August 30
Several weeks ago it occurred to me that we were working on our house, and taking care of our family, and after the regular household chores of cooking and eating, cleaning up the house and doing the laundry (to name a few), we were watching tv....often in different rooms...and falling into bed.
I, being a very social person, was feeling deprived. So I decided to get the ball rolling and at least one time a week plan something with another couple. For three Saturdays in a row we invited a different couple to meet us for dinner. Most often this included spending time together visiting at our home or theirs afterward. For the 4th weekend, I asked Ron who he would like to call and he suggested that we go to visit his aunt on his mother's side. Out of 11 children, Midge is the only one left and is only a few years older than Ron. They live outside of Tallulah, LA, which is across the Mississippi River from Vicksburg, Mississippi (which many of you are probably more familiar with.) We drove up on a Friday morning, stopping in Ron's hometown of Newellton, LA, and driving through his old neighborhood passing his childhood home. We visited the graves of his parents and then continued on to Midge and Sheldon's home.
We had a wonderful visit with them and Sheldon fixed a great fried fish dinner for us. On Saturday after breakfast we drove over to Vicksburg and walked along the riverfront. The city of Vicksburg has had large murals painted on a floodwall along the river. There are over 32 large panels and walking along the sidewalk from left to right will take the viewer through the history of the city. I share here one of my favorites which depicted sunset over the Mississippi River Bridge.
We really enjoyed our visit with them and plan to do it again soon.
We returned home on Saturday evening and after church on Sunday our week began again. I did go over to the "big" girls' school and copy some papers for Ashlyn's teacher. I will be setting up a regular day per week to copy papers for both of their teachers in the near future. At the end of the week, friends we had invited out a few weeks back called US....and we enjoyed dinner at a local restaurant and came back to our house for some Mississippi Mud. Yum.
We continue our kitchen work. I have spent a lot of time painting....beginning with the trim over our newly bricked window.
Not bad for amateurs!
The electricians took parts of 2-3 days to complete their work and finally we have lights in the kitchen!
As you can see, I have painted and we have put up the TOP cabinet doors (or most of them.)
I also can finally use a dishwasher again. Here is my first item in my new dishwasher!
This week I will be painting all of the lower cabinet doors. Ron has been working on the baseboards and together we have been cutting and attaching the crown molding to the 3 "extensions" or "caps" that we will place on the top cabinets. We have one for the cabinet over the microwave, and one over each of the corner cabinets. When those are finished, we will attach crown molding to the cabinet tops without extensions above them after which my painting for the TOP cabinets should be complete.
The ceiling work is on hold while I try to finish painting the bottom cabinet doors and drawer fronts and also the island
You can see in this picture of the island with the OLD tile counter just resting on the top of it, that the new island will be larger than the old one was. The granite will extend 1 1/2 inch on the right and left ends (as you are looking at it now) and will extend 4 inches beyond the 4 corvels you see, making the overhang 12 inches over the 3 barstools. Plenty of room for knees! The granite for the island is coming 9/9.
A couple of years ago my sister, Joanne, and I went on a home and garden tour out in Lake Leelanau. There was a home in Omena that really has been the inspiration for many of the things I am doing in my kitchen. On her dining room window (overlooking the bay) she had a scalloped valance with another shorter valance over the top of it. I liked the look and am taking a stab at it on my little kitchen window. I don't have a pretty view of anything, but that's no reason not to have a pretty window! This is the scalloped portion:
It is just pinned in place at the moment while I work on adjusting the length. The "overskirt" part of this valance will be made from the same fabric I have put on my barstools:
Hmmmm....I am realizing that you can't see the colors very well, but the vine running through the flowers is the same color as the scalloped valance. This brownish color (as well as the black and the gold) are good matches for my granite and the blue and red flowers will allow me to use some of my red accents!
PS....no fair noticing the dust on the barstools. Remember that I am sanding EVERY DAY in my kitchen/dining room!
We will work hard at it the first couple weeks of September, but we are longing for fall colors so are planning a trip with our camper to Michigan's Upper Peninsula for the last part of September and the first half of October.
I plan to post an update BEFORE we leave!
I, being a very social person, was feeling deprived. So I decided to get the ball rolling and at least one time a week plan something with another couple. For three Saturdays in a row we invited a different couple to meet us for dinner. Most often this included spending time together visiting at our home or theirs afterward. For the 4th weekend, I asked Ron who he would like to call and he suggested that we go to visit his aunt on his mother's side. Out of 11 children, Midge is the only one left and is only a few years older than Ron. They live outside of Tallulah, LA, which is across the Mississippi River from Vicksburg, Mississippi (which many of you are probably more familiar with.) We drove up on a Friday morning, stopping in Ron's hometown of Newellton, LA, and driving through his old neighborhood passing his childhood home. We visited the graves of his parents and then continued on to Midge and Sheldon's home.
We had a wonderful visit with them and Sheldon fixed a great fried fish dinner for us. On Saturday after breakfast we drove over to Vicksburg and walked along the riverfront. The city of Vicksburg has had large murals painted on a floodwall along the river. There are over 32 large panels and walking along the sidewalk from left to right will take the viewer through the history of the city. I share here one of my favorites which depicted sunset over the Mississippi River Bridge.
We really enjoyed our visit with them and plan to do it again soon.
We returned home on Saturday evening and after church on Sunday our week began again. I did go over to the "big" girls' school and copy some papers for Ashlyn's teacher. I will be setting up a regular day per week to copy papers for both of their teachers in the near future. At the end of the week, friends we had invited out a few weeks back called US....and we enjoyed dinner at a local restaurant and came back to our house for some Mississippi Mud. Yum.
We continue our kitchen work. I have spent a lot of time painting....beginning with the trim over our newly bricked window.
Not bad for amateurs!
The electricians took parts of 2-3 days to complete their work and finally we have lights in the kitchen!
As you can see, I have painted and we have put up the TOP cabinet doors (or most of them.)
I also can finally use a dishwasher again. Here is my first item in my new dishwasher!
This week I will be painting all of the lower cabinet doors. Ron has been working on the baseboards and together we have been cutting and attaching the crown molding to the 3 "extensions" or "caps" that we will place on the top cabinets. We have one for the cabinet over the microwave, and one over each of the corner cabinets. When those are finished, we will attach crown molding to the cabinet tops without extensions above them after which my painting for the TOP cabinets should be complete.
The ceiling work is on hold while I try to finish painting the bottom cabinet doors and drawer fronts and also the island
You can see in this picture of the island with the OLD tile counter just resting on the top of it, that the new island will be larger than the old one was. The granite will extend 1 1/2 inch on the right and left ends (as you are looking at it now) and will extend 4 inches beyond the 4 corvels you see, making the overhang 12 inches over the 3 barstools. Plenty of room for knees! The granite for the island is coming 9/9.
A couple of years ago my sister, Joanne, and I went on a home and garden tour out in Lake Leelanau. There was a home in Omena that really has been the inspiration for many of the things I am doing in my kitchen. On her dining room window (overlooking the bay) she had a scalloped valance with another shorter valance over the top of it. I liked the look and am taking a stab at it on my little kitchen window. I don't have a pretty view of anything, but that's no reason not to have a pretty window! This is the scalloped portion:
It is just pinned in place at the moment while I work on adjusting the length. The "overskirt" part of this valance will be made from the same fabric I have put on my barstools:
Hmmmm....I am realizing that you can't see the colors very well, but the vine running through the flowers is the same color as the scalloped valance. This brownish color (as well as the black and the gold) are good matches for my granite and the blue and red flowers will allow me to use some of my red accents!
PS....no fair noticing the dust on the barstools. Remember that I am sanding EVERY DAY in my kitchen/dining room!
We will work hard at it the first couple weeks of September, but we are longing for fall colors so are planning a trip with our camper to Michigan's Upper Peninsula for the last part of September and the first half of October.
I plan to post an update BEFORE we leave!
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