Chaotic

We are getting down to the bare bones of our former small master bath so we can make a new footprint and expand the bathroom into unused space.

Here’s the space before he started ripping into the walls. A full before and after post will hopefully be ready by Christmas. That’s my “all I want for Christmas wish”. The master bedroom is the only area up the stairs from our kitchen so at least it can be out of sight and out of mind. I still feel unhinged and not at the top of my game. We are also waiting to create total chaos in the kitchen area when the new counter tops are cut and ready to be installed.

Here’s a fun photo that our kids took last Friday night when Addy arrived for a couple of days.

Addy and Uncle Andrew. We are an eyebrow rich family!

Have a nice Tuesday everyone.

Doors

Our prayers are with all the people affected by Hurricane Harvey and the rains that continue to cause flooding in so many coastal areas in Texas. So many people are in crisis. Praying for strength for all the First Responders and all the good Samaritans that are helping out, too!

I promised to show our new closet doors and the improved inner part of my closet, too. We used to have sliding mirrored doors on these closets but are enjoying being able to throw both doors open and see the whole closet all at once. Too bad I failed to take a before photo.

I’m brave enough to share the interior of the closet since it’s nice and tidy and just got refilled this weekend.

Dear installed a new shelf and new clothes bar. We had wire shelves and bars before with a smaller shelf with little depth. It’s interesting how few dresses I own but that gives me more storage options below my blouses, tops, and sweaters.

This last week I found this swiveling organizer at Goodwill and I put my necklaces on it. I was surprised at the necklaces I had totally forgotten about while they were tucked away in drawers. I don’t wear jewelry every day but when I want to it’s nice to see all there is to choose from in one spot.

Very soon we’ll be spending a few days with this little sweetie in her neck of the woods. Her mommy and daddy sent us the cutest video of Addy trying to get a hold of a cheerio and put it in her mouth. So much growth and fun in the first year of life!

We are entering the last week of August and Labor Day Weekend is coming up already. Do you have any plans?

We Can See Clearly Now…

…the smoke is gone.

We have blue skies again and white clouds that are visible after we enjoyed a light rain last night and today.

Our pear tree is full to the brim and I always wonder when the time is right to pick the pears. I will have lots to share this year. Our apple crop was very small this year compared.

Since we had some cooler days Dear decided to freshen up the shingles and scrape and paint the overhang.

Things are looking a lot better.

The hydrangeas are still looking nice even though they are waning. The raindrops on their leaves and petals looked refreshing.

We’re enjoying the look of the ground cover varieties we planted. Looks like I need to weed out a couple of grass blades.

It’s a full time of year in our yard.

We are so thankful for our cooler nights and our clear skies. It is so refreshing and we were tired of moaning about the smoke and haze!

“Shower, O heavens, from above,
    and let the clouds rain down righteousness;
let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit;
    let the earth cause them both to sprout;
    I the Lord have created it.”

Isaiah 45:8 (ESV)

Usable Space-Before & After

This empty space in our basement was not very usable and Dear had a plan to transform it from ugly to nice.

Dear set his plan into motion. After taking measurements he built the sides and back and shelves to fit.

After seeing if the pieces would actually fit he primed the wood and then painted the side and back pieces and stained the shelves. He set the pieces in using his fancy nail gun.

When the stain was totally dry he slid them in and they fit perfectly and firmly.

His work was level but the existing walls weren’t so he added trim to cover up the crooked space.

He primed the trim and installed it. He then gave the trim it’s final coat of paint.

All finished and ready to load up the shelves.

These shelves are sturdy and can hold lots of weight. Now I have a very useful, usable space.

U is for Usable, Useful space. From Ugly to Nice.

Linking up to ABC Wednesday started by Mrs. Nesbitt and continued by Roger and the ABC Team!

Maybe in the future I’ll show you what I decided to fill these shelves with.

I’ll leave you with one of my first Christmas items that is now on the wall and let you find the 2 words starting with U!

Twenty Six more days and if you read this tomorrow it is Twenty Five days till Christmas!!

The Attic

We have an attic that is easy to access with a drop down staircase. We keep holiday bins up there, luggage, old files, Katie’s stuff, and some of Dear’s parents memorabilia. We also have our kids old toys that we drag down when we have little ones visiting.

Looking down from the attic to our main floor.

The space has a very low ceiling and a wood floor that gives us splinters when we crawl around up there. We decided to organize and to put some inexpensive outdoor/indoor carpeting on the floor.

The process begins. Wiring also needed to be moved and tucked away.

The new carpeting installed and the bins organized.

An inexpensive project that will make our lives easier every time we head up those attic stairs to access our seasonal stuff.

Do you have an attic? How do you access it? In the meantime Dear is busy on another outdoor project and he had some interesting company today.

Can you see the wild bunny?

Update on our attic space. Many of you suggested this would be a fun place for kids. Here’s the first kid to enjoy our newly carpeted attic space. She and Andrew are here today waiting for the arrival of our kids from the East.

Her Awana shirt still fits from her elementary days!

Happy Saturday everyone!

Mid September Walk…

Yesterday I was sitting reading blogs and visiting Pom Pom’s Ponderings and she said ” I’ve decided to walk more and do it in the morning before it gets too warm. ” I left a comment about the fact that I should be walking but was sitting and then low and behold, I got up, put on my walking shoes and made it around my circuit before the rains came! I’ve been talking and talking about making exercise more of a daily thing. I was happy to have gotten off my duff and here’s some things that I saw.

Look at all these ducks in this neighbor’s back yard! I’m glad they haven’t chosen my yard for squatting!

Across the path they squat regularly at this home, too.

My route is not long. I read recently that walking just 25 minutes a day will add 14 years to your heart life. Or something like that. My walk around the bend and up the hill and along the busy road and down the steep descent to home takes me about 30 minutes. Of course it take a little longer if I stop and ~~smell the roses~~ take the photos!

On the home stretch I enjoyed this view of “this old house” through a couple of our neighbor’s landscaping.

It really has come a long way these last few years. A new roof and new siding really make a difference. We hired a company to do the roof but Dear did all the siding himself. He’s a keeper! Our house is the oldest house in the neighborhood by many years!

That huge maple behind our house and in another neighbor’s yard will keep us busy this fall raking leaves! We talked to the neighbor about getting an Arborist out to check the tree to see what it’s condition is. We wouldn’t want it coming down on our house or anyone’s house for that matter. Our recent wind storm is what motivated us to ask.

This new hydrangea I planted this year is still pink and getting it’s fallish tint. I’m curious to see if it will come up pink next year or if it will change to blue or purple like our other hydrangea did in our soil.

I’m headed up to get my walking shoes on again and see if I can beat the rain. We are moving right along through September. What’s new in your neck of the woods?

Before and After – Back of the House

Just to forewarn y’all, this is a photo overload post.

This photo was taken in 2000 and it was before we replaced all our windows.

This post is full of photos that are interesting for Dear and me in documenting the progression of our home improvements.

This is the finished product with the trim painted around the upper level of our home which is our master suite. The bottom narrow window is our laundry room.

Now for the process step by step…somewhat.

This rosemary bush was out of control and we ended up taking it out completely. It not only got in the way of the work but it’s fragrance when disturbed was so strong that Dear and I would get nauseated working around it.

This photo shows the planter (rosemary bush) cleared out and ready for new plantings.

Dear has done the siding and improving the “look” of our home I wanted to post the photos of all the hard work he has put into this old house! Along the way he has had some help from our boys. Dear is taking full advantage of his “temporary retirement”. For the record, before Dear was a Pharmacist he had very different jobs as a Loader Operator in a Quarry, a repairman/welder, and a painting contractor with his father. He inherited some ladders from his father and has purchased some of his own and is comfortable on a low and high ladder. This next out of sequence photos shows his prowess.

Putting the new windows in the garage.

Yikes! That’s high!

We are considering putting up a Barn Quilt between the upper window in the loft and the middle window of our garage/shop. The lower level with the single garage door is the shop. Our garage is the middle level with a double garage door on the opposite side of the building. We might enlist our daughter’s skills in designing and painting a Celtic Cross design for our “barn quilt”.

Back in 1999…

2008

Spring of this year.

And this is the upper entrance to the garage today with our new privacy fence showing on the right. Maybe we should put a barn quilt on this side, too.

Dear is working hard to finish up his projects on this old house because soon he’ll be working on a renovation at our son’s home. Today and tomorrow he is finishing up the trim on the garage/shop in between fast moving storms. No ladder work if there is lightning!

Do you have any projects progressing on your home?

Before & After- Deck Side

This is what the deck side of our house looked like when we moved here in 1998.

First change out was the stairwell window. The porch you see to the right in this photo has been enclosed and is now our family room with french doors onto the deck.

Dear built a temporary platform to be able to hoist the window up and get it set into the opening.

Next he built the deck in anticipation of Josh and Laura’s rehearsal dinner in August of 2001.

The deck got an extension sometime after 2001 so we could reach the garage from the house on decking. The house got a facelift with new horizontal siding.

Our deck covers changed over the years, too. These two are serving us very well currently. This photo shows the extended deck and the difference between the horizontal siding and vertical siding to the left of the deck.

Here’s a shot that shows the house with the completed horizontal siding.

One more addition this summer is this privacy fence we put in.

Here’s a view from our house without the privacy fence.

And this is the view with the privacy fence.

We really are enjoying this new privacy fence. It gives this whole area a more finished feel and we aren’t totally open to the surrounding neighbors anymore.

Some reflections…

Our two sons born almost exactly 2 years apart were married 14 years apart, one in 2001 and the other in 2015. So our 3 kids were married in 2001, 2011, and 2015.

July 2015 was a tough month for me. It was as if someone had let the air out of my tires. I’m happy to say that I’m getting back to my old self now in August!

I also have to admit that summer is probably one of my least favorite seasons. Even though I was born and raised in Southern California enjoying the beaches and spreading coco butter on my body to ~~sunburn~~ tan, sitting in the sun does not give me pleasure anymore. I enjoy the sunshine while sitting in the shade or under an umbrella. These days my favorite time at the beach is in the winter.

How’s your summer going?

Before and After

This is what the front of our house looked like when we moved in way back in October of 1998. This photo is from March of 2000. This next photo was taken this week and shows the changes we’ve made. I’ll be posting the different sides of the house and how they looked before and what we’ve done over the last fifteen years to update this old house.

Same door, new windows, and new siding. The planter is filled with new plants, too. I’ll be showing the process of Dear working around the house little by little to make more improvements over the years.

This part of our front walk used to lead to a porch that we enclosed to make a family room instead.

This was what the front walk and porch looked like before we enclosed the area.

The other side of the porch before we enclosed it.

This is what it looks like today.

The process of enclosing the porch/deck.

When we first moved we had signed a one year lease to rent and a month after we moved in the owner said he had to put the home on the market to sell it. We were tired of moving (long story) so we made an offer to buy the property and the rest is history.

I’m beginning to feel the “squeeze” of things I need to organize in my brain for the upcoming wedding and hosting some out of town family here at this old house. Posting and visiting might be a little random. I will be participating less in weekly memes until Julyish!

We are cooling down today in the Seattle area. That makes it nicer to work outside. My relaxing time these days is sitting with my feet up watching Women’s World Cup Soccer games. Watching soccer is my “happy place”.

What’s New…

…in my zoo!

Speaking of new…Happy Rosh Hashana to all our Jewish friends. The Jewish New Year begins this evening and ends September 18th. L ‘Shana Tova!

I finally put away my red, white and blue. My fall bins are ready to come down from the attic. I was at Target and saw these fall tin wall pieces and they were priced right for me…

I subbed out my plates for the tin pumpkins and pear for the Fall season. That might just be a tall skinny pumpkin but we’re calling it a pear after our pear bounty here. At Christmas time I’ll add something new again.

Here’s a closer view of the pumpkin. These pieces were $2.50 each.

On Saturday Dear and I went to Cabela’s in Tulalip and while he was spending his gift card from the kids I found this table top tripod for myself. I’ll be using it for my food photos.

I bought this crown shelf piece to incorporate with my Christmas and Easter decor celebrating Christ as my King.

My hydrangeas are fading but still beautiful to my eye.

The maple leaves are falling and before we know it the lawn will be totally covered! Look at all that clover in my grass…

Later on Saturday the work continued on the siding with Josh helping again. I made a big pot of chili for the workers to enjoy when they were done.

Progress is good to watch…

We are still promised many dry days and Dear is encouraged with the extra time to finish the siding before the rains come!

When our Saturday was almost done we got one of those dreaded calls that my dad had to call 911 because my mom was very disoriented and didn’t know what end was up. Family met my dad and mom at the hospital and the doctors think she had a TIA event. They kept her overnight and are doing more tests today. I’m happy to be flying down to Southern California next Saturday so I can visit with my mom and dad in person.

So…what’s new in your zoo!?

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Tag Archives: Home Improvements