Critters and Cranes

Neither one of us could sleep last night because of one design feature on the sidewalk layout.  In an effort to have the slope of the porch drain both away from the porch and away from the bedroom wall of the house, Cory proposed a porch addition that would have looked crooked in relationship with the tiled porch.  That bothered both of us, but by the time Cory left last night, it was not worth further discussion.

This morning found us both blurry-eyed but determined to find a way to solve this problem.  Out came the transit once again, and Rick took all of the measurements.  Kudos to Cory for laying out the sidewalk and porch addition with extremely precise slopes... and all just by using a level and his many years of experience.

Boards hold the plastic in place that covers were the Pest Control man
sprayed to deter termites from boring into our house.

We did discover, however, that we could solve the crooked-slope problem by just raising the boards that curve around my flower garden in the front of the house.  That will straighten out the angle in front of the porch and will still provide the required slope for water to drain away from the house.  We both are much more excited to have the porch and sidewalk completed now.

We have just a slight flair at the end of the walkway
to break up the straight lines.

Rick is not thrilled with what we have to do around our buried drainpipe, but we will work that out also.  I eventually want to build up a flower garden in front of the bedroom windows that face west, so I will let the garden "sneak" around the corner of the house to include the drainpipe. I will just fill that area in with red rock like the rest of the garden, and it will disappear into the landscape.  I also told Rick and Cory last night that if that plan did not work out, a well-placed pot of flowers in front of the drainpipe will hide any unwanted views.

The concrete will flow around the drainpipe
while still giving us access to it if we need to
repair or replace any part of it.

We worked for a while in the back yard, redistributing the dirt that Cory wheel-barrowed into a low spot that needed some fill.  Once the sidewalk is finished, we will be able to concentrate our efforts on working in the back yard.  We need to paint the back of the garage wall, and we need to plan and complete the foundation for our shed.

The Pest Control man showed up on schedule to spray for termites.  In this city, any time that concrete touches your house, you have to pay to have a pest control firm come in and spray the dirt up to two feet from the house to eliminate those little critters.  This is the only municipality in the area that has this requirement.  Thankfully, he came right after lunch and signed off on our prominently-displayed permit that he had sprayed the area.  In fact, he outdid himself by spraying the entire length of the sidewalk.  We should not have termites anywhere near this house!

After the pest control man left, we decided to go for a walk.  A little history: two blocks away from our house, a couple is building a new house.  We have watched them drive wooden pilings into the ground, then dig the foundation and add rebar.  Today we saw a huge crane that actually was a concrete pumper truck at the site.  Rick loves to watch construction, so Mr. Nosey had to go for a walk to see what they were doing.

OK, this is a concrete pumper, not a crane.  

When we got to the site, a concrete truck arrived and they started pumping the wet mix into the foundation trenches.  Suddenly a woman came up to us, introduced herself as Debbie, and told us that she and her husband were building the house.  We had a very nice conversation with her as we watched the construction continue.  Then Rick looked at his watch and realized that we had to get home.

Workers direct the hose which fills in the
foundation of the house.

He owes me a walk.  I suspended my insulin so we could do our usual 1/2 hour circuit, and we walked two blocks!  The next time we walk, I will have to make sure to start out in the opposite direction.  I don't care if we end up walking past the new construction, but I need to have my exercise first.

High and Low

This has been a week's end and early week full of activity, and with each passing day Gladys changes for the better.

The lift bucket rests in the backyard while
the workers take a lunch break.

The lift truck was fun to watch as the tree trimmers
cleared the lines.

Last week we had Duke Energy send out their crews to trim the trees away from the power lines that run behind our house.  We were a little nervous because the lines run right above our fence, and we did not want the crews to drop branches onto our structure.  Three years ago, when the crews came through, they climbed the trees and let the branches fall wherever they wanted them to fall.  This year, thankfully, we had a different company who used a lift bucket to safely and efficiently remove the offensive branches.  They did a great job, and the fence remains intact.  As an added bonus, Rick and I got to sit in our lawn chairs and to watch them work for the greater part of the day.

Our small freezer will allow
us to shop the sales and store larger items
(like a ham or a turkey).

Today we had a long-awaited delivery of a new freezer.  We enjoy the convenience and the taste of Schwan's Foods, but we have never been able to buy too much at any one time because our refrigerator freezer is not exactly spacious.  After careful measuring and shopping, we purchased a 7 cubic foot GE freezer and had it delivered to our garage.  While we understand that a garage is not the greatest place to have a freezer, we really have no other place to put one in this small house.  Also, during the really, really hot months of the year, we will not be here so the freezer will not be in service.  We hope this works out well.

Forms outline where the new sidewalk will lie.

As I write this (6:45 p.m. on a rather chilly evening) Cory is still working outside framing in our sidewalk.  His family concrete business agreed to pour a front porch and sidewalk for us, and he has been busily working on framing it out for us.  He wants to get it finished by this evening so someone can come tomorrow to spray for termites.  Then an inspector will come to give the initial approval for Cory and his crew to come back this Saturday to finish the pour.

The new sidewalk will include an expanded porch.

We are excited to finally have the front walk done.  Cory is doing a great job of making sure the pitch is correct so that the water flows away from the house, and he is adding in a few decorative curves so that the porch and walkway do not look so linear.  We had a bit of a problem of what to do around the drainpipe, but we eventually decided that a gentle curve around that will work just fine.

Rick "supervises" while Cory sets the board
for the sidewalk.

Tomorrow we will wait for the termite spray and the inspection.  Then, we just hope that we do not receive any rain, and we will wait for the weekend to complete this job.

Stones and Stucco

We wanted to stay around the house this morning because I had put in a call yesterday to Andy of Andy's Plastering and Stucco to see if he would come out today to give us a bid on our back wall.

To kill some time, I tackled a small project that has needed my attention for some time.  Last year, I dug out an area around our mailbox, surrounded it with edger stones, laid in landscape fabric, and filled it with red cedar decorative stones.  For the most part, the landscape fabric has done a good job of keeping it weed free; however, I recently noticed a few weeds trying to establish territory within the stone landscape.  So while the temperatures still were fairly cool, I ventured out with gardening tools, gloves, and a couple small buckets.  I removed a quarter of the stones at one time, pulled all of the weeds, and then redistributed the stones.  I now have a weed-free "garden" around the mailbox post.  I actually set up the barrier so our landscape service would not weed-whack my painted metal mailbox post.  The post has held up well, and the occasional weeding keeps me out of mischief. Mission accomplished.

The old electrical box left a hole in the wall.

Just as I was completing that task, Andy drove up with a huge plastering truck.  We needed to have the wall at the back of the garage filled in where the former electrical service and cable boxes once hung.  Rick had spent time chipping out the majority of uneven stucco, but adding new stucco is something best left to the professionals... especially when the job entailed the amount of area of wall that we needed covered.

Andy starts by cutting away excess stucco around
the area that needed patching.

Andy worked his way down the wall with a loose
mixture.

When I spoke to Andy yesterday, he said that he would come today to give us an estimate.  I hoped that his bid would come in between $200 - $300, but I was prepared to go higher, if need be.  Andy arrived on time, took one look at the wall, and scribbled out a bid for $125!  Sold!!! Rick and I were both ecstatic about the price.  Rick asked him when he could do the work, and he replied, "How about now?"  He came with his equipment, and he was ready to work.

Andy is not a very tall man, so he came prepared
with platform-step ladders.

A little history.  We hired Andy a few years ago when we needed the wall built around our new double-wide front doors.  At that time, Andy also patched a bit of wall next to the porch.  He was quick, efficient, and reasonably priced.  He also has worked with stucco for over 30 years, so he does an excellent job.  We were a little concerned back then because Andy is not a spring chicken.  Let's just say that his decade of the 60's and probably the 70's are in the past.  When I called him yesterday, I was not sure he was still working.

He completed the top part of the wall as the
sun started to fade to shadow.

However, he showed up this morning with a spring in his step and an eagerness to work. We both figure he has to be in his early 80's.  We watched him carefully as he climbed up on ladders.  He was slow but methodical.  He took about two and a half hours to complete the job, but in the end, we have a beautifully patched wall. He also filled in a couple of small holes on the Florida room wall where we removed a wire. We are happy with the results, and he was happy to have a little work to do.

Andy stuccoed the small holes from the wire.

Andy told us that we should wait a week for the wall to cure.  Then we can paint it with a stucco sealer, a primer, and two coats of latex paint.  In the end, we will have a wall that will not bear the scars of the pipes and boxes that once created an eyesore as we sat on our patio.

When he was taking a break, I told Andy to pose for this
picture in front of a job well done.

After Andy left and we had some lunch, Rick started to rake some of the leaves in the back yard. I noticed a tree service truck stop by our house.  The next thing I knew, Rick and a tree service man were in the back yard.  Apparently Duke Energy is sending around crews to trim the trees from the lines again.  We do not have too many in our back yard, but since Rick threw out the crew that came a few years back, we were on their list of people to talk to about the upcoming service.  Rick let them know that we were concerned about our fence and about a dead tree limb that threatens to take down both our and the neighbor's electrical service.  The man assured us that they would be careful with our fence and would remove the dead limb.  We'll see.

For now, that puts a hold once again on our plans to lay out a shed foundation.  We want the front sidewalk complete and the tree trimming in the back yard done.  Then what we do in our back yard is our business.

Each day we do a little more, and in the end we will have a house that we can relax in and enjoy.  Andy helped us toward that goal today. One step at a time. Isn't that what living in Florida is about?

Two More Completed

Rick commented today that we had not done very much.  I disagreed with that statement and started to name what we had finished today.  Sometimes we just go about our business and do not realize all that we accomplish in a day.

Today started very overcast and windy after severe storms yesterday.  At least twice today, we did end up getting an good rainstorm.  That's fine; my trees and flowers really need the moisture. Since the tops of the lemon/lime plants that I have been trying to get to root blew right out of the pot of water that held them, I decided to plant them in the corner of the yard.  If they root and grow, great.  If not, they are just an experiment that can end up in the garbage with no cost to me.

This muddy corner by the Florida room needs a little
greenery, so we will see if these lemon/ lime plants take root.

The weather, however, did not prevent us from getting things finished.  We knew that Spectrum was going to send out a technician today to move our cable box from the back of the garage/ patio area to the north side of the house.  We needed the box moved so that we would not have any cables or wires over the patio if we decide to add a roof someday.  Moving the box also will give us a clear wall in the patio area if we screen that into a lanai someday.

The chipped paint outline on the wall shows
where the cable used to enter the house.

When the workers had originally installed cable six years ago, the technician put a cable into the north wall in the Florida room.  It has hung there, in a coil, ever since.  Outside the cable snaked up from the box, over the doorways, and down the wall.  Since we have not had a TV in the Florida room ever, nor do we ever anticipate putting one there, we decided to remove that cable.

Rick unscrews the holder that kept the cable
attached to the soffit.

We started by pushing the cable back though the wall to the patio.  Then Rick got up on the ladder and took the cable off the wall and the soffits.  We have a few holes to caulk shut and a bit of touch-up paint to apply, but we'll tackle that job on a day that is not so wet.  Inside, Rick just put a blank faceplate where the cable once came through the wall.  The walls look much better both inside and outside.  He finished the job by cutting the cable off back at the box.

The old cable box waits to be removed from the
patio wall.  Once it is gone, we can patch and paint
the entire wall.

The "after" picture shows where the box once hung.
Apparently, the house was white (with turquoise trim)
when technicians first installed the box.

The cable technician showed up on time with completely different work orders than what we wanted done.  After some heated discussions, he ended up doing what we wanted done and actually doing a little more than we expected.

The new box hangs next to the new electrical panel on the north
side of the house, out of view from the Florida room.

We wanted to know why we were not getting the upload and download speeds on our computers that we were paying for.  We also wanted to know why our cable box on the TV seemed to be having audio reception problems.  And finally, we wanted to get the box moved to the north side of the house.

The technician asked to see where the line came into the house and where it traveled once it was in the house.  He ended up going into our attic and removing the entire cable line that stretched from one end of the house to the other.  In the process, he traversed our entire attic, upsetting our blown-in insulation in the process.  While we were not too happy about that, we are happy that he removed the entire line and replaced it with a single, solid cable.

We discovered that our old line had been spliced in two places, and that the splices were all rusted from moisture in the attic.  Those splices could have had a lot to do with the lost signals that we experienced.

After he replaced all of the cable, he braved the windy, wet weather outside by not only removing the old cable box, but also by stringing all new wire from the pole to our house.  He did an excellent job of installing the new box and placing it where we wanted it to hang.  In the end, we are delighted to check off another job on our "to do" list.

Finally, today, Rick also completed our bathroom remodel. (Fireworks and fanfare, please!)  The final part arrived in the mail from Kohler, and Rick was able to install the whole valve mechanism.  We once again have two completely working bathrooms!  Now we are ready for Stephanie to visit at the end of February, and next year we can have future guests as well.

The valve is in place, so we now have a fully
functional shower in our main bathroom.

So we completed two jobs: we took the cable out of the Florida room and had the cable box moved (getting the wiring redone inside the house in the process), and we completed the bathroom.  For not accomplishing much today, I would say that the day turned out all right in the end.

Sight Line

The day dawned gloomy and threatened rain, and for a while a misting sprinkle fell from the sky, but it never really developed into much.

While I stayed inside to strip the bed, do the laundry, and clean the bathrooms, Rick headed outside to clean the windows.  He scrubbed the screens, took them down, and washed and squeezed all of the windows. We can see again!  The job took most of the morning, and just as he finished, the sun started to peek out from behind the clouds. At least now, we can see the sun through the windows!

Yesterday the first of the two bathroom fixtures have been waiting for arrived in the mail.  After a little manipulation, Rick was able to get the bathtub spout threaded and into place.  Almost finished!

Now that the inside of the house is almost complete, our focus can move to the outside.  The landscape will be a multi-year adventure.  We are just trying to figure out how to best use the remaining remodeling money to get finished those projects that will benefit us the most.

Still Waiting

We are playing the waiting game once again... both for parts and for contractors.

The Kohler replacement parts are supposedly on their way, but nothing has arrived in the mail yet.

Yesterday we made contact with the concrete contractor to put in a concrete sidewalk in the front yard.  Since we could not find the pavers that worked well with the house and the pitch tile colors, we have opted for a traditional concrete slab and walkway.  By having the slab concrete, we will have a level surface on which to put a bench, and I will be able to put out a colorful pot, perhaps with some flowers, to add visual interest to the entryway.

Since we live in this town, the job will cost us about $300 more than it would in a neighboring town.  Why?  Because this city is the only one in the county that requires a permit for the work, and it also requires that since the concrete will touch the house, the contractor must spray for termites before he pours the concrete.  Thus, the $300 extra...

At this point, I just want it finished.  I am tired of the mud and dirt that we must deal with now, and I have murderous intentions for whatever cats or critters are using the front area as their personal litter boxes.  Let them go crap in their own yard!

Yesterday Rick became obsessed with cleaning the floors.  He got down on his hands and knees with a bucket of water and a towel, and he scrubbed all of the floors.  They do look much brighter and cleaner than before; now we must try to keep them somewhat clean.

I started on the windows today, but Rick did not seem willing to help me take down the screens, so I stopped.  I finished all of the doors, but all of the windows have yet to be washed.  I suppose he is angry with me for not helping with the floors yesterday even though I warned him that I had other plans.  So be it.

If I get ambitious enough, I might try a few more windows today.  I will NOT try to kill myself and do the whole house in one day.  That is just silly.  I will do a few at a time, and eventually they will all be finished.

My bougainvillea around the tree in the back yard are gorgeous.  They remind me that I need to go out and feed them once again so that they continue to be healthy and to keep blooming.

This blog shows that even though we are waiting for parts and for contractors, just the maintenance on this house gives us plenty of projects to occupy our time.

ALMOST Finished

Yesterday we both thought that we would complete our bathroom remodel.  Good goal, but we are not quite there yet.

Rick tried to put in the plumbing fixtures, and two out of three fought us.  The shower head went in just fine.  The control valve connection was too short, even though Rick followed the directions on placement to the 1/64th of an inch.  The fact that the extension part is "back ordered" for a couple of weeks tells me perhaps Kohler had better change their instructions on where to place the plumbing in the wall!

The plumbing remains incomplete due to poor
instructions and defective parts.

The third part, the bathtub spout, was just plain made incorrectly.  No matter how hard he tried, Rick could not get it to screw on tightly.  Once again, the plumbing was done correctly, but the part would not fit.  He finally looked inside the spout and discovered that the threads were all off to one side.  The part was defective, and there was no way on earth that anyone could screw something into it.  The same call to Kohler resulted in them sending us out a whole new spout, too. Our faith in Kohler is starting to seriously decline.

The door trim needed to be cut out to wrap
around the edge of the countertop.

In the meantime, Rick spent quite a bit of time crafting the molding around the main door to fit with the new countertop.  He also cut and installed the baseboard that we had to add to the room.  With the old tile, the tile just went to the floor, so no baseboard was necessary.  The room at least looks finished from the woodworking angle.

Both doors once again have trim.

We rehung the shower curtain so the room looks presentable.  Once the plumbing arrives, we should be able to finish the room.  For whatever reason, that room really fought us.  We both will be glad when it is totally finished.

Today we went to Brooksville, Florida, to visit Flagstone Pavers.  We talked to a very nice young lady named Jessica who helped us pick out a cream and tan colored paver for the yard.  She also educated us on what type of polymeric sand to use, how thick the base needs to be in Florida, and how and why it is important to seal the pavers once they are in place.  She gave us a quote on materials, tax, and delivery.

Once we were home, Rick contacted the Paver Warehouse to get a quote from them.  They are almost 90 cents per square foot less expensive which translates into almost $300 savings.  Their delivery charge is $15.00 higher for the same amount of material, but their materials cost is so much less.  We need to visit them tomorrow to try to figure out why there is such a price difference.

So the work goes on.  We finish one project, and then start to investigate what steps we must take to start the next task.  Ah, well, that is much better than sitting around listening to confirmation hearings for the less-than-qualified men chosen for the next Cabinet to our new president. At least by literally digging up dirt, something constructive and useful will result in the end.

A Hole in the Wall

We are one step closer to finishing the main bathroom in our house.  After church today, we spent a few minutes taking the bracing down from the tub wall trim and stowing the boards in the garage.  We will use them later in some outdoor landscaping projects.

Once the tub was clear, Rick brought in the alcove template that he made yesterday to cut the hole in the wall.  We had previously marked with tape on the tub where the studs were placed behind the Swanstone walls.  We transferred those stud locations onto the walls so Rick could position the template between two of the studs.

We has earlier discussed and rejected the chore of moving the studs so that we could centrally locate the alcove.  For the few inches to the right of center that the alcove is placed, moving the studs was not worth the time or effort.  Yes, the alcove is now located more toward the far end of the tub, but that will keep the soap dry and the alcove more out of the main spray of the shower.

Blue painter's tape protects the Swanstone
around the area that we needed to remove.

Rick traced the template onto the wall, and then he taped around the opening to protect the Swanstone from the bottom of the saw.  He drilled four holes in the corners while I manned the vacuum to try to keep the dust at a minimum.

The task was more difficult than it appeared to be because we had a double wall of concrete board behind the Swanstone into which we wanted to cut.  Rick had purchased special jigsaw blades just for this task, and we were glad that he did.  The cutting was slow-going with Rick using all of his might to keep the saw moving forward.  In the end, though, Rick cut the holes, and I took the waste panels out to the garbage cans.

The alcove is placed a little to the right of center
on the tub wall.

Thankfully, the alcove fit beautifully into the opening.  Lots of glue behind the lip of the alcove assures us that the alcove will stay in place.  The directions called for taping the alcove into position overnight, but I doubt that anything short of dynamite would be able to dislodge it from the wall.

We liked this alcove because it has plenty of
room for tall shampoo bottles as well as a
shelf for soap.

Tomorrow we will caulk all of the seams and then reattach the woodwork in the room.  After three and one half months of work, the main bathroom will be complete.

Spiderman Returns!

"It was a dark and stormy night..." was a favorite way for Snoopy to start one of his supposed award-winning novels, and such an opening could have described our evening yesterday.  We finally got some rain which we desperately needed.  I have to admit having thunderstorms in January still seems strange to me, but we are grateful for the rain nonetheless.  The day dawned wet and windy, so this was a perfect chance to work on the next step in the bathroom.

Since we took the time yesterday to cut and dry-fit all of the trim pieces, our task today simply was to line the parts up and glue them in place.

The front and end top molding are braced until tomorrow.

Everything went together fairly easily. We were finished with the gluing part of the job by 10:00 a.m. My only concern was that we were using lots of glue to keep everything in place, and we still need a tube of glue for the alcove tomorrow.  However, when we were finished, we still have a full tube of glue left over, so we should be fine.

Bracing the back wall trim against the center side wall
brace took a little finesse and a few shims to get into place.

The mirror reflects all of the bracing.  This time, thankfully,
the main part of the bathroom was free of bracing so we can
use the toilet and sink.

The directions said to tape everything in place while the glue dries, and then to add bracing to make sure that the trim really adheres to the wall.  The bracing took a bit of doing, but in the end we were able to get everything secured.  And yes, Owen, it looks like Spiderman helped Grandpa again!

Rick is trapped inside Spiderman's web!

Tomorrow we will take down the bracing web and cut the hole in the back wall for the shampoo/ soap alcove.  Then we need to caulk everything and install the missing woodwork to finish the room.  This bathroom still needs some artwork for interest, but because of the rain almost all day today, we skipped the downtown art fair for a later date.

Dry Fitting the Trim

We had the inspector come today to review our house and new roof for wind mitigation and waterproofing.  He was not from the city; he was a private inspector who will verify the roof with our insurance company so we can get credit for the new roof.  Long story, short, Citizen's Insurance is not the best in the business, but it is better than anything else available in Florida.  We needed to get this done to keep our insurance. Such is life in hurricane alley.

This afternoon we took down the spiderweb of bracing in the bathroom.  I am happy to report that the boards came down with nothing damaged (including Rick and yours truly), and we were ready to move on to the next phase: the trim.

The outer edge trim is held in place with painter's tape
as we dry-fit the pieces.

Good living comes from good measuring.  We
will have about 1/32  of an inch to spare where the
trim fits under the shower head.

Rick measured the tub walls; we spent a couple of hours this afternoon cutting all of the trim pieces.  At this point, some of the trim is taped to the wall as we dry fit all of the pieces.  Tomorrow, when the weatherman says we will have rain anyway, we will spend the time gluing in the trim pieces and putting all of the bracing back up.

Once that dries for 24 hours, we will be able on Sunday to add the caulk and to cut out the alcove for the shower to finish this project.

Oops! I should not say "finish" yet.  We also have to complete the molding around the vanity and doors, and install the last of the baseboard.  Details, details... Then the main bathroom will be complete.

"Spiderman" Bath Walls

A "cold spell" is headed Florida's way, so we wanted to get the Swanstone tub surround out of the garage in the next couple of days before it arrives.  Now note, please, that "cold" in Florida is temperatures in the mid-30s to the high 50's.  That is far from the -5 degrees with a -24 degree wind chill that folks in Wisconsin awoke to today.  I'll take the Florida version of "cold" any day of the week!

To get going on our tub surround project, Rick and I spent the morning setting up a workspace in the driveway, getting the tub walls out of the boxes, and preparing them for installation.  The old adage, "Measure twice, cut once" came in handy as Rick measured, measured, measured before he drew the lines on the tub wall panels to cut.  By the end of the morning, he had the back and one side wall cut and ready to install.  The third wall was cut and had one of two holes cut out for the plumbing.

Rick called his brother Steve to ask him when he might be available to help us with the walls.  Although I helped Rick lift the back panel onto the work table, I may not have been strong enough to help him position it in the tub.  We also knew that bracing the walls would take a minimum of three people -- as the later pictures in this blog will show!

Steve said that he would be able to help this afternoon, so we finished the prep work on the walls, cut the 2 x 4 boards for bracing, and generally cleaned up the work area while we prepped the bathroom. Rick has just sat down for the first time all day when Steve drove up.  Timing is everything!

The back wall is stuck to the wall.  Tape marks the
bottom of the panel and outlines where the studs are
behind the cement board and Swanstone panel.

With Steve's help, Rick and he soon had the back wall in place.  It actually adhered to the wall much better than any of us had anticipated, so we were pleased with that fact.

The second wall was in... although it moved
later on in the process.

The second wall also went up without a problem.  When they brought in the third wall with all of the plumbing cut-outs, the installation took a little positioning, but all of the cuts were in the right place, so that wall, too, fit as it should.  Then the hard part started...

The installation instructions directed that we use 13 2 x 4 boards to brace the walls.  Getting the side walls braced while still putting pressure on the back wall was a real trick.  As they were positioning the boards and putting pressure on certain points, I noticed that the south end wall (pictured above) had totally moved out of place!

OK, that's it, I thought.  We are screwed!  I thought that the wall was stuck out of place permanently, and that we would have to demo the whole wall to get it out.  Thankfully, Rick was able to strong-arm the wall panel back in place.  Whew!

With a little more figuring, a lot of persuading, and a few extra shims, we had the side walls where we wanted them.  Then Rick resorted to the same trick we used in Green Bay when we put in the shower walls.  He braced the back wall against the opposite wall across the room.

Steve is in the tub, smiling, but he is probably
thinking, "What the heck am I doing in here?"

Two more boards and Steve would have had
to spend the night in the tub!

To accomplish this, Steve actually climbed into the tub among the already-in-place side braces.  I am thankful that he did that because, even though he is the oldest,  he is probably the most limber of us all.  He crawled under and stepped over boards, knocking his head more than once, just to help us get the braces in place.  Now that is true brotherly love!

Although this looks like a pile of disjointed
lumber, the boards actually are bracing the walls.

The reflection in the mirror shows that perhaps
Spiderman did, indeed, help us today!

Our three-year-old grandson Owen loves Spiderman.  He would have been so proud of the results of our efforts today because the result looks like Rick, Steve, I, and Spiderman were all in on the act of bracing the new shower walls.

In the end, though, the walls are all braced.  The glue should cure by tomorrow, so the web of 2x4s will come down then. After that, we will need to install the corner trim, the outer edge trim, and cut out the back wall to install the soap/ shampoo alcove.  But that's tomorrow.  For now, we are delighted in the work that we (with Steve's  and Spiderman's help) accomplished today.  Thanks, Guys!

Anniversary Dinner

Happy New Year!  When I was a little girl, I used to think that the year 2000 was a million years away; now I wake up to seeing 2017 at the top of my calendar.  Amazing.

Our vacation to Wisconsin for the holiday season was cold, somewhat fun, but too long and slightly boring.  We were glad to see family and to celebrate the holidays, but Mom got grumpy and Owen became ill, so we did not spend the time that we wanted to with those that we love.  We did see more than our share of doctors and dentists (all planned), but next year we vow to do things differently.

As is usual with Wisconsin, one must always be aware of the weather.  We were blessed this year with unusually warm (temps in the 30's) weather for the most part.  We saw enough snow to get us into the holiday spirit, and we even took a couple of shots at shoveling a little off our driveway.  The really cold temperatures and the major storm happened before we got home, and they are set to happen again now that we are back in Florida. This morning The Weather Channel reported that Green Bay had 5 degrees with a wind chill of -24 degrees.  I am SO glad I missed that!  Sometimes, things just work out the way I want them to go.

We left Green Bay early on Monday to drive to Milwaukee.  A "winter mix" (i.e. rain/ sleet/ snow) was predicted for later in the day, so we wanted to get south before we ended up driving on icy roads.  While the northern part of the state did see some nasty precipitation, we were far enough south to avoid anything hazardous.  Damp, yes, but not slippery.

Many people must have still been off for the holidays because we drove down 41 and encountered very little traffic.  We made good time to Milwaukee, so we stopped at Mayfair Mall to do a little window shopping and to get in a good walk.  I hate Wisconsin in the wintertime because the only place one can safely walk is in a shopping mall.  Since we did not get to the Mall until a little later in the morning, the halls were already getting a bit crowded.  We were able to walk, but we had to do a lot of weaving around people and could not keep up a very good pace.

After killing time and eating Mall food for lunch (after which the greasy Mall food tried to kill us!), we ventured to our hotel which was near the airport.  I had not slept well at all on Sunday night, so I was ready to relax a little before dinner.  Rick had driven all the way, so he, too, was tired.  We decided to walk to dinner which was a not-long-enough trek to Micky D's next door.  To say that dinner was stellar would be a lie, but it was carbohydrates and a little protein, so we survived.

Tuesday, January 3, 2017, was our 41st wedding anniversary. We awoke at 4:00 a.m. to get to the airport for our 6:25 boarding time.  The airport was fairly packed when we got there, so thank God for our pre-TSA status.  That status was worth every penny!  We brought back two 2-lb. bricks of cheese, though, thus our luggage got searched.  I don't blame them.  The blocks of cheese are just dense shadows on the x-rays, so they had to search to see what we were carrying.  The TSA agent had no problem with us carrying cheese.  He just suggested that if we want to transport cheese in the future, to take it out of the luggage before we put the luggage through security.  We'll take that advice since it will save us time in the future.

Getting home to Gladys was great.  We had a stiff tailwind flying in, so we were almost a half hour early landing.  We had our car at the airport, so we took a bus to Extended Parking, were the first to be dropped off just steps from the car, quickly drove out of the airport, and had green lights almost all of the way home. Those of you familiar with Florida traffic know that green lights almost never greet people at intersections.

After a little grocery shopping to stock up on the essentials, we decided to buy some sandwiches for an anniversary picnic on the beach.  Not only was dinner one-fifth of the cost of a fancy meal in a restaurant, but the atmosphere was better and the only music was provided by nature.

Sea fog rolls in with soft clouds above the water.

The lapping water on the shore was the best music we could hear.

We went to the Dunedin Causeway beach, parked our lawn chairs in the sand, and watched as the sea fog started to roll in in front of the setting sun.  What a great way to spend an anniversary dinner.

Sometimes, you cannot beat Mother Nature!