Tantivy

Over the weekend we were visited by our younger daughter, Sara, and her Treeing Walker Coon Hound Lucy. Beautiful Lucy crawled into Greg's lap when he was out hunting. She was starving and had been shot in the leg. Greg brought her home, took her to the vet, they fed her, had her heart worms treated and had the shot removed from her leg and now she is theirs. Lucy is a strikingly good looking dog if you like hounds and I do. Of course she fell for Dean (and he for her) and watched each time he left the house. We only heard her "bay" once and that was at a cat that my dogs were barking their heads off  to scare away. (the cat ignored the whole cacophony) Yes, that is Dean driving and Lucy watching his every move.  This is the way the guys leave the worksite when they leave for the day or the weekend. I don't always leave my own worksite that neat. Today we found out that Dustin's wife, who broke her ankle, is not healing well; he had to leave to tak...

Sometimes I get so involved with things going on around here that I just think about blogging instead of sitting down and actually doing it. So here is a little catch-up. The kitchen was mocked up out of cardboard so that the placement of lights and switches could be refined. Here is the island where the cooktop will be and the wall oven and cabinet in the baking center at the far wall. A wing wall will hide the laundry area.   This will be the sink under the windows and the refrigerator. Beyond that is the pantry. I will be glad when there are not ladders and stacks of boards, etc. all over the place.  Just now the work is on jacking up the floors to level them after 90 years of settling, and building the entrances into the kitchen from the dining room and hall. This last requires that the hall be blocked temporarily so the only path from bedroom to kitchen winds through the hall,living room and dining room. Not really a hardship, but I will be glad when it...

This was my day - a good one I am happy to say. Here it is - in no particular order  I worked on this painting. Now I am ready to let it be for a while so I can get a little mental distance before deciding if it needs more and what that more might be. Don't show this to your favorite psychiatrist. He/She might send the orderlies after me. All those weird colors and the flames. Hmmmm.  I had previously sewn strips together in sets of three and then cut them into squares. Today I sewed squares together in sets of two. Next I will make sets of four then I will put three of those blocks together with a square of one of the prints before assembling the whole thing, layering it, quilting it and putting it on the guest bed. I hope that I can keep the momentum going.   Yesterday, after much work with paint films inside and out about 1/64 inch thick, Dean finally got one of the eight windows in the living room open. I am sitting in front of it enjoying the flo...

The plants are caladiums! How could I not remember? Aren't they beautiful? Below are the pots (well, one of them). They are concrete and glazed a little with a brownish grayish green. The plants are still just sitting in the pots but I hope to plant them in the next few days.  While we are at it I think these hydrangeas in the neighborhood are quite striking looking Those deep colors look so good in front of that house.  And,  the scaffolding is down on one side of the house. The painters will use ladders to get the one little trim board that hasn't been painted. The back is also finished except for the louvers that close that opening. Before they are installed the guys have to get in there and paint and seal the wooden plenum they built for the fan. Right now, from the stairs inside, green building board is visible. Not a good look.    Guess who heard some thunder? This is a hollow core door which Jackson started on a few days ago. It is ...

and then we will see if there are steps back to be taken. The things that I call "brackets" and Dustin calls"gussets" are being installed. That is good in two ways - they are on the house and they are off the porch. I am excited about both.  Inside, the plan is to make cardboard mock-ups of the cabinets, etc., next Monday/Tuesay and have the electrician put up temporary lights so we can try them out at different times of the day to see if we want larger or smaller ones as in two larger or four smaller in a given area. Should be interesting. Meanwhile, Dean and I plan to clean up all the little pieces of debris from the demolition.   The washing up station seems to work but I would recommend a regular sink. Still, it beats using the bathtub or the bathroom sink.  An addition to our little "kitchen" is this countertop oven. We aren't building in double ovens so this will take the place of a larger one and be used when heating a larger oven...

about things getting worse before they get better has some appeal to me now. Things have gotten worse and surely they are heading for better. Right now, the work is going on inside the house and painters finally have a dry and sunny day to work outside. However, now the refrigerator and old stove are in the dining room and I am setting up a dishwashing station on a server in the living room. Dean is out right now running errands and I hope he remembers to buy two plastic dishpans. We will fill the pans in the bathtub and empty them into the toilet, I suppose. the new scullery We aren't creating a lot of dirty dishes - I usually shy away from paper plates but not right now. I still try to be judicious in their use. I have several things to take out to the studio which will serve two purposes - get them out of the house and have them available when I get out there to work. However, even with all that to do, I am going to lunch and a movie with "the girls" today. W...

My first wake-up call this morning was from Dean at 6:30; the second was at 7:30, also from Dean. At 7:45 I heard "the guys" talking in the yard so I gave up and arose from my cozy bed, dressed, went to the ATM, walked the dogs and got to Vicki's house early enough to give her a real surprise. Why did I go so early? At my house there is no TV and no Internet. I was about to have a nervous breakdown with only two dogs to talk to. They listen well, but don't have much to add to the conversation.  I added a white sweater to complete this red and blue outfit. I almost took Vicki's breath away(left her gasping for air, that is) until she remembered that today is the fourth.   This was the kitchen, the office and the back porch. My kitchen will be much more roomy. The washer and dryer were to my left as the picture was taken, but at the present time they are not operational since the hole through which the extension cord ran is now covered. I guess I will be doi...

Today's adventure began about 2:30 AM or so when I was just about ready to turn out my light. Suddenly there was a thunder boom and before I could take a breath and clamber out of bed,  Jackson had moved all the things I had piled in front of the door and was disappearing down the stairs. I went to the front door and opened it only to find that it was pouring rain. I was in my little white nightgown and decided that Jackson was on his own for this one. After checking a few times to see if he had returned I went to bed. At 6:30 this morning I had a call from a neighbor who had found Jackson while she was out walking. He was at one of the Lee University Dorms, several blocks away. Do you think he just wants more education? Someone, Jackson or other, had removed his thundershirt. I don't know whether or not to buy him another. Justin, one of the guys working here,  cut a piece of plywood and screwed it to the door but it is a hollow core door, so we are not sure that Jackson ...

The south gable of the house is all shingled! Now the painters will paint it the soft green of the lower gable and the carpenter types will start on the North gable. I am so excited. There are brackets to be added on this side - I think that they will be added after the painting. Right now the brackets grace our front porch.  I worked at neatening the living room today. Here is the neatened end and Jackson wearing his thunder shirt.    Here is the end I tackle tomorrow.   Here is the dining room. A careful look will give you a glimpse of the kitchen with its doorless cabinets. Dean put some of the doors in front of the hole that Jackson made in the door to the basement to keep him from trying to get out. Unfortunately, he tried anyway and when I came home from Vicki's tonight I couldn't find him. I noticed that one of the cabinet doors was wedged in the hole and found that Jackson had tried to escape only to be caught by his thundershirt on th...