Project Update

So we have a majority of the painting done. We decided that we are going to install crown molding, so that’s why the wall isn’t painted all the way. We just ordered some samples to see what we might like. The floor was installed Friday & Saturday (most of it anyway, we were just short so the closet in the office isn’t finished). We got the switches and new switch plates installed (lights are supposed to be in this week). So I thought I would post a couple of pictures. It’s difficult to take pictures in our hallway, so it’s a little dark.

  

   Hallway from gym         Where the 2 hallways come together

            Office                  New switches and plates in the hall

So last Friday we had a message on our answering machine warning us that there was a chicken in our yard. The message was absolutely hilarious…but anyway, by the time we got home there was no chicken. However, on Sunday the cats started going crazy and we looked out the window to find a chicken sitting on our fence. It jumped into the neighbor’s yard. We went over to the neighbor’s since they weren’t home to make sure they didn’t have a chicken floating in their pool and the chicken was chasing a cat through the yard. The whole thing was quite comical. So here’s a picture of our neighborhood chicken (we haven’t seen it since).

We also had a praying mantis…at least I think that’s what this is hanging out on the side of our house…doesn’t blend in so well on our white house!

Coco Bean

So everytime we do a project that involves a ladder, we are fighting with Coco Bean because she thinks it is great fun to climb them. Saturday Steve was in the attic and forgot to close the door to the closet behind him...a few minutes later he is yelling at me because Coco Bean climbed the ladder and is in the attic trying to make her way over to Steve. This clip showcases her ladder climbing ability.

Project Update

So, we've been VERY busy. Saturday we cleared an area for the Tuff Shed and built a pad to put it on. Saturday night I painted the coat closet. Sunday we installed a shelf in the coat closet and got all the computer server "stuff" installed and working...and now I get to repaint parts of the coat closet! And we built 3 extra shelves in the linen closet. We've also move the office into the family room until the floor is done. We've ripped up all the carpet and removed all the baseboards. It's been a busy week. Tomorrow a contractor is coming to grind down the high spots along the cracks in the foundation so we'll be in tolerance for the wood flooring...oh yeah...we did get a hold of the builder and even though they covered it last time they refused to cover the cracks this time. We decided it wasn't worth our time to fight it. So here are some pictures of the progress...

 

        Before the Tuff Shed                  After the Tuff Shed

       Here's the server shelf              Here's Coco Bean "Helping"

        

     New shelves (on the left)            Carpetless hallway

 

         Carpetless Office           Sam using Steve's tummy as a pillow

That's all for now. We're hoping to get the hallway painted this weekend...so maybe we'll have another update on Sunday.

Happenings

Let's see...I have a couple of weeks to catch up on.

We went to our family reunion in Irish Beach (just south of Mendocino) the weekend of the 15th. It was really great to see my parents and my sister's family as well as other relatives I haven't seen in a while....I couldn't believe how much Adam had already grown! He is such a great baby. The weather was pretty nice while we were there. It was a little foggy, but we did have some sun! We were able to take a family picture...which was great since it's not often that we are ALL together.

  

Here are some pics of Susan, Leevi, & Adam.

Last weekend we went back out to Mountain Winery. This time we ate their prix fix dinner. It was pretty good food. The only problem was the 5 gazillion (ok a little exaggeration) yellow jackets buzzing around us. I thought I was going have a little extra protein a couple of times I tried to take bites of my food. We went to see Steely Dan. It was a really good concert! We had a good time, but we didn't get home till around 11:45pm...did I mention this was Sunday night. I decided it would be good to sleep in Monday morning and go in a little later.

And now we've been working on our newest house project. Just like every other house project we've done...we've hit a snag. We tore the carpet and baseboards out our two closets and found a crack in our concrete foundation...we knew there were probably more throughout the hallway and so we cut the carpet in another location and sure enough there was another crack. So now we need to have those fixed before we can have the hardwood floor installed because the floor is crowned where the crack is and is over the tolerance for the flooring...this happened when we installed the floor in our front room too! Here are some pictures of our "mess" so far.

I'm having a VERY hard time picking a color for the hallway, so here are my MANY test patches!!

 

I'll try to update my blog a little more often...but I don't make any  promises!

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend!

Update...

I have been horrible about posting lately...so since the last "catching up" post we have...

1.  Gone to a comedy show here in town with our neighbors. The first couple of guys were horrible, but the last three were pretty good.

2. Started a new house project. We are going to replace the carpet in the hallway and office with hardwood floor. The flooring will be here on Monday, but as with ALL our house projects, Steve has managed to make it a bigger project than we originally had in mind. Since we're taking the carpet out...of course we have to paint...and since we're painting we should really do something with the lights...and since we're doing the lights we should also replace all the wall plates etc etc etc. Seems like the list never ends. So we are now in the process of trying to decide what color to paint the hall so we can pick some lights out so we know where to make electrical drops...but this will all be put on hold for a little longer since we have a pretty busy August.

3. Last Sunday through Tuesday we went with our neighbors to Don Pedro Lake. Our neighbors have a 40' motor home, a pontoon boat, and a jet ski. We had a great time with them. We had never been in their motor home even though we've probably walked by it 1000 times. It is SOOOO nice. I was going to take some pictures, but I forgot. We had beautiful weather for the most part. It was a little warm during the day, but since we were on the water it didn't matter much. Monday night was a little warm so I didn't sleep so well, but I've since recovered :) Here are some pictures of our trip...

   

Steve taking off on the jet ski    Just getting back on the jet ski

So a little side story about the jet ski...I had never been on one before and Steve had...so Steve rode the jet ski out when we left the docks. When we anchored the boat he took me out with him...and not more than 2 minutes into the ride he dumps us both!! Then he hadn't paid attention to where the safety was connected, so we spent 5 minutes trying to figure out how to reconnect the safety so the ski would start again...oh and for those who were wondering, yes it was me, not Steve who eventually figured out where it went. Also for those of you who don't already know this about my husband...he is a speed freak...the jet ski goes 60mph....and I wasn't so keen on him going that fast while I was with him...I had to keep telling him to slow down. I think he got up to around 50 with me on it...that was more than fast enough for me!!

    View from our campsite              Here's our camp setup

 

      Relaxing before dinner              Steve driving the boat

    The outhouse on the lake              View from on the lake

So our next adventure is coming up next weekend. We have a family reunion at Irish Beach (near Mendocino). My sister and her family are flying into McKinleyville tonight. I can't wait to see everyone!!

Catching Up

So, this past week has been somewhat busy. We went to a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert at Mountain Winery on Wednesday night. The concert was absolutely great!! We had so much fun. One of the companies that Steve works with has box seats for their summer concert series. The seats were definitely the best in the house.  The box seats had individual seats you could move around so you could get up and dance. There were complimentary appetizers, beer, and wine. It's an outdoor venue that is beautiful. Mountain Winery, as it's name implies, is on the top of a mountain in Saratoga. They have a picnic area and a parking lot that looks down on the San Jose...what a spectacular view!! I wish I had some pictures to post, but the pictures Steve took with his cell phone turned out horrible :) We're looking forward to going to another concert there this summer. We're checking into the availability of tickets from the company Steve works with. We're hoping maybe Steely Dan will be next. You can check out their concert series on their website here Mountain Winery.

So on to the projects this weekend...we finally finished the front door!!! At first we thought we were going to have to buy a new front door because the handles were not the same length. After some close inspection we figured we could patch the small hole and it wouldn't be notices...which fortunately turned out to be the case. So we painted the door and installed the new hardware (which took a few tries :)). We also had to paint the shudders above the front door since they were the same color. In the end I was happy with the way it turned out. If you remember, I posted a while ago about being concerned with the color of the hardware and the new light..but I think it looks fine. What do you think?

 

                Before                                        After

We also managed to get some yard work done this weekend. The new area in the back was in need of a little TLC. I pruned back some plants and cleaned up a few dead leaves...and what a difference it made! Steve sprayed for ants...since it seems like there are millions in the yard...they can stay there as long as they don't come in the house! And after all that I also managed to get in a couple of workouts and a swim in the neighbors pool. All in all it was a good weekend.

Camping

We went camping at Standish Hickey State Park over 4th of July weekend. We met my parents and my uncle. It was absolutely perfect weather...got to maybe 85 on Saturday and cooled down into the 50's at night. We went on lots of walks around the campground...and had some delicious (as always) gourmet dutch oven meals. I think...no I know...camping revolves around food. We always have carnitas tacos (courtesy of my dad) on Friday night and carnitas hash and cinnamon rolls from scratch on Saturday morning. My dad recently got in to roasting his own coffee beans, so he brought his popcorn popper camping and we roasted some coffee. It smells a little funky during the roasting process, but boy did it taste good in the morning!!! Below are the green coffee beans

                

Below is the roasting process...you have to blow off the bean sheaths (I don't think that's what it's really called, but I can't remember the name).

         

And finally you have beautifully roasted coffee beans!!! Go Dad!

             

Here were a couple of our wild life finds...one huge banana slug and an inch worm.

        

Here are a couple of pictures Steve took when he and my dad went down to the river.

        

The name of the game for the weekend is to RELAX...which is exactly what we did. My mom and I did a little scrapbooking and the guys made their trip to the store for ice and sat around reading.

       

       

My uncle always cooks dinner on Saturday night...it changes, but is ALWAYS delicious. This year it is was chicken and pesto pasta.  Isn't it pretty?!!

                            

And for dessert...chocolate pudding cake with tag-team whipped cream. I think we all got our forearm workout whipping the cream!!

          

Sunday morning was another first...we had biscuits (again from scratch) and gravy with sausage...mmmm good!

I love going camping!!! We always have such a great time. Can't wait for the next time!