidly, much to my husbands chagrin!) Next to the last thing to be changed was the pantry I've been pining for. OK, here's a brief history of the house for the newbies: this room started out as the laundry but because it leads into the carport, it migrated into a sort of impromptu front door for the neighbors. My fellow country friends will understand why. Anywho, now that the carport is looking so lovely, I just couldn't have folks weaving past dog smells and clutter before entering the house plus our kitchen is teeny tiny with very little cabinet space. Thus, the pantry idea.

BEFORE

First, we sold the coffin style deep freezer on Craigslist. You know, that thing sold in two hours!? I had no idea freezer's where so popular. It was taking up way too much real estate for just the two of us, and since it was still in excellent working order, we where able to obtain a top dollar resale price.

Next, purchased a smaller upright frost free freezer on sale (my favorite word!). Whilst at Lowe's purchased a single door white cabinet with lots of shelves and matching coat hooks. Moved all the dog items to the left hand side of the room (in the back). We are so organized now.

AFTER

Voila! Just add food.

Sam III was cool with the whole renovation thing, but his brother Jack was totally freaked out. Someone moved his cheese! I found him cowering in my office with a shattered look on his face. Poor little guy. Several dog cookies, a chew bone and hugs later he was much improved.

The, hopefully, last scheduled remodel is the guest bedroom or The Blue Room, as I call it. The new flooring is purchased, so, we're all set. All that remains is removing and disposing of the 23+ year old carpet. I think that should wait until after Thanksgiving. The older I get, the longer it takes to recover from all this 'fun'. *lol*

It's Been A Hard Five Days Night

Honestly, Hubby and I are dog tired this evening from five hard days of work. This post was going to wait until tomorrow but I'm so excited to share how good the carport looks now, I had to share. The house remodel is reaching the end. The only room lacking an upgrade is the guest bedroom. By mutual agreement, we have decided to possibly wait until after a short jaunt to South Carolina on the bikes. It will be a well earned respite from the persistent remodeling that has lasted nearly a year.

Here in the country, the carport door is often used as a front entrance. It's just a friendly way of letting people into one's home. The now 23 year old stick-built house and carport had been looking as tired as I feel tonight. The colors where faded, there where old spider webs seemingly glued to the ceiling, mold was everywhere (it's nearly a losing battle to eradicate mold entirely in the South but one must make an effort). I was weary of guests being weaved past filthy, tired looking walls.

First, the white ceiling was 'washed' via a pump spray bottle with a mild solution of bleach and water. Hubby performed this task and did a very nice job. It now sparkles as if there never was any dirt there.

Hang onto your hat ... here's the "after".

(Feeling kinda proud of myself here ... *giggle*)

How do you like the two-tone green/gray?

I wish I could claim this as an original idea 

but I learned this little trick from my always

creative step-mother Myra (now deceased).

She was ever so clever.

 Anyway, and just for fun, I found this tin replication

for an antique Hudson Granary Feed & Seed.

Obviously I had to have this!

And hopefully, dat's dat ... for now. *grin* The weather has turned lovely and cool in SE Georgia. It's feeling a bit like early Fall. We plan to roast a few weenie's at the fire pit this evening, and toss back a few whilst making plans for the future.

Hope your evening is also blessed. 

A Day Trip To The Big City

Isn't life just like this. I set off to do one thing, and end up doing another.

Yesterday, to lighten the mood, Hubby and I drove to neighboring big city of Brunswick to buy a Halloween costume for me (I love Halloween ... just a big kid really), and ended up toting home something entirely unrelated.

This bedspread is called the "Cassandra" from JC Penney. They where having a Big Sale and I couldn't say No. It looks quite nice in the room, don't ya think? These colors and pattern compliment the new carpeting, in my opinion.

So, I'm a little bit poorer but still must find, or come up with, some kind of costume that does not entail any masks for our Second Annual Halloween Party. Any suggestions? Which holidays do you enjoy the most?

Carpeted In Shame

Ok, I know. Stupid title. I was trying to be funny but titles are hard and I'm physically worn out this evening.

I do apologize for not visiting all my friend's blogs lately. What have we been doing? What haven't we been doing should be the question. Picking up the remodeling project again has been more exhausting than I anticipated. The Master Bedroom was first on the list. All the 23 year old Mauve what was I thinking?! carpeting was removed to make room for the new. I can't get over how much dirt was under the old padding. Yuck! It was a lot of elbow grease to make it sweet smelling again. So I think I can safely say, that for all intensive purposes, the Master Bedroom is completed. Done and done! (Can I hear a hallelujah?) *grin* Next is the last Guest Bedroom to have new flooring. That old carpeting will be removed and replaced with Pergo laminate that matches the remainder of the house.

So, without any further ado, here's the before's and after's.

Moving furniture that I swear got heavier

the longer it sat it our room, is that possible?

I ache from the top of my head to my tippy toes.

Stripping the old carpeting and padding is always good for a laugh ...

if you're into S&M, that is. *giggle*

Take a breath, honey, we're half way there!

Vacuuming the years of dirt and grime took a little time.

There went any delusions about my being a good housekeeper.

Our house is built off-grade, so, Hubby had to hammer down all the 23 year

old nails that had pulled up over the years to ensure a smooth new flooring.

A clean floor is a happy floor.

Smells better too. *whew*

Ta Da! We're back in business.

This color is called "Rich Taupe" by Beaulieu.

Now comes the fun part of putting everything back in it.

*sigh*

I'm getting too old manual labor. Someone needs to invent a device that will levitate furniture for easier moving. Or I really start playing the Lotto. *lol*

The Great Trane Robbery Or The Air Conditioner Saga

Finally, I am back from the local hotel after several nights of absence. You may well ask what has occurred that I had to leave my comfortable, quiet country home for a local 4 star accommodation? Five days ago, on the 3rd of July, our eight year old Trane air conditioner breathed it’s last. After my husband wrestled the club from my hot hands (I was going to cause it pain too), reservations were made at a Comfort Inn and ice applied to my throbbing temples. The hotel was quite nice but this was very ill timed for our meager savings. Will the sudden expenditures never end this year?! Oh, well, c'est la vie, right? It’s only money. Gee whiz, you know, I’d like to get familiar with our money for more than a few minutes, though, just once. Back to being calm, God is good and necessities were supplied as needed. 

Anyone who has lived in, or had the great misfortune to visit the Southeast during the summer months knows where I’m coming from with our brutal heat. Most modern houses are not made with the idea in mind that there will not be central heat or air. Ours is no exception.

But back to the story.

Let us begin at the begin. I called our usually most trusted A/C Guy Friday one week before the event for something was troubling the compressor. It was “making a weird noise”. (Ok, so I’m not a technician.) He didn’t call back ... didn’t call ... didn’t call … finally Guy showed up early Thursday the 2nd. After much hemming, hawwing and noodle scratching, stated firmly it was the compressor and ordered said item from the closest Trane distributor in Memphis. We further requested it be sent overnight and offered to pay extra for the expense. The A/C Guy did so. The next day, Friday the 3rd, the compressor, tired of living, in revenge tried to destroy the electric breaker, causing the All House Generator to run. Then the local power company had to be dispatched to fix the problem. It seems the Trane was no longer viable. IN SHEER PANIC NOW I yelled at telephoned the A/C Guy again. At that time, the compressor had not arrived as Trane stated that it would. Therefore, I had to stay all weekend at the very nice Comfort Inn, traveling back and to several times a day to be with my husband (he opted to stay behind and watch the dogs and now unsecure house ~ he’s such a good man), eating out because the house was just too hot, and so forth. When the old compressor was still non compos mentis, with me close behind, I urged Husband to buy something, for goodness sake anything, from Wal-Mart that would cool our new sweat(ing) house.

This is what he showed up with:

I don’t know who Haier is

but I want to marry him and have his children.

Hubby installed this nifty little machine in the guest bedroom since it was the only room with the proper size window. Do you know, this little 8,000 btu unit actually cooled a large portion of our 1,200 sf home? That’s amazing.

And happily, as of this morning, the Trane has new guts and mine are still in knots from all the expenditures. What a week! I'll admit it’s been a learning curve. I will henceforth make it my life's goal to have some kind of back up for hot weather. May the Lord lend me understanding that I will learn what He wants me to know from this experience. Right now I’m too busy basking in the cool dryness of modern convenience.

Surgery Update And A Word From Our Sponsor

In case y’all haven’t noticed, I’m deliberately not talking about the looming fiscal cliff. What can we do? Obama hates us and Congress is a bunch of clowns in suits that only care about themselves. But I‘ll make a prediction, the Republicans will cave and all the demons in Congress hell including Obama, will celebrate. The Republic is dead and no one seems to care anymore.

Fa la la la la la la la la

I’ve got bigger fish to fry.

Anyway, I’m well on the road to recovery from my Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. The surgeon said the procedure was “textbook”: no problems or difficulties where encountered. I didn't like the spending a night in hospital but with all the pain I encountered afterwards I can see why the doc insisted on it. The constant pain down my right side is gone, my hearing is restored on the right side, I no longer lose my vision when tilting my head back and I can lean forward without doubling over in pain. Also my right hip no longer is in searing pain. I don't walk like I'm 90 years old anymore. God has allowed me to be healed. Thank you Lord Jesus for your mercy! Now I can ride, garden, do my crafts, etc. etc. I feel like a kid again! It's wonderful. Thank you everyone for your prayers and kind thoughts.

In the meantime, my sweet hubby has been slowly remodeling the master bathroom. When the house was custom built for us in 1993, I had the not so brilliant idea of installing a “garden tub” in the master bath. I have regretted it ever since! After the first 6 months I so tired of the fancy jets and things and it just sat there unused. Now it’s out! And sitting on our back deck (PS: it’s free to anyone who wants it and can come get it).

Preparing to pull the tub out

Garden tub removed! What a job that was!

Everything was now stripped from the room and ready for sanding and floor preparation.

After laying the new vinyl floor, Sweetie installed the tongue-and-groove 'flooring' that became our paneling.

The "cove" is finished! Now we need to finish the area in front of the shower and in the closet. It never ends, this project.

Also installed new halogen ceiling lights. These are some nice lights. They're so bright I almost get a tan standing under them.

So, that's what we've been up to. Thanks for stopping by! I hope y'all have a great weekend.

Oh Hail

Our countryside had some pretty good size hail last night! The noise woke me up at 1:35 AM and continued on for a good ten minutes or so. It sure made a mess. The wild birds seemed to fair well also. I haven't found any little remains around the yard so far. Thank goodness.


Hubby and I recently repainted and fixed up our old wooden back decks. I bought inexpensive yellow chairs from Lowe's, repainted the table yellow and white, and hung new windchimes. It feels like our own personal Paradise! So we have been enjoying our "new" back decks in the evenings. It's pleasant turning off the news for awhile. My thoughtful sister-in-law gave me the fancy wine glass for my birthday this weekend. I think it makes the wine taste better. At least, the pretty glass makes me look better ... or maybe that's just the wine. *giggle*

I hope everyone is having a happy week.

More Remodeling: Hallway Project

As it is true in most of America this weekend, the weather has been dreadful: cold, wet, overcast, and just plain nasty. It's impossible to do anything agreeable outside for more than 5 minutes. So, we decided to proceed with our house remodeling project. I was going to wait for our finances to catch up, but, hey, it's only money.

We plan to install more Pergo flooring, same color as the office. Before installing the new flooring in the hallway, though, the walls had to be painted. They're all scuffed, dented and faded. It's been about 10 years since the last painting.

Yeah, it was time.

Here we go:

It takes a lot of preparation
before opening the first paint can
to get it right.

Sweetie had to do all the cutting in
higher than my face. My neck problems won't allow
such dramatics anymore.

Letting the first coat dry.
NEVER buy Velspar Signature Series (Lowes) paint.
There's no other word for it ... it's crap.
One coat covering my arse! It was as thin as water,
and we thought it would never dry!
It's expensive too. I should have demanded my money back.
Next time it's Sherwin-Williams all the way.

Many hours later, the latex paint is still drying!

Since this paint is so sorry,
and it's so expensive, I thought it best
to install a chair rail to protect our investment.

Sweetie installing the chair rail
with his new brad nailer gun.
Yeah, another expense ...
Well, we did need it.

There ya go! A nice new chair rail.

Our new living room wall!
The vivid colors really dress up the furnishings and pictures,
don't ya think?!
Nothing shy about the way I decorate. :)

Now comes the really fun part of repainting all six hallway doors bright white. And it's NOT the Velspar brand, thank you very much. The white paint on them now is so old it looks grey. Then comes the pulling up of almost 20 year old carpeting, cleaning the area throughly, and buying the multiple packs of Pergo flooring.

Then, of course, the actual installation. *sigh*

There went the budget this month ... *giggle*

I keep telling myself, "I'm having fun", *ouch* "I'm having fun" *ouch* ...