Monday, August 28, 2017

A Mighty Good Man

 
Since Terry returned to work he has become a weekend warrior.
He is working up to 56 hours a week,
 and that doesn't include the hour and a half drive time.
 
Last weekend he put up this wall in the basement. 

 
Nice.


Oh my gosh.
Never saw a grasshopper hitching a ride before...
 
or was it something else?  

 
We found this birdcage at an estate sale,
 and hoped that maybe we could catch our parakeet friend before the cold sets in.
But no. he went in for the food
but when I tried to get close he actually slipped through the bars.
 
We decided to just let him be free and enjoy the rest of the summer.

 
This weekend, Terry built another wall.
 
The house next door has been vacant for the last two years
 and we have enjoyed peace and quiet.
But we think it has sold recently
 and the family we saw has children,
 and who knows what else,
 so we are being proactive
 and making some privacy for our patio.

 
Terry slapped up this wall in a couple of hours.

 
and had dinner.

 
Yeah, he's the man.
 
 

Sunday, August 13, 2017

Alls Well That Ends Well

 
As I go through the pictures on my camera
 from the last couple of weeks,
 I realize what a messy mess they are...
 
We lost a lot of furniture when we moved into my mother's house,
either by deciding we really didn't need it,
or things got damaged during two moving sessions.
 
So the first picture is lunch at a sloppy diner out in Romeo,
where we found some great bargains
at estate sales.


 
An old garden bench and a multiple times painted bookcase
 were cheap finds and easy to fix up.
 
After that, Terry is hard at work on building me a custom coffee table...
 
 
My specs... big block construction.
beefy legs and thick top.

 
The base is ready...


The top is stained and polyurethaned multiple times
to make it a durable tabletop.


 
In the meantime, Terry whipped up this patio table.
Wow, he's amazing.

 
There's the new coffee table.
It is perfect !!!

 
A cool August night,
counting the days until Terry has to go back to work.
I wish he never had to work again,
because I like having him around.

 
Ahh, another weekend, and more estate sales.
This stool was only a few bucks.

 
This is the yellow garden bench we found.
Just a couple coats of espresso black paint
 and she makes a darn good shabby chic TV table.

 
This corner cabinet was $18.00
Not sure where they came up with that figure, but after 50% off
$9.00 was a steal for a heavy, well constructed piece of furniture.
 
Estate sales are the best thing ever invented.

 
Time to get down to business.
Terry starts a new job on Monday.
He will be driving a lot farther then he used to,
and we have neglected his car for way too long.
 
So we got him some new tires
 and an oil change
 and a few other necessities.

 
Then we made good on another promise we made to each other.
 
We haven't been able to do much together that is fun in a long time.
Something "middle of the day" crazy,
and we always talk about how good a burger and beer tastes, so...
 
Burgers and beer for lunch.
 
Lumberyard Bar
 
Best burgers in town,
and they even had malt vinegar for the fries.
 
That was a good day.

 
Another weekend and more estate sales.
This time we ended up out in Farmington Hills.
 
Didn't have much luck shopping,
 but we did stop at our favorite pizza place,
 Tomatoes-A-Pizza
 
Oh boy.
 Sampler pizza, thin charred crust,
 basil, and tomatoes.
 
Yummy. I might have to start a food blog.

 
Had to share this.
I am so sick of walking into the kitchen
 and thinking my son is in there,
 and it's my daughter, and vice-versa.
 
So I made them pose for this shot,
and then I told them
 one of them has to dye their hair or cut it shorter.
 
Ha ha

 
Back to work...
 
Ask and I receive.
I asked terry to build me a craft table for the basement.
and he did.
 
Here he is finishing the top.

 
And this is the base.

 
In his off minutes...
 
he finally finished the antique piano stool
 that he got at an estate sale months ago.
 
He put so much work into it,
and it turned out beautiful.
 
And worth a lot of money,
but I think we'll keep it.

 
There is the craft table.
I am going to paint the base white,
and it will be ready for use.
 
He even put casters on the legs so we can move it around.
 
Perhaps he should consider making furniture for a living...

 
And finally...
 
Sitting in the backyard
 one sultry summer evening and who should appear?
 
A blue parakeet.
 
What???
 
Yes, a parakeet flies into the yard and
hangs out with the sparrows at the feeder. 

 
He comes every day now,
we know we need to catch him,
because he won't survive when the temperatures dip,
and this is a new obsession.
 
We named him pretty boy
and I hope this ends well........

Friday, August 4, 2017

My mother passed away on August 1st.
It has been a rough couple of months.
Moving and moving again,
Mom's passing...
Terry starts a new job on Monday.
There has been so much upheaval in our lives this summer.
We are just trying to find joy in small things right now.

Everything happens for a reason,
And everything always works out in the end.
That is my motto, and I am sticking to it.