April 29, 2009 ~ In Summary ~ Before & After

  

BEFORE                                      AFTER

BEFORE                                       AFTER

BEFORE                                       AFTER

CLOSE UP OF KNOBS....there will be another update after I grout and stencil the row of 6" tiles. So stand by for more.........

April 24, 2009

I woke up at 6:30 and enjoyed coffee and breakfast. I watched several squirrels frolic in the back in the trees and on the deck. I tried to photograph them but they moved so quick...then one stopped and seemed to have posed. His coloring blends in with the trees, but if you enlarge the picture (by clicking on it) you can see him saying 'cheese'! 

    

Then, of course, it started to rain. The smell was amazing...so spring-like and fresh. Nothing beats the scent of rain filled morning air! I cleaned the cabin and shut it down. Time to get on the road ~ I have to work tonight. My peaceful get away is over for now. I am looking forward to getting back ASAP and moving on to the next step of my tiling project...grouting!

April 23, 2009

It's a beautiful, crisp, sunny morning. While looking out the patio doors, there were two deer in the back. They stayed for several minutes before they ran into the woods. I'm sure the little red squirrels or chipmunks scared them away. They are everywhere. All over the front - running from tree to tree and (IMO) they are nothing but a nuisance. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but after I got dressed, clouds covered the sunny day I was enjoying and then it started to rain! All within five minutes. I never should have left  the room!

The tiles still have some movement so the grouting will have to wait until my next visit. I guess that's why you need to wait 48 hours. Well then - I'm off to Walmart!

I found lots of stuff while shopping. Sometimes I feel that I am "over" stimulating the economy! I got everything on my list ~ plus ~ five tops. I always find the cutest things at Walmart! Still dealing with the rain, I got back to the cabin and hung a few things. I bought key hooks and cabinet hooks and even some flowers! Yep....foofy!

I had brunch and then loaded the car with cupcakes and a gift for Betty's birthday. I visited with her and Paul until about 1:30. By the time I left them, the sun was shining, the air was warm and it was almost as if the previous 4 1/2 hours of rain never happened...almost! After GH, I packed the car for the trip home tomorrow and marked the trees for the electric company. I chose a big orange dot instead of the universal X. 

I picked up a pork chop from the new meat market ~ slash ~ Mobil station. It used to be a BK, but it was already closed down in 2006. Just another night of R & R, a little TV and a good night of sleep. I could stay here forever!

April 22, 2009

After a great night of sleep, I got up around 6:00 and not too long after I was tiling! There were few cuts and even less wasted tiles. It went quick - it was as if I knew what I was doing! By 1:00 the tiling was done and the photos were snapped. What an incredible difference. I am glad I did the wall by the stove as well - now it's all tied together!

While the adhesive was setting up, it was time to organize cabinets and drawers. This is such a great chore when I'm alone or if it's raining. The closer things get to being completed at the cabin, the less junk we need inside. I was able to get rid of a tub of stuff and retire it to the shed! Maybe the shed isn't the best place to move it too, but the next time it gets moved it will be going home! Twenty drawers, seven cabinets and a break for lunch and General Hospital, everything was organized and put away and it was only 4:00.

I was very happy for a visitor! It was the ACE meter reader. I talked to him about taking down some trees that are compromising the electric lines and service to not only us, but other properties. He asked me to mark the trees and said they would be taken care of within a few weeks! This was a welcomed visit because now this is one less worry for Carlo. We will still have to cut it up for firewood, but at least he won't have to take it down.

Then I made a yummy dinner of BBQ Cornish Hen and potato. Did I mention yummy already!?

I spent the evening baking and decorating cupcakes for Betty . Considering I'm not much of a decorator, they turned out cute - even though the bottoms were burnt because the oven is really old and is over 100 degrees off!

R & R was the best way to spend the remainder of the evening and I looked forward to another good night of sleep. Tomorrow is the day for grouting and a visit to Betty - mid day - for her birthday.

April 21, 2009

Just 16 hours after getting home from the cabin, I was loading the car for my return trip. Carlo dropped off the tiles and I was on the road by 7:30. I had to stop at Home Depot for counter end cap kits. The ride went quick and it rained the entire way. I needed coffee an hour into the trip and stopped at the oasis for a Starbucks. I made it to Walmart about 11:00. I picked up a few groceries and after getting gas I got to the cabin around noon. Unloading the car and opening the cabin were first priorities and then it was lunch time. I grilled some sausage and garlic bread. While my food was cooking, our neighbor Tom stopped by to share his tales of woe.

The knobs I had ordered were waiting in the mailbox yesterday when I got home, so I attached them and rehung the doors. I like the muted colors and they look great against the dark counter, sink and faucet.

I got everything ready for the tile job which will be first thing in the morning to get started on!

Now it was time for the Arts & Crafts portion of the visit. I made a paper insert in the flower vase; since I broke the glass! and I painted the fluffy biscuit color over the winter designs that were on a basket that I am filling with pine cones!

The work I get done when I'm alone is very different from when Carlo is there. My visits are so much more - foofy!

That pretty much rounded out my day and now it's time for bed! Good night!

April 20, 2009

Trying to even out the meal tally...I was reminded that we work midnights...so we fired up the grill. We threw on potatoes and italian sausage and had an awesome brunch - even though it was barely 8:00 am! Total for the weekend...thumbs down = 4 and thumbs up = 3!

We left by 10:30 - later than usual; but traffic seemed better. We both had to work and were glad to be home by 2:00. I will be returning after work in the morning.

April 19, 2009

Pancakes and sausage started our day. Although we didn't make enough; tally up one in the thumbs up column!!!! Paul stopped by for coffee, so once again - off to a late start. 

Carlo situated the electric - which is always problematic but with his knowledge and (IMO) guts, he got it wired properly. 

While Carlo ran to the store, I cleaned up from breakfast, finished attaching the pine to the walls and put the dishes and such back into the cabinets that we rehung before he left. When he returned, he finished with the outlets and the switch. Even though there are always problems, he has - again - resolved them and continued on to do a great job.

We took out the old sink and counter top and replaced the flooring under the sink with a piece of masonite. But, as our luck would have it, while sliding the piece into place, the drain pipe broke. Luckily, it was a piece under the cabin that snapped apart and can easily be fixed - however - Carlo had to head back to the store again! We hate when these things happen, especially on a Sunday - it seems every place opens late and closes early. Good thing Carlo has a lot of patience. He reworked the plumbing and was able to re-use everything - making it fit along the way. He is just like McGuyver - very resourceful! He made it look easy but he wasn't happy with the amount of time it all took. The counters were a lot easier to cut than we anticipated and once we got going, things went surprisingly well! We cut the counter to fit the space then needed to cut the opening for the drop-in sink. 

We attached the faucets to the sink prior to putting the sink into the counter top. 

A little caulk to help hold everything in place!

Connecting the plumbing from below.

Amazing difference.

Let's see if this thing shoots water!

Ready for the new top.

Cutting the counter for the smaller cabinet.

And it's attached!

We gave the old counters to our neighbor Steve for his work shed. It seemed to take forever to clean up but once we got it done we enjoyed an O'Wich Skillet. Chalk up number two in the thumbs up column! It's four to two and crappy is still in the lead.

We got a few things ready for my return trip on Tuesday so I can start the next step of this project - tiling!

It was nice to stop moving after dinner was over and soon I was fast asleep on the recliner!

April 18, 2009

After a cereal breakfast, we drove into Lake Delton to go to Home Depot. We picked up the rest of what we needed to do the kitchen - a counter top, drains and many miscellaneous items. We purchased the sink and faucet from the Home Depot by home to be sure we could get what we wanted. We have since learned that most stores carry all the same items. Next time, we'll buy everything in Wisconsin. The sales tax is about 1/2 of what it is in Illinois.

There is always something armed with flags that we need to transport!

We decided to get a quick lunch so we could get to work right away when we got back. We went to Arby's - (Burger King had an ambulance in their lot) - and if you have your pencil and paper handy - mark it! Lunch sucked. Crappy meal number three!

When we got back we ran into some issues - of course! What would working on the cabin without issues be? The electrical needed to be moved. Since the cabin is made of logs, there is no space to run the wiring and it needs to be surface mounted. To not interfere with the layout of the tile, the tile design had to be adjusted. The electrical was moved a little easier and although redesigning did cause me to have a bit of an emotional moment - it was worth it and we saved a little money on using less tiles. Carlo studded out the window opening and covered it with plywood. It is almost ready to be covered with pine and a tiled backsplash!

The old stainless sink, green counters, hole in the wall from the previous window - covered with the cranberry blind - are soon to be gone - FOREVER! What's funny is that when we first bought the cabin, we liked the kitchen and then we ended up hating it!

Short of the long - after several interuptions; visits with our neighbors, three seperate visitors -the electrical and the installation of the pine tongue and groove boards was complete and we decided to call it quits until morning. Can't work on electric in the dark! We had snacks and left over Arby's - tally is up to four for the sucky food consumption. One can only hope tomorrow will go better!

April 17, 2009

This trip was like all the others....lots of stuff to bring! We stopped at the oasis for lunch - it sucked. I tried Panda Express and Carlo got his food from a greek vendor! He had a gyro. The best part of lunch were the cinnamon sugar pretzels with the messy sticky dipping sauce that we bought at the pretzel kiosk - but they made a huge mess and of course we decided to eat them while driving! 

Once we got to the cabin and got situated, we went down to the river for a walk and after that I needed a nap and slept a couple of hours before we went to dinner. We wanted the fish fry at a local family restaurant but after seeing the food on the buffet table, we opted to order off the menu. A reuben for Carlo and corned beef for me - it sucked! Crappy meal number two; if you're counting! We picked up our groceries after that and were looking forward to some home cooked food! When we got back we watched a little TV and while Carlo watched Rescue Me, I went to bed. I would've liked to have watched the show, but my eyelids were much more appealing!

April 8, 2009

We got up around 8:00. After cereal and fruit we got busy playing Monet ~ or was it Rembrandt?!

It took all day, but we got our painting on! Laurie was very generous in helping with this project. We had a lot of fun painting. The doors took five coats of Fluffy Biscuit semi-gloss and they look great! Our friend Wayne likes to call the color Soggy Biscuit! We needed to take several breaks while waiting for each of the coats of paint to dry. While painting, we were swatting at the wasps that took a liking to Laurie...too bad she left that special medicine at home. Thank goodness, we didn't need it! 

Here is a photo of the current kitchen, the finished doors and an idea of what the project "goal" is...we are getting a new counter, new sink, new faucet and I am tiling the backsplash. The rendering is pretty close to the vision. The cranberry color is gone and has been replaced with the lighter color. The backsplash will be 3 rows of 2" tiles along the top and bottom; separated by 6" tiles that will have designs of deers and tracks on them. I am getting a lot of help with this project. Big kudos to Carlo and Laurie. And of course Wayne for putting the designs into my hands for the deCOUpage process!!!

             

One our our breaks was coffee down by the river and we checked out additional damage to another tree thanks to the beavers.

 

We found a woodpecker condo along the easement and these birds were pretty angry that we were looking around. I teased Laurie about being part of the Audubon Society and much to my amazement...she is! She knew a lot about the birds and even what kind they were as they were making their presence known to us.

Another break was for another delicious meal. BBQ chicken breasts, garlic bread and salad. Yummy!

After the painting project was cleaned up, we played Scrabble and kicked back until it was time to cook dinner. On this menu: Steak, baked potatoes, garlic bread and simmered onions & mushrooms. We eat good here! 

Laurie bought new slippers while at Wal-Mart but there seemed to be a problem with them...oh, no, not with the slippers, silly me! Just a problem with knowing left from right...hum, problem walking? There's an arch in there for a reason. Hmmmm!

After another delicious meal, we attempted to play backgammon but couldn't recall the initial set-up so we played six rounds of Boggle! We had a great evening and called it an early night so we could hit the road early in the morning!

April 7, 2009

We both woke up around 7:00 am - the sun was coming up and we were happy to have gotten so much sleep. Nothing new for me though! I love to sleep. And O'Wich is a great place to catch up on your sleep.

We had pancakes, sausages & strawberries for breakfast and relaxed with some coffee before my painting chore began. 

Laurie enjoyed coffee and a book while I sanded the doors to dull the paint before I could paint them. I washed them down a couple of times and left them on the deck to dry. As we were preparing for lunch, I was unable to find the recipe for the amount of ingredients for the O'Wich Skillet...so I put in a call to Bobbie Flay (aka Tom) and once I had the list, we started to cook. As usual, it was delicious.

After lunch, Laurie caught up on some reading and I attempted to remove the haze from the tiles in the bathroom and unfortunately it didn't come out as well as expected. I'll have to try it again another time. 

We both got ready to go out and started at Fashion Bug - they had some cute things and good sales. Then it was time for dinner at Tamarack - they have fantastic burgers! After we ate it was off to WalMart to walk off the good meal!

We played Yahtzee and chatted after we got back until our eyes couldn't stay open!

April 6, 2009

My friend Laurie made the trip with me this visit. After getting the truck loaded, we were on our way by 8:00 am. We both worked the night before so the first stop was for coffee! Fifteen minutes into the trip our first stop was Dunkin Donuts which held us over until our second stop at the Belvidere Oasis! That stop held us over until the Way Side just before Portage! We arrived shortly after 11:00, unpacked, opened the house and then left for errands. We checked out the re-sale shops and I got a few deals at the first place. Then we went to LaTolteca for an early dinner and then to Pierce's for groceries.

We relaxed when we got back and by 8:00 pm we were both fast asleep - in the midst of conversation.