Still Here

I am still around. Just have been busy with the end of the school year stuff and my daughter's upcomming graduation. My last child is graduating high school. Yippeeeee!!! The kitchen is done and I will post pics of that soon. And an exciting vacation is in the works.





This is what I found on the back deck the other day. This swing was on the front deck last fall when a bad storm came through and several huge limbs blew off the tree in front and landed on the deck, taking out most of the rails and breaking the frame to this swing. Finally, my hubby fixed it and gave the frame a fresh coat of paint. The front deck still isn't fixed so the swing was placed on the back deck in the meantime. A few days later, after a day of strong winds, I found this in my back yard. I am not sure it is meant for me to have a porch swing. Luckily it was not damaged this time. But it was not easy to get it out of it's predicament.

Yes, Deer

These deer were in my back yard yesterday. We we came here the first time to look at this house 2 1/2 years ago we saw a deer across the road. I am pretty sure that is one of the things that sold my hubby on this property. We still occasionally see deer in the field across the road and sometimes way in the back of our property. But usually not this close to the house. Hubby saw them and I ran for the camera. I had to really zoom and take the pics through the bedroom window so i wouldn't scare them off. Sorry the photo quality is so bad.

Here is a pic of them after I scared them and they started to run.





Here they are jumping the fence to the neighbors's yard. I hope they keep comming back. We love to watch the wildlife.

More kitchen updates and book reviews comming soon.

Best Shot Monday

I love this shot of my hubby playing around when he took the curtains down to paint. The ceiling light behind him gives him a kind of glow.

What we have...

We have cabinets picked out. We have flooring. We have countertops ordered. We have begun the demolition. We have one section of cabinets installed. We have ugly brown floor tiles that were under a layer of parquet flooring and a layer of 3/4 inch plywood and 7,000,000 staples and 3,500,000 nails.

And.... we have.... Rain!!!!

We can't go to the store for the next set of cabinets in the rain. We can't lay flooring in the rain. We can't haul old flooring out to the dumpter in the rain (well, we probably could but we won't). We can't paint in the rain.

So, we are on hold for a couple of days. Taking a break to maybe get a couple of books read and watch American Idol and The Biggest Loser.

More Later....

Kitchen Update

We found that Lowes has the same cabinets we bought before so we can finish out the kitchen with those. We also found a counter top that goes good with the cabinets. So those decisions are pretty much made.


We thought we had a floor. Hubby found new in box flooring on Craig's List for a good price. We made an appointment to purchase it but the person sold it before we got there. She was nice enough to call us before we left to let us know but it was a huge disappointment. Today I have a day off so we are off to shop for floors. Hopefully I'll have something good to report in the next post.

Kitchen Remodel

Ever since we moved into this house I have wanted new counter tops. The ones we have are older and were not installed correctly. They have an ugly seam right by the sink that doesn't match up and I just want new ones. I would also like to go with something more neutral so I have options to decorate.

So way back when, (2 years ago) we started shopping for new ones. We have a galley style kitchen and the one counter has to be 12 feet long. Which means special ordering it because home improvement stores only sell 10 feet lengths. That is probably why the current counters have that seam in them. We just never did get around to ordering anything so now I am on the kick again. But wait, it gets worse. I have suddenly developed a desire for new cabinets too. The cabinets in here were installed stupidly. One side is fine but the side with the stove did not have the right number of top cabinets and they were shoved all the way to the ceiling. So, when we moved in we bought a couple of the pieces that were missing and rearranged them. But the new ones do not match the old ones. You can see in the picture that the first three are the new ones and the last cabinet is the style that the rest of the kitchen has. So, I'm thinking that there is no use in doing counter tops now, if there is a chance that we will do new cabinets eventually.

And while we are at it, might as well change the floor that we have hated since we have been here too. It makes more sense to do it all at once, right? The floor is parquet tiles that don't match up and have gaps between them. They are all through the kitchen, dining area and hallway.

So, last night we went off to Home Depot to see what is available and get some cost ideas. I wanted to make a couple "easy" changes to the layout. I want to add a pantry cabinet and I wanted to move the refrigerator a little bit so it isn't shoved against a wall. We have a side by side so the door hits the wall every time you open it.

After much drawing and figuring I think I finally have it figured out. The cabinet with the drawers doesn't come in the same size I have now, so I had to do some rearranging there. It will be hard to get used to the new configuration. I am a creature of habit. I found a counter top that I think I like. But the floor, that is a big problem. I can't decide what kind of floor I want. My husband is not much help. "Whatever makes you happy" is his favorite phrase. I really appreciate that he wants me to have what I like, but I need some help narrowing down the choices. We still have a couple more places to go to get some ideas, so I'll post again when I make some decisions.

Book Review

I read the book Savannah Blues by Mary Kay Andrews. It is a very good book.

From the back cover:

Landing a catch like Talmadge Evans III got Eloise "Weezie" Foley a jewel of a town house in Savannah's historic district. Divorcing Tal got her exiled to the backyard carriage house, where she has launched a spite-fest with Tal's new Fiancee, the elegant Caroline DeSantos.

An antiques picker, Weezie combs Savannah's steamy back alleys and garage sales for treasures when she's not dealing with her loopy realatives or her hunky ex-boyfriend. But and unauthorized sneak preview at a sale lands Weezie smack in the middle of magnolia-scented murder, mayhem...and more. Dirty deals simmer all around her - just as her relationship with the hottest chef in town heats up and she finds out how delicious love can be the second time around.

I had trouble putting this book down. I will definatly be looking for more books by this author.

First Sample post

Hi, I am Tina. This is my first blog. I always thought I would never have a blog but I have become addicted to reading blogs and have decided to give it a try.