Category: A HOUSE FROM HELL

MID WEEK UPDATE on the MINIIMIZING DONATION PROJECT

Just a quick update.  In the past three days we’ve gotten quite a bit done despite my lack of energy! 897 items since Sunday have been donated, now some of those are things like Pendaflex folders and recipe cards that I counted individually because they weren’t in sets. The items below are yet to be wrapped and boxed, but we did drop off a load this morning at the Women’s Shelter Resale store which made more room.  There were 3 BIG bags of baskets taking up a lot of space as well as the three 30 gallon totes so I was happy to empty the car.

I did get the baseboard all painted in the living room and atrium as well as get the whole house vacuumed.

But the greatest find was this super sweet letter our niece, Amber wrote us back in 2008 when she left for home after a 2 week visit. 

CAPTAIN’S LOG-DAY 246, WEEK 3 MONTH 8 UPDATE

It’s been awhile since I did a decent update on the house so thought I’d sit and chat for awhile. We’ve been quite busy doing a ton of the “LITTLE” finish projects and I’ve been fighting side affects of the cure to a disease that’s actually worse than the disease itself or so it seems. So, my energy level is almost non-existent and I’m happy to get anything done. While not being able to get as much done physically I have finally gotten through ALL of my aunt’s magazines that my uncle brought over.  I’m sure it’s just in time for the next load he’ll brings.  Anyway, on to the update.

Hubby got me a father’s day present.  LOL, yeah I’m not a father, but he promised me one of these for my studio 10 years ago for my birthday and it never happened so now is the time.  I can’t wait to get organized – finally a place for everything – now to get everything in its place.

We did finally get the floor in the studio closet and then I built the cubbies on the side walls for storage.  For some reason I didn’t get a picture of those yet, but will do that for Happy Homemaker Monday.

Hubby has been working hard get the garage walls reinforced with pressure treated wood.  He’s then sistering the old studs and finishing the walls.

I have been on a very specific diet (20 carbs or less a day) per doctor’s orders, but did manage to get a couple new recipes tried and will get the recipes posted soon.

The mosquitoes are horrendously bad this year!  So, I’m planting Citronella all around trying to make a less friendly environment for them.

Hubby and I decided to finally get the living room TV hung today, but it turned into an ALL day project – one of those domino effect projects.  While we were getting ready to mount it we realized that the cabinets below where it was going to be needed to be raised for the bottom doors to clear the future carpet.  This meant we had to empty the cabinets of ALL their contents and move them.  By raising the cabinets we also found we then needed to relocate the power for the TV and accessories which required cutting a couple new holes.  At least I did get all the games, CD’s and DVD’s sorted through and donated a bunch while organizing the rest.  Love these CHEETAH mounts though!

6 MONTH UPDATE

I realized I hadn’t done an update recently on our LIFE IN REMODEL.  Besides working on this project we call a house we have been dealing with a critical situation with my sick aunt. She could use everyone’s prayers to pull through this. What little time I had before is non-existent now so, I’ll make this quick. 

This week has NOT gone at all as planned.  It Started with Sunday night and early Monday morning with 17.2 inches of rain and the shut down one of the largest cities in the country.  Fortunately we did not have any serious flooding with our house, but the garage and back yard are another story.  I did walk down and take this picture of the overflowing bayou not too far from our house.  The birds were enjoying the fresh water.  Tuesday brought another downpour and then Wednesday did too as well as Thursday!  Friday and Saturday have been downright gorgeous though!

These are those great fire proof file cabinets we bought at Habitat for Humanity to organize hubby’s garage.  He’s working hard to get organized and do his part for this month’s minimalist challenge to eliminate our excess of stuff.

The rest of the flooring finally came in for the kitchen and alcove off the master bedroom and we got that laid.  As you can see finish molding needs to be next on our list.  We’re going to use the same flooring in the spare bathroom and hope to get that down this next week.

I’ve been working a bit more on that “TRASH to TREASURE” mirror project.  As you can see in this top picture we now have it screwed to the wall, but now I needed to find a way to disguise the screws.  I found some cut balsa wood pieces at the craft store and used 2 pieces to build the design below.  I hope to get it all painted and finished on Monday. I’ll do a follow up once the bathroom is finished.

We finally got the spare bedroom emptied, carpet, padding and tack strip removed.  Then we began to paint and paint and paint again.  The walls were like sponges – so thirsty! As you can see I tried one color and then another until I was happy with it.

The flooring went in fairly smoothly! YAY, we needed a break. The flat woven rug I originally chose for the dining room is in here now and I have to say I’m really liking it. Hubby got the spacers removed and the baseboard up today so we could move furniture in.  I’m still painting the larger dresser in the garage and there will be a chair that has yet to be purchased, but ALL in ALL I’m liking it! We’re calling this the “family room” because every photograph or art piece was done by a friend or family member.

Once again we cut it pretty short.  This is all that was left over from the flooring.

30 DAY MINIMALIST CHALLENGE

As you know we have been working around the clock to get things under control in this house.  Just to recap, we made a deal to come here last October and rehab my grandparent’s old place that my cousin had been in since 1993 when my grandfather passed away.  She passed away in 2014 and the house sat. Sigh. The hard part was that my uncle did not have a real clue as to how bad the house was under the “clutter” of my cousin’s things.  He was trying to work on it, still work and take care of my aunt who has Alzheimer’s disease.  So as you can imagine, it wasn’t getting done.  He told us it was going to need some cleaning out, paint and a little TLC.  Let me just say that my uncle had no real idea and that if we had not had our elderly animals with us, we would have turned around immediately gone back!

Even working long hours and at a fast pace it took us over 6 weeks to trash and donate the clutter so we could even get started.  

The house ended up needing EVERYTHING! from the foundation up.  We have now replaced ALL fixtures, electrical, plumbing, cabinets, windows and are almost done with the flooring as well as everything in between.  Our things had been in storage for several years and quite honestly we have been OVERWHELMED dealing with ALL of gram’s and gramp’s things and all of Beth’s things too as well as ALL of ours now in the midst of a MAJOR construction zone.

But the construction zone has become a home – I can cook real food and move forward with getting settled in! Our home is still full of boxes full of things that need permanent homes and I’m still a little bit overwhelmed.

Even though we don’t have a lot of stuff (we’re still currently missing crucial furniture – sofa, chairs, coffee table), we have a ton of stuff. Seeing everything piled high and wondering “Where am I going to put this?” is exhausting for both of us so we’re going to do something about it. We’ve been making regular trips to our local donation sight, but it’s NOT enough.  I’ve been setting aside anything that could be sold on Ebay, but that pile is HUGE and I want a fresh start. So this is like the shampoo bottle says, Lather, Rinse and Repeat. 

So here on day 180, our 6 month mark as a house warming gift to ourselves, we’re beginning a 30 Day Minimalist Challenge. For the last 6 months we have been living VERY basically so believe that we won’t even miss many of the things we choose to get rid of. Even though we already got rid of TONS of things, I bet I can still meet this challenge.  I originally found this idea on a blog about 2 years ago.  It’s pretty simple, and brilliant, really. Every day, for thirty days, you remove (trash, donate, or sell) items from your home.

Day 1 – 1 item
Day 2 – 2 items
Day 3 – 3 items
Day 4 – 4 items
And so on, until you reach day 30 and are removing 30 items. That’s AT LEAST 465 items we’ll get rid of. One of the hardest parts is keeping the inventory list, but I just found a clip board and put an old spiral notebook on it to keep it handy for the month to come.

Donation inventories and receipts to date for 2016 – hope to double this over the next 30 days. 

BTW that’s my new carpet those pages are laying on, do you like it?

GREAT START TO THE WEEK!

Thought I would do a short update before I do my normal Monday blog hopping. I have high hopes for the week and Monday did not disappoint!  The studio floor that started out poorly yesterday went lickety split today with hubby’s help. We even got the hallway done also.

This is where I began yesterday.
This is where I ended yesterday.
This is where we ended today – the floor ALL in and the furniture in place.  I even got all the felt pieces under the furniture as we went.
The hallway meshed up with the living room, bathroom and spare bedroom well.  We’re not sure yet whether we can salvage the carpet in the spare bedroom, but we’re sure going to try.  It’s in good shape except for a couple “unknown” stains.
It finally feels a bit more like a house!
When we bought the flooring they only had 10 boxes which is 13 square feet LESS than we calculated that we needed.  Fortunately we had VERY LITTLE waste and this is all we had left!

BYE BYE YELLOW, HELLO CRISP GREEK VILLA

So far it has been a VERY productive week.  We decided to take a break from flooring today -since we need to go buy more flooring plus it’s getting hard to scoot around on our butts day after day.

So hubby worked on the spare bathroom and a few odd projects while I started on the studio paint.

I could NOT wait to get rid of this horrible yellow in my studio.  Don’t get me wrong, yellow is a perfectly acceptable, bright and even pretty color.  BUT, it belongs on flowers and such NOT walls!! And of course this room needed the most patching so it also took the longest! It took me ALL day, but the entire room and ceiling has now had 2 coats and ALL the yellow is gone! Now to find the right flooring for here!
Have you ever seen this trick?  I taught hubby today and he thinks I walk on water now.  He was putting up the Wainscotting in the spare bathroom and came across an area that had 3 cut outs.  You can measure and draw it all out, but I read somewhere that if you use lipstick and then put your wood up against so you’ll know EXACTLY where to cut.
I don’t normally pay much attention to other people’s trash, but this mirror that my neighbor was throwing out caught my attention the other day.  It was actually quite ugly, but I figured painted it white it might just be what we needed for the spare bathroom.
So I taped up the actual mirror and started on all the crevices with canned air to clean it up. Then 3 coats of white paint later we have a winner for the spare bathroom. It was getting humid outside so I brought it in to finish drying, but forgot to get a better picture before I set it aside to finish drying.
But the true high point of the day was my dining room rug was delivered! We just LOVE it!
And a sure sign of spring, my air ferns started blooming!

MID WEEK UPDATE

So far we are getting quite a bit accomplished this week.  Yesterday we FINALLY started on the laundry area.  LOL we had to since we wanted to finish the kitchen floor and the old laundry area “framework” was in the way.  To make things funnier we ran out of flooring today before we actually got that far.

This wall has been a sore spot for quite awhile and was the first thing opened up after they stared the foundation work because of the plumbing they broke so we’ve been anxious to get this done.  At first glance it doesn’t look so bad, but there are SO MANY things happening here – like the rotting header above and the collapsing water heater base below.
If you look close you’ll see 2 white PVC pipes.  If you look even closer you’ll see that the yellower one connects to nothing LOL
Looking a little better, but so far yet to go.
After I opened the outer wall I found this mess.  At least this rat’s nest really was old and abandoned, but got really freaked out by the egg shells below.  Needless to say I took a really long and really hot shower as soon as we were done with this area!  Today was trash day also so everything was bagged and out of here ASAP!
I just don’t understand how a professional installed this new water heater 2 1/2 years ago and did so on this rotted collapsing base instead of bring it to code.
New header and temporary ceiling.  Finishing this area will be a multi-stage process involving the electrician and plumber, but at least it is ready for the next step now.  The water heater closet is getting moved to the far right behind the door. To the left of that will be a stacking washer and dryer set.  To the left of that will be 3 feet of base cabinet and 3 feet of upper cabinets to match the rest of the kitchen.
Back to buy more flooring, but so much better than the slab we’ve been walking on!

HAPPY HOMEMAKER & MENU PLAN MONDAY

We had quite a bit of progress on the master bathroom this past weekend and I’m looking forward to refinishing the shower on Tuesday. Once the shower is finished the only thing left to do will be the last coat of paint, at least in the master bath!

WEATHER OUTSIDE
It is WAY too warm for the first week in March!  I’m hoping we cool down a bit for actual spring when it hits.  We are supposed to get hit with a HUGE storm thus week.  As of now they are predicting over 3 inches of rain each day on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, but today is just overcast and getting a bit windy.

TO DO FOR THE WEEK
Today I will be running ALL my errands for the week, so it will be a long day.  I also want to go see my aunt today. She is home from the hospital (which I think is a mistake, but Medicare will only pay for 2 weeks of a rehab facility despite the doctor saying she cannot put any weight on the leg for 8 weeks).  Rehab now comes to her and my uncle is left with trying to keep her off her leg.  With hr Alzheimers this is a difficult task for him – she just plain forgets.  With the storm they are predicting I don’t want to be ANYWHERE out in traffic this week.

CURRENTLY READING

TELEVISION / DVR
Whatever happens our way as we collapse in exhaustion each day.

CRAFTS & PROJECTS
I have been acquiring the parts to make some beautiful wind chimes, decorative wall crosses, personalized pillow cases, homemade dryer sheets and fun pincushions.

HOUSE PROJECTS
This week we are hoping to finish painting the last coat on the living room, install the new living room fan and do the walls in the spare bathroom.  I have tons of “detail” work to finish in the master bathroom, but we did finally achieve running water, a flushing toilet and even a door this past weekend.

KITCHEN WISHES
The washer and dryer are REALLY on their last legs.  I’m praying they hold out another month so they can be part of the April budget, but we found our new ones by accident on Saturday and wish we were more ready for them, but we still need to do the walls, ceiling and move the water heater to bring it to code and that will take time and money.  I didn’t used to be fond of stackables, but these I think I will like.  They will also give me 36 inches more of kitchen counter space!

MENU PLANS FOR THE WEEK
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
BREAKFAST
YOGURT & FRUIT
SCRAMBLED EGGS & CHEESE
FRUIT SMOOTHIE
YOGURT & FRUIT
MAPLE OATMEAL & RAISINS
EGGS in the CLOUDS
BACON & EGGS
LUNCH
FRUIT & CHEESE
SOUP & CRACKERS
SANDWICH
OUT
MEAT & CHEESE
LEFTOVERS
SANDWICHES
DINNER
C.O.R.N.
C.O.R.N.
C.O.R.N.
POTATO CRUSTED BEER BRAISED CORNED BEEF & CABBAGE
SMOKY ROAST CHICKEN
SPAGHETTI CHILI
DETROIT CONEY DOGS
DESSERT

THINGS THAT ARE MAKING ME HAPPY

  • NOT having to go to the other end of the house to use the bathroom in the middle of the night.
  • Completed projects

FAVORITE PHOTO FROM THE CAMERA
I was in need of some spring color and LOVE Lantana so bought a couple to plant near the front door.  They grow and spread so fast, are easy to keep pruned and are ALWAYS full of color!

INSPIRATION

Be sure to link up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for Happy homemaker Monday and with Laura at I’m an Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday.

DAY 128 RANDOM UPDATE towards the LIGHT at the END of the TUNNEL

We are a LONG way from done, but we rounded a HUGE corner today!  Two BIG things that were weighing on our progress were the 3 VERY LARGE pieces of furniture that were still here taking up real estate in our living room and the need to paint  a 20 foot ceiling and wall as well as sealing around the triangular windows at the 20 foot height.

BEFORE

The painters were here for 5 hours doing the one room, but the wood had not been painted in 40 years and after 5 gallons of paint and 3 coats we decided that it looked perfect the way it was.  I will have to do some touch up after we install the linen cabinets tomorrow, but we are SOOOOO relieved to have it done and neither of us had to be on the ladder at that height.

1ST COAT
2ND COAT
AFTER

My uncle donated the desk, credenza and bookcase to his local volunteer fire department and they finally came and retrieved them today.  They showed up just after the painters left.  We can actually start painting the living room tomorrow and arrange for the carpeting! YAY!

HOMEMAKER & MENU PLAN MONDAY

We had a VERY productive week around here! I hope you had a great week too. We’re on day 125 on this house and getting VERY exhausted, but hoping to complete the living areas by Easter which we volunteered to host.  I also found some fun new recipes for Easter that I’ll share soon.

WEATHER OUTSIDE
LOL it’s TOO warm and drizzly.  I’m ready for spring, but definitely not for these pre-summer temperatures.

TO DO FOR THE WEEK
Hubby’s birthday is this week so we are going to actually take a WHOLE day off and do something fun. After that we are hoping to finish the living room paint and molding.

CURRENTLY READING
I’m still reading the same book LOL.  Maybe I’ll actually finish it this week.

TELEVISION / DVR
Whatever we stay awake for at the end of the day.

HOUSE PROJECTS
We are starting to see serious progress – at least we were! I was looking for something yesterday which made a HUGE mess of things still packed that I will have to clean up today.  We did do something though that will make things better – we hired a contractor to paint the Atrium.  Every now and then you have to realize that just because you CAN do something doesn’t mean you HAVE to.  Hubs and I both have been dreading this room as it as a 20 foot apex that is a pain in the butt and we just decided that it was smarter to pay someone else to do it.

Unfortunately we still had to do all the repair work from the dry rot.  Fortunately, it went smoothly and hubby and I knocked out all the repair work in one day.  Next week I hope to show you a truly finished room.  We have the floor and 3 cabinets to install next Friday. They’ll be here Thursday! YAY!  

Before and after the repairs.

 I can’t wait to finish this room! Well, I actually can’t wait to finish ANY room in its entirety!

We did manage to get the vanity in place in our bathroom but unfortunately the faucet didn’t fit so that will get exchanged later today.  So we decided to install the toilet instead, but that was too big for the back of the wall so we’ll go in search of a different style later today also.

MENU PLANS FOR THE WEEK
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
BREAKFAST
YOGURT & FRUIT
SCRAMBLED EGGS & CHEESE
FRUIT SMOOTHIE
YOGURT & FRUIT
MAPLE OATMEAL & RAISINS
LUNCH
FRUIT & CHEESE
SOUP & CRACKERS
SANDWICH
OUT
MEAT & CHEESE
LEFTOVERS
SANDWICHES
DINNER
C.O.R.N.
DESSERT

THINGS THAT ARE MAKING ME HAPPY

  • Donating unused items to organizations that do for children
  • Spring like weather

FAVORITE PHOTO FROM THE CAMERA

He is NEVER without a toy in his mouth!

INSPIRATION

Be sure to link up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for Happy homemaker Monday and with Laura at I’m an Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday.

HAPPY HOMEMAKER & MENU PLAN MONDAY

I had a horribly busy week between the house projects and my aunt’s surgery and I think I overdid. Even yesterday morning I woke up pretty good, but ended up sick by the afternoon.  I’m still feeling a bit under the weather today, but will try to get a few things done anyway.

WEATHER OUTSIDE
It’s too warm for February and we’re having cloudy days with a big storm on the way.

TO DO FOR THE WEEK
It looks like we’ll finish the master bathroom this week and be well under way to completing the spare bathroom.  I’m hoping to also have the living room painted by the weekend.

CURRENTLY READING

MENU PLANS FOR THE WEEK
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
BREAKFAST
YOGURT & FRUIT
SCRAMBLED EGGS & CHEESE
FRUIT SMOOTHIE
YOGURT & FRUIT
MAPLE OATMEAL & RAISINS
LUNCH
FRUIT & CHEESE
SOUP & CRACKERS
SANDWICH
OUT
MEAT & CHEESE
LEFTOVERS
SANDWICHES
DINNER
C.O.R.N.
DESSERT

SUCCESSFUL RECIPES and their links FROM LAST WEEK

ON MY MIND
I’ve been feeling so overwhelmed at ALL there still is to do here.  My logical mind KNOWS we are making progress, but I’m just so tired that some days it stills seems insurmountable.  That said, here are a few pictures of what we did get accomplished this week.

Playing with the pattern.
ALL glued down and setting up!
We STILL don’t know what ALL those holes in the wall were for, but hubby did get the thermostat moved to the living room side of the wall and got the piece of drywall cut out and replaced.  I will get it patched and get this alcove painted this week.

THINGS THAT ARE MAKING ME HAPPY

  • Pretty Sunsets
  • Long walks with the dog
  • Small project completions

FAVORITE PHOTO FROM THE CAMERA

I ordered this pillow from a friend this weekend that sells Thirty-One products.

INSPIRATION

Be sure to link up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for Happy homemaker Monday and with Laura at I’m an Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday.

HAPPY HOMEMAKER & MENU PLAN MONDAY

We had a productive, but also a lazy weekend here. I was able to catch up on a bunch of paperwork though I am NO where near done! I was able to complete more of my “reading” corner in the master bedroom and hung my newly stained shelf in there also.  I read somewhere that your dresser an nightstand tops should be clear for a more soothing “air” to the room.  Well, a clear dresser top will NEVER happen at our house, but the shelf is going to help A LOT!  I need to make another one for hubby’s side of the room.

We had a quiet Valentine’s Day dinner at home, but went out for lunch at one of my favorite seafood restaurants and were not disappointed.  We also rented the movie, The Martian.  We really enjoyed this movie – the possibilities of space and the will to survive are so mind boggling.

WEATHER OUTSIDE
It is gray and overcast with a threat of a thunderstorm soon.  It’s supposed to be warmer this week and I am NOT ready for warm weather!

TO DO FOR THE WEEK

MONDAY
  • 5 year oncology check up
  • ZOO
TUESDAY
  • unload studio of all boxes and such
WEDNESDAY
  • hospital – my aunt is having surgery to replace the knee she shattered recently – ALL prayers welcome as she has a heart condition, an aspergilus allergy and is an Alzheimer’s patient.
THURSDAY
  • paint studio & begin again LOL
FRIDAY
  • Organize studio items
  • be available to help hubby with wainscoting and bathroom fixtures installation
SATURDAY
  • Farmer’s Market
  • install kitchen molding and paint it
SUNDAY
  • cleaning and laundry

CURRENTLY READING

TELEVISION / DVR
We’re still just watching whatever comes our way.  We’re still working long days.

CRAFTS & PROJECTS
I made a few prototypes this past week for some really neat things, but want to perfect them a bit more before I share them.

HOUSE PROJECTS
LOL this is a never ending category, but we are hoping to have the house in working order by the time we host Easter.  It is possible. It is even probable. WE WILL SUCCEED!

KITCHEN WISHES
I’m getting a replacement stove on Tuesday as I’m having a continuous issue with uneven heating.

MENU PLANS FOR THE WEEK
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
BREAKFAST
YOGURT & FRUIT
SCRAMBLED EGGS & CHEESE
FRUIT SMOOTHIE
YOGURT & FRUIT
MAPLE OATMEAL & RAISINS
LUNCH
FRUIT & CHEESE
SOUP & CRACKERS
SANDWICH
OUT
MEAT & CHEESE
LEFTOVERS
SANDWICHES
DINNER
C.O.R.N.
DESSERT

THINGS THAT ARE MAKING ME HAPPY

  • LESS stress
  • Project completions
  • MORE energy

FAVORITE PHOTO FROM THE CAMERA

There is still A LOT of trim work to do, but I love my “Tom Sawyer meets the Waltons” look for the kitchen.  I did get a few shelves done in the kitchen and LOVE having ingredients at hand!

INSPIRATION

Be sure to link up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for Happy homemaker Monday and with Laura at I’m an Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday.