We are the A's

I know next to nothing about baseball. I probably enjoy watching it even less. But I can now say I identify with and appreciate the Oakland A's.

Jeff and I knew we would be a little burned out on remodeling at this point, so we scheduled in a movie date. We go to the theater only two or three times a year, but I had been wanting to take him to Moneyball; it's playing at our (very nice) dollar theater, so we went to the show last night.

The basic premise, based on a true story, is that the general manager of the poorest baseball team in the league revolutionizes the way players are picked and utilized. Using statistics, they make the most of every player and manage to win more consecutive games than any team in history. Essentially, they win games for only two hundred-something thousand dollars per game while the big flashy teams are spending over a million per win! Of course, they don't have the big name players or the fancy stadium, but they accomplish nearly the same results on a much smaller budget.

This concept I love. I think we as a couple strive to do the same thing: live below our means and make smart, thrifty choices while netting the same outcome as the big spenders. It's mostly undeserved blessings, but also some hard work and conscious decisions that yield the fruits. I'm grateful for the opportunity to know and practice this way of life!

Note: I'm not necessarily advocating this particular picture. We liked it, but some might find the movie a touch slow, and it did have a few coarse words. But it was interesting and did not require a large emotional or intellectual investment to follow and enjoy, which was exactly what we needed! I would be a terrible movie critic as I hate to be responsible for another party choosing or not choosing to spend two plus hours of their lives in the dark at my mercurial recommendation!

Gone to the Birds

I have been neglecting to refill the bird feeder, given the flurry of recent remodeling. I rectified that oversight this morning and was rewarded quickly with activity outside the kitchen window as we were working on the inside. Jeff got some great close-up shots of the woodpecker and other avian wildlife.

Work continued on the inside of the kitchen with another warm-blooded creature on the scene. DaVinci should be at least a journeyman plumber by now, given all his years of supervision on the job. Somehow he never pays any attention to electrical work, but the plumbing trade always piques his interest.

Dishwasher drawers are quite a bit different to install than a standard unit, we have discovered, so it's a good thing we had an extra set of paws around for assistance. If he only had a 5 mm open end or box wrench, then we would be in business! Sadly, neither he nor any hardware or auto parts store in town has this tiny metric tool, so the installation phase will plod along at least another day.

Sink or Swim

I may have a small bathtub (which is quite frustrating when trying to enjoy a relaxing soak), but I now have a humongous sink!

I joked with Jeff that it is really a "his and hers" tub.

This puppy weights almost 130 pounds and took some careful maneuvering. But it is no lightweight when it comes to durability. We discovered this fact immediately after buying it when the bottom of the cardboard carton opened up and dropped the sink from at least 6 inches onto the concrete floor at IKEA! We opened it up completely, check it over, and carefully repacked it with yards of strapping tape. Ever since then, we have been gingerly carting it around, but now it's found a happy home.

Daily Dinners

I would have to admit that I have been heating foods more than cooking lately. With most of my pantry and cupboard stores located in the empty upstairs bedrooms, and given the very limited counter space of the laundry room, we have done a large share of soups, sandwiches, salads, and the like. I found a great line of prepared Indian foods, which come with basmati rice and pouches of various curries. These are amazingly healthy with no preservatives and lots of vegetables, spices, and pulse. Apple slices and raw veggies with dip have also been a regular portion at most every meal.

But I did manage to cook a fairly decent dinner yesterday. It necessitated running upstairs two or three times and out to the shop once, but I gathered all the ingredients and prepared the chicken, stuffing, gravy, and glazed sweet potatoes without major incident (unless you count discovering mice in my upstairs food storage area as "incident", which I prefer to call "Jeffrey emergency").

Dishing it OUT

The dishwasher that I so carefully covered and masked and taped (so it wouldn't get overspray during the painting process) is being replaced. I could fret over all that work for nothing, but instead I will be excited about the prospect of a dishwasher that actually... washes dishes!

The accused dishwasher
(not obscured to protect the innocent, I can assure you)

My old Bosch dishwasher does not, in fact, wash dishes. Jeff calls it a dishwasher-like object, because I have to clean the dishes thoroughly before I put them in, and sometimes even clean them thoroughly after running a cycle. It swirls water around, but it frequently leaves a tub full of sudsy water in the bottom at the end of the cycle, and it has actually never ended a cycle as long as we have owned it (secondhand, of course). It has a digital display and will count down to 1 minute, and there it will remain for hours. It never drains, and it never stops running. This means I have to babysit the dishwasher (which takes over 2 hours for a regular cycle, and even then the countdown numbers will jump up and down randomly sometimes, adding or subtracting time at will).

It was so disappointing this summer to have my nieces work with Jeff to install it, only to have it not work properly. And to add insult to injury, the girls don't have a dishwasher at home and were looking forward to a break from handwashing!

I called the manufacturer and it apparently needs a new circuit board or something, which is around $150. Then we would still have to pay for labor or do the repair ourselves. It is a reputable brand and a nice stainless steel model, but I don't think we have it in us to do one more DIY endeavor during this kitchen remodel.

Jeff suggested today that we find a replacement now instead of later, as it will be easier to install, level, and hook up a dishwasher before the counters are in. So, huzzah! When this remodel is complete, I will hopefully have a fully functional dishwasher in addition to the stove and fridge I have been looking forward to!

Post Painting

I wish I could say we got the Goldilocks coat of paint on the cabinets with our third try (you know; too much the first time, not enough the second, just right on the last). Well, that's not exactly the case. Either this Benjamin Moore paint is the best paint out there or the worst; I can't decide! When you get the right coverage, it dries beautifully smooth and hard and glossy. But just a bit much and it runs and sags. Too little and it can't self-level, so it looks like an orange peel.

The problem was compounded because we were spraying the paint. Most pros brush or roll the frames and spray the doors. Because I have so many cabinets and the interiors badly needed painting as well, I decided to spray. On a vertical surface with many angles, there are just too many opportunities for excess paint to build up and drip, as we discovered on the first pass. So we went much lighter on the second coat, almost misting it. But that produced overspray everywhere that dried very rough. My satiny smooth finish was no more! So we changed spray tips and tried again, with only limited success. We ended up having to hand-sand a number of runs and sags, which I will touch up with a brush.

I think spraying the doors and drawers will go much better, as those will be horizontal. There is quite a learning curve to this new top-of-the-line paint, but I think it's worth acquiring!

BM Vellum color in the new ADVANCE product line

Progress Report

The kitchen is coming along. I have cut in the crown molding and painted the ceiling (BM Linen White, a perfect creamy white for an old house).

The walls are being prepped for their paint coat, as well. After patching and priming the cracks, Jeff remarked that I must be writing Japanese characters on the wall. That top left one does rather look that way, doesn't it?

We carried in the counters and set them in place. After a few stomach sinking moments when it looked like the mitered corners were all wrong, Jeff figured out that we could chisel away some of the plaster along the walls and close up the gaps. Our wall angles are fairly square, but the plaster varies quite a bit in thickness. This discrepancy over several feet of counter run is enough to play havoc with a 45 degree seam. Out came the cold chisel and hammer and Jeff made it work. As I was admiring the profile of our counter nose, Jeff couldn't resist comparing his nosing to its.

Herbal Bath

No, it wasn't a relaxing chamomile soak, or even a lavender scented wash. It was parsley!

When I went to get into the tub yesterday evening for a warm and cleansing rinse after a hard day, I found, much to my amusement, a piece of parsley floating in the bath water. It was a remnant from dinner, when I washed my electric cooker in the tub (it won't fit in the pedestal sink)!

This has been my evening ritual for the past few days, bent over the tub scrubbing our cookery and utensils. It's amazing how quickly you get use to it, though. I almost can't imagine the luxury of a working range, close-by refrigerator, and running water. And all in the same room; sheer decadence!

Carload of Countertops

We went down to the laminate fabricator to pick up our kitchen countertops yesterday. I found a great wholesale place that deals with big box stores all over the region, but also does custom orders with just about any detail, finish, size, etc.

In this kitchen, the counters are not the star of the show asthetically, so I chose a simple pattern that looks very much like soapstone. I did a premium finish, upgraded edge profile, and flat deck (no backsplash so we can do a custom one), all for $15 a linear foot! That is a great price when most cheap stones start at $25-30 per square foot. I'm just not a granite girl, and since marble and soapstone aren't in the budget, I love me some nice laminate!

The counters (stacked backward, so it's a little
hard to appreciate their subtle beauty!)

Since we were in town, we stopped by the architectural salvage place I posted about before here. We were looking for a wooden lower sash to replace the one damaged window in the whole farmhouse, but we found something else instead. More countertops! Just a piece of one, actually, but it's just enough butcherblock to do the island top. I have been planning to buy a piece for around $100, but I got this remnant for $25 (and it's narrow strip maple and oak, which is much better wood than the original product I sourced). What a day for counters!

The unfinished butcherblock (sitting on top of my
next project, the dining room table)

Not quite, Mr. DeMille

Well, we have the first coat of paint on the cabinets! But they aren't ready for their close-up just yet. In fact, not for a while yet. A few places on the frames look more like a drippy ice cream cone than a satin smooth finish. This new paint from Benjamin Moore has some great properties, but run- and sag-resistant is not one of them. It's much trickier to spray than a standard latex. It does self-level and harden amazingly well. After applying it late last night and agonizing over all the drips, I expected it to look like a bunch of stalactites in there this morning. But it's actually not half-bad. But there is a lot of sanding to do before the next coat, so I'm off!

Blackout

Here is a shot of the kitchen as it looked Monday night. We had hoped to have it all prepped, but the huge cast iron sink was too heavy and awkward for me to lift, so we had to wait for reinforcements Tuesday morning.

Jeff made quick work of the counters after this photo was taken.

As one friend remarked after seeing this view, I have cabinets for days! The elderly gentleman who grew up in the house told us we need a helicopter to reach the top shelf (no matter that it was his mother who designed and had this kitchen built; I appreciate her foresight, even if he doesn't)!

Sometimes in painting, the hardest part is not the painting but the not painting. This is particularly true when spraying paint, because overspray can run rampant. Thankfully, the cabinets are the first (and only) thing in the room to be sprayed, so I can let paint get on the walls and trim without much problem. I do have to keep it off the windows, floor, and appliances, though!

Taping and draping can be an art! It took me quite a while
to get the dishwasher and windows covered neatly.

Still Prepping...

Jeff asked me the other day if I like to paint. My response was that I love what paint does! The process is rather arduous (if you do it right, that is), but the results are always worth it.

With a lead-in like that, you might think I would have photos of the newly painted cabinets. But no, we're still prepping. Every time I turn around, there is something else that needs to be done before I can paint.

The doors and drawers had to be removed and relocated to the shop for their trim and paint job.

The dolly I bought on CL has been indispensable;
a shot of Jeff working smarter, not harder!

The hinges had to be removed, stripped of old paint, cleaned, and dried.

A hot, sudsy overnight soak in the crockpot
did wonders for getting off the old paint

The dated valance had to be removed. If ever I doubted that the cabinets were well-built, now I have proof! That little 4 1/2" trim board took almost an hour to get down.

Before and After

The very heavy 42" cast iron sink had to be liberated from the rusty clips and bolts that had stabilized it for decades.

It took far more than the pipe wrench and screw-
driver that you see here to get the job done!

All of these tasks happened after sanding, deglossing, and cleaning the cabinets. But each new job produces its own plume of dust and filth. I feel like Pig-Pen in the Snoopy cartoon; there must just be a little dirty cloud following me around! Nothing to do but keep sweeping and wiping and dusting so the cabinets will be ready for the first coat of paint when all these tasks are finally done!

Slow and Steady

Prep, prep, prep. That feels like all we've been doing the last week. It's just as well, since I'm still dickering over the final paint selection for the cabinets. But the choice has to be made by this afternoon, since I can't get paint over the weekend and I'm planning to put the first coat on Monday morning.

We've papered, taped, tarped, spackled, sanded, cleaned, rinsed, etc. for several days now. We've moved appliances, removed hardware, cleaned out the cabinets, and generally made a mess of the rest of the house. Big, deep, cabinets all the way to the ten foot ceiling store quite a lot, as I've realized now that those contents have spread themselves all over two stories of farmhouse.

Most importantly, we set up the temporary kitchen in the laundry room. As the remodel will drag on for several more weeks, and our stomachs and wallets can only bear so much eating out, we created a "kitchen away from kitchen" as Jeff likes to call it. It actually feels quite familiar, given that I've only had a mini fridge and hot plate for the last five months anyhow! It's all about keeping our expectations low so any little improvement seems vast and any disappoint not far from the status quo ;-).

One amenity I have grown accustom to is hot water, but sadly, we have none of that at the moment. We just realized our water heater (the one hiding out behind the mini fridge in the first photo) has a pilot light that won't stay lit, so now we have only cold water to clean up with on a Friday afternoon after being covered in dust and dirt. We're hoping it's just the thermocouple, so Jeff is going to change it out and we'll see what happens. If it's not one thing, it's another!

Our Perfect Day

Back when we were dating, Jeff asked me to describe my perfect day. It began with a sunny, pleasant morning walk with my husband from our old historic house out to the barn and pasture of our ten acre mini-farm to feed our menagerie of animals.

That dream was voiced about eleven years ago, and Jeff brought it to my attention yesterday. There we were, working side by side on the front landscaping of our old farmhouse, enjoying the sunshine and the view of the horses grazing. Along came our friendly chickens and DaVinci went to check out the little scene.

It was so like the moment I described all those years ago! Jeff joked that it only took a little over a decade to achieve (and the equines aren't actually ours, of course; oh, yeah, and we only have one acre, not ten)! All the same, it was a great memory to file away and a wonderful example of how God really does give us our hearts' desires.

Fuzzy Floors

Since removing the final layer of vinyl tile from the kitchen floors, we have been living with furry floors. The tiles left a sort of brown paper backing stuck down in a lot of places, and I was afraid of gouging the wood if I scrapped too hard.

Since there was also a good bit of water damage to the finish (the white splotches), we decided a DIY gentle screening with a buffer was not going to be sufficient. I have seen horror stories of homeowners with drum sanders mutilating their vintage wood floors, so Jeff made the executive decision on knowing our limits and we hired a lovely older man to come in and do the deed.

There is much to be said for the right equipment in the right hands! Hubert has been in the floor sanding business for almost 50 years, and his experience shows! Here is what we saw in just the first few minutes.

He took our floors from this:

To this:

We will be using a modified tung oil finish to really bring out the color and grain. I can't wait to apply that final coat and see the beauty of the old growth quartersawn heart pine!

Ikea; do Ukea?

Jeff had a business trip in Atlanta this past Wednesday, so we went down a day early for a shopping expedition. I have been planning to purchase some great IKEA products for the kitchen for quite some time, and it was the perfect opportunity. IKEA is an international company with stores all over Europe, but only in major cities in the US. They feature Scandinavian modern style furniture (and kitchen/bath cabinets, sinks, appliances, etc.) and accessories, including storage options, lighting, decor products, cooking and eating wares, etc.

Those wonderful Swedes have designed every moment of your IKEA experience, from the escalator at the entrance, to the huge plastic shopping bags and handy carts for said bags, to the path you follow through the store. (Some shoppers have said this last detail makes them feel like cattle; I prefer to think of it as a loving and thoughtful gesture!) The escalator takes you to the showroom where you can "test drive" everything, from shelving units and desks to sofas and kitchen cabinets. Their displays include full, self-contained living units squeezed into tiny square footage (how about a living area, bed, kitchen, bath, and storage space in 375 sq ft?). After winding your way through the showroom, you head downstairs in a giant elevator to locate the goods that you have previewed upstairs.

If that weren't enough, there is free childcare, a full cafeteria, a snack bar at the exit, and I've also heard tell that some IKEAs have a "man cave" at which to deposit your male shopping partner in the event that he isn't that interested in, well, shopping. In Germany, IKEA even had pet stations outside with a padded, raised platform and water bowls for those who might enjoy bringing their dogs on the shopping adventure. What's not to love about IKEA?!

We bought this apron sink.

We bought a kitchen cabinet.

We bought hanging rails and accessories.

We bought planters.
We bought $.99 pillows (I'm going to cut them down and make throw pillow forms; for that price I can't even buy stuffing)!

We bought spice jars.
We bought food storage containers for the nifty new pull out cabinet.
And we bought several other items that escape me at the moment. All in all, it was a very productive trip. I took plenty of photos in the showroom of more great things, so here's to hoping we'll be back to IKEA soon to pick up more goodies!

Digging In

We spent another Sunday working on landscaping. It's getting rather late in the season, but for various reasons, we haven't yet gotten the shrubs and foundation plants in the ground yet. Jeff only had a few hours this morning, but we got busy and got one side planted. I still need to buy the vertical focal plant for each side of the steps (probably an Arborvitae), but I'm waiting to see if there will be a sale.

I can't wait for spring when I can put in some annual color around the edge of the foundation bed and the Indian Hawthorn and Abelia will bloom. It will be the true test of my landscape plan!

Thanksgiving

We had a lovely Thanksgiving with family in Arkansas. It's always nice to have a few days to gather back in Jeff's hometown and see friends and relations.

Priceless Pecans

I will never complain about the price of shelled nuts again! I spent about three hours today shelling pecans and only netted just over a pound (and that was on top of the time spent collecting and drying them)! I'm amazed that the grower can maintain acres of trees, wait ten years for them to start producing, gather the nuts, shell and package them, ship them across the country, and stock them on the local grocery shelf, all for about $7 a pound. My fingers are raw and brown, and I have several more baskets to go!

On the plus side, I found a great sugared pecan recipe that I prepared over Thanksgiving. It made a tasty treat that was consumed in just a few days. I'm making more for a dinner party, so I'll try to get a photo and post the recipe.

Breakfast Buds

Look who popped by this morning! Our back kitchen window still has an air conditioner unit installed because the window sash was custom built for it and won't close if we take the unit out. We'll have to have a new lower sash built, but in the meantime, it makes a great perch for the girls.

Attila, the bold and noisy one, has at times hopped up there to crow about something or other. But I guess Atomic decided to play follow-the-leader today. Maybe they just wanted to ensure that we weren't devouring chicken biscuits for breakfast!

Pretty Painting

Our painters are finally done! They were a very detailed, conscious crew, if a little slow at times. You know what they say in the construction world: fast, good, cheap; pick two. Well, we went with the good and (moderately) cheap, so fast was out the window. But the windows (and the fascia, soffits, trim boards, siding, etc.) all look great!

Before

After

After

After (in the late afternoon sun)

After all the fussing with paint color samples, the siding still isn't exactly what I pictured 100% of the time. In cloudy or indirect light, it's just right. But it gets a bit washed out and blueish in direct sun, which is to be expected. It's unlikely I would have found a color that was perfect in all light because it would always shift. But the funny thing is, I love the trim color, and it was the shade to which I gave the least thought! The siding is Sherwin Williams Link Gray, and the trim is Sherwin Williams Rice Grain.

I still want to tie the siding color to the brick with some accents of each interposed on the other. I'm going to build some window boxes with brackets for the upper triple windows on the dormer and gable ends, and I'm thinking those will be painted brick red. Then, I'm hoping to find (or paint, if need be) some large planters the same blue-gray-green of the siding for the front porch steps. I think this will provide the visual connection between the colors that is missing right now.

Window box idea

Glazed blue-green planter examples