summer 2011

summer 2011

Paul and I, all 16 kids and Ashley, Benjamin's wife...Christmas 2012

Paul and I, all 16 kids and Ashley, Benjamin's wife...Christmas 2012
family

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

what in the world have i been doing?


Taking my morning walk - three days in a row! Yesterday's walk was cut short, as I was walking down the road admiring a black and white kitty, who was sauntering down the middle of the road...not a good idea. The propane man came barreling down the hill, I waved to him, then looked up the road to see where kitty was, and wah. He was down, and it was hopeless. I wanted to help him but it was too late, and I couldn't bring myself to drag him out of the road, because he was looking at me, but not breathing, and I sort of freaked. I love kitties, this one wasn't mine, but still. I turned around and went home. Walk over.

This fine morning, I ventured out again, and I did not look at that kitty.

On a better note, we are busy doing lots of projects. I need a good kick in the pants for not capturing the Before and After pics. We had these chairs from the thrift store...and later I'll post at least the after pics, but right now, I am sitting here having coffee after my walk, after feeding the kitties and taking care of the pups. Anyway. The three chairs were structurally sound (except for one which tilts at a weird angle, but it's still fine). They were straight out of the eighties, rose/mauve seats with cream painted metal bases and arms, swivel chairs on round bases. Anyway, I bought some iron gray metallic spray paint, and we sprayed those chairs, mesh seats and all. They look amazing. Five dollar chairs, and six dollar spray paint.

Then, there was sweeping off the deck, washing the deck window, wiping down the side of the house, washing all the deck chairs and table, painting the outside door...(our outside door had a rough winter...there was a piece of the vinyl torn off, then one day the dogs were out there with their "cousins" (Margaret and Adrian's dogs), and they got rambunctious. There was ripping of vinyl, the bottom panel of the screen door was just exposed wood, and it wasn't pretty. We do plan to get a new door, but it has to get in line. You know, the list of things the happy homeowners "need". In the mean time, I took a can of paint I had gotten marked down to five dollars at Walmart, and just painted the door, right over the exposed wood, right across the tear, and it looks...better.

Then...the kitchen cabinets...they are being painted, but not right this minute, because duh, I am taking a break and blogging!

Before we started painting...




(this is the view of the kitchen from my chair right now. utter chaos.)

We have run out of surface area to put cabinet doors. So far, the most difficult part has been the cleaning. It took sooooo long. With plastic sheeting spread on the deck, the girls sat out there scrubbing, blue gloves on, music playing, with iced tea and coffee. Not a fight to be heard. ha. We started bright and early with the drama, some of us don't know when to stop, myself including. I mean, all these girls! Kathryn, Evelyn, Suzanne, and Sonja, and ME, all trying to get along! A few of us know how to do things, and when to do things, and then there is Suze, hardest worker prize goes to her, but Ev is an excellent manager. We had a rough start, mostly kidding around and there's always one, and usually a different one each time just to make it fun, who gets offended, leaving the rest of us scratching our heads and wondering what we said. Then there are apologies, and we vow to be nicer, and encourage each other to forgive and forget, and then we have a glorious time together. Margaret arrived with baby Wulf, and needed some help with him, since she just had surgery the other day. Adrian was building us a front porch over the cement slab which was our "stoop" all these years, using mostly old deck lumber from the old deck. Charlotte Claire, Camille, and cousin Dani were playing in the creek with the dogs. Seriously? Getting all wet and muddy while we were doing all this work? Those dogs were going to need baths...

Then we all needed to stop working and go to a training class for working the concession stand at the amphitheater this summer. That was majorly a pain, I worked until the last second. Then we came home, did some more painting, then ahhh, the hot tub. That thing was worth it's weight in gold last night.

Anyway. The kitchen is a grand mess, and we still have to live here and eat, and I have to get it done because we are having three extra children here for the weekend, as their parents are going away. Then a birthday gathering for Jonathan on Saturday night, lots of boys here...so we have to get it put back together, and I hate rushing it. AND, all of my girls are going out to do a cleaning day at church...ouch. I don't like to tell them they can't go, because it's good for them to go, it's fun for them, it's nice for them to be with their friends, ect...but ouch. We are in the middle of a mess and they're leaving!

Paul has been exhausted since his return from India. He got home on Saturday, and his sleep schedule is all messed up. He gets up at three or four a.m., and is a zombie by evening.

And, I woke up this morning with a pounder of a headache. I decided not to be a martyr, and took a few ibuprofen. And I went on my walk. Now I am home, sitting here with my coffee as the girls get up and get ready for their day. The little girls and I are going to go pick out the cabinet paint. We have not yet decided: dark gray or white. Any votes? I am the absolute queen of indecision as it is, but this, this is just too hard to decide! I bought two paint samples yesterday morning, and I am so stupid sometimes. One sample was gray, the other...ha, white. I did not realize that we are priming the cabinets with white primer, so we get a pretty good idea how they would look white, without spending $3.49 on that tiny jar of paint. I don't like the gray we got, it is too blue-y, and I don't know...I am leaning towards white.

Lots of coats of primer still, and buying the paint, and it's gorgeous outside, I just want to lie in the sun...but painting awaits.

Stay tuned for progress pics, and yay...one of these days: after pics!!!!!!!

4 comments:

Michelle said...

You are a busy lady! Can't wait to see your after pics of the cabinets:) I'm sure they'll look great!

Kara said...

We spent a lot of last summer painting the interior of our house, and it was kind of a nightmare! But, I am very happy with how the final product came out. We did have some hits and misses picking out paint. We'd love color on the swatch, so we'd get a sample and put it on the wall. What looked good during the day, looked TERRIBLE at night, under the overhead lights. My advice- live with the samples for a day or two and look at them under all of the lights you have!

Joni said...

White gets my vote! We’ll paint our cabinets this summer - I hope! And my sister and hubby have both mentioned gray. But it’s too cold for me. I actually think I want an off-white. Let’s see.

Carol said...

Sounds like you are extremely busy, but I am sure you will get it done. I am sorry to hear about the kitten, but some times I find that animals are not the smartest.