Buzzings from a quilter who bumbles her way through life!

Saturday, February 6, 2016

Still Here and Making Slow Progress!


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!


 

12 comments:

  1. Sorry about hubby's job reduction. My son found out that his last day will be next Friday. This is his 2nd job since college (the last company folded). I'll be in Texas for the bluebonnets this year (April).

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am so happy to find this post, In a computer loss I lost many of my favorite blogs. I love your wood scrap creations. I think you may have another sales maker along with your patterns. Very sad about hubby's work reduction however fortunate he wasn't laid off. Blessings dear...

    ReplyDelete
  3. It looks like things are coming along nicely and I might have to try that window cleaner.
    Those birds are really nice, maybe you can do pieces and sell them at a local craft fair.

    Debbie

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow Linda, you're making great progress. Such cute decorations and creativity with the wooden guys. God has a plan for you and your husband, maybe not what you had planned but it is still a plan.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your wooden sculptures are wonderful. I'll bey they would sell great; might be another avenue in addition to your patterns. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Gibson's in Kerrville ! Isn't that just the coolest place to shop for things of yester-year ! I will have to get some window wax next time we're down that way. They have a Gibson in Weatherford too, not quite as full of treasures as Kerrville's store, but much closer to me (great place to get Justin flip flops). You're looney birds are super cute.....great imagination you have Linda!

    ReplyDelete
  7. OK! I'm on the hunt for window wax!! We have two patio doors in the living room that open onto a front deck and three dogs!! That translates to 3 dog noses of course! Wonderful progress on your remodeling. Love the birds!!
    xx, Carol

    ReplyDelete
  8. It's been fun to watch your progress on the house. As for those wood sculptures...I love them! Cute, cute, cute!

    ReplyDelete
  9. HI LInda...welll it is looking lovely from here...and your new creatures in colour...love them...what a grand idea..gosh you could sell those on etsy and make a small fortune...I would love one myself....all the best as you complete more rooms ...ohh the rain stuff...we have this stuff we put on our windshields to keep the rainfrom streaking our view....we now add that to our showers and big windows..same effect...neat..







    ReplyDelete
  10. So happy to see your post. Love the little figures. Keep us up to date on the progress.

    ReplyDelete

You can leave your comment here! (I'm so sorry, but if you are an Anonymous commenter, your comment will not publish. This is because of the huge amounts of spam that I have received from anonymous sources.)

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...