Flawless Impeccable Perfection

For the last two weeks, we have been busy settling in to our "summer home" here in Wisconsin.  Through lots of effort and money, our pantry is well-stocked, the refrigerator and freezer are full, the lawn is cut, the back patio room is washed, and we are ready for the summer.

Of course, we never can sit still, so while we are waiting for our new porch roof to arrive, I noticed that our main bathroom really was outdated.  The shower is fine since we never use the tub or shower in that room, so the tile job looks brand new.  The vanity is large and the granite top also is in good shape, although some would say that the colors are no longer in style since they are shades of brown rather than grey.  Too bad.  I am not about to change the granite any time soon.  However, the one thing that IS outdated that I COULD change was the rust colored paint on the wall.  The paint has served us well, but it certainly was time to go.

We went to our favorite paint store in town, bringing home three samples.  None of them worked for that room with the ivory toilet and sink, but one of those three colors (Cameo White) did work for the master bathroom since that room has white facilities. (We had no intention of painting either bathroom, but both could use a new look.) 

A second trip to the store allowed us to bring home the correct, creamy white called Flawless Impeccable Perfection. Too bad my painting skills don't match the name of the paint!  At any rate, we started the job yesterday, doing the final coat today.  Since I was the photographer, most of the photos are of Rick working.  I DID help, although he is very picky, so he did the majority of the work.  The transformation is as follows:

The creamy white cut in at the ceiling
showed promise of what the room would
look like in the end.

It really was time for the 1990s paint 
to become history.

The paint actually covered the rust-colored
paint better than we had thought it would.

Painting around a toilet is always fun!

The first coat is finished! We like how
it accents the cream-colored grout on the
tiled walls.

Once this second coat dries, we will
rehang the mirror and picture and
reinstall the shelf. 

Now that the first bathroom is almost finished, we will take a break for a while since the roof for the porch should be here (we hope!) shortly.  The other bathroom always can wait for another rainy day.

Winter/ Spring 2022

 We are in our last week of our winter season here in Florida, so I will use this blog to do a quick update of this Winter/ Spring 2022 season.

We were in Wisconsin long enough to enjoy the fall colors, but we did not leave in time to miss the snow!

Our front tree is gorgeous in fall.

The very next day, it was not so colorful!

Once we arrived in Florida, we faced the task of cleaning up.  Our earlier blog showed the labor of cleaning up the lanai, the fence, the landscape, and the Florida Room roof. All of that was done in November and December.

Of course, exercise is one of the main reasons we come to Florida for the winter.  We walk at least twice a day, generally in sunny, wonderful weather, on the beaches, in our neighborhood, and in nearby Hammock Park.

In January, Stephanie came to visit for a few days.  We really enjoyed being able to have family visit this year.  We still are very cautious about Covid, so only family has been inside our house in over two years.  While we were down here, with both got our fourth Covid vaccine (second booster!).

Stephanie and Rick relax in Hammock Park.

In February, our nephew Jon and his wife welcomed Jasper Jon to the family, so we made a short trip to St. Petersburg to see him and to visit with my sister and brother-in-law who were down here to help out for a few weeks.

February also saw us rip out poorly performing bushes in the garden in front of the kitchen, so we replaced them with Gold Mound Duranta bushes which, we hope, will do much better. February also was the month that we started to purge this house of extra paperwork (thank God for shredders) and things like old paint.  I am amazed at what we have accumulated in 12 years!

New Gold Mound Duranta bushes replaced older vegetation.

We started a new habit this year of eating lunch each day on the lanai.  I wanted a tablecloth for our small patio table, but I could not find one in the right size, so I went to the fabric store and made two different ones that fit well.

Lunch, anyone?

March brought about the delivery of two new Stressless chairs to replace our old Ikea chairs (which have served us well for many years.)  We donated those chairs to Habitat for Humanity Restore since they still were in good shape.  

Stressless chairs are a great place to read or watch TV.

March also was the month of more remodeling. We took off the heavy, heavy front door to replace the deteriorating threshold before the hurricane season comes to Florida this year.  Better safe than sorry! 

By March 10, we had new soffits and facia board going up before we replaced all of the gutters on Gladys.  With the Florida rains, gutters are a must. 

New aluminum fascia and soffits replace
the 1960 wooden soffits.

Rick also took our old trusty wheelbarrow, which has served us well for many years, and turned in from a slightly rusty blue to a wonderful new green and yellow to match the house. 

A new coat of paint gives new life to the old wheelbarrow.

To finish our month of reconstruction, Rick broke off half of a crown, so we had to find a dentist who would see him on an emergency basis.  See, Gladys isn't the only one who needs repair once in a while.

Of course, all winter long I have been working on crafts.  Stephanie gave me a challenging hibiscus flower to cross-stitch.  I MIGHT get it finished sometime next year! 

I added a couple of appliquéd bees to a purchased apron and embroidered a flower as a birthday gift for a neighbor (whose initials are B.B.) who watches our house for us in the summertime.  I also took WAY too long to weave two blue scarves on the loom.  Poor Rick was not able to create anything since I took all season to do those two simple scarves.

Owen talked me in to the hobby of painting rocks.  We spent less than $3.00 to buy a whole bag of flat rocks at a local rock and pond dealer, and I have been having fun painting rocks that we hide for people to find when they walk through Hammock Park.  

This was the first M&M one I painted,
so I kept this one as a paperweight.

My other labor of love this winter was editing my cousin Dann's second non-fiction book on WWII.  He lives in California, so we have done all of the work via computers and DropBox. I have enjoyed the work, and I know more about WWII now than I ever thought possible.  The second book will be published sometime this month. 

Remodeling, home maintenance, new furnishings, crafts, reading books on our Kindles, exercise, editing books, and enjoying the great Florida weather all have been a part of our winter this year with Gladys.