It all started with a doorbell. As I have mentioned earlier, we have a Michael Healy palm tree doorbell that needed to have a better foundation on which to work. So we bought a plaque on which to fasten it. Of course, since the plaque is wooden, it had to be painted before we could mount it outside. And if a newly painted plaque was going to be fastened to the wall, common sense just tells one that the wall should be painted also. We had one gallon of the house paint that we want to use when we totally repaint the house next year, and Rick said that the entryway of the house really should be painted before we add tile to the front porch. Do you see a pattern here? Remodeling is like playing dominoes since one project is dependent on another project and creates still another project.
Saturday morning Rick started by hand-scrubbing the entryway and the north wall of the bedroom to prepare for the paint. The doorbell plaque somewhat blends into the wall now since both are painted the same color, and that was our intention. We want the doorbell to be the focus, not the plaque behind it.
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| The safely mounted doorbell. |
Since the stucco on this house is 53 years old, we encountered some places that needed scraping, patching, and a little tender loving care. As the pictures show, we now have a bright entryway with a secure doorbell.
However, that was not enough labor for one day. While we were looking at the tile that we want to put on the front porch, Rick decided to see if the concrete sidewalk, which must be cut back before we can put the tile on porch, could be easily cracked. Before I could say anything, he took a sledgehammer and hit a raised corner of the sidewalk. Wham! Crack! Thunk! The corner of the sidewalk slab separated from the poured slab. Many whacks and sore muscles later, the large slab next to the porch was gone, the concrete was carried to the driveway, and from there we put it into the back of the truck. Tomorrow Rick and Steve will take the concrete to a recycling center before we attack the next section of the sidewalk.
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| The sidewalk disappears under the power of the sledgehammer we borrowed from Steve and Chris. |
After the concrete was safely nestled under the tonneau cover of the truck, our next stop was Home Depot to get some patio blocks so that guests would not have to slog through the mud to get to our front door should the weather get soggy. Since my friend Bonnie is coming for a visit next week, I hope that we have a walkway that will keep everyone high and dry. (Bonnie, just envision being a kid and hopping from stone to stone to cross a pond in case we run into some stormy weather.)
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| Stepping stone patio blocks lead from the front door to the driveway at Gladys. |
More labor resulted in a painted entryway that is clean, bright, and cheerful. Once we get the whole house painted, I think that it will be stunning, especially when we add green shutters to the front windows.
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| Rick adds Honeysuckle yellow to the north wall of Gladys. |
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| The completed paint (for now) for Gladys. The tile on the porch will come next. |
One sad fact we learned yesterday was that Elijah Crawford, the owner of Eli's, died on March 14. Eli's is a tiny cook-shack that is only open on Fridays and Saturdays. It is known for miles around as the best place in Pinellas County to get barbecued pork, beef, sausage, or chicken. Thankfully, Eli passed along his recipes and his cooking techniques to his family members before he died. Rick and I only met him once, and he was quite a character. He was 73 this year, and his memory will live on each time the neighborhood is permeated with the smell of his divine cooking.
Today started out with a "sunrise" service (7:30 a.m.) to celebrate Easter. The church was not as crowded as I thought it would be, but I am sure that the Easter breakfast and the later service were well attended. We did not stay for breakfast after the service since I wanted to get home to clean the house before our guests today.
Once I got home, I received news that my mother was in the hospital in Wisconsin. Phone calls assured me that she was all right for now, and she actually went home today; however, she needs to return to the hospital on Tuesday for medical tests. If she needs me home, we will make arrangements to return to Wisconsin earlier than scheduled.
I spent the rest of the morning cleaning the house while Rick took care of some more little projects. He finished caulking some more of the baseboard, added quarter round at the doorways, edged the countertop in the bathroom, and helped with the vacuuming of the house.
Our guests for Easter were Steve and Chris. They arrived at 4:00 p.m., and we had both an enjoyable dinner and discussion afterward. They are getting ready to return to Wisconsin on Wednesday, so I really appreciated that they offered to bring a fruit salad and key lime pie while they were also packing up their home. The key lime pie was delicious, especially so because Chris took one of the key limes that they have growing on their tree, and she sliced it so that each pie piece had its own key lime slice on top.
We'll miss their advice, companionship, and help when they leave, but that also has us thinking about our own return to Wisconsin in a few more weeks. We are not ready to leave yet, but time and circumstances will somewhat dictate our future actions.
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