Yes, I'm still here! Above you can see the new patio door installed in what will become the kitchen for the Mother-in-law suite downstairs. This opens under an overhang, so it will be protected from the weather. This is also the sidewalk to the patio. I will add pots of plants outside on the raised bed above the stone wall. The debris you can see through the door is a section of HEAVY stucco still attached to the metal "mesh" they put up to hold the cement. It was removed from the old entrance door, which has been sealed up. (below)
The subfloor in front of the door has been replaced. What you can't see if that we put up gutters. If there had been gutters before, the water damage that had been in this area would not have happened.
We have removed the bathroom that was between the kitchen and this room (which will become the media room). We added a window in this room and the old bathroom will become a closet. We're putting two new bathrooms on the other side of the downstairs space.
While taking a break from the work, we chose to eat dinner at a local Thai restaurant. It was sunny and about 72 degrees, so we ate on the balcony overlooking the river park here in Kerrville. I couldn't quite capture the beautiful blue water and the pinkish tinge in the trees, but it was a beautiful sight!
Chiristmas was a blur! We hosted two gatherings. One with 12 friends from church and one with 25 family members on Christmas day! I had a lot of fun decorating the table to match the Christmas plates that were rescued from the fire.
The cactus is made of metal. A local man makes all types of things like this to be used in a yard or garden. I put it in the center of my table!
The buffet area was decorated Christmas cowboy style! I found the hat and wooden cowboy Santa in the thrift shop.
My daddy does woodwork. My sister and I were in his workshop and noticed the great shapes that were left over when he cut out pieces for the toys he made. We pulled them out of the trash bin and started playing with them, glueing them together and adding bits of wire. Here are two pieces I made. The wood scraps are just as they were pulled from the bin - no sawing was done. (Paint was added!)
(Notice the little fish under the "waves"?
My "looney" bird!
One last thing. Compare the set of windows on the left with the ones on the right. Do you see how much clearer the ones on the right are?
I have a friend who told me that during college she cleaned windows wtih "window wax". I had never heard of it, so I have been keeping my eyes out for window wax for quite a while now. Finally, I found some and tried it! It is amazing!! I can't wait for the cedar pollen count to come down so I can go outside and wash windows!
I HAVE done some sewing. In fact, I'm working on a couple of patterns. They are not in a stage yet to show, but hopefully, I will get back in the swing of things soon.
My husband's company has been in the process of lay offs, so that has interfered with life in several ways. He survived the lay offs, but has been cut to two days a week at work. That will slow the progress downstairs down some because we are NOT independently wealthy! On the other hand, perhaps it will be a good incentive for me to get serious again about selling my patterns.
Thank you for your encouragement and for sticking by me! I've always felt change was exciting so I've had a couple of adventurous years now!! Life is good!
