New pictures of the twins…
Big sister gives a typing lesson…
The twins are coming to see us soon! ~~Grandma 🙂
We’re remodeling the addition, which houses a hall with closets and built-in drawers, a laundry room, a full bath, and the guest room. We’re going for a cottage style which is a departure from the rest of the house, but since the addition is a 1960 build-on and is separate from the rest of the house, I think it will work. The colors will be blue and white, with a little yellow.
The room used to look like this. The bed is now in DD#1’s room. The bookcase will be painted white if it comes back into the room.
Then we stripped the wallpaper… (The dresser is looking for a new home, elsewhere in the house. It is not going back into the guest room.)
…and took up the carpet and scraped the cottage cheese off the ceilings.
The ceiling is a dark blue. I first chose the darker blue on the left for the walls, but didn’t think there was enough contrast, so DH put a lighter blue up. I like it better. So the walls will be the lighter blue, the woodwork will be glossy white, and the ceiling will be the dark blue.
I painted three vintage chairs the same blue as above on the left…the darker wall color. Two will go in the guest room and one will go back into the bathroom. I need to find another one for the laundry room. After the paint cures for four or five days, I’ll sand it to distress the finish a bit.
Two blue chairs will go in the spot these chairs occupied, and we’ll buy two comfy chairs (that recline but don’t look like recliners) to sit between the bed and the armoire.
Speaking of the bed, this is the one I ordered for the guest room.
I thought blue on the walls in all four rooms would be too much, so am putting yellow in the hall. This is a tiny test spot. I’ll have a better picture soon. The woodwork will be a glossy white.
In the laundry room, the wall below the chair rail will be the darker blue wall color and the yellow color from the hall will be above the chair rail. I think. May change my mind! This cupboard will come back into the laundry room.
I have some old magazine ads from the 1918s that I plan to use above the counter in the laundry room.
I chose the lighter tile on the upper left for the bathroom floor. The same tile will go in the two upstairs bathrooms. It’s a nice neutral color that will work with anything.
The bathroom will have the darker blue wall color above the bead board wainscot. There’s a huge window in this room, so light is not an issue. All four rooms will have the same dark blue ceiling as the guest room. The white and blue glass tiles will go on the wall around the medicine cabinet. The counters will be Caesarstone ‘Pacific Reflections.’ The same countertop material will go in the laundry room.
I am eager to see it finished! Waiting is the hard part! 🙂
~~Rhonda
I took a little stroll around the yard yesterday, in the late afternoon. I’d been painting chairs and needed to get outside and away from renovating for a while. I hate missing the perfect weather we’ve been having, so out I went. Here are a few pictures from the yard.
Can dogwood leaves look any more glorious?
Flowers for next spring.
Virginia Creeper is supposed to turn a lovely red in the fall, but ours never has. Still beautiful, even if it’s not red.
There are a lot of volunteer mimosa trees along the edge of the woods.
Here’s a shot I wasn’t looking for. A fly sunning on the other side of the mimosa leaf.
Stunning sumac. How brilliant is that?
My hickory tree…dug it up in the woods at Old Salem Cemetery years ago.
The pin oaks are going to be pretty this year.
In the fenced garden, the sedum is beginning to recede. We can see Baby Bunny again. He was completely covered not so long ago.
The lavender is putting on a flush of blooms. I planted it next to the bench in the fenced garden. Love to smell it while I sit there.
Iris ‘Baby Blessed’ is a good rebloomer. A mini iris, it’s about 12″ tall, with a smallish flower. Smells like spring time.
The sky was so very blue yesterday.
We miss so much when we stay indoors… ~~Rhonda
Yesterday and today, we left the doors open for Niko and let him come and go as he pleased. While I worked in the scrapbook room last night, Niko stayed nearby. He seems to like to be around people. He was interested in the printer when I ran off the bulletin inserts. The printer always draws any nearby kitties when it begins making noises. They can’t seem to help it…they just have to investigate.
Yesterday, Buttercup spent time in the basement, but today, she was upstairs while Niko was free to roam. Most of the day, Niko stayed upstairs and Buttercup stayed downstairs. This evening, after supper, DD brought Niko downstairs. Buttercup sat on the kitchen stool and watched as Niko explored the things on the floor under the kitchen table. He didn’t realize at first that Buttercup was there.
Buttercup never moved, but she didn’t take her eyes off Niko.
Once Niko realized Buttercup was nearby, he sat under the chair and waited to see what would happen. After about 15 minutes he decided to go back upstairs. No hissing or growling…just a lot of watchful waiting.
I think they’re doing fine. There haven’t been any kind of kitty confrontations. It’s just a matter of time. They’ll be playing and snoozing together before you know it.
~~Rhonda 🙂
Yesterday and today, we put Buttercup in the basement for a while, and let Niko roam around the house. He was happy to be out of the bedroom.
In the kitchen, he stood at the back door and watched the outdoor cats.
He thought DD’s school book bag was full of interesting smells.
This evening Niko sat on DD’s lap for a long time while she told him good night.
We’ve had a busy day. I painted several pieces of furniture and Russell painted in the addition. We settled on a wall color…I’ll take a picture tomorrow. I forgot to today! The oak flooring was delivered and will be installed next week. It has to acclimate to the house before installation. Someone from the counter top company came and made a template for the bath and laundry counters.
We’re making progress on the remodel. I think we’ll be ready for the twins’ visit the end of the month. At least in the addition. DD’s room is going to take a while longer!
~~Rhonda
Here’s the new view of the house from the mailbox.
This picture was taken from very near the same vantage point, in May of 2005.
With the two pine trees and the oak tree from the center of the driveway gone, the house can now be seen from the road. Sure looks odd without those trees…
I know someone is going to ask, “Why did you have those trees removed?” The pine tree by the front porch was about 60 years old (we have a 1954 picture that shows that tree about three feet tall) and, every time we had a big wind storm, it dropped branches. The other pine tree must have been a few years younger. It was not as big and didn’t drop branches as badly as the larger one did.
But we also wanted to open up the middle of the driveway so the flowerbeds will receive more sunlight. We need space for more daylilies. 🙂 The center of the drive way needs about a foot of top soil dropped on it. Every time there’s a heavy rain, we get a pond in there. It sits lower than the driveway does. See?
So, like everything else around an old house, one project leads to another. 🙂
~~Rhonda
It was rainy and a bit chilly this AM, but Paul and his crew were here before 8:00 to take down three trees for us. In the center of the driveway, they removed the oak on the left and the pine tree on the right.
They also removed the large pine by the front porch.
I stepped out on the front porch and was amazed by how different the view was!
It made quite a thud when it hit the ground.
Paul leveled the stumps, taking off the sharp pieces. Same nice guy who washed all the dishes and took out all the trash after Bethany’s party.
Should be enough mulch to last a while…
Now I’m eager to drive by and see how much the view of the house has opened up from the street.
~~Rhonda
Last Friday I decided to veer off the menu and I made pizza for supper. I made the recipe for the 40 minutes buns, and used half to make a pizza crust and half to make six rolls.
It made a delicious thick crust. Half cheese for DD and half veggies for DH and me. I used zucchini, tomatoes, fresh spinach and, on my portion, green onions. I grated fresh Parmesan over all and sprinkled it with mozzarella.
It was easy and delicious! No more delivery pizza for us. ~~Rhonda
Niko seems to be quite relaxed and easy going. He is still being kept in DD#2’s room while he adjusts. And while Buttercup adjusts to the fact that there is a new kitty around. DD found him in the bathroom sink when she went in to visit this afternoon.
He likes to have someone around. This evening when DD went in to say goodnight, he purred and purred. When she tried to leave, Niko cried. So she went back in and he purred again…then cried when she left. 🙂 So she brought him to me in the scrapbook room. We closed the door and he has been exploring the room while I work on my Christmas Notebook.
He sat in the window and watched the ceiling fan.
He checked out all the pictures we’ve been taking of him.
He sat on the counter and watched TV with me.
Isn’t he a pretty boy? 🙂 ~~Rhonda
I’ve planned a menu that should be pretty easy this week as we have a lot going on.
Monday
grilled tilapia
steamed red potatoes
asparagus
spinach salad
I mixed my own cajun seasoning for the grilled tilapia.
Tuesday
baby back ribs (SO easy! Directions follow.)
baked potatoes (microwave oven)
corn
coleslaw
Baby Back Ribs
Place ribs on a foil lined cookie sheet and bake in a 250* oven for four hours. Turn over after one hour. After two hours turn again and slather them with BBQ sauce. Continue baking, turning them a time or two and adding more BBQ sauce if you like. I loosely cover them with foil after putting the sauce on.
When they are done, they will easily pull apart. Remove the foil and put them under the broiler for a few minutes to char the BBQ sauce a little. So good!
Wednesday
chicken cordon bleu ~ crock pot recipe
rice
snowpeas
corn
Thursday
hamburgers
40 minute rolls
chips
grapes
Friday
spicy shredded pork ~ crock pot recipe
Caesar salad
steamed snow peas
baked apples
Saturday
leftovers
Sunday ~ church dinner
turkey and stuffing (boneless turkey cooked in the crock pot, then diced and mixed with Stove Top stuffing)
broccoli slaw
triple chocolate mess (chocolate cake in the crock pot) served with ice cream
You can find many more menu ideas and recipes at Laura’s site – orgjunkie.com.
~~Rhonda