Retirement Chores

Ken has been getting a lot of chores done in the 2 weeks since he retired that he hadn't had time to get around to before.  He not only made pickles out of some of our cucumbers, but has also replaced all but one of the windows in our house that needed replacing and has washed all of the windows also!

Saturday Chores

 We have had several gorgeous days at the end of Mar. this year, but today was the first one that I had a chance to get outside and do some work in the yard.  The first thing I saw after I got outside, was my early rhododendron blooming.  There was only 1 flower blooming so far, but I was happy to see that the rest of it would be blooming soon.

 

 My first wheelbarrow full, was dead blooms from my hydrangea.

 My second wheelbarrow full was clippings from 2 of my ferns.  It was nice to get a couple of them done, now I just have 4 or 5 more to do!  Hopefully there'll be a few more nice days so I can get them done!

Preparing for Winter

 Saturday was a day to get some things done before winter gets here.  One of the things we did, was pull up the carrots we had grown, cut the tops off them, then put them on some newspaper.  These carrots were going to be re-buried.

 A few of the smaller carrots were brought into the house and put into the refrigerator for immediate use.

 The larger group of carrots, in the first picture, were not only laid on newspaper, but they were covered with another layer of paper.

 Then, they were covered with dirt.

Ken finished covering the carrots up, now when we need to get some carrots throughout the winter, we'll go uncover some and bring them in the house.  This was my Dad's method of preserving carrots through the winter and works very well!  The carrots, really stay nice this way!

Weekend of July 16-17

Before I forget what we did last weekend, I need to get it written down! We were supposed to go to Annika's birthday party on Saturday afternoon, but since the weather was going to be bad, Kari moved it to Monday (more on that in the next blog). It was rainy in the morning, so we started an indoor project. I read an article about arranging items on your book shelves to make it more attractive. All we've had on our book shelves has been books, imagine that, books on book shelves! Anyway, the article talked about adding some decorative items, and I got inspired! I got Ken to help me go through the books and we discarded some, moved some to another room and did some rearranging so that now I have some shelves waiting for some decorative items. I found a few things around the house, to use on the shelves that I wasn't using elsewhere, but now I have some empty spaces to fill. Good thing my birthday is coming soon!

Saturday afternoon, it cleared up some, so we went to a stone supply place to look at more samples before making a decision on what to use to make our new patio and walkway in the back yard. Then that evening we went to the Skagit Speedway to watch the races. There were supposed to be big rigs racing and we thought that sounded interesting. We got to the race track about an hour ahead of time and got to watch the practice heats. We discovered that in comparison to the little cars that go zooming around the race track, the big rigs are a lot slower and really not that exciting! About 25 minutes before the races were scheduled to start, we got something to eat and halfway through my hamburger, it started to rain. We grabbed our food and other things and headed to the concession area to get out of the rain. Luckily, it was a pretty big area and we were able to squeeze in! We finished our dinner there, as it continued to pour and soon there was thunder and lightening to go with the rain. After about 30 minutes of watching it rain, we decided to go on home. We figured that the seats would be so wet, we wouldn't want to sit on them and watch the races, if they ever did get going. Because we were rained out, we can go back sometime and watch some other races using our tickets from that night. We never did find out if they cancelled the races that night or just delayed them. It didn't take to long to drive out of the rain, a few miles south of the race track, it wasn't raining at all!

Sunday evening, we went to the 5th Ave. Theater in Seattle to see "Aladdin". It was a great show, with wonderful costumes, scenery, and songs. The genie was especially good, in our opinion, he stole the show, and he got the biggest cheers at the end of the show. Even though we really enjoyed the show, for some reason, I'm always surprised to find that the plays in Seattle, aren't that much better than the ones we see at the Village Theater in Everett. I have in my head that the plays in Seattle should be a higher caliber, but they really aren't, which says a lot for the shows in Everett. One of the actors in "Aladdin" has been in several plays with the Village Theater, so they must use a lot of the same actors, which I found to be interesting. Anyway, it was a very enjoyable weekend, even with the rain out of our plans on Saturday.

A Saturday in April

No rain on a Saturday in April means a list of chores to be done in the yard:

1. Mow the side yard - check
2. Prune some branches on the fruit trees - check
3. Order compost dirt and spread it in the garden boxes and in the flower beds - check, but more to do
4. Prune the old leaves off the ferns - One done, more to be done later
5. Work on weeding - continuous job, small part done today
6. Cut up branches that fell during the winter and haul them to the burn pile - check
7. Take some aspirin and rest our weary bodies - check

Bathroom Remodel Finished

Well, after several months, we have finally finished the bathroom, except for a few decorating things that still need to be done.
But all the big things are done...
and this is what it looks like.

Back to Work on the Bathroom

Today was get most of the bathroom painted day. We started out this morning, re-painting the ceiling with the same color it was. While we waited for it to dry, we took the baseboards out to the garage and sanded them. We also got some work done outside before lunch, then after lunch it was time to put the green on the walls. Ken, as always, does the cutting in...
...while I do the rolling. We got everything done except for the wall where the mirror and lights are. We are going to replace the mirror and light fixtures, but don't want to take them off until we have the new ones ready to go back up.

First Day of Spring

Yesterday's newspaper said that "the Puget Sound region's weather this winter, which ends today, not only has been mild, it's been the best in the nation when compared against 30 year averages." According to data compiled by the Weather Channel for the winter of 2009-10, the top weather cities are: 1. Seattle, 3. Portland, OR and 5. Spokane. 3 of the top 5 cities are in the Pacific NW, that's pretty amazing in my opinion! Even funnier is that the worst weather city this year is Miami, FL, with southern cities, Dallas, TX at #4 and Oklahoma City #5. How weird is that??

My question is, with a mild winter, does that mean the slugs and snails are going to be worse this year? They have been busy eating my trilliums already, as you can see in these 2 pictures.

One of the first outside chores that I do each year is to trim my ferns, like the one below, and I got started on doing that this afternoon. In addition to that chore, I put out some slug bait around my trilliums, so that the rest of them won't get eaten up.

Bathroom Remodel Continued

After several weeks of getting things ready for tile, choosing the tile, and doing some plumbing to accommodate our new fixtures, Ken started putting the new tile on the wall last night.

He took the day off work today and was able to get quite a bit done.

He got this much done plus the row of small glass tiles on the top and one more row of large tiles, before running out of the cement. I'm really excited about how good it's looking and can't wait for it to be done, so we can get the grouting done. We have a lot more to do and I don't know when we'll get to the painting part of the project, (we'll be painting it a green color) but I'm really anxious to see the tiles with the painting done. As in lots of remodeling projects, there's a lot to be done that doesn't show spectacular results like this, so it's nice to be working on something that shows some progress being made!

Bathroom Remodel Started

We have been planning to redo our main upstairs bathroom for several years, but it has kept getting put off. This winter we decided to start figuring out what we wanted to do to change it and last Saturday, Ken started work on it, so now we are committed to working on it. This is what the bathtub and shower area looked like before we started work.
Because it was a big one piece shower stall, he had to get his saw out and cut it up into small pieces. Dust was flying as he cut it and that's why the picture looks dusty.

Prying it off the wall.

The tub and shower is out!

Painting Again

Our house painters are back. They didn't get the job completely done before winter last year, so they are back to finish things up. They just have to put a second coat on some areas and do the deck railings. All winter we had tan and blue on the deck, which didn't really look very good with the gold and white. Now instead of trying to get done before the cold weather and rain sets in, they are working hard in the morning, because the areas that still need to be done get a lot of afternoon sun, and they can't paint when the sun is to hot on the area. They should be done in a couple more days, then we'll have a gorgeous newly painted house to go with our backyard remodel.

First Day of Spring

In my opinion, today was the real first day of spring. It was a gorgeous sunny day, that was on the cool side in the morning, but warmed up enough that I was able to open some of the windows in the house. There were some robins in the yard, some daffodils blooming, people riding motorcycles, and a group of bike riders on Hwy 9. A perfect first day of spring, unlike March 21st when it rained most of the day.

We were going to work in the yard, but when it was still on the cold side in the morning, we started cleaning up the garage and it ended up taking the whole day. It's very nice to have a clean garage even though we didn't get any yard work done.

Rainy Day Activities

We finally got around to painting the upstairs guest room last Saturday. This is our winter project for this year. I had finally chosen a new comforter for the room after a lot of looking and purchased it a few weeks before Christmas. We had been waiting for a rainy weekend to work on the painting, and wouldn't you know it, several weekends in a row were actually sunny and warm enough to work outside, so it kept getting put off. Then we were gone for 2 weekends, and now spring is nipping at the door. I just knew there would be a rainy weekend coming along sometime, and sure enough last Saturday was it. Now, I need to look for decorative items to go with the new comforter and paint job. A woman's work is never done!

Then Sunday morning, Kari called and asked if we wanted to take the kids to the children's museum, so they could do some shopping. Another fun way to spend a rainy day! As always we had a great time watching Saben and Annika play at the museum.

A Simple Chore??

Why is it that when I start out to do a simple chore, it ends up to be a lot more difficult than anticipated? I had some dings in my windshield that I had been putting off getting taken care of for quite awhile, so when I saw a guy fixing windshields today, I stopped to have it done. I thought all I had to do was show him my insurance card and it would get done. Little did I know, that they would want to know when it happened, which I had no idea of, probably each one happened on a different day. The guy said if I didn't know when they happened, to make up a date, which I really didn't like doing, but figured I'd go ahead and do it since they needed to have a date. Then, after I finished the paperwork, the next thing I knew, he told me I needed to talk to an insurance guy on his cell phone. He basically asked me the same questions I had already answered on the insurance form. Then after lying and telling him my made up date about when it happened, the insurance guy says that they will only pay for 3 dings. He told me that usually when there are 4 dings, they recommend that the windshield be replaced. I had 4 dings, but they were all in the process of being fixed, so it was to late to do anything about it. I had no idea what an extra ding would cost me, but figured I would just have to pay for the extra one to be fixed. After I turned the phone back over though, I heard him tell the insurance guy that he would repair all 4 dings for the same price as 3, so that was a relief. When he finally finished getting all the dings fixed and I was ready to head home, I couldn't get my car to start. For some reason the battery decided to die while I was there. I had been all over Arlington and Marysville, had made 6 other stops already, and it had started fine each time, until then. I do NOT understand what causes a battery to work all those times, then not work the next time. Luckily, the guy had a battery charger in his truck that he hooked up to my battery and it started right up. No wonder I'd been putting off getting those dings fixed!

Painting Project

The house is slowly, but surely on its way to the new color. The front and north side of the house have 2 coats of the gold paint.

I think the trim that is done has only one coat of paint. Most of the front of the house doesn't have the trim started yet, and the back and south side of the house aren't really started at all yet. When I talked to the painter this week, he said that it should take another 4 or 5 days to finish the whole thing if both him and his son are painting. (They are usually both here, but that day his son wasn't here.) They are doing the whole thing by hand and are doing a good job, but the weather is just not cooperating. If it rains, they can't paint and have to wait at least a day for things to dry before they can paint again, so they get to paint a day, then it will rain again. It's really frustrating.

Meanwhile, whenever Ken has time, he is working on replacing the siding of the shed, which of course needed to be painted also. Hopefully everything will get done soon!

Painting Has Begun!!!

After many delays due to the weather, the painters finally got started today. I am so excited!

I was gone until 4:30, so it was fun to drive up, see these views of the house and know that they were here and had been able to get started. They are still here at 5:30, trying to make up for lost time, I guess, or maybe that's how long painters always work. Unfortunately, the weather report is for rain again tomorrow, but it is supposed to be nice again over the weekend, so hopefully they'll be able to get a lot done then. At least, they've gotten started.

House Color

Amy asked if we had chosen a color for the house. This is the final choice, which was #4 in the previous set of pictures. The pictures didn't really show the colors that well and #4 is more of the gold color I wanted. Now we just have to wait for the weather to get better. The guy who is going to paint our house said that he is way behind on his jobs because of the bad weather. He had originally thought he would be working on our house this week, so now we have no idea when he will get to us. Hopefully the weather will get better again soon, so he can get to us before the weather gets bad again.

What a Great Papa!

Since Saben and Annika will be spending close to a week with us, we decided it would be good to have something extra for them to play with. I had bought some sand toys already to take with us to the beach so making a sandbox seemed like a logical thing to do.

When Ken went to get the lumber and some bags of sand, he found out that the sand was going to be pretty expensive. Luckily, a guy at the hardware store told him about a place that was nearby where he could get sand for free. It always amazes us when people who work in a store that sells what you are looking for, volunteers information that is going to cost them a sale. We have had this happen to us several times since we moved to Arlington. I don't know if it's just small towns where they do things like that or not, but it sure is appreciated, whenever it happens. We are looking forward to playing with the kids in the sandbox in just a couple more days.

A Week in the Life of....

This has been a pretty typical week, nothing special going on, other than getting ready to have my mother-in-law and 2 grandkids come and stay for a week. The getting ready part (which means getting the house cleaned up) is what I have difficulty with because I don't have much at home time to spend cleaning. (This is on purpose, as I enjoy doing all the other activities much more than cleaning house.) Just for the record, I'm going to put down my weekly schedule, so that some day I can look back and say, Wow! I can't believe I used to do all that. The rest of you don't have to read any further, unless you are interested in my weekly schedule. Mondays - spend the day in Bellingham playing with Saben and Annika plus get some laundry done. Tuesdays - Most of the year, I go to MOPS in the morning as a mentor Mom, grab some lunch after MOPS, then go back to church to work in the library. Wednesdays - get groceries and whatever other errands need to be done. After dinner we go to church to teach 3rd-5th graders in a Bible class. Thursdays - Work at the Arlington Food Bank stocking shelves in the morning and do some housework in the afternoon. Fridays - work at the food bank in the afternoon, handing out food to the clients and do other chores around the house. Saturdays - we either work around the house or do something fun. Sundays - work in the library before the second service, attend second service, then go get some lunch. Sunday afternoons are usually a time to relax, my favorite thing to do is sit outside on my swing by the waterfall that goes into the pond and read a book. During most of the year we go to our life group from church for a Bible study and prayer time in the evening. So, that's what my weeks look like, and why I have trouble finding time to clean. (There's always the computer to pull me away from cleaning also, but sometimes I just have to grit my teeth and do some cleaning. Especially when I'm having people come over.) Guess I'd better get back to it, since I've had a nice break now.

Defrosting Day

Today was the day to defrost the freezer in the garage. I don't know how others defrost freezers, but I do it the same way my Mom did, with pans of hot water to melt the ice. I do have one extra, handy-dandy gadget that belonged to my Grandma, which is what is in the picture. I don't know how old it is, but I have never seen anything like it. It plugs in and gets red hot, but even though it is quite hot, I didn't think it did as good of a job as the pans of hot water, but I liked using it just because I have it, and I need to justify the space it takes up in my cupboards. Apparently with these little gadgets it's OK to have water around a plugged in appliance, since the water was dripping on it as the ice melted. When the drops hit it, they just seemed to sizzle and disappear. Does anyone have another way to defrost a freezer? I'd love to hear some different ways of doing it.