A Day with Friends

On Monday, some fiber friends from Ravelry came to visit. What fun to put faces to names and share our love of weaving and spinning! Deb and Marilou, with Marilou’s husband John, came in the morning and stayed until after lunch.

Bob and John (plus Marilou and John’s wire fox terrier, Meghan) hung out outside and talked guy-talk while we three gals had a great time weaving, spinning, and getting to know each other. We will have to get together again!

Today, Kay, one of the women from the church choir in which I sing came over to see the house. She and her husband had owned this park model for fifteen years, before selling it 5 years ago to the folks from whom we bought it. She was delighted to see the changes we had made, and I told her we’d have her come back when the bathroom was redone. She identified some of the furniture that we “inherited” with the sale as pieces she had bought. Kay told us she had loved living here, only moving because her husband had 15(!) grandchildren and they needed a bigger place. She was pleased that her former home was being maintained and improved.

Temperatures here have reached the low 80s over the past couple of days, and we are loving it. We really don’t miss the cold winters of New Jersey at all.

Final Kitchen Reveal

....and here is the finished kitchen. Bob installed the rest of the bead board backsplash today, as well as the nice white outlets. I am so thrilled with the way it came out.

So what will we be doing with all of our free time, now that we’ve declared a halt to renovations for the season?  Well, Bob has plans to work on his golf swing and I intend to do some weaving. Tomorrow a couple of Ravelry friends are coming to visit and I’m really excited to see them.

Countertop Update

The countertop is in! And I just love it. The nice deep sink and gooseneck faucet are a huge improvement, too.

On Sunday a new pure white stove and microwave will be delivered to replace the old cream and black ones. I’m not sure about the stove, but that microwave is original to the 26 year old kitchen. It took me nearly 9 minutes the other day to pop 1/4 cup of popcorn kernels. One good thing about it is that I can cook oatmeal in it and it will never boil over. It has to be all of 400 watts of power. 

Bob will be adding a bead board backsplash next, and changing out the outlets to white colored ones. Ooh, it’s going to be quite spiffy when it’s finished!

Progress

We are moving forward on the home improvements here. Bob has spent all week on the countertops. He started out with a twelve foot length of cherry butcher block and cut it to size, then cut out the hole for the sink.

We had enough of the butcher block to make new tops for our IKEA kitchen cart and to top a portable small cabinet. We are using Waterlox finisher, a nontoxic type of Tung oil that provides protection against water. After four coats, with 24 hours to dry in between coats, the counter has darkened into a rich color with a light shine. After another three days or so of curing, we can start installing them.

Bob also has brought over the contents of my fiber closet in the coach, plus what was under the bed and the books in my clothes closet. There’s still a lot to be done to organize everything but at least it’s all here now. I suspect that this will be one of our projects next winter, to put up shelves. As well as to paint the bedroom and bathroom and replace the bathroom sink. It will all get done, eventually. This is what my studio looks like at the moment. Excuse the mess.

I’ve also been sewing curtains for the bedroom and living room. And kitchen. Here is the new curtain for the kitchen—I’m very happy with it.

I’m hoping to finish the living room curtains this week so I can post photos of the room all finished.

Between all the fixing-up, we are enjoying the weather here. Temperatures have been pretty consistent with daily highs in the 70s, except for a couple of days in the 60s. 

Renovations

Happy New Year to all my blog readers! My flight back to Arizona on December 30 was uneventful, and I was so happy to see Bob again. Auggie greeted me hesitantly at first, then enthusiastically. He proceeded to sit apart from me and studied me for a while as if he couldn’t quite believe that I was still among the living. I truly think he thought I was dead and gone for good.

I walked into our little home and was so excited about the painting Bob had done while I was gone. Here are “before” and “after” pictures.

The room looks so much brighter and I am thrilled. We went out on New Years Day to IKEA and bought a rolling kitchen cart. Now I have the work space I need to prepare meals.

We also purchased a couple of Lazy Boy recliners for the living room and a cherry butcher block countertop that Bob will be installing. More on that when it is in the kitchen.

Between shopping expeditions (which any woman will tell you is WORK) I’ve been going to the fitness center daily, choir practice, and Fiber Arts group. And am settling into this new place. I had only spent a little over a week here before I flew off to NJ so I had to re-learn where everything was. Bob and I have decided that once the kitchen is done and the Arizona room is set up, we will stop renovating until next winter. We want to be able to enjoy our new home!

We have started emptying out the Arizona room that will become my weaving and craft studio. The ugly sofa bed is gone and I’ve made several trips to the local thrift store, donating unwanted items. It feels good to have all that gone. Hopefully in the next week we’ll start moving the looms, wheel, sewing machine, marudai, books, and yarn into the space. I need to start sewing up some curtains, too.

Despite all the work, we have been enjoying the lovely weather and people here. Temperatures have been in the upper 70s and I actually considered turning on the AC today. Our neighbors have welcomed me back and told me how they had been thinking of my daughter and me, as well as keeping an eye on Bob and Auggie. It’s so nice to be part of this community.