Lights, Ceilings, and Birds

Robert went to shoot the texture on the ceiling in the master bedroom today after work.  I helped him a little, and took picture of the lights in the kitchen so I could go SHOPPING!

Here's the lights under the cabinets.  I'm missing a couple of the "bulbs", so I need to figure out what kind they are and get some more.

 Here's another shot of under the cabinets . . .

 

 This is the light in the dining area.  I think it's too long for above the bar, so it's probably going on craigslist, unless I can find another place for it.  It's one of the few fixtures in the house I actually LIKE, it's just not large enough.

 

 Here's a close up of the lights over the bar.  It still has a sticker that says "Made in Italy".  I'm sure they are nice, just not our style.  These WILL be going on craigslist. 

Here's a close up of the track lighting in the kitchen.  I could tell from the ceiling that they used to have a florescent lighting fixture that ran length wise between the vent and the smoke detector.

Here's the light over the sink.  I think we need a short pendant light here.  (and we need to get rid of the scallop trim)

I think if we just pull of the scallop trim, it will be pretty easy to put some crown molding between the doors and the sofit.

The previous owners retro-fitted the microwave in this cabinet space, and put baskets up above in this opening.  I think I'll probably put some greenery or something.  Or . . . I might have to make something decorative.

Here's the stove top that doesn't work.  It looks like the "plug" needs to be hard wired, because it's not connected to anything underneath the cabinet.

Hooked up my new tractor sprinkler in the backyard.  It works great!

  

 Robert started shooting the texture on the master bedroom ceiling today.  It looked pretty tough to do, and the box of texture that he bought didn't cover the whole ceiling.  He'll have to finish it, and go back over some of the spots this weekend.

 

 After he shoots it on, he lets it dry for a couple of minutes, then you have to knock it down with this tool . . . and then it looks like the texture of an orange peel.

 

The ceiling in the living room will have to be hired out . . . no way Robert can do 16 foot high ceilings.

I don't know what I'm going to do with all this cabinet space!!  In my current kitchen, I have 7 small drawers, 3 upper cabinets, and 4 lower cabinets  . . . I have like 4 times as much in this kitchen!

 

Before I left, I just sat on the back deck watching the birds in the backyard.  It's so peaceful back there . . . I could sit there for hours.

Kitchen Lighting??

Now that we have electricity, I'm thinking about what we should do with the lighting situation in the kitchen.  This track lighting is NOT going to cut it.  It's not our style (want more of a oil rubbed bronze fixture), and it's SOOOO not bright enough.  I'm used to these ugly florescent fixtures that we have in the kitchen here in Mansfield, because it's SO bright.  It looks like I'm going to have some space issues, because of the AC vent and the smoke detector right next to it?  So, before we mess with getting the popcorn ceiling down . . . we need to figure out the lighting, in case we have to wire and create holes for can lighting (or whatever??)
 

These red fixtures have GOT to go!  And the light over the kitchen table is WAY too small.  I might just move that light over the bar (if it's not too long?)  We need a bigger fixture for the dining area.  I can't remember if there is a light over the sink too?  I'll have to take more pictures tomorrow, and go shopping!

We have electricity!

Yeahhh!! I hadn't even seen some of the rooms with the lights on until now.  It's been turned off every time we went and checked it out. We also have a working air conditioner, and it works great.  Water is on, so now we can take a shower or clean up after a full day of work. 

We both went over after work for a couple of hours.  I cleaned up the dried up plaster on the floors, and Robert sanded and spackled the ceilings.  He'll be re-shooting texture up soon. 

Here's a couple "before" and "during" shots from today . . .


Guest room "before" . . .

Guest room during . . .

was VERY happy to get rid of that wallpaper border!

Hobby room before above . .

 . . and during to the left. 

Living room and entry way before and during . . .

 

The master bathroom before and during - this is one of the rooms that I hadn't really "seen" since we didn't have lights before. 

That's about it for today.  Not sure I'll make it over there tomorrow after work, since it's Robert's birthday . . . and I have to get other stuff done.

It's Official! We're homeowners!!

We signed the closing documents on Thursday at 4pm, and were notified about 24 hours later that the funding went thru and the house was officially ours . . . good thing, since we had "officially" taken possession of it Thursday evening by taking the keys out of the lock box.  We immediately went to Lowe's and bought new front and back door hardware . . .

a doggie door, a lawn spreader and some weed and feed . . .


Friday morning, we went over and got straight to work.  Robert started work on the doggie door.  There was a small door already there, but don't think Chili could even get his head thru it.  It was a lot of work, and I think it's going to turn into a lot MORE work, since we will need to replace the siding on the outside, and the sheet rock on the inside.

(gosh, wish I woulda taken a picture of the outside AFTER I cleaned up all the trash!!  LOL)

At least I cleaned up the inside!  :)  We were planning on taking down the bead board stuff anyway.

While Robert worked on this most of the day, I trimmed the holly trees in the front that were WAY out of control and mowed the yard.  I also had to go to city hall to get the water turned on, and BACK to Lowe's to get a hose and sprinkler. 

Since we don't have electricity yet (doesn't get turned on until Monday), we don't have AC and no lights . . . so it gets pretty warm in the house, and can't work too late.  Robert was able to change the locks on the back door Friday before we left, but not the front door.

 Saturday, Robert went over to the house before me to get a jump start.  I went to Sears to buy a weed eater/edger.


He changed the locks on the front door, and started taking the popcorn ceiling off of in the master bedroom.

This is definitely not a fun job!!

Still need some electricity, so we can vacuum up all the plaster from the ceiling.  After it dries, I rake it into the middle of the floor (carpet to be replaced, this is why we are doing this NOW)



























These flowers were waiting for me when I got there Saturday morning.  Guess they just needed to be uncovered underneath the holly trees . . .

The next project was the tree trimming in the back yard.  The lower line that that you can really see
crossing in front of the tree is the phone line.  Robert actually just yanked that down.  We don't use a home phone, so "project complete".  The higher line that you can barely see in this picture, is actually the power line.  It starts right here in the pic.

So, removing the limbs that were too close to the power line was VERY scary for me!  I'm not sure if Robert was as freaked out as I was . . . but during the process I was curled up in a ball, crying my eyes out on the deck for at least 3 minutes!!!  One of the limbs got caught up on the power line for what seemed like an eternity (even though, I'm sure it was only a couple of seconds).  We don't even have any electricity to the house yet, but I do NOT like even the chance of something happening.

Everything looks much better now, except for all the limbs laying all over the yard that need to be picked up!

The tree trimming wasn't the only traumatic event for the day.  On the way home, Robert had to slam on his brakes to keep from hitting someone, and Chili must have been hanging too far out of the back window . . . and somehow ended up being "ejected" from the truck?  Robert doesn't know how it happened.  He just knows that he looked back, and Chili was gone.  He stopped in the middle of the road, and found Chili.  He was pretty shaken up, and had a little limp, and was VERY scared to get back in that MEAN OLD TRUCK that threw him out, but Robert helped him into the front, and he layed his head on his lap the rest of the way home.  His face is a little scraped up, but he has nothing else wrong with him.  I swear that dog has 9 lives . . . we need to get him a seat belt or something!  We left him at the rent house today to get some rest.  Poor baby.

Today we returned to Lowe's and bought paint and a shop vac.  We are really warn out, so we didn't spend too much time at the house.  I painted some test swatches on the walls, fertilized the yard, and Robert took the popcorn off of the other bedrooms and the entry way.

Tomorrow, we'll have electricity . . . and can really get going.  Crossing my fingers that that AC works good!!

Blog Renovation . . .

Well, I obviously gave up on the picture a day thing about a year ago.  (but, they are still fun to look back at!)  So, after 6 months of pure torture trying to buy this foreclosure, and being about a week away from closing (GOD I HOPE THIS TIME!!!) . . I thought this blog would be a good place to keep track of all the before and afters, the dollars saved, the home-made projects, etc.

So, let's start with Sunday's project that bled into today.  We used to have a down comforter with a duvet cover.  I've had it for years, before I even met Robert (which was 5 years ago), so way past time to be replaced.  Plus, Robert hated it because it was too warm.  I told him I would hunt down a quilt . . and then in the winter I'd put a blanket into the mix and maybe even a down comforter folded at the bottom.  I shopped online Saturday night, and sadly realized I had champagne taste on a beer budget . . .there was NO way I was paying $500 for a quilt (or even over $100) when Chili, our Rottweiler, loves to jump up in the bed.  I went out shopping on Sunday thinking that I wouldn't have much luck, but the VERY first stop I made (Kohls) I found the PERFECT quilt!  It was $80, then with the 15% off I got it for $68.  That's my kinda deal.  They didn't have the shams, but didn't really want them anyway.  Then I was off to Sears, where they had pillows buy one get one free . . . so I got two king size pillows for $25, and 2 standard pillows for $20.  They are supposed to keep you cooler.  Then I got a set of tan sheets, and a pair of brown pillow cases (don't remember the prices on those, don't think they were on sale?)  Then, today I went hunting for some cute pillows at Target.  The white one was $20, and the blue one was $25.

The blue one is way cuter than this picture makes it look.  The white stitching is really handmade looking.  So, here's the finished project.  I already had the throw, and all the other accessories.  

May 30, 2011

Happy Memorial Day! This is a picture of my dad's dad and my mom's dad when they were serving our country! Felix left the service after World War II for a civilian life, and Don re-enlisted in the Air Force and didn't retire until 1971.

May 29, 2011

Like we needed the calories!! . . . but they were OH so cute, and perfect for Memorial Day weekend . . . I just HAD to make them. Now, if I could just freeze half of them and not eat them ALL this weekend!! Nahhhhhhhh! haha

May 28, 2011

Here's the latest video game. Was waiting a couple of weeks to buy used at a MUCH cheaper price, and got it Friday. Robert and I have to both play though . . . he has to get me thru the shooting scenes, and I have to get him thru the investigation scenes.

May 27, 2011

It's POOL TIME! Hey, man . . . don't judge . . . I'm on a budget! :) It was only $25 and it's PERFECT! Big enough for my floatie and for Robert to sit in the corner (if he even wants in? he didn't get in last year's pool much). We still have the stairs for last years pool, haven't knocked them down . . . just in case we wanna high dive! :)

May 24, 2011

This Casey Anthony trial is SO interesting to me. Today was the opening arguments, and the defense dropped a bombshell by saying that Casey was molested as a child, and that Caylee drowned in the family pool . . . Can't WAIT to see this unfold!

[No picture for the next 2 days . . . personal journaling in my scrapbook]

May 23, 2011

Tornado season seems SO bad this year! I don't remember this many, with this many deaths, and the complete devastation that this year's tornado's are causing! This is a picture from the Joplin, MO tornado on Sunday.

May 22, 2011

Happy Birthday Sweetie! Hope you enjoyed your relaxing day! I love you!