Where did June go?!?

My goodness! Where did June go?!? The last update I gave you, we were packing and moving out of the lower part of the big house. All while furiously working on my house. Well, plan A didn't work out to, so we moved on to plan B. We moved upstairs in the little four room apartment. It has certainly been an adventure! We don't have a stove up there and the refrigerator is a temporary small one. All our cooking is in the microwave or an electric fry pan. As Dad says, we are camping in!

The brothers hard at work in the bathroom.

 So, progress in the past month? (I am not even sure I remember where I left off! But here is the latest accomplishments.) The bathroom has plumbing and the bathtub is framed in. Unfortunately the plumbing doesn't function yet, but it is progress! The plumbing hasn't gone as fast as I hoped, as brother Phil (plumber extraordinaire) has been crazy busy with other jobs this year. There is also a new window installed in the bathroom with rain glass. I have finished painting the baseboards in the living and dining rooms. My bedroom upstairs is almost done, just a bit more trim painting and then on to shellacking  the floors.

Mandy and I primed the kitchen last night. It was speed painting as we only had an hour, but we got it done! The cupboards are all painted (makes such a difference, doesn't it?) and ready to go back in. And then the kitchen plumbing can be installed. We have kitchen appliances on order, so should be getting them some time next week. I am hoping to get my room done this weekend. There might be a possibility the bathroom will get dry walled next week, if the electrical gets finished up this weekend.

 

 I was really only planning on taking a week or so off of blogging until things settled a bit more... But then allergy season hit and the month was away before I knew it! Now that all of that is behind me I am looking forward to showing you what has been happening around here! As soon as I take a few pictures I will be back with more updates!

I hope you all are having a wonderful summer! Here in Wisconsin it is a typical summer. The weather is bouncing around like a Ping-Pong ball. A bit of rain, a few hot days and then back to perfect weather. I going to try not to miss it all!

 

 

Esther Williams- Thrill of a Romance

I was so sad to hear today the 1940's movie star Esther Williams had died. To tell you the truth, I was also surprised she had made it to 91!

 I always love her characters in her movies. So Cheerful, Spunky and fresh Girl-Next-Door. My favorite movie of hers is "Thrill of a Romance". Though I know I haven't seen all her movies, they can be hard to find! It is pretty much a typical 40s musical; cheerful dresses, pretty girls, a lonely solider, and a love story that is a bit far fetched. Don't you love them, though? But this one stands out because of Esther's swimming and Lauritz Melchior singing. Melchior was a Metropolitan Opera singer before he signed on with MGM. He adds a delightful twist to the movie.

Esther Williams has certainly left an amazing legacy behind.

House Update- Painting and Floors



Painting.........painting and more painting! I think we are finally on the last leg, my bedroom upstairs. We have gone through so much paint it is unbelievable! Four gallons of primer, three gallons ceiling paint, eight gallons wall paint and two gallons trim paint. The poor walls hadn't been painted in so long, it just soaked right in and disappeared.

The huge monster sander to sand the floors down. My ever so nice, up for anything brother-in-law manned the sander. What a long job, but so worth it! Can't wait to see how they turn out!

Doesn't it look huge without all the construction clutter?! Amazingly, we didn't get rid of all that stuff, it is just stashed in different locations. And take note of the walls, fresh paint!

Today we are waiting for the stain to dry on the floors............ Which is the hardest part! We have been working non-stop for three weeks, it feels a little strange to come to a halt.

 

Tile Floors

 Aren't they pretty? I absolutely love how they turned out!!

 I wanted the floor to have a warm-old-fashioned-sort-of-flagstone-English-cottage-look.

 I think it certainly give the room a bit of that feel. (Don't look at those walls around the floor. We haven't had a chance to prime in here yet!)

The view of  the "construction zone"!



After Pictures!

 The bedrooms face East and are so nice and sunny. This is the front bedroom. We also lightly sanded the maple floors and put three coats of shellac on them.

 This room is a tan/terracotta color.

 The back bedroom. Maple floors in here also. I love how shiny they came out!

 Walls are a light silvery green.

House Update- Moving In

I had all these nice little post planned out, pictures to take and things to share. All that has gone out the window! We are scheduled to move into my house before June 1st!! Wait, you say, last update you still had a long way to go? That is true. And we still do! But the house we are currently in we have rented. A family we know sold their house faster then expected and were looking for a place to stay for a few months, we decided this was the perfect chance to get into gear and be a blessing to them. Though we might have bit off more then we can chew.....

 Currently, the two downstairs bedrooms are almost done. We started on them first so we could move a few things over. My sister Becky, the painter extraordinaire, has been working non-stop for the last week. You would not believe how thirsty these walls were, they must not have seen paint in thirty years!

Everything in this bedroom was Pink! Now I love pink, but I also like definition and contrast. It is amazing how much better white trim and doors make the room look.

I have also been working on the kitchen floors. So excited how it turned out! I keep thinking I will take pictures...... but that is low priority on the list right now.

Well friends, just wanted to give you an update. I will see you in June!

Edit: These are "Before" pictures, hope to get "After" pictures soon!

May Flowers

 All those April Showers certainly brought the May Flowers! I can't believe how fast we went from no leaves on the trees, to not only buds but baby leaves and blossoms!

 

Now that the weather is warm and the days are longer I am trying to get moving on getting my house done. Stay tuned for an update soon!