Bane of my life (at least lately!)

For some of you that know me, you know that I can stand a mess for only so long before it really starts to bug me. I mean, really, really, bug me. Well, this pile of dirt has really been buggy me lately. How did all this start you might ask. Well, actually quite innocently enough. Let me explain.

Way back in March, when we poured our new patio and put in the flower bed/retaining wall behind the pool, we needed dirt for the concrete work and for filling the flower bed. So, Dan ordered a dump truck load of dirt. Yes, you read correctly, a dump truck load - 17 yards!


I know that you really can't tell how much dirt this is from this picture- but let me tell you - that is A LOT OF DIRT!!! (And this picture was taken after they had used about 1/3 of it in the patio.) Now, it was a good thing to have while we were filling up the flower bed (although I wish we had treated it with Round-Up before we put it in the flower bed and planted flowers in it as now I'm having to pull up grass). However, we could have gotten away with 1/3 of the amount of dirt Dan ordered. (We probably could have used 1/4 as much.) The point is, we filled the flower bed and we were left with all this dirt.

The first thing we did, to try and get rid of it, was to load up Dan's truck and haul it over to the open field next to Mom's house and dump it. Now, after 10 to 12 trips back and forth, we figured out that was NOT going to work.

Then we tried giving it away - and our neighbor came over and got a couple (yes, just a couple) of wheelbarrow loads full. Not a whole lot of help. As, the months passed, the temperatures go up and the pile of dirt decides to grow ---------------------

Okay - this is not a good picture of the pile of dirt - because actually, I was taking a picture of the hawk on the fence. However, it is the only picture I have that shows what happened to that awful pile of dirt. It began to grow - okay, not the actual dirt, but the grass. The grass got so high that the yard man wouldn't even try to "mow" the grass down with a "weed-whacker"!

Now, it was really starting to bother me. Here we are, spending time, money and effort trying to get the house fixed and we have this awful eye-sore in the back yard in the form a huge pile of dirt/grass.

So, I told Dan that my goal for this week was to get rid of this eye-sore before Bruce (our yard man) showed up on Friday to do the yard. I wanted that pile of dirt/grass gone so he could mow the entire yard!

The first step was to get rid of the tall grass so we could actually get to the dirt pile - so over to the kids we went and borrowed their 'weed-whacker' and my darling man cut the grass. Then early Sunday morning we started working on loading up wheel barrow loads of dirt and placing the dirt on low spots in the yard (and we had plenty of those where the 23 palm trees were taken out of the front yard). So, while Dan would shovel the dirt and move the wheel barrow I would spread the dirt out. When he got tired of shoveling - I would shovel awhile, but he wouldn't let me move the wheel barrow (isn't he such a gentleman?). When it got too hot that we just couldn't work any more we stopped and got in the pool for awhile. Then we worked on other projects - I think Sunday was the back porch and pool area.

Then Monday, we did the same thing again - but then Monday afternoon - after it had cooled down we went out and worked on that dirt pile some more. That is until the mosquitoes ran up inside.

Tuesday morning we were determined to get it finished before we went and did the errands we had to do in town. So, early Tuesday morning we were out in the back yard working hard - and just worked until about 10 o'clock and had to stop - just too hot and humid. We were just a little short of our goal, but we could see the end - we just couldn't quite reach it in the heat and humidity. However, last night, after dinner, it had cooled down some and there was a nice breeze. So, Dan and I went outside and decided that we were going to finish that pile of dirt - so about an hour and a half later ------------------




it was gone!!!!!!! YAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One of our reasons for being so dead set on getting it finished last night was we have a 60% chance of rain today - and we didn't want to get rained out. Plus, today was the day the garbage men come for yard trash and there was plenty of dead grass in that pile of dirt.

Anyway, it is done and now I'm working on a way to turn this area into the "fire pit" area. I'll figure something out.

Oh, and just in case you are wondering, Dan and I are so sore we can hardly move - but that pile of dirt is history!

Today's Project

Friday night I told you that Dan and I were going to work in the garage and that I would take pictures and post them yesterday - then yesterday I let you know that we worked in the garage, but that I forgot to take pictures. Well, today I went out and took some pictures of the work that we had done. I know that you are not going to believe that we did any work when you look at these pictures, but believe me- we worked for about six hours and got this far.

Before we worked you could not even walk around in here, much less see the floor. So, while there is still quite a bit of work left to do we made great progress. A lot of the stuff you see is trash that will go out on Tuesday on trash day. Other stuff is things for the garage sale and that we will be taking out later today (when it gets a little cooler so we can work).

I know it doesn't look like much - and believe me, it will look better in the future - it looks so much better than it did a couple of days ago! (Oh, in case you are wondering, yes, that is a Honda motorcycle. And, yes it is for sale!)

Now, on to our project that we worked on today. We needed to get the back porch back into shape and so, Dan and I decided that would be our project for this morning. So, I posted a couple of pictures below that shows our work today.

We moved some shelving around and moved a baker's rack out by the dining area. We think that this will be much more functional for us.

After we got this all done we both jumped in the pool for a little while to cool off, then I came in and did the laundry and made some chicken salad for lunch. Now, I just need to balance the check book and pay the bills Hope you are having a good Sunday.

Enjoy the pictures and I'll talk to you later!

One of our projects

I know that I told you last night that I would take pictures of the garage - before and after- well, I forgot. Dan and I started to work and the next thing I knew it was two hours later and I had not taken any pictures. I thought about taking some before I fixed lunch and then we got busy doing something and the next thing I knew it was after two and we had made great progress - so tomorrow I will show you pictures of the after - you just won't have any before pictures to compare it to.

One of the things that I was able to take pictures of is the next step we took in the laundry room. I had posted pictures of the laundry room with the new washer/dryer, but we were not finished with what we wanted to do in there. I wanted more storage - especially for some things that are just sorta bulky and don't fit well in the cabinets. So, Dan cut some boards down today - just to give us an idea of what it will look like when we get the right shelving and this is what we got ----

The picture above is taken from the kitchen door with the shelves on the left and the washer/dryer right in front of me. The picture below would be looking back toward the kitchen and I would be standing in front of the dryer.

This picture would be coming in the back door from the garage and looking straight ahead. Looks pretty good huh? I think it is really going to look good once we get the correct shelving up, but it will work for a little while. When we get other things finished up we will get the correct shelving, but it isn't a priority right now.

Now after supper tonight, Dan and I went for a boat ride - it was nice to relax a little after working hard all day. I did get a picture of the "big guy" that I thought you might like to see - hope you enjoy!

I'll post more tomorrow!

More changes

More things are changing around here - and the place is starting to look more like home. Pictures are starting to be hung on the walls and furniture is going in the right places. There have been some changes made also.

We changed some things around in the master bedroom - but that is something that we are still working on - I'll post pictures when I get it all done. The bathtub in the guest bathroom was finally refinished! (Can you say - FINALLY!) I have to say though that the guy did a good job and it does look nice - we just can't use it for 21 days! That's okay - we haven't used it in the year we have been in the house - I don't think 21 more days will be a hardship (but I think I will have to try it out after everything get settled!).

The shower doors were SUPPOSE to be installed today - but the glass was not delivered to the installer yesterday - so it wasn't installed today - they said it would be Wednesday or Friday of next week (they get their deliveries on Tuesday and Thursday). We shall see - but I'm getting a little anxious to use my shower. Dan and I have both been using the shower in the guest bath because we only had to buy one shower curtain rod and curtain - I mean we won't be using it after the doors are installed and we didn't want to spend money where we didn't have to - so, one shower curtain and one shower to use.

We did take a lot of materials that we had left over - like the old shower doors and extra wire shelving and old a/c vents to Habit for Humanity today. There was no reason to throw the stuff away when someone could use it - so we loaded all of it up in the truck and took it up to Sebring and donated it. I'm sure someone will be able to use the material.

Then we went into Lowes and bought the stuff to do the open shelving in the laundry room - I am so excited to get this finished - then I'll be able to finish putting my kitchen stuff up - things like the bread machine and food processor that won't fit in the kitchen cabinets will go on these open shelves - along with some decorative things like my canned peaches (the couple of jars I have left) and some cook books. Anyway, it is one more thing that I will look forward to getting complete.

Tomorrow we tackle the garage - Dan says that he can't work on the fireplace surround without room to work in the garage - so tomorrow we work on getting the garage straightened out. That was one of the reason for the trip to Habitat today - got some of the stuff cleared out. It will probably take all day (and I'll take some before and after pictures and post them) wish me luck!

Well, I'll sign off for tonight. Dan has already gone to bed. Hope you have a great weekend!

Week 8 of the project

Well, this is week eight of the remodeling project and I thought I would give you a visual reminder of where we were and were we are now. I think you might be a little surprised - I think there has been great improvement - you'll have to let me know what you think.

First let's start with the kitchen:



This is the before - ugly pink cabinets and a strange layout (okay - Dan put some of the cabinets in the middle of the floor so we could get an idea of what the island was going to be like - it isn't like that at all!)

We were also closed off from the rest of the house. There was also the issue of the wallpaper. Well, that's all changed now -----------------------------

This is the new kitchen - we aren't quite finished with it yet - we still have to do the back splash - but that is a project for us to complete - not part of the "scope of work" of the remodeling project. Dan is sure we can complete this project later (there are a couple of other things we want to get finished first - like the fireplace mantle and surround, but I'm sure we will get it done).

This is another picture of the kitchen - it is so much brighter and while the actual 'footprint' of the kitchen did not change, and we did not change the location of any of the appliances - it just seems so much bigger! We have ordered the blind for the window and it is suppose to be here by next Friday. By the way, I love my farm sink!

This was the master bath area - if you look in the reflection in the mirror you can see the vanity - an ugly gray and the angled walls. Well, the angles are gone and so is the gray vanity ---------

This is the new vanity - the wall on the left is the new linen closet. I did not take a picture of the shower area yet because the new shower doors are going to be installed on Friday - so I'll wait until then to post pictures of that part of the bathroom. The door reflected in the mirror is the door to the walk in closet. I'll post picture of it on the next blog.

You might remember the dining room area was at the front of the house and originally we couldn't decide if we wanted to make it the 'living room' or not. Well, we decided to make it the dining room and I'm so glad we did, because it turned out looking like this -----------------

Looks a little different huh? As you can tell, I have not done any decorating yet. I'm still unpacking boxes and washing everything that has to be washed and put away. It really is like moving all over again and in some ways worse (if it can be worse) because you have to wash absolutely everything - there is construction dust in places where there shouldn't be construction dust! There is no way we could have lived here during this project - it would have just been too much.

Okay - my computer has been acting a little weird tonight with the downloading of photos - first it will saw that they are downloaded it is just a blank box and then it downloaded this one twice on one shot - who knows - it has just taken me twice as long to download the pictures as I thought it would. Anyway, forgive the second shot of the same thing. Moving on -

This is the entry way into the house with the dining room on the right of the picture and the kitchen is on the left-----------------------------

This is the new entry way - taken from just about the same place in the living room.

Well, this is just a little taste of the before and afters of the project. Hope you enjoy them. Let me know what you think. There will be more coming. We are still waiting on one more set of chairs (the ones for the fireplace). The man is suppose to be here on Wednesday to refinish the Whirlpool tub in the guest bathroom and, as I've already said, they are installing the new shower doors on Friday. The end is definitely in sight.

Take care and I'll talk to you soon.

Week 7

Well, we have survived another week without electricity in the kitchen! In fact, we didn't have anyone here working until Friday - and then it was the plumber. However, the plumber did finish everything he had to do (we think - we are not sure if we ran the line for the ice maker on the refrigerator or not) - and he got the vanity in the master bathroom set. I even have water in the kitchen and have a kitchen sink now!

Speaking of the kitchen - I also have my granite counters installed. They were installed on Thursday afternoon (a little later than we thought it would be, but heh- they are installed)! Now, I have to seal them - we went to Lowes Friday night and bought the sealer - I just haven't had a chance to put it on the counter tops yet - that is on my list of things to do tomorrow.

We also got the washer and dryer installed Saturday afternoon. Justin came over and helped Dan put them up on the pedestals and get them hooked up. I am so excited - I actually got all our laundry done Saturday evening before I went to bed. I am really happy with the way they are working so far. As I said, after Dan and Justin installed them, YAHOO!!!!

Dan and I have spent most of today unpacking things and putting things away. Oh, which reminds me - the bedroom furniture came on Tuesday along with some of the living room furniture and the recliners, bar stools for the kitchen, and the headboard for the bedroom will be delivered this coming Tuesday.

The electrician is coming tomorrow - so, hopefully, we will have a fully functioning kitchen tomorrow night and I will actually be able to cook dinner in my house. Plus I hope to be able to use the dishwasher and get all the dishes that have been in the cabinets in the garage washed and put away. I have washed some things by hand the last couple of days, but I would really like to use the dishwasher.

Dan has just about got the closets finished - I have spent some time during the last week washing all the wire shelving that goes in the closets. I think that he still has a couple of shelves to put up in the guest room closet and then we need to buy some more supports for the shelves that we are using in the master.

We have to take my mom up to Plant City on Wednesday to pick up some flooring that she is going to have installed in her family room and sewing room. Then we are hoping to go to IKEA and pick up some organizing items for the kitchen and a couple of other things that we want maybe Thursday or Friday. It is coming together - we still have a lot of unpacking and putting things away - but that light it definitely getting brighter.

I'll post pictures soon. Take care and have a good week!

4th of July and Week 6 of the Remodeling Project

Okay, I know that it has been a couple of weeks since I have posted pictures of the house and the progress that has been made - so, hopefully, the pictures that I post today will make up for that. First, let me say that I thought that everything would be done by now - but I guess that I was being a little optimistic. Today starts week seven of the project - and while we don't have THAT much more to do - there is still enough that it makes living here in the house a little inconvenient - like no kitchen appliances whatsoever! (My children will never believe this, and they will probably hold this statement over my head for the rest of my life, but I can not wait to get the kitchen done so I can actually cook again!)

So, let's start with week six and look at some of the pictures -

Most of you may not think this is a big deal - but I am so excited about this door. This door leads from the guest bathroom out to the pool area and it used to be an absolutely ugly door. I have been wanting to replace it ever since we moved into the house. Dan kept putting me off saying that it would cost too much. Well, I finally got my way, and it looks SOOOOOOOOO much better!

I don't know if you remember what the fireplace looked like with the dark gray slate around it - and the slanted surround, but now it has a lighter color tile and the surround is squared up. Dan is going to build a mantle for me (that will come in the future - not too distant, but it is not a high priority item right now) and on the side will be a bookcase and display shelves.

This is the shower in the guest bathroom - we still have to have the shower doors installed. We are waiting for one more estimate to come in. Right now we are using a shower curtain on this shower as it is the only one that is working at this point (other than the toilet - both of them are working, which is a good thing!). I think when we get the shower doors up it will make a big difference, plus we still have to have the whirlpool tub covered. It was suppose to be done last week, but we were getting a lot of rain last week so, they put it off due to the amount of humidity in the air. We'll see if they can get it done this week.

This is the master bath - the vanity is not set yet, no shower doors, no lights - so there is still a lot of work to be done in here. However, it is coming along - and really, once the vanity gets set it really won't take long to finish things up (other than the shower doors). The doors are the same story as the guest room. As soon as we get the estimate then we will be able to tell if we can afford to do what we want (the frameless doors) or if we will have to go back with the doors that we had and kept. I am really hoping that we will be able to go with the frameless doors, but we shall see.

Dan has been working to get the kitchen completed so they can install the granite - actually they did come and measure for the granite last week and they are "suppose" to install either today or tomorrow. Since we haven't heard anything from them yet today - it looks like it might be tomorrow - now this was at week six, a lot of progress has been made since we (or I should say Dan) has been working hard on it all weekend. There has been so much drama with the kitchen - the guy from the general contractor that was suppose to install the kitchen left the contractor for another job, but he was still suppose to install our kitchen on the side. However, he came one day and the work he did Dan has had to completely redo. He has told the contractor that we do not want to be charged for the kitchen installation since he has had to do everything.




The above pictures were at week six - now let's look and see what things look like today -------

So, this is the pantry wall (yes, there is still things lying around, but remember we are still living in a construction zone - but it already looks different!

More of the kitchen - no the kitchen sink is not set yet, but soon!


Saturday Dan's daughter, son-in-law, and two of his granddaughter's came down to pick up all the old kitchen cabinets out of the garage. While they were here the dining room furniture was delivered. So, I thought you might like to see a picture of the dining room furniture with the chandelier ---------

While Dan has been working in the kitchen I have been working on getting things clean. From cleaning the refrigerator which has been sitting in the garage for 6 weeks closed up (can you say YUCK!) to cleaning the shelving that goes back into the closets. I have also swept, and swept, and swept construction dust off the new floors. Then I have mopped and mopped and mopped again trying to get them clean. Then it was cleaning the front door and the side lights. I have been busy - it just doesn't look like it.

Finally, last night we decided that we needed a break, and since it was the 4th of July and the town of Lake Placid has their fireworks display over "our" lake, we decided to take the pups and go out in the boat and see if we could watch the fireworks from the boat. It was GREAT! A really nice break for us, the pups were good, and the fireworks were really nice for a small town like Lake Placid.

I think that I have caught you up to date with the progress so far - we are hoping that we will get everything finished up this week (by everything I mean the electrical, plumbing, and outside contractor stuff - Dan will still have some stuff to do - but that's okay!) I will post more pictures as things get done - hope you enjoy!