Windows, Doors, Walls, and Chores

Chris and Frank were able to complete all of the windows yesterday, and they even had time to install the back door that will lead into my laundry room and the garage. They said they would be back next week to complete the other doors.

Frank prying out the old kitchen window.

Exterior view of my kitchen with a very "open air" look to it!

I have to say that I am thrilled with the front (west) windows.  I have a big picture window in the middle of each opening with two side panels that slide to the middle for ventilation.  See Frank and the attached pictures above.

The big excitement of the day again centered around wildlife.  This time a gecko came into the house through the front door and Stephanie started screaming and jumping around like the poor little thing was an alligator.

Rick yelled, "How do we catch him and get him out?"

"Use a broom," I answered, having done so successfully with a gecko that was in the garage.  Rick cornered him near the front door and then used a broom to literally sweep him off his feet and back to the great outdoors.  I really wish I had a movie of the whole adventure! The Keystone Cops or the Three Stooges could not have been any more funny.

No modesty in this master bathroom!

Rick started to remove the wall in the master bedroom yesterday to enlarge the master bath.  What a dusty mess!  We filled the garbage bin with plaster, so I held my breath this morning when the truck pulled up.  They have an automatic arm that lifts and dumps the trash, but the plaster dust that flew out of the top was so great that the driver actually glanced in his rear-view mirror to look.  I know that the city has a weight limit on the garbage in the can, and I suspect that we probably exceeded that limit by a pound or two... or 75!

And the old wall continues to come down.

Stephanie said that our new bed in the guest room was very comfortable, but since she had to sleep on a blow-up mattress on a concrete floor during her last visit in October, a real mattress just had to be an improvement.  Sadly, she woke up with a bad headache, so her first day here has not been great.

Rick spent the first part of the morning ripping down more plaster and wall.  The plaster has a wire mesh that looks like chicken wire behind it, so as he reaches the edges, he has to trim all of that old, rusty wire away. What a pain!

We went to Leader's before lunch and actually ordered out our new master bedroom set.  It is the fun set I described before with the pineapples on the bedposts and pineapples for feet on the dresser.  We will have a white dresser, headboard, mirror, two nightstands, and a chest that will set at the end of the bed. It will fit beautifully in the room.  Other companion pieces are available, but for now I think that will more than take care of my needs.

We came home for lunch and then set out to pick up some blinds for the new windows.  That is the only problem with spending money on new windows... now we need to spend even more money on blinds to cover them!  I must say that the former owner of the house must have found a tremendous sale on wall anchors.  I remember last year removing 38 wall anchors from the Florida room, and today we removed at least 30 more.  I promise that if and when we ever change the blinds we are going to put up tomorrow, we will remove the old wall anchors before we put up new ones!  If you have stock in a company that makes wall anchors, sell.  Jackie does not own this house anymore, so I am sure that sales are down!

Everywhere we look, we have 10 jobs to do.  This year seems even worse than last year, and we seem to get pulled from job to job.  We have to remove the dirt in the front flower garden and put in pavers so Chris and Frank will have something to step on when they put in the new double front doors next week.  All of the windows need washing, and we need to hang blinds in all of them... after the plaster dries from patching anchor holes and after the paint dries from painting the inside of the window openings.

One task that I did complete today was trying to find a way to arrange the living room furniture (or what we have of it right now). Rick made a cocktail table and a TV stand this past year, so they join the couch, two Ikea chairs with footstools, two end tables, and the sofa table.  Stephanie and I rearranged and rearranged furniture this morning until we found something that seems to work.  That's the way it will stay until we can get rid of the Ikea chairs and buy some better stuffed furniture to go along with the couch.  Mind you that once we both go on retirement checks alone, the money for furniture may be years and years away.

We have plans for the rest of the week even though rain is predicted each day.  Tomorrow we would like to see the Botanical Gardens and try to get some pictures to put up in my photo gallery display.  (Steph also helped me pick out a good place for it.)

We want to go down to Florida Orange Grove and Winery in St. Petersburg to get some more wine.  We know that we can buy it locally, but the winery is a fun place to visit.  On Friday we want to try The Gallery for their Friday night fish fry.  Sunday is Rick's birthday, so we will have to come up with something fun then to celebrate him turning the big 6-0!

Funny, we keep getting older, but with all of the improvements we make to Gladys, we are bringing her up to date and giving her a whole new lease on life.