Feb 18-24

This was a slow week, comparatively.  

Work on the kitchen proceeded on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Repair work on the drywall on Monday:

Along with the build of the pony wall for the breakfast bar:

Tuesday was the remainder of the taping and bedding process:

Tuesday was also the day that Mr. R spent at the vet's to have his teeth cleaned...when he came home late in the afternoon, he was exhausted...

Wednesday was all about sanding, sanding, sanding...

and then texturing:

Mr. R really didn't like the noises from downstairs...it's safer laying next to Dave...

Hopefully they will begin painting on Monday.

The entire week was rainy - especially on Wednesday and Thursday.

Raider kept a lookout for those people...they might come back and make more noise!

By Friday and Saturday, although still raining off and on, it would clear up enough to see the Robins,

and the squirrels.

And we thought the trees were full of Robins again, but it turned out to be hundreds of waxwings!  Couldn't get really good shots because of the weather, but I got at least 8 in this frame -

It's kind of cool to be in so many migratory patterns!

Feb 11-17

The weekend saw hundreds (yes, hundreds) of robins in the trees...

...not sure where they were going, but it was nice that they stopped by!

Winter also made a brief visit on Sunday - just a dusting of sleet...

And the rest of the week was about the kitchen...

Tuesday was Electricians Day -
Paul, assisted by Darrell, rerouted all of the wiring and brought it to code...

Darrell removing those nasty fluorescent fixtures

Paul checking the switch wires

Wednesday saw Darrell back to rough in the wiring for the ceiling can lights and pendants...

had to cut a lot of holes in the ceiling to move the wiring...

Thursday was supposed to be Cement-Guy, but he was delayed due to a scheduling conflict.  Dave took the opportunity to clear out the iris bed in the back yard...

Hopefully they will bloom better this Spring, now that they aren't being choked out by weeds and grass.  Mr. R, of course, stood guard...

Dave also removed all of the wooden paneling from the library wall, but I'll take a photo of that when it's finished.

Cement-Guy came on Friday...

A leveling layer will be added in the future...

Saturday, Paul came out and repaired the wiring to the thermostat  - 

and the painters showed up to discuss what was needed...

and to remove the popcorn ceiling...

Hooray! Progress!

Next week is Painter-Guy week, starting with sheet rock repair...fun, fun, fun.

Feb 04-10

Monday started with AT&T working in the neighborhood (and our backyard) stringing new line, which drove all the neighborhood dogs and Mr. R absolutely bonkers.

Tuesday was the beginning of Demo Week!

Tuesday morning, our plumber (Caleb with Benjamin Franklin Plumbing and Norm's son) came and took out the sink, dishwasher, wall oven, stovetop, and unhooked the water line to the refrigerator.

he's been our plumber for over 18 years

Then the remodel team showed up and demolished the kitchen.
At 8 a.m. the kitchen looked like this:

BY 10:30 a.m., it looked like this:

And by 11:30, it looked like this:

It went so quickly, that Wednesday was an off-day while the company reset the work calendar!  Which was a good thing...Mr. R needed a break. He was very clingy Tuesday night and Wednesday: there had been strangers in his house making too much noise and one of them stole the kitchen, plus walking on concrete to the back door is weird, and where the kitchen used to be smells wrong!

Thursday, things got back on track with trench-work for the plumber and electrician.  I dropped Mr. R at the doggy daycare and headed to an estate sale!  That's right.  I did NOT stay for the jackhammering!  Scored at the estate sale:

Opinion: children who sell off ($25)
their mother's handmade (by her, because
her name is stitched on it)
quilt should be beaten with a rattan rug beater...

Afterwards, I took myself to breakfast:

and to coffee:

and then picked up my friend Darlene at her workplace and we went to lunch.  Afterwards, I picked up Mr. R and headed home.  

Dave took pictures of the process we missed:

I did get home in time to meet Paul, the electrician, who had to come out because the jackhammer had hit the wiring and blown the feed to the heater.

On Friday, Caleb came back out and first thing he said when looking in the trench was, "What the hell is that??"

But he figured it out! They had to open the trench a little more and dig it out but got all the new "works" in the way they were supposed to be.

He also had to move the water line into the ceiling,

remove one gas line, and move the remaining one up next to the water line:

Bless their hearts, it took them ALL day!

So we've had a very nice, quiet (cold and rainy) weekend and are now gearing ourselves up for the week ahead.

I did finish that afghan, by the way...

Jan 28-Feb 3

Started the week off at Jules' house - she's getting her products ready for her booth at the Quilt Show in March (check out the Guild site:  Show Page).  Lu and I helped her with some of her hand-dyed fabric (ironing: Lu; cutting: me; and measuring: Jules) - it was so luscious!

Jules is so sweet, and so talented...(and yes, she did dye the shirt she's wearing...)

It was great to spend the day with her and Lu! 

Why yes, yes I did buy some of her fabric! Did you even have to ask???

You can, too - check out her shop: Jules' Etsy Shop

Lu gave me a present and it's already getting a lot of use:

It's a weighted pincushion with a bag - as you can see, it's already holding my needlework piece.  I love it!

On Tuesday, Pete installed our new storm door -

It's so nice to be able to see out again AND to have a storm door that latches and locks!

And Mr. R likes it as well!

Wait! Are you out there WITHOUT me???

The moon on the early morning of the 31st was the blue blood moon...of course, I wasn't getting up at 0-dark thirty just to see it - it's not like I would get a good picture - here's what I see on a normal full moon (shots taken around 9pm on the 30th):

Just for grins I zoomed all the way in on the moon and set the camera on "night" - and I got this:

Kind of cool with the shadows of all the trees - I think you need a special lens for taking decent lunar shots...

On Thursday I went to the Quilt Guild meeting - not too exciting, but interesting.  Bought a raffle ticket for the Qult Guild of Arlington's raffle quilt:

"Web of Colors"
designed by Annis Clapp
created by the Sew N'Sew Stitch Group
quilted by Vernica Mowery

We heard a presentation by Suzi Parron who explained Barn Quilts and how they got started and how the phenomenon spread across the country.  You can find more info at the website on Barn Quilts.

Dave painted in the living room where he had removed an old fire alarm

and he finished emptying and de-shelving the pantry in the kitchen.  BUT - as we have said, "You never know what you will find when you open a wall..." -

I guess we'll find out more when the plumber comes to do his part!

Mr. R, of course, is still taking everything in stride...as it were...