Flagstone Walk

You can tell we are in the country because people come to the back door here more than they do the front. (In fact, I get after my granddaughter for using the front door. :) ) I have wanted a sidewalk across the yard so we don't have to wade through wet grass, snow or whatever to get there.

I don't have a clue about working concrete, so that wasn't an option. However, I've laid a lot of flagstone over the years. I pried up all the walks my folks had put down that I wasn't using and started my new walk. It has been stopped at 1/3 of the way across the yard most of this summer because I haven't had a way to get more rock.

My daughter, Jen, and her boyfriend, Steve to the rescue! They go to a friend's farm and gather rock for me. Isn't it looking good?

Kitchen work

I am tired but happy. The tile has been laid in both the living room and the kitchen. It looks so good! I have the same floor running the entire length of the house. I don't even mind putting back all the things that have been dragged into the living room while this and the south room are in process.

Jen and her boyfriend came over last night and moved the fridge for me. Jen cleaned up the old yukky vinyl behind the fridge, then I laid a cheaper tile to fill the holes that had been torn in the old vinyl. Since Dad glued the original vinyl down some ten or fifteen years ago, there is NO WAY I am going to pull it up. The second picture shows the "before".

I started laying tile about 9:00 Friday night and stopped when the second box of new tile was empty. By that time it was 4:30 AM. I decided to lay the last box of tile on Saturday. (I get involved in projects and lose track of time. What can I say?)

Saturday afternoon when I got back to the project I realized that I should make a commitment about the cupboards. For four years I have waffled between painting them or refinishing them. Paint won. I grabbed the can of paint left from doing the trim in the bathroom and started on the base cabinets. Tomorrow I'll go outside and paint doors and drawers.

I am not a dripless painter. I live my work. That's why I keep one old shirt just for painting. I have lost too much weight to wear the old painting pants, so I grabbed a pair of shorts that are getting too big and enjoyed slinging chocolate brown paint.

By the time I was done, the old floor looked like a Jackson Pollock painting; my hot pink tie-dyed shirt had a chocolate brown accent color; and my legs were wearing a polka dot look for the season. If you look closely at the picture of the painted cabinets, you can see my artistic additions to the old floor. I think the chocolate brown cabinets and white appliances will give the kitchen a classic look... especially with my new tile floor.

Sheet Rock!

My son is a treasure. He is putting up sheet rock in the south bedroom as my birthday present. He knows the way to Mom's heart! We covered the north wall on Labor Day. He will be back in a couple of days to finish the east wall and the unfinished parts of the south wall.

My daughter Jen says she knows about taping and bedding. I remember when Mom, Skip and I textured the living room back in 1961. Together we might get this room put back together.

It's nice to have family.

Should I mention which birthday? Hee hee. I'm 62. Not officially old, yet. That happens when you turn 65, right?

Living Room is Tiled!

It's done! And it looks so good. Good things are worth waiting for. :)

And what do I plan to do for an encore? The kitchen floor, of course. I am going to continue the tile into the kitchen, through the utility room to match the floor already in the bathroom.

I'm looking forward to this winter when I will sit in my favorite chair, watch a little TV and knit -- and admire my new floor. :)

(No knitting right now. I'm too busy doing other things.)