the best laid plans - kitchen update

The day started off badly.

The car battery was flat cause someone, not naming names, but it starts with 'W' and ends in 'ayne', left the hazard lights on all night accidentally.

That was bummer #1.

Wayne put the car on the charger.

So we had to take Eduardo to work. That's the old grey truck held together by rust spots, dints and black plastic where a back window should be (also thanks to someone, I won't mention names, locking the keys in).

We were already in the city when I realized I'd left the work keys in the Beast (the newer, prettier, though only a little cleaner, truck).

That was bummer #2.

I realized I'd also left my wallet in the car.

That was bummer #3.

When I finished work I didn't have my car, my audio book and comfy seat and I didn't have money to go shopping.

That was bummer #4.

I called Wayne, told him he'd have to catch the bus cause I was going home to sand the floor. We could have dinner out when I picked him up from the bus stop. I booked at a local restaurant.

I made plans on the way... George said the kitchen cabinets are ready to put in this weekend (YAY!) so I needed to get the floor done. If I spent an hour on them tonight, then another hour on them tomorrow I should have most of the sanding done before Thursday.

On Thursday I have two dogs to groom in the morning, I could seal the floor, and even give it a second coat before picking up Wayne in the afternoon.

On Friday afternoon when Handyman arrived to patch all the holes in the plaster I could fill holes in the floor.

Then on Saturday or Sunday George would install the cabinets and I'd organise to have the plumbing and electrics connected after that.

I had such great plans... oh how naive I was...

I came home and the first thing I did was go start the car. I would let it run while I sanded.

The car wasn't having any of that. It was still flat as a tack.

That was bummer #5.

I called roadside assist. I sanded till he arrived. About 15 minutes worth. He started the car up and recommended I take a long drive. I did. I drove for 40 minutes or so. There goes my sanding time.

That was bummer #6.

I got home, turned the car around, stopped outside the gate ready to go out for dinner, then thought "hmm, better test it" and ...

drumroll...

It was still flat.

That was bummer #7.

I rolled it down the drive, threw it into second gear...

Nothing.

I rolled a bit further, tried again...

Nothing.

That was bummer #8.

I stopped just before the gate and called roadside assist again. "I need a new battery".

The wait would be 45min or so. I called the restaurant and cancelled our reservation.

That was bummer #9.

So much for planning. I don't know why I bother. I almost always get more done when I fly by the seat of my pants anyway!

The guy arrived to change the battery. $186 with the member discount, money I was not planning to spend on a battery.

That was bummer #10.

The restaurant hadn't given away our table so we managed to have dinner after all.

The opposite of bummer:

z

up a ladder without a paddle - kitchen update

This last weekend saw a first for me - I painted the fascia on the front of the house at an altitude that had me ducking low flying planes.

Ok, ok, I exaggerate. I started painting the fascia... However, it was high. I've always been the ladder girl when it comes to painting - I'd never use one of those extension sticks with a roller. No way. It gives me a crook neck. I use a ladder and put all the strain on my leg muscles.

They are the strongest muscles in the body for good reason. They have to lug me around all day!

So, when doing any painting I'm always the one who gets the job cutting in around the ceiling. And painting the ceiling by climbing up, rolling a bit, getting down, loading up the roller, moving over a tad, climbing up, rolling a bit, getting down... you get the picture.

Its my version of a step class.

Well, this last Sunday had me doing the extreme version of that sport. And cause the only place the ladder could rest was on the aforementioned fascia (the one I was painting), and since there were more steps involved, it was a lot more climbing and a lot less brushing.

I had planned* to have all the white bits on the front of the house railing done. I did all the posts, porch side and garden side, and the inside of the fascia... and then it got hot.

I may have mentioned that I don't do well in the heat? No?

I'm stubborn. I said I'd do it, I'd planned to do it, so by golly gosh I was going to do it!

I lugged out the ladder (with some help from my brawny half), fought with it to get it level and steady, then gamely climbed up the 323 steps and started painting. I painted about a foot, climbed down, wrestled the ladder over a foot and repeated.

About halfway across the front of the house my calf muscles started to shake.

I would have pushed myself to finish, but the highest bits were yet to come, and ... did I mention it was hot?

I was about to make the decision to quit for the day when the decision was made for me... I stepped back from the ladder and right into the bucket of paint.

I now have a few white patches of grass and one white boot.

My failure to finish aside, other things did get done.

The gasfitter came and installed the gas lines. Here's a pretty photo of our gas connection. We opted to go with smaller gas bottles we own and can fill as needed rather than pay rent on larger ones. You may not notice, but the gasfitter fitted the lines on the unfinished part of the porch enclosure. Handyman was not pleased.

Speaking of Handyman, he did a great job on making a slab for the gas bottles to sit on. And Barney promptly immortalised himself in the fresh concrete.

This is what that area used to look like - the end of the porch was pretty (now enclosed), but the ground sloped down in that spot and there was a broken concrete path that lead into the wall, and gravel. A mess basically. Having the slab there gives us a level area not only for the gas bottles but for my collection of junk decorative garden art.

Meanwhile, back in the kitchen a big hole appeared in the floor. This is where the floor dipped by almost an inch towards the wall. Handyman lifted the boards and raised up the joists to level out the floor, then he and Wayne moved the plumbing to the other wall where the sink and dishwasher are to be located.

It made total sense to use that huge hole to move pipes than to squeeze through a tiny door at the far end of the house and have to crawl under the house, dodging spiders all the way to the kitchen. It was a door direct to the spot they needed to get to. It would've been silly not to take advantage of it.

Neither Wayne nor Handyman were too upset about not becoming better acquainted with the arachnids under the floor.

. 

So, plumbing moved. Gas fitted. Electrics almost done (will they ever be finished? I'm not sure.) Pine lining started. Floor work started.

Started. There's still one piece of masonite to be removed. All nails have been removed or punched in on the rest of the floor and I've started sanding with the belt sander.

That may seem extreme considering I can hire a floor sander, but here's the thinking...

1. I can't lift a floor sander by myself. Sure, I have Wayne to do the heavy lifting, but he won't be here when I'm doing it. Or shall I say, when I plan on doing it...*

2. I rather like the 'unprofessional' finish. I like character and imperfections. I want the floor to look old - not brand new and slickly polished.

3. I have nothing better to do than crawl around on my hands and knees sanding the floor.

4. I'm insane.

So, the plan is to have the floor sanded and give it one coat (or two) before Sunday.

That's the plan...

More on that later!

z

*Plans - those things which are made only to be messed up. 

a quick shot of power tools

I mentioned that the other day I got distracted from pulling nails out of the kitchen floor by the fact that I could finally reach my power tools.

Hello circular saw! Hey there jigsaw! Nice to see you again grinder! I sure have missed you guys!

So, while I was there admiring them, patting them, etc, I remembered that I'd promised Wayne I'd put a lid on the box he stores chaff in for the horses. Its a raised garden bed box made of pallet wood that we got (in pieces) from the Men's Shed in New Norfolk. That's a community based place where men can go and bond over power tools, as well as learn new skills.

Anyway, Wayne had put this together, lining it better so it would hold the chaff, but he'd never put a lid on it. Up till recently we'd been using pieces of leftover flooring as a lid and moving them out of the way to reach in.

I'd been hit on the head by a falling 'lid' a few times...

It was time for a proper lid.

I'd gotten some pieces of laminate flooring from a friend and one piece was almost the right size. Using that and a piece of old timber I'd found, I created a proper lid. I attached the bit of timber to the end to give the lid something to hinge off, then trimmed the lid to the right size.

Since the flooring is that click together stuff, I had to reinforce it with bits of pine that came out of the kitchen. I glued and screwed those into the back to give the lid strength.

Then I used some gorgeous big old hinges I'd picked up from a tip shop. (I tell you, my tip shop finds always come in handy!).

The flooring and the timber slat were different thicknesses, so to make the hinges fit properly I had to pack it up a bit. For this I used some of the masonite we've been pulling off the kitchen floor.

Waste not, want not!

Lastly, I found an old handle among my collection of junk, and voila! A working lid. Not perfectly finished, but hay (pun intended!), the horses don't mind.

No more head bashing cause now when you open it, the piece of timber on the end allows the lid to sit back against the wall with the right lean so it won't slam back down.

z

look what i found

I got a great email the other day from Laure,l from The North End Loft, telling me she had featured my tin crown in her Friday Finds post. Thank you Laurel!

http://www.thenorthendloft.com/2014/02/friday-finds.html

It got me thinking. Lots of bloggers do 'finds' type of posts once a week and its a great way to share things with your friends and followers. Maybe I should do it...

Then again I'm a 'fair weather' blogger. Sometimes I post a lot, other times I disappear for weeks and my friends have been known to phone E.T. to intercede on my behalf in case if I've been abducted.

Its all very well to have time to do everything I try to cram into my day, then I have to find time to blog. And most of the time I'm just too tired at the end of the day to answer emails, let alone be creative and blog.

I think I will join the 'finds' club, but make it a random thing... you know, more like a surprise than a reliable weekly thing.

So, in the spirit of sharing interesting things I've seen, been inspired by or found... here is the best idea for displaying art. I found it while browsing The North End Loft. Laurel made up boards with pegs and clips up different art according to the room and the mood. Isn't it brilliant?

I think I'm going to make some of these for myself. There is only so much wall space in this house and there is just so much I'd like to display. Changeable displays are a wonderful idea.

Here are some great finds from a garage sale up the road a week ago. I love this old fashioned bike light...  it'll make a great something one day. And those clamps. I have ideas for those already, but you'll see how one has already come in handy in an upcoming post. 

I also found these two old scales to add to my collection. (Anything over 3 is a collection and I now have 4 of the hanging type and 5 of the table type scales). This first is wonderfully chippy with that lovely old fashioned green on the back.

The other has a lovely patina of rust and green. They're both hanging on the side of the house for the time being, replacing the plants I had in hanging baskets.

Most of the plants I had in pots have gone into the ground now. The garden is looking wonderful. Most of the plants I put in have grown and the place is starting to look like someone loves it. If I continue in this vein my garden will soon look like a little old lady lives here.

- You know. The older the you get the more into gardening you are... the best cottage gardens usually belong to little old ladies who've been gardening for 30 years.

z