Sleepless in Dunedin

What was supposed to be a day of great joy turned into a day of deep disappointment once again.  The first great disappointment of this summer was when I could not have the white cabinets that I wanted for the kitchen.  In hindsight, I should have said, "Thank you very much for your time," and dismissed that contractor.  I didn't, and in the end I now have cabinets that are honey-colored but acceptable.

Monday the granite people came to install the kitchen countertops.  We were told that since Dunedin is 30 miles from St. Petersburg, where the store is, that we would be their first customer of the day.  Millie, the daughter of the company owner who schedules all of the jobs, told us that since the workers would need time to load the granite and drive to Dunedin, they probably would not arrive until somewhere between 10 - 11 a.m.  OK, no problem.  By noon when they still had not arrived, I called the company.  We learned that they were delayed at another job and would not be to our house for another hour.  That "hour" turned into two more hours as they did not arrive until 3:20 p.m.

The new countertop.  We are not sure of the color with the floor.

The stove is straight.  Note that the right-hand top of the
backsplash curves inward!

They worked hard, but we grew concerned as they started to do things that we did not like.  The sink seemed misplaced and when I questioned losing so much of the undermount sink under the countertop, the installer ended up cutting into the plaster wall at one end of the countertop to position the granite correctly.  Rick warned him that he had to triple-check where he was positioning the template so he could drill the holes for the faucet.  He seemed to have a "good enough" attitude which resulted in him drilling all three holes incorrectly, chipping the expensive cast-iron Kohler sink in the process.  Two of the granite pieces were cut wrong, so one installer tried to grind one down. The result was a backsplash piece with one very crooked side.

The granite itself is beautiful... but something other than the
installation still is not right. 

After they left at approximately 7:30 p.m. with the promise to return tomorrow with the other pieces cut correctly, Rick and I continued our inspection of the countertops.  We found seams that were incomplete, places that were not level, and caulking that looked terrible.

Rick could not sleep and got up at 12:45 a.m..  I could not sleep and got up at 1:30 a.m..  We talked until about 4:30 a.m., and I told Rick that I wanted the company to come in and to remove all of the granite, that I would rather have a cheap plastic laminate top than to keep the granite installed the way it was.

This morning we called the granite company, told them to put our job on hold, and that we were very displeased with the results.  I hate the granite and the job that they did.  What was supposed to be the crowning glory of the kitchen turns my stomach as I walk into it.

The owner of the company and his daughter came out to our house.  He ordered us a new kitchen sink to replace the one that they ruined, and he offered us three very fair choices.

• He could remove the granite and give us a full refund of our money.
• He could replace or repair the granite that was bad, making design modifications as we requested with no further charges.
• He could remove all of the granite and start from scratch with new granite and installers.

I am not sure what I really do not like about the granite beyond the poor installation.  The color, in the evening, seems to go yellow and really fight with the color of the cabinets.  The owner's daughter thought that the granite fought with the terrazzo floor pattern.  A neighbor came in and immediately said, "That blue wall color really clashes.  It has to go."

After he left, I took a manila folder and put it next to the kitchen wall. The granite immediately looked better without the blue (which really was designed to go with the white cabinets that I do not have). We went out, got some paint samples of tans and off-whites, and tried a few on drywall sheets. We think that we have found one that might work, but we are not going to do anything until we see the granite people tomorrow.

We are going to the granite company early tomorrow to look at other samples for the kitchen.  If I do not find any that I think will go better with the cabinets, I will stay with what we have.  Perhaps the change in color will be enough to draw everything together.  Perhaps we need to move on to something different.

We have a time urgency right now because we only have four more days in Florida.  We fly home this Saturday to become immersed in our "other life" in Green Bay.  The granite people are doing us a huge favor by taking care of this problem without charging us more money.  I really do want some kind of granite; in this climate, it will not rot or get eaten while we are gone, and it even holds up well to water should a hurricane try to give Gladys swimming lessons.

I told Rick we are not going to do anything else this summer as it really seems to be jinxed.  I have to remind myself of the myriad of things that DID go right-- or were easily corrected.  Last night I was ready to throw in the towel and to put Gladys back on the market.  That, of course, would be foolish in so many aspects. I hope that after a good night's sleep tonight, the sun will shine on us tomorrow and give us a better day.

Deals and Dali

We took yesterday off from remodeling, and it felt SOOOO good to do so!  But before I get into our adventure, I will share some good news.

We were told by our insurance agent George and others that if we put in new hurricane-resistent windows and doors, we could get a break on our insurance; however, we had to jump through numerous hoops to see if Citizen's insurance would give us any break on the bill.  George was not overly optimistic, but we gave it a try.  Yesterday we received a notice that our insurance rate will be reduced by $630 each year, and we will receive over $400 back this year now that the windows are in.  We are waiting for a $230 rebate from Progress Energy for the windows and doors, too.  I wondered where the $30 at the end of both came from, but Rick said that was due to the square footage of Gladys.

Now on to our adventure.  For those of you who look at the pictures before you read, you will see that we took the day off, drove to St. Petersburg, and visited the Dali Museum.  Although the venture was expensive, we had a wonderful time.  The new Dali Museum itself, as you can see, is an architectural wonder.  The building certainly fits Salvadore Dali's weird art, and it reflects his love of Buckminster Fuller's geodesic dome and his fascination with mathematics and science as reflected by the helical staircase that takes visitors from the main floor restaurant and gift shop to the third floor galleries.  The gardens also were magnificent.  The Museum is on the waterfront, and the gardens were works of art themselves, both with the placement of trees, boulders, and flowers, and with Dali's art scattered throughout.

The Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, FL

We decided to eat lunch at the Museum.  Their offerings are strictly Spanish fare, and the prices are, naturally, unreasonable.  We dined outside under a canopy with a wonderful breeze blowing off the water.  Rick said at that time that he heard a soft bee-eee-eeee-eeee-eeeeee sound.  Being outside and preoccupied with trying to eat my salad, I did not notice.  However, after we were in the museum again, I was wandering upstairs and said to Rick, "Do you hear that eeeeeeeee sound?"  He told me he did, but figured it was the air conditioning or something else in the building making the noise.  It was not too loud, but it was persistent.  Then it occurred to me what it might be.  I touched my insulin Pod, and the pitch of the sound changed.  Crap!  I told Rick the beeping was ME and that I had to go and replace a Pod.  Of course, changing a Pod in a restroom is not ideal, especially since the two alcohol wipes I had with me were both dry, and the position of the Pod was not the most ideal location.  At any rate, I changed the Pod, guessed at how much insulin I should take since my lunch bolus was interrupted, and we went on with our day with Dali.

Rick standing in Dali's signature mustache on the Museum
grounds.  The masts of sailboats can be seen at the far left.

Relaxing on Dali's melting bench as time also melts away.

The top of the helical staircase inside the Museum.

Dali has two museums dedicated to his work-- this one, and the one he started with his private collection of works in Spain.  If you come to Florida, plan to spend at least one day at the Dali Museum.  Take the tour or rent the headphones for the audio tour so you can at least BEGIN to understand the weird images before you, and enjoy the views both inside and out.

Yesterday after we came home, we decided to tackle the paperwork that seems to breed in corners when we are not looking.  Having two houses and keeping track of mail, forms, receipts, bills, etc. can become overwhelming.  As we had papers scattered all over the house, someone knocked on the door (of course!).  Standing on the porch was Rick's old colleague Mike who lives in Dunedin.  He just stopped by to see the house.  Wonderful.  The place looked like an unnamed hurricane had just blown through, so we got to show our unannounced guest Gladys at her worst.  Ah, well.  He was very gracious and commented that she was, after all, our vacation house.  We're remodeling, for Heaven's sake, so at this point, she's still a mess.  That is why we are not inviting any guests yet except for Stephanie and Lindsay.  They, at least, grew up with the constant chaos of remodeling, so this place is nothing new to them.

I learned yesterday that of the four classes I signed up to teach in the fall, I will be teaching only two.  I knew that one of them -- a 7:30 a.m. writing class -- was not going because not one person signed up for it!  A second class filled above 12 students (16 at last glance) at the last minute, but either one of the full-time people needed it for their schedules for full work-load or the powers-that-be decided to assign it to another adjunct.  I actually am OK with that since I have never taught the class (English Composition I) before, and it would have been another prep.  Additionally, it met on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday while the two classes I DID get only meet on Tuesday and Thursdays.  I am happy about that because that will give me Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays both for prep and correcting and to work on my Cengage Publishing work also. (If you are reading this, Beth, smile.  I promise I will meet the deadlines now!)

Our new microwave that no longer
clutters up the countertop!

Today's activities included sending our old kitchen faucet to Lindsay via UPS and picking up and installing the new microwave above the range.  I wanted to paint the interior and possibly the exterior of some of the doors and finish organizing the paper storm, but those jobs will have to wait until tomorrow.

A roseate spoonbill standing on a branch
watching people walk by on the
Pinellas Trail.

This evening, Rick and I went out after dinner to Weaver Park, a beautiful little park perched at water's edge.  Watching the sunset from the pier is very relaxing.  We took along our Kindles to read and two lawn chairs since there was a gorgeous breeze blowing in from the water.  While we were sitting in the shade in the park, I saw a large bird in a nearby tree.  "Look, there's Eddy," I said, referring to an egret. Then I looked closer and said, "Hey, his back looks almost pink."  Just as I said that, the bird raised his wing to peck at some insect the was bothering him.  The underside of his wing was a brilliant pink/red/orange -- almost neon in color. "That's a roseate spoonbill!"  These birds are rather rare in this area in the summertime, so we were thrilled to see him.  Unfortunately, we only had Rick's phone to take pictures, so I take no responsibility for the photos.  Actually, seeing him what quite a treat.

We both admit that although we are ready to return to Wisconsin, we will miss all of the countless little things that make Gladys and Florida very, very special.

Baby Steps

After running into our remodeling ventures this summer at full speed, our pace of accomplishments now seem to be coming in baby steps.  Yet, as any good toddler will prove to the world, even those little steps can carry a person quite far.

Our new green doors! (No Packer jokes allowed...)

As promised, I will start with the inclusion of pictures of our newly-painted green front door.  We still have to paint the doors white on the interior side, but we are both pleased with the exterior color.  As Steve and Chris so rightly commented last year, Gladys was lacking a bit in "curb appeal."  Hopefully with the hanging flowers (which are fading horribly in the hot Florida sun!) and a touch of color on the front door, her appearance is starting to improve.  (After all, what woman does not look better with a little make-up?) Now add some matching green shutters -- next spring -- and a few colorful flowers, and Gladys may even be an old doll that is worth a second look!

Imagine green shutters and colorful bushes in front...
someday Gladys will have what every house seeks:
curb appeal!

I started the day with every intention of getting the doors painted on the inside.  I got as far as sanding the door frames before Rick called me out to the garage to hold the ladder and to call 911 should he topple from it.  He fished the rest of the wires through the garage and hooked them up to the electrical panel (which was another reason to have someone handy to call 911.)  Since I am calmly writing this, you can figure out that all is well.  The wires are now snugly nailed to the rafters and secure in the electrical panel.  I have power to all of the outlets in the kitchen, and once the countertops and sink are installed next week, I will be able  to use both the dishwasher and the garbage disposal.

Since we now have power to the microwave switch, we ditched our earlier decision to wait until January and decided to go out and get the over-the-range microwave.  Rick figured out our budget and said, "What's another $200? We are so on the edge right now that buying the microwave is not going to push us one way or the other."  So off we went to hhGregg to buy the microwave.  We can pick it up at the store on Saturday, so I am sure that I will be able to cook something in my new microwave by Sunday morning.  Truthfully, after waiting for so long to get this kitchen put together, I think that both of us just want it finished before we leave for Wisconsin.

Another project that I started -- but probably won't finish before we leave -- is to make some scatter pillows for the bedroom.  I purchased a yard of material that matches the bench cushion in the bedroom.  I have the pillow forms, but when I rolled out the material, I found a filthy dirt stripe where it was rolled on a cardboard roll for shipping.  I had to serge the edges to prevent raveling, and then I threw it in the washer.  The washing-machine gods heard my prayers because the material came out in a clean, intact fashion.  It needs a touch up with the iron, but that will come as a part of the sewing process.

My next challenge, of course, was where to put the sewing machine.  The glass dining room table did not seem like a good idea, and the cocktail table was too low.  The end tables were not big enough, so we ventured to the store to find some kind of foldable sewing table.  I felt like Goldilocks.  Some were too large, some were too heavy, some cost too much, and most were too cumbersome to put up or to flimsy to stay up.  In the end, I compromised with something that is sturdy and minimally acceptable.  As time goes on, I will look for something else.  For this year, my wonderful dresser-turned-sewing-table will have to do.

My "sewing table" in the guest bedroom.

We still have a multitude of small jobs to finish, and we both are of the attitude that if we do not get something completed this trip, we can always wait until January.  We are too tired, old, and winded to continue to race through the remodeling, so toddling along with small accomplishments each day is a welcome relief.  We actually may rediscover why we decided to come to Florida (Rick is looking at ads on his computer for beach umbrellas), and I have a new book I just downloaded on my Kindle waiting for me.

If he were still with us, today would have been my father's 98th birthday.  Happy Birthday, Dad! Happy August, everyone!

A Kitchen... Almost

The weekend was spent doing some smaller projects from our "to do" list including getting baseboard for the kitchen (which needed paint before we can install it) and putting in the last hinge on the master bath cabinet.  We both needed a break, so we actually took some time to sit down and watch some of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Dave came today to install the rest of the kitchen cabinets.  We now have an almost fully-functioning kitchen.  I say "almost" because we cannot install the kitchen sink and garbage disposal, nor can we hook up the dishwasher until the countertops come in.  For now, though, I have cupboards into which I can arrange all of my kitchen goods.  I even have an almost complete pantry. Two brackets were still missing from the final count, so we have to wait until Wednesday for those to come in.

Rick spent time over the weekend adding electrical outlets under the non-existent sink so we have electricity for the dishwasher.  Even though the position was not the most comfortable, it was still easier to wire an outlet under the sink without the sinking hanging overhead.  He also did not have to contend with what will be an almost coiled snake-like configuration of plumbing pipes under the sink.  The sink cabinet was moved to the left to accommodate a bank of drawers, and as a result, Rick is facing some interesting and rather difficult plumbing to get everything connected.  Pray, folks.  Lindsay does not call her father Chief Running Water for nothing!

I spent the morning prepping for classes at NWTC this fall, and Rick spent his time painting the above-mentioned baseboard.  As the morning progressed, the clouds started to roll in.  By this time, Rick was painting the first coat on the front doors.   The distant thunder reminded us that we were in Florida, and that this was, indeed, summertime.  As the skies darkened, the thunder roared louder like a lion steadily approaching his prey.  Just as we got the newly painted baseboard inside and Rick finished the first coat on the front doors, the skies opened up.  Thankfully, the front doors are pretty well protected with a two-foot overhang, so although the rain came from the west (the Gulf of Mexico), it was not accompanied by too strong of winds.  The front doors were safe. I will include a picture later after we get the blue painter's tape off the frame and door handles.  For now, though, Gladys is really starting to look pretty spiffy!

Cupboards full of dishes and an installed dishwasher are starting to make
this look like an inviting kitchen.

The missing cupboard (upper left of refrigerator) came in,
so dave was able to install the rest of the cupboards.

A full pantry gives me more space than I will
ever be able to fill with food.

After lunch, Dave finished the cabinets and departed.  I spent most of the afternoon trying to figure out what was going where.  I still have an almost empty lazy-Susan in the lower corner, and at least four upper shelves that hold nothing.  My pull-out spice rack needed to have a shelf removed to realistically store things, but that still leaves me with more room than I have ever had for spices.  We also added a couple of shelves to two cabinets to better maximize the storage space.  The cupboard above the refrigerator is totally empty, and the one above the stove only holds two little plastic microwave dishes. I think I have enough room in this kitchen to last me a very long time.

Naturally, countertops on everything will be great.
The open-top spice rack cabinet next
to the stove makes access to the
salt very easy, however.

We both think that the transformation is incredible. What was once a tiny, inadequate 1960's kitchen that only filled half the room (since the other half was the eat-in part of the kitchen) is now a full kitchen which is open, airy, and very bright thanks to all of the windows.  And since the dining room is literally three steps away from the entry to the kitchen, we have a wonderful place to enjoy our meals without having to look at the stovetop, prep area, or sink.

The granite countertops come a week from today, so that only leaves me with one week before we fly home to enjoy a kitchen sink set in granite, a functioning dishwasher, and a new garbage disposal.  Ah, well, that will give me something to look forward to when we return to Gladys in January.

We haven't seen Sam in a very long time.  Perhaps he was avoiding our front yard since we have had trucks and workers coming and going, or perhaps he really was watching my new kitchen going in.  He may have been waiting until now to see if with a new kitchen I will be serving some delectable, sauteed screwdrivers soon!

Garbage and Granite

In the past two days, we have been working on little projects around the house.  We cleaned out the rest of the backyard (or so we thought), we moved in to what parts of the cabinets we could in the kitchen, and we met with the granite people for them to measure the kitchen.

The backyard was a jungle of pepper trees, cherry laurels, overgrown shrubs, and mother-in-law tongues when we bought the house.  We had the crew come in this past June to remove the pepper trees and cherry laurels.  They also were supposed to remove the stumps, but the rest of the garden was so overgrown that they could not get to most of the larger trunks.  We spent the last couple of days digging out the rest of the mother-in-law tongues and chopping down the worst of the bushes.  We called Boen Tree Service to come back in to give us a bid on removing the last tree and making good on our contract for stump removal.  Jeff from Boen talked to us about removing all of the vegetation that was left since the cactus and cherry laurel were both on the fence line that we want to add.  I have to admit that I would love to plant hibiscus, bird-of-paradise, and other colorful shrubs in the back yard.  So all of the remaining trees and shrubs go except for what I thought was a magnolia tree in the corner.  Turns out that is an old-fashioned gardenia bush/tree that Jeff suggested we just prune down to about 6 feet. Proves how much I know about vegetation.  Even with a book on Florida shrubs, I guess wrong.  The rest will go so we can start fresh with the back yard in the spring. Now if only I can get that money tree to grow when we get back to Wisconsin...

The upper cabinets needed Rick's attention
and several more Tapcon screws before I
would even THINK of adding a microwave.

The move into the kitchen still is not complete.  As we became more acquainted with the cabinets,  we found things that were again disappointing.  You must understand that when Rick builds anything, the lumber is solid, thick, and heavy.  These cupboards are NOT of that quality.  Although the doors are nice, the boxes of the cabinets are less than thick and heavy.  We have to remind ourselves that this is a vacation house, and that we will just need to treat the cabinets with tender, loving care. Rick added Tapcon screws to a couple of the upper cabinets which made me feel better about putting things inside them. We are not overly confident in the installer of the cabinets, either.  More screws will go into the walls before we will feel confident in their ability to hold our kitchen goods.  With Rick's intersession,  I know that the upper cabinets now will not fall off the wall.

Another item we have to purchase for the kitchen is a new microwave. We researched over-the-range microwaves and have decided that they are all pretty shoddy.  We have a countertop microwave that works, so we will wait until January to purchase a new microwave for the kitchen. We DID purchase and install a pull-out garbage can for one of the lower cabinets.  If we had bought the cabinet-maker's garbage can, it would have cost us $250.00, but I wanted one like I have in Green Bay which cost us less than $45.00 at Lowe's.

After we met with Jeff at Boen's, we travelled down to St. Petersburg to go to Depot Granite.  We were told when we selected the granite slabs that as soon as they came to make the template for the kitchen, we could come to the company and select what parts of the granite slabs we wanted to use for each portion of the kitchen.  We are so glad that we took this opportunity to choose exactly what we wanted since the bottom part of the slabs had a richer, deeper color than the top parts of the slab.  We both are excited with the results, and we cannot wait to see it all installed. Getting the granite installed also means that we can install the kitchen sink, garbage disposal, and dishwasher.  No more washing dishes in the bathroom sink.  Yeah! The Depot Granite scheduled our installation for Monday, August 6.

Before we left for the Depot Granite, we heard a knock on the door. (No one can figure out that that palm tree hanging on the entryway wall is really a doorbell!)  The person at the door was our neighbor who lives kitty-corner from us across the street.  She introduced herself as Barbie, and she turned out to be a delightful, although somewhat nosey, woman.  She knew that we were teachers from Green Bay, Wisconsin, and she shared all of the gossip of the neighborhood.  She said that she would keep an eye on our house and assured us that if anything seems out of place, she is not shy about calling the authorities.  I guess that is a good thing, although I now know that we cannot have any wild parties at a backyard Tiki bar unless we invite Barbie!

Yesterday, Rick took down the 2 x 4 structure that held my kitchen sink and countertop for the last year. That was gratifying for it showed that we were moving forward.  Today we took the sink out of the countertop, cut the remaining countertop into two pieces, and put it on top of the lower cabinets so that we temporarily have prep space in the kitchen.

Gladys is starting to look like the sun-filled house that we envisioned last June.  Most of the rooms are back into livable order (with the exception of the main bathroom that now doubles as a kitchen sink), and we are starting to put things "in their place" so we can actually find something when we need it.

My friend Rose said that as soon as we get Gladys' kitchen installed, all we will need to do is to buy her a corsage.  That corsage will come next year in the form of a purple crepe myrtle tree and pink and white hibiscus bushes in the backyard.

Before and After

After a toss-and-turn, mostly sleepless night -- Rick because his years-ago-crushed-thumb would not stop throbbing and me because I could not turn off my mind-- we got up early to await the arrival of our new kitchen cabinets.

Michael promised to be here between 8:30 and 9:30.  At 9:30 he called and said that they were just leaving St. Petersburg and would be here in about 20 minutes.  Michael and Dave, his nephew who would be installing the cabinets, arrived at the promised time with a trailer full of cabinets.  Our excitement was abated a little when Michael told us that as he was picking up the cabinets, "they" (whomever THEY is) told him that one of the cabinets was still missing as was our crown moulding for the whole kitchen.  The missing cabinet was the upper cabinet located to the left of the refrigerator; happily, since it is an upper unit, its lack of appearance will not slow down the granite people from making templates for the countertop. (SIde note: we called them to come in on Wednesday, but they are so busy they will not be able to measure until Thursday.)

Our kitchen has undergone quite a transformation. Rather than writing about it all, I will let the pictures do the talking for us.

The 1960's kitchen in March 2011 when we bought Gladys.

We have certainly come a long way with the way it was to what it has become now.

The kitchen from June 2011 until yesterday. Our dishes, silverware
and pots and pans have rested on a baker's rack for the last year.

The kitchen as we woke up to it this morning.

The kitchen as it looks tonight. The "hole" between the
two cabinets to the right is where the stove will go,
and the refrigerator will go next to the pantry.


                                                        

Looking south in the new kitchen.  The dishwasher will fill
this hole next to the sink cabinet.

The other accomplishment of the day was that Rick finished putting the
drawer fronts on the vanity in the bathroom.  Gladys is starting to look
like a real house!

Lessons Learned

We learned something yesterday: do not ever pick out a paint color, based on the paint swatches, while standing in the middle of the paint store.  We went to the "new" paint store we found in Seminole to seek other green paint.  We have decided that the green we tried two days ago just is not going to give us the look we want for this house.

When we went in, we took along a tag I had found hanging off the electrical meter on the back of the house.  That was more of the color I had in mind for the trim of the house.  The clerk at the store, a man with a deep New York accent named Frank, told me that the color of the tag was still going to be too yellow and that we would not be happy with that color either.  He then began to pull paint samples for us to look at, suggesting two in particular.  I thought, "Lord, no!" since both colors he pulled looked way too dark and too green/black drab.

"You can't judge them by how they look in the store," Frank said. "You have to get them out in the sunlight because that is how people are going to see them."  We took the sample of siding and the paint swatches out of the store into the bright sunlight. Wow!  What a difference!  The ugly, drab samples that I would not have picked out as even a possible color were now the deep, rich green that we had been looking for.  I would not have chosen either of those samples in a thousand years, but both Rick and I agreed that one called Rainforest Foliage was the color we both had in mind.

A better shade of green: Rainforest Foliage.

We brought the colors home, and Rick put a first coat on the back door.  We made the mistake of buying a too-fuzzy roller for the door, so we still have to remedy that situation with a shorter-knap roller, but a second coat should make the door finally turn out the color and texture that we want.

Of course, just as Rick was finishing the first coat of paint, the sky started to darken.  I looked to the east and said, "Ah, Rick, I think we need to finish soon.  We have a really nasty storm coming."

The old color (left) and the new color (right).

"It's not supposed to rain today," he said dismissively. Then I drew his attention to the eastern sky which was now a menacing shade of navy blue/ black. Just as we looked, the thunder rolled in from a distance.  While I brought the truck in closer to the house and covered the grill, Rick cleaned up the paint and ladders.  A flickering loss of power for an instant was enough to remind us to power down and unplug our computers, the printer, and the microwave.  I thought it best to be safe rather than sorry with the microwave since that may be our only means to heat food on Tuesday and Wednesday of the coming week while workers install my new kitchen cabinets.

The storm hit with all of the fury of Tropical Storm Debby.  We experienced 50 - 60 mile per hour winds (I am always amazed at how far palm trees can bend without breaking), torrential rain that came down in waterfall-like sheets of water, and window-shaking rumbles of thunder and lightning.  Thankfully, unlike Debby, the storm only lasted a couple of hours. We experienced no damage from this storm -- other than Rick's new paint job getting wet -- and a check of Steve and Chris' house today showed no damage to their structure either.

The last item to note deals with another lesson learned: if you find something in a store that you think might be right for your house, don't debate for half the summer before you buy it.  Just buy the darn thing, bring it home, and take it back if it does not work out.  (Sometimes we waste so much energy second-guessing ourselves!)  We found a mirror in our favorite consignment shop here in Dunedin that we thought might look nice over the sofa table near our front doors.  We were uncertain about the size though, so we did not buy it.  Further shopping this summer proved to us that the price was very reasonable, and nothing else that we saw seemed to be as nice as that mirror.  We visited the shop a second time, and the woman at the desk told us to bring it home and try it.  She said that they would take it back if it did not work.  We still hesitated.  Yesterday we went back for the third time, and this time we bought the mirror.  The owner of the store reiterated that if it was too large for the space, we could bring it back.

The new mirror in the living room entryway.

We brought it home, changed the wire on the back so it would hang horizontally, and put it up.  We had to do a little exchange from a table lamp to a floor lamp next to the table, but we are pleased with the results.

We have three weeks left here.  Part of us wants to stay and to take care of the million little tasks we have yet to complete here at the house, and part of us wants to return to family and friends in Green Bay.  Of course, the tickets are set for us to return to Wisconsin August 11, so we will be on the plane.  However, the lessons we have learned are life lessons that will serve us well no matter which state we wake up to in the morning.

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"?