Still Remodel Hell

MORNING!  It is a glorious morning of STILL IN REMODEL MODE!  The painters will soon arrive to continue taping and prepping the windows for paint.  We're afraid that the may leave to finish up a job at OSU they came from.  The Hubby said that they are here only because that job is waiting for the electricians to finish their work and when they do they are OFF!  NOOooooooooo!!!!  They can't leave us hanging with no way to hang curtains and living with a sheet on the window.  I'm so fearful this is going to drag out forever and I at the point of blowing.  Yesterday the brother-in-law and his hubby popped in the help measure and decide which drapes and hardware to order.  I was so happy to see them as it's been since Easter that we laid eyes on them.  I miss them so much.  They helped us measure and find the perfect drapes for the front bedroom and our bedroom.  I am so glad to get that done and just wait for it all to be delivered. 

I have been sketching a little sketch every day so yesterday was my Daddy.  I love it.  Today is the rooster.  He was so much fun.  I was up again at 4:30 today so by 6:30 I was sketching.  It's funny, there is a couple of old guy on FB who are quite happy to share their opinion on my sketches.  Good grief!

 

Renovation and Sketching

Good morning.  It's been a minute for sure.  Just seems like it is just one thing after another lately.  The saga that is our home rejuvenation is still ongoing.  The last post was the water in the offices and it was the day we had our new garage door installed.  By the way, the office flooding, all is good.  The computer and printer are all up and running fine.  Thank goodness.  This week it has been the installation of all new windows mostly in the front of the house and some side windows.  That was an entire week process and I was not entirely happy about it, still aren't in some aspects.  I'm not happy because I have to come up with window coverings, my most unfavorite thing to do.  AND, it means that I lose my beloved plantation shutters, maybe. We were able to keep the ones in the front room, his office, even though he says they don't let enough light in.  Bull.  He just doesn't like them.  I do, they are like a white picket fence for me and I want them.  In our bedroom we had a full window of them but now it is a sheet.  When I said I really wanted them he said they were too expensive.  After I've slept on this I was like, "HEY, wait a minute..."  After all this expense of new garage door, new windows, and this next week new awning curtains and awning over porch AND a new A/C-Heater unit, plantation shutters are too expensive and that is what YOU wanted...No F....king Way!!!  I'm getting ready to do battle.  Watch me.  Also, the painter still has to come in and paint the trim and the outside areas like over the garage door to match.

Old

New

New doors too.  He wanted just plain clear class, all of it.  I put the brakes on that idea and it's got texture.

See how nice these shutters look, and all the LIGHT!  

It really does look pretty now.

I've also spent the past couple of weeks doing a lot of just plain sketching and really enjoying it.  

My Greatgranny, and yes she had that kind of big nose, I have it too.

Daddy and Susie

Today I am preparing to write a letter to my friend.  She calls me her best friend but she and I need to talk, via letter.  More later.

Weekend Getaway's

We've taken every opportunity on the weekends to jet away to our home away from home.  It is so beautiful this time of year in Northeast Oklahoma.  Enjoy the photos and maybe some will become paintings.  In fact the first one is on my easel at this time.

We've refurbished the outdoor screen porch the past few months with a new outdoor fireplace, re-staining the floor and a new ceiling with new can lights.  We also took out a pole that was smack in the middle of the room and put a beam across for holding up the ceiling.  

The yard also is full of beauty with peonies, iris, and roses.  The white peonies remind me of my momma 

Party and Garden or Garden Party

Exactly a week from today our party is happening and I have TONS left to do.  It's funny that I have sent nearly 200 invites out and only a handful have bothered to RSVP.  I am going to have to just plan food on the assumption that all will come!?  That is weird but what do you do.  The family helped to get the tree up but I still have boxes and boxes of stuff to put out.  That is really the easy part but I do have to do it.  Then I can tweek the house and shelves and stuff.  I have to make it perfect as it is an open house.  My plan is to also set "my room" up as a kind of gallery and maybe hang a few of my pieces around the house.  What an opportunity for an art show!  Maybe I can sell some stuff.  That would be AWESOME!

My mind is just swimming with stuff this morning.  I was up at five with Clayton and just could not go back to sleep.  The party, and next weekend is B's Alliday Show at the fairgrounds and I have to set up my booth.  That is kind of blowing my mind right now because I'm not really sure I want to do it but I need too.  Last year I had a lot of prints to sell but I'm not going to do that this year.  I just don't want to get into the PRINT stuff.  I just want to paint and sell paintings.  I don't want it to be a "business", I want to create.  I do have note cards and those are easy and sell nicely.

This month, December, I plan on fulfilling the plan to post everyday, I hope.  I did pretty well for posting everyday of the year until about September then I just gave up.  I think because my body was in so much pain that I couldn't write.  The knee thing is a memory, although I still have the arthritis pain some, I am pain free.  I've gone back to the exercise but I don't overdo it because I am still post-surgery and have another 6-7 weeks of healing time internally.  There are times at the end of the day when it is telling me "STOP and rest!"  This week won't be an option for me in that regard.  It is full steam ahead.

The house renovation is complete, inside and out...well, the out is not quite complete but by Tuesday it will be.  The landscaping is done and the new sod will be laid on Tuesday, then we can call it complete, at least till spring when my new vegetable garden will be set up.  I've adjusted where it is and have plans for some of the flowerbeds along with Sue from The Garden Trug.

When we were planning on getting some more landscaping done the guy who did the front yard was a flake and left us with new flowerbeds overrun with the zoysia grass.  We couldn't get him back to replace plants that were the wrong stuff or to fix our problems.  I had HAD it with him and I told The Hubby that I was going to be in charge of the yard stuff.  I love gardening and when I first went to college at the age of 24 my first class was horticulture because that is what I wanted to be briefly.  I knew what I was doing.  He let me, although he couldn't help himself for trying to horn in.  That's okay because I know he is a micro-manager and he needed to be a part.  Anyway, in our little three street area The Garden Trug truck was everywhere at 3 or 4 different houses and I saw that they were doing everything from fences to new flowerbeds.  I contacted Sue and got things going and I am extremely pleased with them.  They will also come out to clean out my beds in the spring and put more annuals, whatever I need!!!!!  I am in control of the yard!

Outdoor Kitchen and Living Space

BEFORE

THE TEAR OUT:

IN CONSTRUCTION

ALMOST COMPLETE

NEW LANDSCAPE...MORE TO COME

FINISHED!

Life Rolls On

Life seems to be marching on, day by day.  Little Rio is growing like a weed, already gaining nearly a pound in 2 weeks.  Her Momma is finally able to get out and about which will help with the stir crazy feeling.  Isn't this sweet.  It's the mother-in-law with her little great-granddaughter.  Aren't they both beautiful ladies.  

Work is slow for me but in general the guys are busy, busy, busy.  That is finally good.  It has been a weird few years in the industry and very slow to build back up.  I will be ready for the elections to be done and the US can move on, however things turn out.  At this point there is no telling which way it will fall.  

Yesterday we got new android phones, the new Galaxy III so I will be knee deep trying to figure out how it all works.  Should be fun.

The view from the new The Vault

The Hubby and I try to eat out only once a week but sometimes more.  Last week we tried the newly open The Vault in downtown Tulsa.  It's in the old First National Autobank and has a room called the Tom Tom Room  that can be rented out for special groups along with a general restaurant eating area.  The menu consists of pimento mac and cheese,  eggplant moussaka, and pretzel sliders with some old fashioned drinks like Manhattan's, Mai Tai, and Pink Stag.  The  decor is kind of Mad Men'ish and something B&B2 would love.  It's funny that some 36 years ago I was in the autobank when it was an autobank.  I used to work a couple of blocks away and the company I worked for deposited our paychecks automatically into new accounts set up there.  It's great to see the old being saved and re-thought for new.  

NOTE:  Still have not heard from the doctor office about the MRI.  It's been 2 weeks and I called yet again yesterday to have the girl say that was not right.  She took my number and said they would call me when they were back from lunch.  Do you see anywhere here where they called back...NO!  So today I will call yet again and see what is up.  I don't have time to play around here as life rolls on.  Next Tuesday they will start the tear out of the very old landscaping in the backyard and I need to concentrate on that.  I don't have time to play phone tag when I'm the only one phone tagging!  Can you tell I'm pissed!  Oh well.  On to my Friday as I wait around for the outdoor drapes to be delivered sometime today.  Tonight The Hubby and I go to see the 5th Dimension and The Spinners.  

LIFE ROLLS ON!

Fountain Time

Yesterday The Hubby came home as I was finishing up make myself presentable for the world to see!  He does this quite often now that our humble abode is so much closer to the office and a lot of the jobs the business is doing.  Also, he is so excited to finish the patio/driveway/etc. that he can hardly stay away.  Which means I NEVER have time, quiet time alone at the house anymore.  Anyway, back to my day.  I tried to paint a bit before I cleaned up but was just not in the mood with the power washer going on out front and the drill and saw out back as the concrete counter top guy was working.  Then The Hubby comes in and I just gave up.  I was all prepped and ready for the afternoon, planning on a visit with my Daddy when The Hubby wanted to go to Southwood Nursery to look at fountains.  Best laid plans, my best laid plans always seem to get mucked up as they did yesterday.  It was all good though as he was after a water feature that I have ALWAYS wanted in my back yard.  

We arrived at Southwood and entered to find this sweet little girl sacked out in a birdbath display.  I petted and she just stretched and splayed her paws in utter joy of her life.  What a precious sight.

Out the doors I saw these lovely sunflowers and just had to snap a picture.  I'm always on the hunt for flowers to paint! 

Towards the back we found the fountains and found this little beauty that we purchased with a bit of discussion of "NO BLUE."  For some reason he had the ugly blue ones in his head for color and I like blue but it was just not going to work for me.  I won, we won, to have this softly gurgling thing soothe away the tensions of the day!   

Welcome to My World

Welcome to our world of construction and concrete!

Clayton says, "Come on in and stay awhile!"

Thursday and Friday, after a week of no driveway Thursday morning started like this...

then this arrived...

and began it's job of releasing that wonderful CONCRETE! 

Worker bees started the process of smoothing and raking and grabbing and shoveling... 

Hopefully I will have the DONE pictures but today it is RAINING!!!!

Week Past and Present

Yesterday I was able to do a lot of painting and finished this lovely little piece.  I put it on Facebook and got a ton of comments and likes and withing 2 minutes an interest in buying it.  WOW!  Talk about boosting my painting ego.  It's not even dry!  

The weekend was nice with The Hubby and I running off to the cabin for one night.  Not much going on there as school is about to start for a lot of kiddos and families are getting ready.  

Much needed rain also happened Saturday afternoon and last evening.  We needed the air to be cleaned as my allergies are driving me a bit crazy.  While The Hubby spent yesterday working on some of the wiring on the new patio and driveway (heat tape) I painted and then took some time in the garden.  I had forgotten that we bought a new electric tiller and it was still sitting in storage unused.  I was not about to use the thing with our backyard full of workers everyday this summer.  So yesterday I broke it out.  I also forgot about mosquito's!  There I was tilling away (which was AWESOME) and my mind was not thinking West Nile Virus.  I finished, put the thing away and went to sit with a cool glass if iced tea when my leg starting itching!  YIKES!!!!!  My legs were covered with at least ten mosquito bites.  GOOD GRIEF!  Luckily, when my body gets a mosquito bite it lasts about an hour and then totally goes away.  Let's just hope none of the dang things was "ONE OF THOSE" mosquito's.  

This week I will be spending a bit of time at the office while B does some of her "other" job things.  I don't mind at all and will be there a LOT this fall when our little girl arrives.  In just a few short weeks we will be holding that sweet little bundle and I can hardly stand the wait.  I just got an email from the other lovely in California with her airline flight info, timed, HOPEFULLY for the arrival of said wee one.  She is coming in two days before the due date.  

Tomorrow the new driveway should be poured so we, I plan on being able to drive into my garage but the weeks end.  At least the porta-potty is gone and I'm quite happy about that.  I'm hoping to be able to have the rest of the outdoor furniture delivered next week!  (Need to talk to The Hubby about that.)

Okay, I guess that's all the chit-chat I'm-a doing here for now.  Later gators, until I write again...tomorrow!

Carla