You Shall Not Pass!

This weekend the home team painted a second coat on the cabinets.  David installed the garbage disposal and Brother Brown came over and hooked up the plumbing.  David replaced the (2) old broken down light fixtures.  We got replacement fixtures at ReStore – a Habitat for Humanity thrift store.  Three of us went, looked at them, and handled them.  AFTER David put them up we realized that although similar, they are not quite the same.  Similar but not congruent.  Not a problem, just rather amusing that not one of us noticed the difference until they were up!

Tuesday they laid tile and today they grout. I think these will be the only days/evening we will be/have been unable to walk in/through the kitchen.  Which means when we want in the garage before Thursday, we need to go in through the car door and work our way through the miscellaneous junk.  (hmmm, I have clothes in the washer I need to remember to take care of.)  Then, I think it’s done. !!

Things were moved around to prevent kitchen access.

I peeked over the barricade to see the floor so far.

I think moving the kitchen back in is going to be as big a job as moving it all out and doing the work were.  Where do things go now?  What can I get rid of? (You know I have a problem with that)

When we put the kitchen back together, the dining room which is currently holding the appliances will be empty.  So we will clean and paint that.  Then we will move the front room into the dining room so we can clean and paint it.  Saturday we bought 5 gallons of paint (Glidden – Barely Jade) a very pale green.  Also Marshmallow White for trim in the front room and Toasted Oatmeal (I think Toasted) for the hall. 

We are all excited!  Things look so much better which makes us feel better, too.

Immediate plans do not go beyond that, although, as you know, there is a LOT that needs to be done in this house.

I am anxious (and nervous) about getting started on the family room.  We need to replace the lights and do SOMETHING with the ceiling and back wall which are in bad shape. I want to put in a couple of ceiling fans while we are at it.  I am worried about what we will find when we take out the back wall.  Part of me would like to just cover it up, but I think we need to find out how bad things are and are they likely to get worse if we don’t do something.  Then the question is what about the rest of the room?  Most of it is paneled the same. Make the back wall a contrast wall?  Paint all the walls the same?  Still thinking.   The floor needs doing, too.  And the front room. dining room and hall  floor.  The exterior needs painting.  The yard is a wreck.  Is there no end??? No.  

We will just do what we can when we can.  The kitchen project is amazing!

Last evening DT & I went to look at Lowes because we had errands at Costco, Lowes is out that way – bit further south – and Debi, Ruth &Tom think it is superior to Home Depot.  FYI – “my contractor” Brother DLC doesn’t think that there are significant differences.  His rule is ‘whichever is closer’.   Lowes is whiter, brighter, cleaner looking/feeling.  More like a grocery store maybe. Make the customer feel comfortable there.  For each it is a deliberate market image.  Home Depot’s look says serious work, contractors, real men, build, fix, repair.   (My interpretations, you understand)  David thought Lowes had more variety.  I didn’t really see much difference. Maybe Lowe’s prices are a little lower, I couldn’t say for sure.  Brother DLC says, you have to balance how much gas for how much gas reduction.  So, I may go to Lowes when it is convenient, but I am not going to worry about going out of my way for it.

On to Costco.  Had to return a couple of loaves of bread that went moldy way too fast and before their use by date.  Costco is good about that.  No hassles. We were going to buy milk but while we were still at Lowes, the ‘boys’ called to tell us that the refrigerator did not seem to be working.  ??*#*#@@#?!  Not good. We gave them suggestions – like check the plug in and check the temp setting – and decided we had better get home!  

I told David and Teresa that this was my punishment for even considering getting myself a laptop which I seriously am.


We also decided to stop at Bel Air and buy ice.  Before completing the purchase however, we called home again – just to check and to tell them to empty out a big ice chest – which is storing stuff from the kitchen – if the fridge was still fritzing.   Fortunately! The fridge was back at work.  Whew!  So, we bought milk.