Finally the Bathroom Revealed!

To say that there was much agony over this latest renovation in our home is an understatement. We are happy to be done with the company we chose and happy to be finishing up some final touches ourselves. I won’t even mention the name of the company because I don’t want to give them any advertising. You will see a wonderful transformation without experiencing the pain of getting there. So enjoy the before and after…

Of course I realized that I didn’t take the best before photos, especially of the bathtub enclosure. Oh well, you will still see major transformations. The sink before was on the right of the cabinet. The window was a slider from side to side.

The tub enclosure before was one piece with a average depth on the tub. The new enclosure is Porcelain tile and goes to the ceiling and wraps around the deeper larger tub. The new tub is wider and longer and deeper.

Our new window is a more energy efficient one and opens up and down instead of side to side. It’ is also larger and allows more light into the room.

We decided since we are getting older to add two safety bars to help with getting up out of the bathtub or stepping out of the higher tub.

We chose, purchased and installed the Mirror, Sconces and wall art ourselves. Dear installed the new window and all the can lights and heater unit in the ceiling. He also did the painting.

When we were at Windsor Castle in England we bought one hand towel to use in our new bathroom as one of our souvenirs. Our new bathroom has a great Spa feeling to it worthy of this queen.

We used to have a wider cabinet in this area of the bathroom but because we chose a longer and wider tub we ended up with this narrower cabinet. We are happy for the choice we made to go with the wider tub and to move the door into the bathroom over four inches.

We switched to a center sink which gives a good amount of space on either side of the sink. The counter top is a quartz composite with the under mount sink. All the fixtures are brushed nickel.

We like our flooring choice and our pulls and deep tub. I still haven’t had a chance to have a bubble bath in the tub yet but hopefully I’ll get around to that soon. The floor is not tile but a composite material that is warmer to bare feet.

We are very happy with the choices we made on the materials for our new bathroom. Now I need to find someone who might need all my old towels that are not the right colors for the new bathroom. I suppose I could cut them up and use them for cleaning rags.

I bought the mirror, the brushed nickel trash can, and the waffled shower curtain at HomeGoods. The sconces are from Lowe’s, the brushed nickel soap dispenser is from Target. The wire bird art is from Hobby Lobby and the Bird print is from Fred Meyer. The towels are from Costco.

The job began the Monday after we returned from England, July 21st and we just signed off with the company on September 24th. It was suppose to take 12 days. We did get them to reduce the final payment.

Now we are moving forward and enjoying the finished product that Dear has fixed up to our satisfaction. We’ve had busy days here at this old house and we are thankful for each new day afforded us. We are looking forward to more finished projects. Dear and I worked hard in our yard today mowing and weed-wacking and getting rid of the first round of fallen leaves. We look up at the huge maple tree in our neighbors yard still full of leaves and know our leaf raking days aren’t over in a long shot. What’s up in your corner of the world?

Sing to the Lord of Harvest ~ Hymn

Sing to the Lord of Harvest

Sing to the Lord of harvest,
Sing songs of love and praise;
With joyful hearts and voices
Your alleluias raise.
By Him the rolling seasons
In fruitful order move;
Sing to the Lord of harvest,
A joyous song of love.

By Him the clouds drop fatness,
The deserts bloom and spring,
The hills leap up in gladness,
The valleys laugh and sing.
He filleth with His fullness
All things with large increase,
He crowns the year with goodness,
With plenty and with peace.

Bring to His sacred altar
The gifts His goodness gave,
The golden sheaves of harvest,
The souls He died to save.
Your hearts lay down before Him
When at His feet you fall,
And with your lives adore Him,
Who gave His life for all.

To God the gracious Father,
Who made us very good,
To Christ, who, when we wandered,
Restored us with His blood,
And to the Holy Spirit,
Who doth upon us pour
His blessèd dews and sunshine,
Be praise forevermore!

Words: John S.B. Monsell, 1866.

Hereford Cathedral

You can read about the history of this cathedral by clicking here.

Next time we’ll walk through this door and see all the amazing wonders within.

I’ll be linking to InSPIREd Sunday with this post. Thank you Beth and Sally.

Gates ~ Hereford Cathedral

For Good Fences which also includes Gates here are some beauties from the inside and outside of Hereford Cathedral in Hereford, England. In the next few posts I’ll show more architectural wonder from this amazing structure.

Dear and I visited the town of Hereford on a Sunday in July and we really enjoyed our visit to the Cathedral.

These gates were the entrance to the beautiful cloisters courtyard.

We made the mistake of visiting this cathedral on Sunday instead of a weekday or Saturday when the Chained Library is open and the Mappa Mundi exhibition is open for viewing. Arrgh! I was very disappointed. The other thing that we missed was a good meal at the Cathedral Cloister Cafe. We did enjoy the amazing history and architecture and beauty throughout the cathedral!

Thank you to TexWisGirl from Run*A*Round Ranch for hosting this weekly meme.

Hello Autumn!

The Autumn (1833), by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Go, sit upon the lofty hill,
And turn your eyes around,
Where waving woods and waters wild
Do hymn an autumn sound.
The summer sun is faint on them —
The summer flowers depart —
Sit still — as all transform’d to stone,
Except your musing heart.

How there you sat in summer-time,
May yet be in your mind;
And how you heard the green woods sing
Beneath the freshening wind.
Though the same wind now blows around,
You would its blast recall;
For every breath that stirs the trees,
Doth cause a leaf to fall.

Oh! like that wind, is all the mirth
That flesh and dust impart:
We cannot bear its visitings,
When change is on the heart.
Gay words and jests may make us smile,
When Sorrow is asleep;
But other things must make us smile,
When Sorrow bids us weep!

The dearest hands that clasp our hands, —
Their presence may be o’er;
The dearest voice that meets our ear,
That tone may come no more!
Youth fades; and then, the joys of youth,
Which once refresh’d our mind,
Shall come — as, on those sighing woods,
The chilling autumn wind.

Hear not the wind — view not the woods;
Look out o’er vale and hill —
In spring, the sky encircled them —
The sky is round them still.
Come autumn’s scathe — come winter’s cold —
Come change — and human fate!
Whatever prospect Heaven doth bound,
Can ne’er be desolate.

This is one of my very favorite times of the year. I hope you are enjoying your days…

It’s All About Books…

You know you are in Wales when you start seeing signs in English and Welsh and of course the Welsh is listed first. We traveled from Ross-on-Wye to Hay-on Wye which is situated in the southern part of Wales.

Hay-on-Wye is the town of books. We have always enjoyed spending time in used book stores so visiting this town was a no-brainer.

Murder and Mayhem was the only bookstore that we bought a book in. We found a paperback by Dorothy Sayers who is a famous British author and a friend of C.S. Lewis and Tolkien.

The town was easy to see in a day and we enjoyed our time there but it’s not one of the towns we’d want to take the time to re-visit.

We enjoyed a wonderful cup of coffee and a scone with clotted cream and strawberry jam at Oscar’s. Delicious!

The day we visited Hay we ended up enjoying a local flea market and also visiting thrift stores, besides enjoying the used book stores.

The drive to and from Hay-on-Wye was filled with lovely views. We stopped at a grocery store on the way home to buy some take-away complete meals to warm up at Eastview.

Next up on our time in this part of England would be a trip to Hereford to see the Cathedral.

How was your last weekend of Summer? We were busy at this old house. Dear is almost done with the “fixes” in our bathroom and soon I’ll be sharing the finished project with you and thankfully no Murder or Mayhem was involved except reading a fine murder mystery to escape it all.

Saints Peter and Paul Church ~San Francisco

For InSPIREd Sunday I decided to go to my archives to share some beautiful churches I’ve visited. When traveling I always keep an eye out for these grand old places of worship filled with history. Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church originally served the immigrant Italian population that settled in San Francisco.

You can read some of the history of this church by clicking here. A ribbon of verse spans the facade from Dante’s “Paridiso” and translates,

“The Glory of Him who moves all things penetrates and glows throughout the universe.”

I copied the following information from Fodor’s,

“Camera-toting visitors focus their lenses on the Romanesque splendor of what’s often called the Italian Cathedral. Completed in 1924, the church has Disneyesque stone-white towers that are local landmarks. Mass reflects the neighborhood; it’s given in English, Italian, and Chinese. (This is one of the few churches in town where you can hear Mass in Italian.) Following their 1954 City Hall wedding, Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio had their wedding photos snapped here. On the first Sunday of October, a Mass followed by a parade to Fisherman’s Wharf celebrates the Blessing of the (Fishing) Fleet. Also in October is the Italian Heritage Parade in North Beach. The country’s oldest Italian celebration, it began in 1869.”

I certainly was one of those camera-toting visitors.

This stained glass window is a depiction of the wedding where Jesus performed his first miracle, changing water into wine.

Be sure to visit more churches from around the world by clicking here to the InSPIREd Sunday link up hosted by Beth and Sally.

We’ve had a busy weekend filled with gatherings and projects. Hope your Sunday finishes well.

Master, We Thy Footsteps Follow ~ Hymn

Jesus said, All who want to be followers of mine must re-nounce self, take up his cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23

Master, We Thy Footsteps Follow

Master, we Thy footsteps follow,
We Thy Word obey,
Hear us, Thy dear name confessing,
While we pray.

Now into Thy death baptizèd,
We ourselves would be
Dead to all the sin that made
Thy Calvary.

Rising with Thee, make us like Thee,
In Thy love and care,
In Thy zeal, and in Thy labor,
And Thy prayer.

Let the love that knows no failing
Cast out all our fears,
Let Thy pure and faithful Spirit
Fill our years.

Till we hear the trumpets sounding
On the other side,
And forever, in Thy Heaven
We abide.

Words: Frederick A. Jackson, 1867-1942.

Ross on Wye ~

Our second self-catering experience in England was in Ross-on-Wye. It was so different from our first cottage experience. The amenities were more modern overall and the location was on a “B” road so there was traffic and easier access to other major roads. The River Wye is the fifth-longest river in the UK, stretching some 130 miles from source to sea. For much of its length the river forms part of the border between England and Wales. Ross-on-Wye was in England and from this location we would travel to Hay-on-Wye in Wales and to Hereford.

That spiral staircase took us up to the bedroom. We were happy to have a night light to help us find the bathroom which was on the main floor.

The views from the back of our little 2 story apartment were delightful.

I still have several posts from our time in England…can you believe it?

Things keep moving ahead here at this old house with bathroom renovations. We have one more piece of baseboard to be delivered by the renovation company and we will never have to see them again. A job promised to be done in two weeks has taken nine weeks to complete. Yes…we are fed up with them. But soon with Dear’s expertise and fixes the bathroom will be ready to show to you all. Dear is also progressing with the siding. I’m happy to be home this weekend, the last weekend of summer!

What are you doing this last weekend of Summer!?

Good Fences ~ Log Boom Park

I’ve started walking with a group from the Senior Center on Tuesdays and Thursdays on the Burke Gilman Trail starting at Log Boom Park in Kenmore, Washington. I was a little early last Thursday and walked out to the lake to take some photos.

The trail runs close to Lake Washington going west from Log Boom. If you walk in the opposite direction the trail continues along the Sammamish River that runs between Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish. The trail is a great place to walk or ride a bike.

It was a lovely peaceful morning at the northern edge of Lake Washington.

This morning I’m headed out again to the trail in the misty rain to walk. I’m relieved by this coolness after being in 100+ Southern California. I’m enjoying my latest activity boost with walking on Tuesdays and Thursdays and my exercise class on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Got to keep at it!

I’m linking to Good Fences #26 hosted by TexWisGirl from Run*A*Round Ranch Report. Thanks for being such a great hostess for your link-up.

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage