Category Archives: Howto

Dance Recital

On Saturday after JJ’s birthday party some time was spent on braiding and curling Addy’s hair for her dance recital. Addy, her mommy and Auntie Lolo left early and we followed later. We waited with anticipation to see Addy come on stage.

The lighting was difficult but I was able to get some photos to show some of the dance moves.

 

 

 

 

 

In this shot you can see the braids and curls that held well throughout the performance. Hats off to Auntie Lolo and her mommy.

She really danced her heart out and it was great to see her confidence on stage. I wish I could have gotten the video to load onto my computer but it just didn’t work for me.

 

 

Baba and Gramps thought you did a wonderful job. You worked hard at your practices and it showed on stage! Well done, Addy!

Home to have a good rest before her next performance on Sunday afternoon.

We found out after the show that there were a few of the young performers who had challenges to overcome and they did it brilliantly. There was one young dancer who was completely deaf. Another amazing young man with a cochlear implant from the same family who was one of the stars of the show. Another performer came to the Haran Dancers without being able to jump or hop. All of these challenges were overcome with practice and patience. We are pleased that our granddaughter can learn and perform in this wonderful school of Irish Dancers with gifted teachers.

DIY Master Shower

We had plans to replace our Master Shower well over a year ago. We purchased the tile then and waited for the right time to begin the project. Our hard well water didn’t do any favors to the floor of this one piece shower insert and it was frustrating to try to clean it. Dear took the old shower stall out and it was hauled to the dump. We envisioned the project being done during the summer but that didn’t happen.

Each step along the way took lots of planning and tweaking.

The floor tile went in first and then it was covered up to protect it during the rest of the project.

At one point we didn’t think we had purchased enough of the 12 x 24 tile sections and we returned to the tile store to see what options we had. We found these decorative 8×8 tiles and added some of the floor tiles to frame them and get a 12 x 12 format. (Did you understand that?).

Greg’s left hand only works at 30% since his stroke so this project was a lot more difficult than the last shower tile project he completed at our old home in Kenmore.

Time to apply the grout.

Time for fixtures and safety bars. Another nerve wracking endeavor to cut the holes just right and get them into studs.

Success!

Vanity kicks in now because my shampoos and other product stick out like a sore thumb on these pretty niche shelves because of the color of the packaging.

All that is left for this project is to touch up some of the walls and do some paint touch up.

I’m enjoying our new shower and thankful that Dear persevered during this very tough project. There were times in the process that we both just wanted to walk away.

Our Guest Bath Update

Good morning friends. The forecast here in our corner of Washington State has predictions of heavy wet snow with the possibility of falling trees and branches breaking and downing power lines. Hopefully we will not lose power but if we do, I’ve created a few posts for this week and hopefully the predictions won’t be as dire as forecasted.

When we moved into our current home in September of 2018 we knew that we wanted to make changes in our guest bath. In 2019 we bought a slab of maple wood with a live edge to replace the countertop in this bathroom. That slab lived under the guest bed in what we call the Blue Room for about 3 years. Along the way in those 3 years we bought a new sink for the bathroom, too.

Demolition day…

After he stripped the bathroom, the walls, ceiling and cabinet were painted white.

The slab of wood was measured for cutting the hole for the sink and faucet.

Now it was time to treat the wood with TopOil.

The top oil complete it was time to install the backsplash.

Time for the plumbing. We tried some of our old wall pieces and really didn’t like the look so we contemplated changes that would function better. That wall piece on the side wall got moved to the master bedroom. It poked out to far over the new countertop and imposed on the counter space.

Time to set the sink and hook up more plumbing.

We tried a few pieces over the toilet area and finally settled on this piece with shelves and a rod for hand towels. We found this piece at Wal-Mart.

We are pleased with the update. Josh and Laura were our first overnight guests to enjoy the changes.

Dear does good work and has saved us thousands of dollars over the years by doing these projects himself.

I was going to list the projects that Dear was planning to complete in the next several months but as Providence would have it we had an emergency health event that has changed our plans. Dear suffered a Stroke on Saturday in our home while we were together enjoying our lunch. He and I recognized something was terribly wrong. 911 was called and we had a great response with the EMT’s and the Fire Chief of our area. Once evaluated at our local hospital, Dear was transported to Spokane to the ICU at Sacred Heart for further evaluation. Our son drove me to Spokane and booked a room for us across the street from the hospital. Dear is in expert care and it was determined he should have surgery sooner than later and he will have an Endarterectomy on Tuesday afternoon. We are grateful that things were caught early and the right treatment was given for the best overall outcomes. His brain and speech are in great shape. The lingering symptom is weakness in his left hand. Thanking God for watching over him. Thanking those of you in advance who will pray to our God for Dear’s surgery to go well and for his recovery to be free of complications.

We have had such an outpouring of care and prayers from loved ones, our kids have rallied, our church family in Colville, old friends in Edmonds, Monroe, Bothell, Lynnwood, Kenmore and Poulsbo. Family in New York, North Carolina, Texas, California, my ‘girls’ in British Columbia and Manitoba. We are so thankful to our God for the love and peace we have experienced because of those prayers.

Posts this week will be sporadic if at all.

Hope your new week is going well.

Roof Panels Complete!

Here’s the last steel panel ready to hoist onto the roof of the shop. Be forewarned that this will be a photo overload post.

So happy our son could help.

Me and my shadow are happy to see that last panel fastened into place.

The Ridge Vent is the last part to install on the roof.

Dear is busy preparing the shop pad for the cement to be poured later this week or early next week. We’ll have to have a roller skating party when that’s done before the shop gets filled up with stuff after the walls, windows and doors are in.

The Hardest Part…

…of this shop project is definitely the roof of the structure. The second half of the roof will be harder than the first half since access is limited. Up and over and now the panel is ready to stabilize with screws.

The first couple of panels are the new learning curve and then they find a good method to make it work easier. I stand by and pray and when needed give extra stability to ladders.

Two panels got up today, Thursday. Eleven panels to go for the hardest part of the roof to be complete. Slow and easy everything comes together.

We are heading to Spokane for our shopping day on Friday. We have a very hot forecast for Friday so working on the shop roof is not a good idea. Before and After I babysat our grands on Thursday I was able to mow the front of our property. I mowed the back on Wednesday.

On Friday we are going to the Ukrainian Market in Spokane called Kiev to stock up on Russian Dumplings for us and our kids and then we will stop at Trader Joe’s, TJ Maxx, Total Wine, Costco and Fred Meyer. I have not been able to find Boysenberry Pancake Syrup in Colville so hopefully Spokane’s Fred Meyer won’t let me down. It’s interesting to see items that aren’t available these days. What have you had a hard time finding? We will definitely bring our coolers with ice packs to keep our frozen purchases and refrigerated purchases safe for the long drive home in heat over 100 degrees!

Eric Metaxas interviewed  John MacArthur yesterday on his radio program about reopening church this last Sunday. Praying for Grace and other churches and pastors who are ready to stand. Happy to be able to go to our church in person these days.

“Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.”

– Philippians 4:1

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13

A couple years ago I read a biography of Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas. A very good book that I highly recommend. It’s available on Amazon…

As Adolf Hitler and the Nazis seduced a nation, bullied a continent, and attempted to exterminate the Jews of Europe, a small number of dissidents and saboteurs worked to dismantle the Third Reich from the inside. One of these was Dietrich Bonhoeffer—a pastor and author. In this New York Times best-selling biography, Eric Metaxas takes both strands of Bonhoeffer’s life—the theologian and the spy—and draws them together to tell a searing story of incredible moral courage in the face of monstrous evil.

Hope the last day of July 2020 is a day that brings joy to you and yours!

Shop Roof Progress

Happy to show the progress of the shop with the roof now being half done. Not an easy job.

Here’s the hard worker who is happy with the progress and happy to get help from our son Dan in getting those 50# steel panels positioned on the purlins to fasten. Fifty Six screws per panel and 13 panels on each half (26 total). Thankful for my hard working husband.

I’m so happy to confirm that British Airways has given us a full refund yesterday. When I dialed my call went straight through and I was helped quickly and efficiently. Thank you Lord for answering our prayer.

Kitchen Before and After

We decided to change up our kitchen by painting the majority of the cabinets white. Some of you might cringe but our eyes have not enjoyed oak lately, mostly on cabinets.

We are keeping the island as it was.

The pantry has not been painted yet but is next on the list.

The process is not easy but Dear found it a good job to do while the temps are freezing outside which makes it hard for him to work the construction of his shop.

We are pleased with the new look. I’m thankful for a husband who is not afraid of hard or tedious work.

I showed you the wheel barrow that we bought our granddaughter for her 3rd birthday. Her she is hard at work outside. This photo was taken yesterday by her mom.

This family works hard together and they are not afraid of dirt! Anybody else out there who calls a wheel barrow a wheel barrel?

And yes, it is still cold outside here in Northeastern Washington State!

Stay safe and keep the Faith!

Shop Progress

From time to time for our own records I’m posting the progress of Dear’s shop.

This past Monday our son came over to help Dear auger the holes for the support beams. Augering 14 holes took the better part of the day and it was muddy work as a short rain shower rolled through during the process.

The rest of the week while the weather permitted beams were set in the holes with the help of our son’s tractor and ingenious strapping technique using the tractor forks. After the beams were set in they needed to be secured at the right distance from each other and have the right centering at least so many inches from the sides of the holes for optimum strength at the concrete pour. Too much for my brain to handle but Dear worked to get each one right on the money.

 

By the end of Friday (9/27/19) all the posts were set. Concrete will be ordered for next Wednesday. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. The trusses for the roof were suppose to be delivered at 2PM but never made it until almost 7PM. We had given up on him and then the doorbell rang. Dear went out to set up the spot for the trusses to be set on.

Catchy name…The Truss Company.

We were so happy to see that the truck had a crane to unload the trusses. Nightmares of trying to wrestle those heavy huge trusses plagued us. Oh ye of little faith!

It was raining at this point so Dear found all the tarps he could and covered the trusses and then secured the covers since we have been promised blustery weather this weekend and temperatures dipping to freezing. Unusual for September. Our kids had a bit of snow fall today (Saturday) at their home which is higher elevation from us and on the Stevens County page someone posted a photo of a good amount of snow up on Orin Rice Road. That was the road we had a Sunday drive on a couple weeks ago.

Right now as I publish this all we are getting is sideways rain. The tall natural grasses are blowing in the wind. It looks like they are dancing. Those holes that were augered are gathering some water in them and some slough which Dear will have to deal with before the concrete is poured.

Boxed In…

It’s called Simple Box but there is nothing simple about loading a box container. There are sections of the box designated for medium, heavy, light and very light weight. The boxes will be lifted at a tilt to load and unload off a truck so the weight and the tie downs are crucial for a successful journey and delivery.

We weighed every box and item that went into this moving container. In the middle shot Andrew is weighing the box spring that would be the last item put in the container in the very light section.

Monday was our only forecast this week of a full sunny day so we called all hands on deck and worked from morning to night to get all 6100 pounds in and secured.

We all had very sore muscles and tired legs and arms but were thankful for a job completed well and with love remaining amongst the workers! We couldn’t have done it without our helpers. Tuesday was a light day of work for me as my body needed recovery time. Friday is staging day here. It will be interesting to see the results of that.

Hope all is well with all of you.