Christmastime

 

Making the yearly sugar cookies.

 

Never get tired of this tradition.

 

Sandy made the prettiest cookie, ever.

 

Presents are wrapped and ready...

 

This is my "estate sale" tree.

 

Everything came from various estate sales...

the little tree, and lights, and birds,

 and even the green bucket it sits in.

 

I love it, all for a few bucks.

 

Makin' fudge.

 

Terry has taken over work on the boat model.

 

Slow and tedious.

 

He also built himself a new workbench,

in the basement.

Nice.

 

 

Always Something Going On...

 

Terry tried to fix the twenty-five year old dryer one last time.

 

I said "enough!"

 

Three fixes ago, I said, "next time, I'm buying a new washer and dryer".

 

And here they are;

new Whirlpool washer and dryer.

 

The gas line is not long enough,

so we have to address that...

 

We need room to get at the weirdly placed washtub.

 

We are going to fix that too... eventually....

 

My brother has been crying about wanting a tall ship

 for over his fireplace for a long time now.

 

Well, I found a 40 year old model kit at an estate sale last weekend.

 

It was $65 and I bartered the lady down to Twenty bucks.

 

Now I have to build it.

 

I have sincere doubts about this adventure...

 

Terry has been working on more important endeavors.

 

Installing the new furnace humidifier has him pulling his hair out.

 

He'll do it.

 

Internet Christmas shopping...

 boxes that need to be broken down.

 

There's always something going on at Project House.

Working on the Kitchen

 

The new countertop is in, and the sink and faucet,

 now on to the backsplash...

 

We picked out a pencil thin, horizontal stone.

 

Should be a piece of cake.

 

Terry took care of all the details;

the dishwasher hookup,

 garbage disposal,

 sink clamps,

reconfigured plumbing,

new single faucet...

 

I started laying the tile...

this is gonna be easy.

 

Not so fast,

this woven (pencil thin) tile is kicking my ass.

 

Working around the outlets, and corners,

and getting to the edges turned out to be quite a challenge. 

 

It ended up taking me three days

 to finish this seemingly simple backsplash.

Ready for grout.

 

I hate grouting!

 

Now, for this dead space under the cabinets, I want a spice shelf...

 

 

ooh, break in the action...

a new grand-nephew was born...

Calvin Asti Wills

December 4, 2015

 

 

And there it is...

I ask for it, and Terry bulds it.

 

Amazing giant green bottle I got at an estate sale for a couple bucks.

 

Terry is hanging the shelf.

 

caulking, and painting...

and there it is.

 

Love it.

11/29/2015

 

We went out to Frankenmuth today with Bob and Peggy,

our favorite adventure companions.

 

This is the line waiting to enter Bronner's Christmas Wonderland.

 

WOW, we were overwhelmed by the crowds.

 

Big balls.

 

After we left the madhouse at Bronner's,

we tried to get into the Bavarian Inn for chicken,

 and then Zender's,

 and ended up at Bob Evans.

 

It was ridiculous !

 

We all agreed that we would never make this trip again!!!

 

Couldn't forget that today would have been my papa's birthday,

 and so I got a Bluejay ornament for my Christmas tree.

 

 

Love you Papa.

Too Old for This...

 

We started to think that the kitchen needed some renovations.

 

We talked about cabinets, and windows, and sinks, and backsplashes...

and we decided after some debating that we would just get a new countertop, sink, and faucet.

 

Our great idea of a butcher block top (when we first did the kitchen), turned out to be a bad idea because the coffee pot caused water damage to the boards, and it always looked dirty.

 

I hated the sink since we moved in, with it's shallow bowls and partition in  the middle,

 

and the faucet we bought was a low rise, which made it difficult to wash any large pot.

 

So... sink, countertop, and faucet.

 

We went to Menard's and bought these three items, and got a really good deal;

faucet for $100, fake granite look countertop for $40, and a $100 one bowl stainless sink.

 

We bought a sink 2 inches smaller than the last one in order to gain some counter space...

 

Sidenote: While we were at the store,

Terry found a "Black Friday" deal and he got his compressor.

Thanks Mom !

 

Nick stopped by with his "wolfhound" Perry. God he is a handful !

 

The side mirror, on the car, got a crack in it, and that had to be dealt with. 

Only five trips to the dealership, and that is taken care of... finally.

 

Well, when you open the can, worms usually come out.

Sink, countertop, and faucet...

 

we might as well redo the tile that we have not been excited about for a while now.

 

Demo...

 

dirt and dust...

 

A little thinset skimcoat and we are ready for new tile on the backsplash.

 

Can't wait to go pick it out.

 

Still need a plan for this dead wall space...

 

Dry fitting the countertop.

 

Terry cutting out the hole for the sink.

 

Terry cutting out the hole for the sink...

 

That's not a typo...

 

on the first try, the laminate cracked,

so we went back to the store and bought another countertop.

 

The second one cracked too.

So, we are going to go with the first one and try to mend the imperfections.

 

We're to old for this crap!

 

Tomorrow, we are going to Frankenmuth for a day trip.

 

Plenty of time to worry about plumbing,

 and wall tiles, and the drawers don't fit under the counter ledge,

 and neither does the dishwasher, and the cabinets need repainting,

 

and..............

 

we're too old for this.