Happy Memorial Day!

Thank you to all the men and women who gave their life so I can live in freedom. That I can vote, that I have free speech, that I can choose my religion. Thank you each and everyone of you and your family. I come from a long line of military people, both parents, both brothers, uncles, cousins, great uncles. They all gave part of themselves for this country.

This year I got to spend the evening with my little family.



The hubs made me my favorite, homemade hamburgers! yummy. All the food groups - one meal. I made some jalapeno poppers out of some home grown peppers to go along with them.

While the hubs was sleeping today (he worked 2, 24 hour shifts since Friday) I worked in the back yard - rewind to last Sunday to see the damage.

I put in a couple rows of perennials to start filling in the area and sometime I'll add some seeds and some annuals to start filling in the gaps, but for now this is what I have.



For some reason the grass looks horrible in this picture, but it's not as bad looking in real life. It is slowly sending out runners to fill in the area where the lavendar overhang killed off the grass. So by 4th of July I expect a full recover.

Here's one of the tomatoes from the garden.



We are going to be overrun with tomatoes this year I'm afraid. Maybe I'll can some homemade salsa.

I also made this duffel. I will blog more about it at a later date. I have some pattern comments I would like to write about.

Hello! I'm here!

I was so worth the wait!.

Love,
Dahlia

Finishing Up the Bathroom

Today was a long a day for a Saturday. Our painter Lance, was here at 6:45 to do the last few touch ups to the bathroom and work on the paint of our front door. He wanted to be done with the bathroom before Patrick the handy man got here to do the sink.



A couple things on the pictures, I don't like my soap and lotion dispensers in the bathroom anymore even though I love them. They don't work now that the bathroom is so much lighter. Same for the rugs and the towels. I need to get some soft greens and taupe's I think. Overall, I am happy.


I'm not entirely thrilled with loosing all the towel bars or the fact that the hook on the back of the door is so high now. This is what happens when I get put between Mike and the handi-men.

I think I'll get one of those counter stand hand towel racks and go ahead and put the towel bar back under the window.


I was able to line the shelves and put everything back away so tomorrow I can move back into to using my owner bathroom again. The painter said shelf paper was an old lady thing. I don't use contact paper, but either scented papers or that no slip stuff. Do any of you still use shelf paper? or did I become an old lady and not know it?

Note, this was a minor remake as one day in the life of owning this home, I want to turn our kitchen and when I do, I will move the main wall of the bathroom out and completely redo everything in there. But until I have a cool 70 grand laying around, this will have to do.

Remodel Day Three

More progress and hope to finish up today.

The new light over the tub is in, the new base boards are in and all the cabinets have a coat of paint.



The inside of the door had the old stuck on ugly hooks removed and painted.



All in all it's looking good. Unfortunately, we are not able to use the master shower as he painted the built in soap thingy today.

Oh here's a Dahlia Update - I'm still WAITING.

Spruce part Deux

So here is some of what Lance got accomplished yesterday.



Here's a little history on our house. It was built in 1947 by a local builder. It had one owner I believe until the mid-90s. Then a couple of school teachers lived in it for 10 years or so. The neighbor across the street son bought it to "flip" it and did some updating and resold it to the couple we bought it from. Somewhere in here, someone added the dining room and the master bath. Typically houses in this area are 3 bedroom 1 bath but the houses here have separate 2 car garages on larger lots than most of the neighborhoods in our area. Three of our neighbors are original owners. Our house has oak floors everywhere but the bedrooms which have carpet and the baths and kitchen linoleum.

Updates we've made so far have been to copper plumb the master bath, scraped the popcorn ceilings and put in crown molding, painted outside the house, new front door and threshold and screen door, painted my office, sprinklers and sod in the back yard and side yard, storage loft in the garage and all the landscaping.

Not a lot for 4 years, but living here in southern California, just living is expensive much less house remodeling. When we do it, we do it right and save for it rather than just half way doing stuff.

So here is some more of the in progress look we have going on this week.

Bathroom Sprucing

After having lived in our house for 4 years, we are finally getting rid of the blue sink. I'm so sure you understand just how much I hate the blue sink. I like blue, when it is the sky or sung by Jonny Lang, but I don't like it as my sink.



Did mention it's stopper doesn't latch anymore and in order to keep it from filling and had to be pulled out? Did I mention the TWO earrings that met their fate down that drain because of it? So now I have two mix match earrings left with no mate?

Then there is the light fixture. It's close to being country, but yet not.



I know it's probably not that bad, but it has blue on it. Who ever installed it put in off center. It's the only light in the bathroom too and considering it's in the sink alcove, the tub area can get a bit dark in the evenings when there is no sunlight.

Let's talk paint job. I seriously think they only painted it to sell the house.

Several areas like this.


And a bunch more like this where the paint was so then you can see the paint color underneath the top paint color.


So today is the beginning of the sprucing up. Lance, our neighbor and friend, owns a painting company. He painted the outside of our house as well as my sewing/office room. Sometime this morning - usually early- he'll come by to start on the paint, baseboards, fixtures, lightening. He says it will take in 2 days and then on Saturday, Patrick, our all around handy man, will come by to install the sink and faucets and any other thing I need done to finish (hang my pictures back up because it took the hubs a year to do it).

Dear Dahlia,

I am still waiting.


But I did pick up the quilt batting, backing and binding yesterday for both the stacked coin and dresden plate projects.

The mailman brought me these wonderful twills all the way from France too!