making our guests happy...

It took at least 12 trips to Lowe's before I was satisfied with the layout of the new kitchen and what cabinets we were purchasing and where they would go and what I would use them for and how many drawers I wanted...and then at the very end...I talked to the designer over the phone and changed one cabinet around and lost the cabinet I really needed... 

There is no where to set a trash can in the kitchen.  There are no niches, no end of the cabinet available, no pantry closet to stick it in...  Since October I have put a plastic bag in the kitchen sink for all the trash acquired during cooking and then just tied it up and tossed it into the trash can...which sat in the laundry room...behind an always closed door...   It drove my girls crazy...it drove my sister crazy....it drove everyone (but me) crazy...

 TA DA!!!

This morning before I got up Rich put together two more chairs for the dining room...

we retired the bench that sat on the other side..

And today is Spaghetti Sauce day....

with meat

without meat

And the meatballs are ready to fry...  so that's all for today...

Did you notice the new blog header?  We are on the Missouri flyway for Canada Geese and every few days we get a flock of them landing in the pond...

Nancy

The Work Shop...and another project.

Apparently there are a few people that actually stalk, visit this blog faithfully to check for updates.  Looks like I updated last right after Thanksgiving..  We have been busy... We paid the son to move all the tools from the basement to the shop...and clean out the garage and move some stuff from the shop to the garage...


I don't have before photos of the shop... Just imagine  a large steel building with lots of big wood working tools, tons of boxes, no insulation, no heat and no electricity..  Now you know what Rich has been doing...

First he put up some walls...

Then he added blown insulation...

Then he put in electric...

Then he put in a wood stove...

Then he unpacked...

And now here it is...

the outside...

step in the door and look to the left..

look straight ahead..

left of stove..

right of the stove..

I guess you noticed that every thing has a place and everything is in it's place.  This is not because he just finished unpacking...It ALWAYS looks like this.. ALWAYS!!  It's truly annoying.. 

And now that the shop is all put together...we get to do more projects.. we finished the shelves in the kitchen...

As soon as I get them filled I will post a photo.. . I'm working on it.. The bottom shelf is reserved for my Kitchen Aid mixer...

Nancy

PS - Happy now Don?

the beginning of the master bathroom....

Our very own Winter Wonderland...

This is what we drove through on the way to the house bright and early Saturday morning...  too soon it all melted and turned to mud and gunk...

We each had our list...

Rich's list...

Master Bathroom...

That was his entire list and um...he didn't finish it... Ok..I really didn't expect the master bathroom to be finished this weekend...but it would have been nice...remember we are without a shower..as in..NO SHOWER...NO TUB...gross...

This is what he DID get done...

All the nasty floor has been removed...

At some point there had been a water leak...the floor was all soggy...and rotted...

that black hole was where the shower drain was...

New sub floor...

new electric.. Right is overhead light and fan..Left is GFCI and switch for light over vanity...

Temporary ceiling fixture... notice the new electric box (blue)

My list? 

First up is pull all the carpet staples out of the wood living room floor.  This has to be done before we start laying floor and it was something I could do and be called away if necessary to help Rich in the bathroom. It took a couple of hours of me scooting across the floor with a screwdriver, hammer and needle nose pliers, but it's done now.

We have been using the dining room as our workshop...So now that all the staples are gone I started  moving the workshop to the living room... I spent a lot of time walking back and forth between the two..  and my legs are hurting this morning...

all the tools are organized...

paint and supplies...

The dining room was in pretty good condition when we purchased the house.  It had new sub floors, drywall up on the upper part of the walls and 1/2 inch plywood installed on the lower part of the walls.  We decided that I would start working in there until Rich needed my help putting up a little wall in the bathroom.

All that is left is one work table and the drywall compound..

That one piece of drywall wasn't screwed into anything..so we need to add a few shim pieces and put that up.  I got the first coat of drywall mudd on walls and ceiling.  We will install bead board and add a chair rail.
It was already wired for wall sconces and since we have a buffet we will keep them.  And our dining room table is big...we can sit 8 comfortably and 10 if we squeeze in...

And that is it for work...

Last weekend I forgot to get a photo of the back of the bar area in the kitchen...

We are searching for bar stools now...

And I COOKED...

I used the oven for lunch Saturday..

Ok, it's not really cooking, but I did heat up some fish squares for sandwiches...sorry about the glare..I used aluminum foil over a foil pan...I want to be able to reuse the pan...it's the only one I have out there right now. Except for the electric skillet...which I used Sunday morning to make breakfast!!!  Link sausage, eggs and toast...

And I got a double yolk!!  Doesn't that mean something??  Like double happiness or something??  It did mean I needed another piece of toast to soak up all that goodness... And yes...I am using my electric skillet on top of the stove..I use an electric skillet for everything..I go through about one a year...

I planned on cooking dinner, but we realized we needed to go look and measure vanities, sinks and showers so we could get all the electric in the right place, so we ate out..at Steak-n-Shake..where they lost our order and it took forever to get our food..but I love their steakburgers.. and we found a vanity and the right shower after looking at Low's, Home Depot and Menards, so it was a productive trip...

End of the kitchen and start of the Master Bathroom...

Can you guess what part of the kitchen this is?

This is the underside of the counter top where the dishwasher will go. Do you know what happens to this area after you have used your dishwasher for awhile?  The steam from the dishwasher will start to warp the pressed wood and it will start to swell.  Now, this won't happen if you have solid counter tops such as Corian or Marble or some other solid surface.  I wasn't going to use my money on counter tops so we have laminate. I love them.  My brother-in-law told me to get some black oil based paint and paint the underside of the counter top.  It will keep the wood from swelling and warping..  I would like him to know that I did it..I would also like him to know that I still have paint on my left knee.  Not quite sure how that happened as I had on long pants.  But that's ok...cause the wood is sealed and the paint on my left knee will wear away eventually.

isn't it pretty...

While the paint was drying we started installing the sink.  We installed the faucet and hooked up all the water lines and then put clear acrylic seal down around the opening.

Oh, we also attached the disposal..

And then we had to do this...

We realized AFTER we set the sink down into the hole, we didn't have a small enough screwdriver to work the sink clips so off to town we went... 

This kitchen is now done!! Well, except for the floor.... The stove works, the sink works, the dishwasher works, and the Fridge is even in the right space...

I have removed all the plastic...and stickers...

Next up is the master bathroom...

Let's look at that bathroom...

oh who uses this wallpaper...

nasty shower, but it was all we had...

EMPTY....GUTTED....BARE...VOID... DEPLETED...DESERTED...DESOLATE...

 AND WE ARE EXHAUSTED...

 

We have capped off water lines, capped and removed the stack, removed the toilet, shower, vanity, and cabinet over the toilet that we realized was hanging UPSIDE DOWN....

We took measurements and have now drawn out the bathroom on graph paper and cut out a little shower and toilet and vanity...and are rearranging them on paper... 

We need to order tile, buy light fixtures, a toilet, a shower, a vanity, and decide the final placement..

Our goal for the next few weekends will be to

• drywall
• redo electric
• redo plumbing
• install floor tile
• install shower
• paint
• install toilet
• install vanity

Stay with us...we are almost finished!!

counter tops and a great lunch (with recipe!)... EDITED see end of post...

Yea...it didn't snow, so that meant that Rich's brother-in-law (the same one with the gross smashed finger) and  sister came out to help us put in the kitchen counter tops.  They arrived promptly at 9am and brought food...  Isn't it nice when you get volunteer help AND they bring lunch?   Donna brought Italian Beef Sandwiches and Cole Slaw...  Very Good!! And I tried the Cole Slaw. And liked it. I've never tried Cole Slaw before. I like cabbage, but didn't think I would like cole slaw... Recipe at the end of the post...for the beef...I have to assume that everyone else has a favorite cole slaw recipe, although I don't..

yea, a STOVE!!

the walls aren't straight...at all..so instead of trimming the back of the counter top, they decided to punch a hole in the drywall and slide the counter top into it..it worked!

the tools of the day

oh my gosh...i LOVE it..

left side.  See the bump out?  I need to find some stools..so the grandkids can have breakfast at the bar when they spend the night.  Or maybe they can come for the day and make cookies...or cupcakes...or teach me to can..which Rich thinks I need to learn since we will live in the country..

My BIL went back and got my sink, unwrapped it and I got to see what it will look like next weekend when it gets installed and there is WATER!! In. the. kitchen. .. no more washing dishes in the shower
or the sink..

Saturday was Rich's birthday.  I got him the  mug for Christmas and the shirt for his birthday..If you double click you can read what it says...or maybe you aren't as old as I am and you can read it without double clicking. If so, don't tell me..

And if you clicked on the finger link up there, here is an update.  Doesn't look near as bad.

And I painted...This is the crown molding that is in the living room and kitchen.  Because of construction that we have done, we had some to replace.  OMGoodness...we looked everywhere for this profile. Lowe's didn't have it, Home Depot didn't have it, none of the smaller hardware stores had it...finally we found it at Menards. 

.

Of course when we found it, it was solid oak.  So sad that I have to paint over oak, but it has to match..

I also finished painting all the windows, trim, sashing and anything else windows have...

And now for the Italian Beef Recipe....

Italian Beef

by Donna

4 1/2 lb beef tip roast

1 can (14 1/2 oz) beef broth

1 can (12 oz) beer or additional beef broth

1 cup water

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1 envelope onion soup mix

1 envelope italian salad dressing mix

1 garlic clove minced

1 1/2 teaspoon dired oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

 
Place roast in slow cooker, combine all ingredients and pour over roast.  Cook covered on low 7-8 hours or till tender. Romove roast and when cool enough to handle, shred meat using 2 forks.  Return to slow cooker and heat through.  Serve on split french bread rolls and serve sauce as a dipping sauce. Serves 10

EDIT - Rich wants you to know he finished installing all the window trim...