Going Green

Today was a rather laid-back day without too much work, and it was a better day as a whole because we did not feel so defeated.

We started the day by doing a little planning and a little cleaning in anticipation of an invited guest.  Jen, our realtor who sold us this house (and probably thought we were nuts to buy it, although she was very diplomatic and never said a word), came for a visit. Although we are far from finished, she was able to see some of what I had dreamed the house could be when we bought it.  She looked well and spent the morning with us looking at what we had done with Gladys.  She brought us up to date on all that was going on in the real estate business and in her family life.  We all are facing challenges, all in our own ways, and somehow we all continue to move forward.  Rick's and my motto always has been, "Never look back." We had a good time, and we were really glad to see her.  We told her she will have to come back after we get the kitchen completed in the next couple of weeks.

The good news is that the real estate market is starting to pick up.  I asked Jen how much we could get for the house if we sold it today.  She did an off-the-top-of-her-head guess of about $135,000.  That would be a $50,000 profit over our purchase price but still $10,000 less than what we have now invested in the restoration of this house.  No matter.  The market is going up, and we have no intension of selling.  Hopefully, we will be able to enjoy this house for many years, possibly passing it on to our daughters. By that time, we hope that it will have appreciated substantially.

The new bedroom cushion.  Side note: Rick took a tin snips
and his miter saw to our too large blind and got them to work.

Speaking of improvements, we took a short ride after lunch to pick up the cushion for our bedroom bench.  I also bought a yard of material to make some throw pillows for the bed, too. The cushion is much more comfortable to sit on than the bare bench, and it should save the platform and edges of the bench from unwanted wear.

This afternoon we had our purchases from yesterday delivered.  Two very nice, strong young men rolled my new Bosch dishwasher into the garage.  It can now keep company with the kitchen sink that will have to go to the granite company when they come to make templates to cut the granite for our counter tops. We got an e-mail early this morning saying that the kitchen cabinet will be installed next Tuesday.  I can't wait.  Jen also confirmed that the honey-colored cabinets were a better choice than white since that is a universal color that does not get dated.

Pedestals under the washer/ dryer to save my aching back.

The other delivery was just as exciting. We bought two pedestals for our washer and dryer.  I am getting too old to have to almost crawl on the ground to get socks out of the back of the dryer, so I told Rick that the pedestals were a must.  I can get into the washer and dryer now, but 20 years from now (note my optimism that the washer and dryer will last that long!), I do not want to be on my hands and knees digging undies out of the washer!  The nice young men offered to set them up for us (even though the salesman told us they would not set them up since we did not buy the washer and dryer from their store), and we were not about to turn down an offer since the washer weighs a ton. The results are now two clean pedestals that made me realize how dusty and dirty my washer and dryer really were. Rick is itching to frame in the room to protect them, but that would mean less air flow into an already hot space, and we cannot afford the time or money right now to bring in air conditioning to the area.  That will have to wait until January.

The green back doors on the not-yet-yellow house.

Not being able to sit still, Rick then went out to the back yard and tried our new green paint on the back doors.  We do not want the house to be Packer green and gold, and it won't be since we have picked out a really bright (not gold) yellow for the house.  However, we are still not sure if this is the right green.  I know it is hard to tell from pictures (and the fact that the house is now still the dirty yellow/tan color), but what do you think?  Should we go darker?  Should we go more to a blue-green?  Should we say, "Nuts to the color" and paint them white?  We have not painted the front doors yet, but our plan was to paint them green --just the edges since they are full-light windows-- and then accent the house with green shutters.

The green garage door.  We still need to add
white paint to the board above the door.

The door to the Florida room.  Too green,
or just right for Florida?

We both admit that we are not good with picking out colors.  Give us some feedback, readers.  Do you think Gladys would look good all dolled up in a green and yellow dress with some pretty, colorful flowers eventually thrown in at the "hem"?