High Class Living!

Hey, all!

Things are still busy and most days it feels like just one thing after another. But we are slowly progressing.

Since the last post - sorry it's been a while - we had to have the sprinkler system worked on. That was one of those "one thing leads to another" situations. Walt, the Spring Green guy wanted to come aerate and wanted Golfer to mark the sprinkler heads. So Golfer goes out to do that and the system needs repair. We wait a few days and the sprinkler man comes and installs a new part and then discovers a new leak elsewhere. So we wait another few days and finally yesterday he came with some special equipment and fixed that problem. Today after he mowed the grass, Golfer turned it on to mark the heads and discovered another leaking sprinkler head. So we made another call. Sigh.

Walt is coming to do his work tomorrow or the next day. He actually stopped by today to check on how things were going!

We also had Steve power wash our house, and the patio, porch, driveway, etc. Looks nice. We also hired two of his men to move our old bedroom furniture out to our garage. We were trying to sell it, but that didn't work out and we decided to donate it. Most places won't come into your home to pick things up. So for a couple days Duke, the Mustang, has sat outside and the garage has been full of furniture. Today someone from Refugee Services came and picked up the furniture. They were glad to have it and we'll claim it as a tax deduction.

Lynn, the decorator we've been working with, came one afternoon and helped us hang some of our things. And we looked through catalogs and picked out some new artwork to hang. It was amazing to watch her hang things. She didn't mark or measure, just "eyeballed" it and everything is hung perfectly!
It's hard to get a good photo angle but maybe you can tell how they are hung.










I've come to realize that all my life I've been hanging pictures too high!

So our old furniture is now on its way to new homes and we're waiting to hear on our new bedroom furniture. We expected it to be delivered around now. The living room furniture probably won't be here until June. and that brings us to a scene reminiscent of when Golfer and I were first married. Our furniture consisted of a bed and some lawn furniture! Here's our bedroom now; please note the stylish arrangement of Rubbermaid storage containers being used as night stands! Golfer thought of that! Those are our new lamps though! The box springs and mattress are sitting directly on the floor. That has caused much concern for the furry kids. No place to hide and nowhere to stash toys! Golfer and I were actually able to catch Cecil this afternoon and I clipped his nails and combed him. Of course, we did go around the bed a few times before we got him!

So that's how things are here. Stay safe!

Covered Windows!

Hey, all!

Been busy around here. We finally got some window treatments! (I am trying to train myself to not say "curtains") There were a few glitches in the process, but we really like what we have so far. Turned out that the finials for four of the rods were on back order and Lynn did not realize that until they started the installation, so some of the rods just have bare ends for now. And the rods for the sheer panels in the bedroom didn't show up at all. But we have come to understand and realize that this whole decorating project does not work in real life like it does on HGTV where at the beginning of the half hour show they show a mess and in thirty minutes they go "TA-DA!" and things are perfect.

Anyway, here are a few pictures. First is the bedroom. There will eventually be some sheer panels under these and finials on the ends of the rods.

These are the living room. (with finials!)

These are the office. They needed to be light blockers because in the afternoon the sun comes in and hits us right in the eyes when we sit at the computer. And we can't move the computer without a lot of re-wiring.

The last picture is of the library. These drapes proved difficult. The color and texture are perfect for the room. But the first set of panels we had were poorly made and did not hang well. Lynn and I discussed possible solutions and I decided I wasn't going to put that much work into them. We we took them down, took them back and got the last two panels available in the area and tried again. They are better. But I did take Lynn's suggestion and put little sinker weights in the hem corners and now they hang even straighter!

BTW - our furry kids are never happy having strange people in our house doing things and making noise, but they do seem happy now that they have discovered they can hide behind the longer length window treatments!

Stay safe!

ME, AGAIN!

Hey!

I just had to take a couple pictures to share. It is so lovely outside, even if there is a cool breeze.

The housework and odd jobs are done for today. After the mulch guys left, I went out to do a couple errands. Just had to go down Canon Boulevard to see the cherry trees in blossom again, so I took a picture. It's hard to find a place to stop to use the camera, but I got a good one!

And of course, I had to show the new garden flag, mulch and pansies!

Stay safe!

SPRING CLEANING

Hey, all!

I hope you're all well and happy! It's a gorgeous day here, although it's cool compared to yesterday's 80 degrees. But today is pretty, sunny, and pleasant.

Cinder is sitting carefully on one of the new windowsills. She's watching the two guys out in our yard moving mulch around and making it look prettier.

Golfer and his buddy, L, are playing in a golf tournament this weekend in Williamsburg.

I had an epiphany this morning about Spring cleaning. What with all the work, moving of things, and clean-up following the work here in our house lately, the Spring cleaning is pretty much done! So, hurray! Not that there isn't always something that needs to be done, but all the big stuff is finished.

We have a date of March 29th for the window treatment rod installer to come. And Lynn will come and help hang the new window treatments. (wasn't it easier when we called them curtains??) so my task before then is to press them all and have them ready!

Duke has a new radio and I can have tunes now and actually adjust the volume! This is important when driving a convertible, but really, I often just turn the radio off when driving with the top down and wind in my hair. Can't hear the music anyway!

Bikini tweeted about discovering some major gray hairs in a Morticia style on her head. I hope she's not stressed by that. I had gray hair starting early and since they were just a few, and the style at the time was highlighting, I went that route. Until that unfortunate treatment while we lived in Germany. The water did not mix well with the highlighting (which had been a little heavy in that instance) and I ended up with a green tone. And when Golfer went to Saudi Arabia for a year I really went gray and started dying it. Eventually I just grew it out and let it do its own thing. Nurse J went gray early also, but she makes no secret of it. We're all pretty much "what you see is what you get".

I'm not sure how I got on that story, but hey, that's the way it is. Golfer had his annual physical this week. All is well. He started working on painting the trim and doors. Jeff, who was here painting the living room, kitchen and hallway, painted all the trim in those areas. We are switching to a "white" white for woodwork and doors and the rest of the rooms need to be done. Golfer started in the library. Looks good, even if he did have a rough start when the caulk gun broke and gobbed caulk where it didn't belong.

Since I have needed to be here at home today, I've been doing laundry and other stuff around here. Maybe there will be errand running when the guys are done working in the yard. That's about it from here. Stay safe!

The Clean Smell of New Paint!

Hey, everyone!

I hope you're doing well and are having nice weather! It's in the mid-60's here and sunny today. The Bradford pear trees and pink bud trees are starting to bloom. There are pansies, crocus, daffodils and hyacinths coming up in flower beds. (we just have pansies here) One of these years I AM going to plants bulbs in the Fall.

Jeff finished up the painting in the kitchen, living room, hallway and all the trim work. It's lovely. Lynn, the decorator, came and made suggestions and I met with her Saturday morning to do some "shopping" to pick window treatments. Also picked out a new love seat and some side tables. She's going to be calling us in a day or two with information on the curtain rods and some other things. And probably next week the new window treatments will be hung. Golfer and I took down the last two old rods last evening and I just finished spackling the holes and doing touch-up painting. So all in all, things are moving right along.

I've been busy at work. This week is Rev. C's last week at the church. He's been on vacation for two weeks and I've been busier than usual in my office. Things are "in transition" at the church.

I also had my annual physical and mammogram. Had to have a couple extra blood tests and an ultrasound of my liver, but all is okay. My liver and kidney levels are monitored and checked a couple times a year because of the RA and medications. It was a stressful couple of days, but all is well.

We hired Critter Control to tackle the problem of moles tearing up the yard. Two were caught. Golfer was instructed how to use the traps he bought and so far, so good. We're on our own with that now.

Duke, the Mustang, will be going in for some work; hopefully this week. The radio needs to be replaced. And you can't do that just anywhere. Ford only uses their systems and you can't repair or replace with anything but the same things.

I didn't realize it had been two weeks since I last posted a message. As I've said - time flies! We've just been busy!

Stay safe!

Happy Birthday, Boxer!

We hope you have a great day! We love you!

Grama & Granpa xoxo

Crazy Weather!

Hey, all!

Dressing appropriately and making plans more than twenty-four hours ahead is challenging this time of year in Virginia. And the severe changes wreak havoc with headaches on some of us. Yesterday it warmed up but was extremely windy. Today is sunny, but only in the 40's although the wind has gone. And that's how it goes back and forth from day to day.

Jeff is here painting again today and things are progressing nicely. Golfer put the switch plate and outlet covers back on the walls in the hallway and living room last evening. Jeff started on the kitchen today. There was a lot of cutting in to do around all the new lights! He is currently working on the trim work in the living room. He thinks he will finish up on Monday. (not working tomorrow)

I spent a chunk of time upstairs today cleaning and putting things back together. I washed the new double windows up there inside and out. I love the new windows! Cleaning them was so much easier! I had had the drapes cleaned and I re-hung those and vacuumed and dusted real well. Later I tackled the office and cleaned the window and gave everything a good cleaning in here.

Golfer played golf today and is doing some errands right now. That's about it for plans for the day. I hope everyone is well and having a good weekend! Stay safe!

Here are pictures of our new front doors! I took two views trying to get the etching on the storm door to show up, but it's not real clear. You can get the idea though.