how did we ever survive it?

We are in the middle of major remodeling of two spaces. One is the addition (added to the house in 1962) which is the guest room, a hall, the laundry room and a bathroom. The other space is DD’s room. And I must say, she is WAY excited about that!

The mess is getting to me. It makes me wonder how we ever survived the two years of constant renovation and remodeling that we did when we bought the house in 1994. When I look back on that, I can’t believe we did it. Someday, I will scan some pictures and give you a taste of what we went through. The entire house was tuckpointed, roofs repaired, all electric, heating, and plumbing replaced, and air conditioning added, all the upstairs floors had to be taken up for wiring electricity, all the floors refinished but three. Two of those rooms had the floors replaced. The house was not on the city sewer system, so we had to have that installed. Not to mention the other one million and one things that had to be done…makes me nervous just thinking about it.

But back to this remodel…

We emptied DD’s room and put all her toys and stuffed animals and paraphernalia into storage boxes. A lot of that went to the attic for the time being. We peeled wallpaper in the addition, and are going to remove the cottage cheese ceilings, then paint woodwork, ceilings and walls. Oak hardwood will be installed. We emptied four closets, cleaned and painted two of them, and are in the process of getting those two finished so all that stuff can be put away. The other two are in the addition and aren’t done yet.

The upstairs hall closet houses four boxes of DH’s parents’ things that we thought should not be placed in the attic where temperatures fluctuate and it also holds cleaning supplies, a vacuum cleaner hose, a few long dresses and a long coat. We got rid of old clothes and miscellaneous things that had been stashed in there. Currently the items that will return to the closet are stacked in the upstairs hall. The closet is ready (fresh white, so nice!) so those things can go back in today. Yeah!

upstairs hall closet

The downstairs hall closet, which is about four by five feet, serves as our coat closet and also stores cleaning supplies and the vacuum hose. The cleaning supplies are stored in pretty baskets on shelves. There are also baskets for electric cords and light bulbs. The closet has been painted. DH sanded and painted the woodwork in the closet today, and removed the baseboards. He is currently removing the vinyl floor and sub floor to prepare the closet for hardwood which will go in sometime in the next few weeks. Once the old floor is out, we can put all the baskets back on the shelves and get them off the floor in the front hall. Yeah, again! 🙂

downstairs hall closet

This afternoon I met with the decorator to pick out the paint colors and look at furniture ideas. DH was glad I chose paint today. He wants to get the addition painted so we can schedule the floor installation (as do I!).

This armoire, which came out of the guest room, was stained. It will go back into the guest room and is being painted white. I decided to paint the interior with the wall color I chose today. The shelves will be white. The bottom section isn’t painted yet, because (with my bum knee) I am not able to crawl down there to sand and paint it. DH will have to do that part…or turn it on its back so I can reach it. 🙂

armoire for guest room

This afternoon the decorator showed me other glass tiles and counter top samples than those pictured below for the guest bath, but I am leaning this way now…the glass tiles are a milky white with blue streaks. I loved them the minute I saw them. And the Silestone counter top is my favorite…dark blue with silver sparkles. If it sparkles, I love it.

guest bath

We are working under a real deadline as we will have our one year old grand-daughters here for a week the end of the month, and we don’t want the mess of remodeling going on while they are here. And, of course, I have Christmas decorating to think about. My usual schedule is severely disrupted with all this work going on. I am hoping to begin on DD#2 and DD#3 rooms on Friday when Brooke comes to help (hear that, Brooke??).

Well, this is a longer, wordier post than I usually write. And it has just a few pics…but I think it helped…I feel a little more in control than I did this morning. 🙂 Writing/typing things down gives me some perspective, I suppose. If you think about me during the next few weeks, please say a prayer that all goes smoothly.

~~Rhonda %-}

buttercup loves the railing

Last night, while DD was getting ready for bed, Buttercup waited for her by sitting on the railing at the top of the stairs.

Buttercup loves the railing

And this morning, when I came down for breakfast, there she was guarding the newel post.

Buttercup's newel post

She’s been sitting there a lot lately. I’m not sure why she decided all of a sudden that this is a good resting spot.

~~Rhonda 🙂

butterfly #8

The eighth butterfly emerged this morning. Another female. That makes six females and 2 males, so far.

She didn’t seem to mind at all when I stuck my camera in her face.

face to face

Beautiful.

new wings

~~Rhonda

did i tell you we’re painting our bedroom?

DH started the project the other night. We’re going from pinky-rosey-mauvey to brown. This is just the first coat. I don’t like white ceilings. I am really liking this dark brown one!

first coat going up

But the painting is all we’re doing in there…except for new curtains…

~~Rhonda 🙂

menu plan monday ~ september 29, 2008

Have you gotten around to making your own weekly menu yet? If not, you should do it now! 🙂 You’ll be glad you did. It saves time, money, and effort, not to mention frustration at the end of a long day when you don’t know how to answer “what’s for supper??”

We’re having leftover pork chops for supper Monday evening. That was easy, wasn’t it?!

Monday
pork chops
rice
lima beans
corn
green salad

Tuesday
wiener roast

Wednesday
BBQ chicken in the crock pot
40 minutes buns
coleslaw
corn on the cob

Crock Pot BBQ Chicken my way
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
Pour about 1/2 c. BBQ sauce over it. You don’t need to measure. Just squirt some on. This helps give the chicken some BBQ flavor while it cooks.

Cook on high for three hours.

When the chicken can be shredded, drain off most of the liquid. Shred the chicken. Add enough BBQ sauce to coat the chicken well. Stir and cook on high for 30 minutes, with the lid off.

I save some of the drained liquid in case I want to add some back in to moisten the BBQ.

Thursday
spaghetti with meatballs
bread sticks
peas / corn
spinach salad

Easy Meatballs
1 pound leanest ground beef – I use 93% fat free ground round as that is what is available here.
1 box Stove Top Savory Herb stuffing dry mix
2 egg whites
1 cup beef broth
(If you like, you can add spices. Dried onion, garlic powder, basil, oregano, etc.)

Mix all ingredients together well. Shape into meatballs. Place on a cookie sheet lined with release foil or on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Bake in a 350*F oven for 20-25 minutes. Yummy. They are even better after they have simmered in spaghetti sauce for an hour or two. The meatballs can be made ahead of time, stored in the fridge and reheated when needed.

Friday
spicy shredded pork
Caesar salad
steamed snow peas
baked apples

I make “baked” apples in the microwave for a snack sometimes. To make them, slice and core a tart apple (doesn’t have to be peeled), place in a microwave safe bowl, sprinkle with a couple of teaspoons of brown sugar and some cinnamon. Freshly grated nutmeg would be delicious, and you may add a dollop of butter if you like, but it isn’t necessary. Microwave on high for one minute. For more than one serving, it may need to be microwaved for another minute or two.

Saturday
leftovers

Sunday
crockpot chicken
rice
steamed green beans
corn
green salad

There are a lot more ideas for your own menu on Laura’s I’m an Organizing Junkie site.

~~Rhonda

the girls are home :)

Our two older daughters are home for the weekend. A short visit, to be sure, but a good one.

the girls are home  :)

When DH made pancakes for breakfast, DD requested a butterfly. Not bad, hmm? 🙂

butterfly pancakes

The girls leave tomorrow morning for home. We’re glad to have a visit, even though it wasn’t long enough.

~~Rhonda

the garden in autumn

The air has taken on that “autumn feel.” Sort of golden, and a little dusty and sweet somehow. Lots of pretty things yet to see when we walk the yard. The hydrangeas were beautiful this year. Most are fading to a soft rosy pink and a pretty green color.

fading hydrangeas

I want to pick some for a winter bouquet and also need to get some for the Victorian Christmas tree. I might spritz them with a little white glitter spray for the tree. There is one fresh blossom. Seems a lot of the plants put out a few spring blossoms in the fall. Refreshing when everything else is fading.

hydrangea

The crabapple tree looked puny all summer. The leaves didn’t develop well. But it has put out a showing of fruit. Not as prolific as usual and maybe not as bright red as usual, but the birds will still enjoy the feast.

crabapples

crabapples

I think I showed you the asters before, but they are too pretty to ignore.

asters

Surprise! A mushroom village erupted in the front yard this week. I like them so much, I mowed around them. 🙂

mushroom village

The little iris ‘Baby Blessed’ is blooming. It’s a great rebloomer. About 12″ tall, it will bloom off and on all summer. This week, we have quite a few blossoms. A whiff of spring in the midst of autumn.

Iris 'Baby Blessed'

Butterflies number three and four were released Thursday. They didn’t wait around for a photo op, but flew off as soon as they were out of the container.

butterfly release

The fifth butterfly to emerge (yesterday) was our first male. The male Black Swallowtail has a lot less blue than the female. Not sure why some are content to sit for a long time and others can’t wait to leap into the sky.

Our first male butterfly

We still have twelve chrysalises and two caterpillars. The other day, DD watched one emerge, but I missed it. She pointed out another one and told me to watch it during the morning. She was sure it was ready to emerge. Well, sure enough…I walked into the kitchen about 10:00 a.m. and there it was, slowly waving its wings back and forth. Maybe I will be able to catch one of the remaining ones as the butterfly emerges. 🙂

~~Rhonda

apple cake

This morning I was perusing the internet and came across a recipe for apple bread on Kitchen Parade. I had the ingredients necessary so decided to try the recipe.

The recipe called for Granny Smith apples. I didn’t have those on hand, but did have Galas, so I used them instead.

Gala apples

I mixed the wet ingredients, the dry ingredients, and chopped the apples (left the peel on). The only change I made to the recipe, other than the type of apple (and leaving on the peel), was to add some freshly grated nutmeg with the cinnamon. Freshly grated is a whole ‘nother animal from ground nutmeg. Not the same at all. FYI, I also like to add freshly grated nutmeg to fresh peach pie…oh, yum!

ready to mix together

I mixed the dry into the wet, added the apples and stirred, and poured it into a pie plate sprayed with cooking spray. I would have used my dark red pie plate for this if anyone had been home to fetch it down for me. But this one was already on the counter and I don’t climb up to fetch pie plates (or anything else for that matter), so this one was elected by default.

apple cake batter

The topping was an easy mix with this favorite kitchen tool. The recipe called for mixing by hand, but I don’t like the feeling of buttery stuff under my fingernails. 😛

crumb topping

Ready for the oven.

cake topping

Smelled so good while baking! The recipe calls for 30 minutes at 400*. My oven runs a bit hot, and I should have taken it out at about 27 minutes for a lighter top, but it didn’t affect the flavor adversely.

apple cake

Had to taste test it, didn’t I??…

yummy apple cake

Delish! DD had a slice for an after school snack and pronounced it “very good!” 🙂

have your slice of cake and eat it, too

I think I will make it again and try a few other changes…I want to try a T. of veggie oil, and 3 T. of apple butter (or applesauce) instead of the 4 T. of butter in the batter. Maybe I’ll add a tablespoon of milled flax. And I think I’ll try it with 1/4 c. of brown sugar and 1/4 c. of honey instead of 1/2 c. of white sugar…the honey might add a nice flavor.

I’ll let you know… ~~Rhonda 🙂

bye bye, butterfly

The first butterfly emerged two days ago. Another one yesterday. And another one this morning!

We waited until DH came home after work to release the first one. He had to carefully take the screen off the top of the tank as two caterpillars have decided to attach to it to pupate. Silly bugs.

sept 2008 267

The butterfly is a female, which you can tell by the blue on her wings. She sat on DD’s finger for a long time. When we released the second butterfly yesterday, it didn’t wait for a photo op. It sprang into the air and took off for the top of the maple.

sept 2008 274

sept 2008 273

DD set the butterfly on a butterfly bush blossom and she seemed quite content to rest there.

sept 2008 295

DD was able to watch the third butterfly emerge this morning before I came downstairs. When I asked if she took pictures, she said, “No, I was too excited.” 🙂

~~Rhonda

autumn picture gallery

Cathy, this one’s for you. Savor autumn. ~~Rhonda 🙂

garlic chives

fall asters

an aster and its honeybee

bee fly

fall grasses

asters

sedum 'Autumn Joy'

A walk through the little woods behind our house…

sept 2008 242

Goldenrod.

goldenrod

Elderberry bush sans elderberries…isn’t the pinky red a beautiful color?

elderberry bush

barely hanging on

The sassafras are beautiful every year.

sassafras

sept 2008 246

I love to take pictures at the end of the day. The soft light is so pretty on everything. The trees are just beginning to show some real change. More pictures to come in the days ahead. ~~Rhonda 🙂