Tag Archives: Remodeling

Here and Now…

We’ve been home from England for 10 days now and all I’ve been sharing are posts from our time in England but it’s time to show what’s happening in the here and now…

bath reno 017The bathroom renovation is moving along. What that means for me is that I’m pretty much home bound while the workers are here. The workers show up sometime between eight and eight thirty in the morning and then leave anytime from two and four in the afternoon. That great big bathtub delayed work for a day because there was a glitch in the ordering of it. When it finally came the plumbing work could proceed.

Last Sunday my niece’s family arrived for a little vacation here in Seattle from Southern California for a week. They have been keeping me company some days while the workers have been here. We’ve tried to fit in as many meals around the table together as we can. They are staying at my sister’s house since all her bathrooms are intake. After a very rainy Wednesday and Thursday, Friday dawned dry and sunny!

On Friday my niece Michelle, my dil Laura, my grand niece Avery and I went to Country Village in Bothell for a little shopping and fun.

Country VAvery and I first concentrated on ponies that needed our help to make them move. Boy did I get my exercise and I think I might have earned my “Great” Aunt status.

Country V1When we were done with the not real horses we got free tickets to ride the little train that goes all around Country Village. Avery really enjoyed the train ride. I was amazed I could get in and out of that little car we rode in. While on the train Avery spotted the REAL ponies.

Country V2Yep! We had to have a real pony ride, too. At least on this ride I could just stand and watch and click some pictures. No running and pushing or climbing in and out required.

Country V3We also got to sit in the shade and watch all the ducks in the pond. Avery’s mom and my dil Laura found some fun items to buy while we were busy and we made it home just as the guys returned from their afternoon adventure at an indoor shooting range. It was a win win day for the guys and the gals.

On Saturday we made reservations for 10 at Cactus Restaurant in Kirkland to celebrate my sister Lana’s birthday. What a beautiful day.

P1050563Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Nieces, Nephews, Moms, Dads, Brothers, Sisters, Husbands, Wives, enjoying time with each other.

P1050558A very Happy Birthday to my sister Lana and her twin, my brother Leonard on the 29th of July!

P1050564We continue to enjoy some wonderful weather here in the Puget Sound area of Washington.

Monday night Josh, Ryan, Jackson and I are going to a Sounders Soccer Game against the L.A. Galaxy. Then Tuesday morning my niece’s family makes the long trek south to California. We are hoping the bathroom work might be wrapped up by Friday of this week. Time will tell. Hard to believe we are entering the last week of July.

What’s new in your neck of the woods?

A Little Glimpse…

…and once the baseboards are all done and the carpeting is in I’ll make a proper post of the before and afters…

Floors installed 016

We are happy with the varied light, medium and darker hickory. It has character which we enjoy. The baseboard installing and finishing is taking a back seat to emptying out the rooms that are going to be re-carpeted. Dear is removing the old carpet and padding and dumping it in the back of the pickup for a trip to the Transfer Station.

I talk to my mom and pop everyday. My mom is showing some very typical signs of failing that seasoned Hospice caregivers affirm. She is starting to see people who have gone before her. She had a dream she was sitting around and having a meal with them. She has more periods of disorientation. She still has her humor and cracks us all up with some of her comebacks. One of my sister-in-laws is Mexican/American and after she told my mom that her son Tony was having cravings right along with his pregnant wife my mom raised her hands and said “Aye Dios Mio”! That’s a first for her! Last night my mom coached my brother Steve as he made a birthday meal for my sister Lana at my mom and pop’s apartment. She chose the dishes to make and was pleased with Steve’s expertise in the kitchen. He even made a chocolate mousse for dessert. Lana enjoyed her birthday dinner and then was on board for being the extra care giver last night and through the day today. I’m so thankful for my brothers and sisters and how they are pulling together and taking turns to be with my mom and pop every night. What a blessing for my parents and for them, too!

Someone needs to coach me into making a meal in my own kitchen. That has gone by the wayside. What have you been enjoying from your kitchen these last few days of July?

Random Updates

I pulled up this collage from 2008 because I just wanted to have something cheerful on my blog.

Things are pretty much the same for my mom in California. I’m able to talk to her everyday. She reminisces and lets us all know that she loves us and appreciates our uniqueness. I have 7 brothers and sisters and we are all pretty different in many ways and similar in other ways, too. My father is restless and needs to have things to do so my sisters try to keep him occupied. My sister Lana gave the apartment a thorough cleaning from top to bottom and got rid of some things that were taking up too much room.

To make room for my mom’s hospital bed the family moved out my parents queen bed and brought in a twin bed for my dad. One of my sisters or brothers spends each night at the apartment with my mom and dad and they sleep in the living room. The apartment is small with just a kitchen, living area, bathroom and bedroom.

Back here at this old house our remodeling continues with Dear putting in the baseboard and trim around doors and furniture is slowly getting put back into place. We are also busy emptying out the bedrooms and living room where our new carpeting will be installed on August 7th.

Thanks again for all your kind comments and prayers for my family that are highly appreciated. May God return the blessing to you!

Before and After ~

Like BooMama I had high hopes to show you some before and after photos from the big project at our house…the basement. But alas we aren’t anywhere near the “after” stage yet so I defaulted to this smaller project that I’m working on.

 

These are some of my many tablecloths. This type of storage makes them hard to get to, to see, and to stay wrinkle free. I’ve been wanting to change this for a long time.

Now this is much better. I can see them more easily and they don’t get wrinkled. I’m still in process. I have lots of tablecloths. The next stage to this process is to arrange them in sizes. My table has 6 leaves so I use several different tablecloth sizes depending on how many people will be seated around my table.

I’m going to leave you with a photo of the stage our basement is in even though I’m not the one working on this project. My involvement includes feeding the crew and keeping them hydrated. Once in a while I have to make a mad dash to the Home Depot for a needed item. :0)

 

For more Before and After click on BooMama above…

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I posted on my blog from 2007-2015 hostage and replaced them with big black and grey boxes with threats. So discouraging…as I’m slowly trying to clean up thousands of posts!

BooMama’s Before and After ~

BooMamaBeforeAfter

It’s a before and after project. So all you have to do is post about something you want to re-do, re-decorate, clean up, etc. and then do it before July 25th and re-post your before and after results. How cool and motivating is that. To get the official scoop click over to BooMama.

Here’s what I’m going to try to do.

1. Create an inviting atmosphere on my deck in Seattle (I’m in our condo in So. California right now but I get to be at my home in Seattle from July 1st – August 15th )

 

2. Do a thorough cleaning of my Seattle home since my adult children have been “taking care of it” while I’m in Southern California.

3. Show some photos of our huge project…redoing the basement. My husband only has 3 weeks in Seattle so I don’t know what we’ll be able to accomplish but I will show the progress…

Here are some photos of the torn up basement. We had some water issues so this was a “have to do” project! The hard part about my husband completing this project is that we are living 1200 miles away right now because of his job.

 

So I hope to show you some great changes July 25th!

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.