Happy Homemaker Monday

 I hope your Easter was a nice day with friends and family, or just a nice weekend.   I was whisked away last minute, by my husband.  We went to our favorite Amish area almost 3 hours away.  I wasn't really looking for anything while we perused the antique stores, but I found a chicken cookie jar for $8.00!  What a find.  I have that wrapped up safe until the half bath and living room work is done.  I will share a photo when it's out of it's packaging.

I'm glad we did.  We were recharged, and arriving home on Easter Sunday, we got right back to work and hooked the kitchen heater back up, cleaned more floor glue (urgh) off the floor, moved the hutch, kitchen table and most of the chairs back into the kitchen.

My husband pre-ordered a take out meal (smart thinking), and we went to pick that up.  Daughter E was the only kiddo that could come over and we met her new boyfriend (very nice kid, has a nice truck and works and went to the same school with her).

While chatting out in the driveway, I mentioned the truck bed cover that has been sitting there for 2 years.  I talked my husband into giving it to daughter's boyfriend.  Wha-la!  One more thing out of the house we are not using.

They left, and we went into the "big city" to pick up supplies to change the oil in the truck, see if the feed store was open (was closed), and to pick up supplies at Home Depot.

It will be a real treat to cook in my own kitchen again, but we are considering sanding down and staining our table, and painting parts of it, and the chairs white.  We actually got information for a guy in the Amish area that does it, but I'm sure the cost will be high going that route.  We were very impressed with his work however.

Today I am back to joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.  I guess now you could call me a Homemaker.

The Weather . . .

Snow!  Can you believe that?  1 inch or less, and then they are predicting 82°F next Sunday.  Crazy!

As I look out my window . . .

Spring flowers are blooming, birds are singing despite snow in the forecast.

Right now I am . . .

Getting ready to make a breakfast casserole.

Thinking and pondering . . .

I have a few boxes to donate yet, but thankful that Daughter E took those two orange/brown afghans.  I have much to do, but it's a bit too chilly yet to do any painting, so I haven't gotten a plan for the day/week yet.  We will start tearing out living room carpet this week (after I figure a way to get the treadmill moved upstairs).

-I need to get to town to get paint swatches for the living room 

-considering painting the kitchen hutch as well as the table

-considering adding valances to living room windows after the floor issues are repaired and re-floored

-emptying the pie safe to downsize/purge and selling the pie safe

How I am feeling . . .

Rejuvenated from a weekend away from our "hot mess."  I'm also happy that Daughter K will be here again to load up more of her stuff.  She still has boxes in my living room.  We are happy to also have someone willing to help gut the bathroom, but he will be having a hernia surgery later this week, so it may be me doing it, or delayed (or finding other help).

On the breakfast plate . . .

I need to make a casserole.

On my reading pile . . .

I actually got some of this read on the drive to our weekend getaway.

On my TV this week . . .

CSI

On the menu . . .

-leftovers

-roast, and veggies

-lasagna stuffed chicken (new recipe to try)

On the to do list . . .

-purge cookbooks

-laundry

-purge cake decorating books/supplies

-clean out pie safe

-clean TV armoire and put it up for sale

-purge tablecloths

Looking around the house . . .

It's still a hot mess, but the kitchen is looking much better, as we put it back together.

From the camera . . .

Had to take a photo of this and chuckle!  My husband said we need to do this at our house ha ha!  Feed the chickens via a vending machine for a quarter!.  Cute set up for the chickens at a handmade leather goods store.

After so many trips to Amish country, we finally toured the Victorian home in one town.

Prayers . . .

Us - to find someone reasonable to do the most difficult joist/sub floor/under layment work for the living room.  It's still in the works.

Old Crocheted Blankets

 

Here are the two blankets that my sister sent home with our Daughter K.  Of course she tells me to take care of them.  Urgh.  I'm sure that my Grandma on my Dad's side crocheted them.  I have no use for them, so I guess they will be donated.  The colors!!

I cleaned out the walkway from garage door to garage.  Daughter K left a box of flavored waters in there from 2 years ago.  Sheesh.  Now I have room to store flooring for the living room.

I also went upstairs to fetch packing tape, and found dishes in her old room.  She has a lot to clean out yet.

Snail Mail ~ Kitchen Updates and Jibber Jabber

 

I kept flowers from Mom's funeral (casket flowers), and dried them.  I sent the petals to an Etsy seller and had these made.  I also got a necklace for the two younger girls.  I am so pleased on how they turned out.  I'm so glad I did it too.  

I ordered myself a bracelet from another store, that I absolutely fell in love with, and wanted to wear it in memory of Mom.  It popped up on social media one day, and it's from a store in FL, where they hold bike week, so I figured the sale would be legit.

This is what they shipped me.  Ugly to me.  Not what I ordered.  I sent emails back and forth, and they told me it was one of a kind, and already sold, but yet it was on their site and he description clearly stated what I ordered.  

On a good note, and I won't believe until I receive it, they are having the person make another one and shipping it directly to me.  It is handmade.  I'm waiting on a shipping label to return this one.

Although I nearly broke my back, I got all the vinyl flooring glue off, but two places.  I'll work on that later today, or pick up a different remover.

We still need to screw in the desk supports, install the kitchen heater back in (painting is done there), and move the hutch and table/chairs back to the kitchen.  

Daughter K finally made a trip home to pack up another load.  However, she left an entire box of things from Mom's house she didn't want (or didn't have room for), and a few very old afghans for me to deal with (photos on another day when I can unbury them from the living room.

I did however save this for me. It's for grating garlic or ginger.  I grate a lot of both.  I will most likely only use it for ginger though.  I have a mincer for my garlic.

In the meantime, I am purging my pie safe.  Due to limited space in my kitchen cabinets, I was using a pie safe to store my mixer, food processer, jam maker, platter plates etc. 

I have two boxes of stuff already boxed up to donate somewhere (nothing that was of my Mom's).  I'm giving a food processer to my best friend (I had two), and some books.

The pie safe will be sold. and if not, we'll look into an antique store and remove it completely from the living room.  

Kitchen Havoc

The Good:  The kitchen flooring is in.

The Bad:  We have to take several pieces back out and replace due them leaving debris under them and flooring with bumps.  They didn't sweep good enough and then put a fan on it.  We have a 2 year warranty with these guys, but my husband wants to do it himself and be done with it.

Oh, after they moved the fridge back, they made a mark in the new flooring all the way across.  They had to replace about 15 pieces due to something under the fridge wheel.  This was before we noticed the debris under several after they replaced those.  

They didn't put any of the trim back in, nor the supports under my counter top that is the desk. We'll be doing that after I paint today and my husband installs the kitchen heater. 

We had to remove the heater prior to all of this, due to the fact the first people we hired for the joist/seal plate/sub floor repair.  They didn't put any sub floor or under layment under the heater.  They left an open gap.  

It's been one big headache.

I allowed them to use my canopy to cut wood outside.  First people we hired cut the wood inside, so all my cupboards have to be cleaned on the inside and out.

They left the canopy bag outside in the rain, then snow, then rain again, and my husband discovered it.  It's covered with sawdust, so guess who is cleaning that today?

We sold one kitchen table to a family member, but she had some sort of excuse, so we decided to give it to another family member who just got an apartment, but it's still on our front porch.

We decided to downside the kitchen furniture, hence selling one of them.  We had 2 tables in there due to our large family.  We plan to put an island in it's place down the road.

I tell ya' locating stuff for the bathroom we are gutting, has been a bit rough.  We have been all over to locate a vanity, which was in stock, but sold out while the flooring was going in.  It's a half bath, so we needed a smaller vanity.  The shower is going in the trash/metal to a scrapper.  They put in the cheapest one they could find prior to us moving here.

I downsized that bathroom too, and will remove the wall cabinet and only have the vanity for extra toilet paper.  No kids, hence no extra storage.  I located the vanity/sink, and a new light fixture however.

We have lots to do.  Today my only goal is to paint where the heater goes, so it's dry prior to my husband getting off work.  He'll install it.  Then we can move my hutch and table back into the kitchen. 

I have all my kitchen curtains down to wash as well.  Thanks to the first people we hired, they are covered in sawdust.  My to-do list is long - clean windows, wash curtains, laundry, sweep and mop kitchen floor, wipe all counters, paint, pay bills now that I can get into my living room to the computer, and so much more.

On a good note, while the kitchen flooring went in, I have cleaned almost all of the master bath floor grout.  I have to move tile and grout bags to finish one last corner, and rugs go back down.  We have located a person to repair the shower tile floor, but it's on the back burner for now.  Next up is the living room, and half bath.  Both need done badly.  Just say a prayer, the joist issue under the living room is not as bad as the kitchen was.  I'm voting for new carpet, but he's wanting the glue down vinyl we used in the kitchen.  Not sure what we'll do until we know how bad the living room is.

Brewing Coffee in the Bedroom and other "I can't make this stuff up" moments

 

Cleaned grout

before cleaning grout

While the men's worked on the kitchen flooring, I worked on the master bath tile grout.  In the past I have used homemade grout cleaner and was pleased with it.  A friend hosted a Norwex party and I purchased the paste they sell.  Oh my goodness.  It made the grout bright white (septic safe too). It may be hard to see in the photo, but oh my goodness I am so delighted with the clean grout.  I have much more to clean today (it's a larger bathroom than you think).

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I had to climb thru this to get to the computer this morning.  It's the entry way from kitchen to living room, where the "office" is temporality set up.

I got a text at 4:42am.  It was my sister.  I was somewhat in a state of worry, because my husband had already left for work.  He didn't tell me he had to leave that early, and the coffee pot is set up in the bedroom. I always pack his breakfast, lunch and coffee.

Oh, and the kitchen is half painted, because a cabinet unit was sitting there and was moved. Now my husband doesn't like the yellow.....sigh.....

Another old house surprise.  They men's knocked out cement that was used in the kitchen entry from the hallway (this is where the old house back door used to be before the addition).

They found roof shingles under it!  They have now put down self-leveling cement.  Next up is the under layment and then new flooring.  I have to say, the boys working with him remind me of my daughter's deceased boyfriend.  They are hard working, seem to want to be always busy and know what they are doing.  I'm impressed so far.

Moving along. . .

After firing our last hired help, we had another person come to the house last night and gave us an estimate that was a lot better than the last, and hired him and his boys.  He also installs carpet and his prices are much better, in case we decide to go with carpet in the living room.

My husband....sheesh.  He is already talking about doing more work, he's that excited to get things repaired and looking spanking new again. 

I have a lot of work cut out for me today, including some kitchen painting that the last person did not do.  I also have another person who does good painting work and doesn't charge an arm and a leg lined up.  We also have a few family and friends that can come over and help re-install the counter top and cupboards.

My only problem is finding places in the house to move more stuff out of the kitchen.  I have no more room in the living room ha ha!  

Today, thankfully it's an all-in-one crock pot dinner. Once I have that done, it's a get-er-done day for me.  Rain is on the way, so it will be good to be busy indoors today.

Happy Homemaker Monday

 

I've been taking down all wall decor in the kitchen, in order to prep for painting more ceiling and walls.  Sub floor is in for the most part, but not finished enough to put flooring in.  Our hired help (friend's brother and wife team) are getting fired today.  

Long story short - drug users, not reliable, untrustworthy, etc.

I'm already missing an entire painting kit.

Anyway, there is much more to the story, but I'll be doing the painting and another friend as the jobs go on.  Meanwhile my husband is working 12 hour days and Saturday, so the major work still has to be hired out.

Joining Sandra a day late, at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

The weather . . .

62°F/48°F and rain

As I look out my window . . .

Old Kitchen flooring.

Daffodils are coming up.

Right now I am . . .

Figuring out breakfast.  Toast?  

Thinking and pondering . . .

There is a lot on my mind right now.

Homemaking tips . . .

To remove a popcorn ceiling, mix fabric softener and water 50/50 and spray, then scrap off with a tool.

To remove hair dye from a bathroom door, use a paste of 50/50 baking soda and hydrogen peroxide.  It worked too.  Dang kids.

How I am feeling  . . .

Tired, frustrated....

On the breakfast plate . . .

Ha!  Toast or nothing I guess

On my reading pile . . .

Nothing.

On my TV . . .

Mystery channel

On the menu . . .

Take out?

From the camera . . .

Nothing

Looking around the house . . .

My living room....

To do list . . .

I have no idea.  My husband took the truck, because our hired help used the car and left with the car keys in his pocket (and left the gas on complete empty).  I can barely squeeze into the living room to get to my computer....kitchen is still a hot mess.  I need more ceiling paint...can't use the stove....sort of feeling trapped in the house today.

Prayers . . .

Me? Us?  Ugh....I am constantly cleaning up mud.  They have no respect for working in someone else's home.