Just Positive News!

Nothing new to report except positive news. I just had my second follow-up doctor visit with the surgeon who removed my cancerous tumor last December, and she continues to report that I am cancer free and healthy.  I just found out that I have a retirement plan I'd forgotten all about, and I became eligible to start receiving benefits on January 1 of this year!  After being abandoned by my carpenter, in the middle of a huge renovation project, I am happy to report that a girlfriend who's a carpenter and engineer is going to help me finish.  Two women, wielding hammers and carpenter's levels.  We can do it!  So . . . positive news, all!

Kathryn (my friend) came out Monday and I showed her the plans I had drawn up, then we walked through the new area (enlarged laundry and dining rooms, and soon-to-be-remodeled kitchen.  We made lists of materials we'll need, inventoried tools (between the two of us, we should have all the tools necessary), and discussed something I'd overlooked:  the need to install a huge 16' suppport beam in the kitchen.  It's looking like we can get started in the next few weeks!  I'm looking forward to hanging sheetrock, though doing the ceiling won't be fun.  Right now, the laundry and dining rooms are down to bare studs.

So you see, things are looking up!  And I do believe that summer may finally show its face.  It's been the coldest, wettest fall, winter, and spring I can remember!

Water! Water! My Kingdom for Water!

It's January.  It's winter.  My water is frozen yet again.  Frozen because the water tank for my well is exposed to the elements, thanks to a renovation project that should have been finished last summer.
Previously, that water tank was housed in an insulated shed.  The shed had to be torn down and the tank moved due to the renovation.  I told the carpenter that the new shed had to be built before winter, to avoid my having to deal without water every time it froze outside.  Alas, the shed never got built, so I am at the mercy of the weather.

But not for long.  I am going to build the shed myself, once I figure out what shed design the carpenter had in mind.  He had built a concrete platform, and moved the tank onto it, then bolted down two studs for starters, but that's all. I'll be buying lumber on Sunday to get started, and pray it doesn't freeze or rain!

Construction R Us

Hmmm.  My last two posts disappeared.  No wonder things have been quiet around here!  I finally finished the office project where I installed cabinets over my desk.  It was a bear of a job.  No matter how hard I tried, I just could not get things level, primarily because my house isn't level! It bugs me every time I look at the cabinets, but friends tell me it's not noticeable.

I'm something of a DIYer and have built many things in the past:  a walk-in closet in one end of my bedroom, a craft center (with table and cupboards) on the other end of my bedroom, a closet and cupboards in the laundry room, cedar benches and table on the front deck, a rock garden, etc.  But the cupboards above my desk were the hardest task so far.  They're done, now, and I have lots of storage space.

And once the office cupboards were installed, I got on house-rearranging kick and moved furniture and pictures around.  I'm really pleased with how things turned out.  Here are two pictures.  The first shows the new cupboards.  The second shows my "office."

Project Done!

It's done! I have a few odds and ends to do yet, but for all intents and purposes I’ve finished building the benches and potting table on my front porch. I still have to paint the benches and table, and clean the deck and then paint it too. But I finished inserting the last screw at 7:30 last night, 4/24. Lord knows when I'll get around to painting them all. That's for another day! I had a blast building this stuff, and now my deck looks so cool.

The long photo above is a composite picture I did in Photoshop, stitching together 6 photos, so the perspective is a bit off. It makes the bench on the right and the table on the left look considerably longer than they really are. The picture was taken from the gate leading onto the porch from the driveway. It makes my deck look huge, but it does give a decent panorama, if somewhat distorted. And yes, the wall and door really are purple. Here's a better picture, without distortion:

The long beam across the top of the benches will be used for hanging plants. The table on the left with the small bench on the end will be used for potting plants and for potluck dishes during barbecues (Think July 4th!). It will also come in very handy when lugging groceries from the car. Instead of leaving the slider open to the elements while I troop back and forth carting grocery bags, I'll be able to deposit all the groceries on the table, first, then once the car is emptied, I'll whisk the bags inside in one fell swoop.

The next picture is actually 2 photos stitched together. You can tell because the deck planks don’t line up. However, the benches are in proportion in this picture. I think it will look really nice once I get it all painted and have flower pots hanging from the beam.

I’ll probably build a gate to go between the two benches, and install handrails for the steps leading down into the side yard. But that's for a later date. Right now, I'm dreading picking colors to paint the deck and benches and table, because it will be one of those exploding projects. To backtrack, I have a new roof that clashes horribly with my house color. When I picked the roof color, I thought it would go well with my taupe house. I was appalled when the roof was done. It's reddish brown, and clashes horribly with the taupe. So I have to repaint the house. It needs it, anyway. But trying to decide on a color is so trying, and I can't paint the deck and benches until I decide on my color scheme for the house. Then I'll be able to find complementary colors for the deck, etc. And then (groan!) I'll have to repaint the cinder block wall and my intricately painted door, because purples will most certainly not go well with anything in the reddish-brown family.