What's a DIY girl supposed to do?

As the major house renovation work is coming to a close what is left is the smaller finish work like filling holes, painting, & installing knobs. I am such a DIYer that it kills me to hire other people to do this kind of work. Unfortunately I have progressively worsening joints - probably arthritis- which is really getting in the way of doing some of the things I have always liked to do in my house. Yes, I know I need to see someone about this condition and am badgered daily by my husband to get this checked out but I never seem to have the time. Nonetheless, I am still so temped to do the painting myself. I just want it done and I want it done NOW. The best way to get things done when I want them has always been to do them myself. However, I insisted on moving all the furniture myself early on in the process and seem to have made my knees and hands worse than usual. I thought they'd be better by the time we were ready to move things back in and do the painting but they are not. I think I just have to let go and hire movers and painters to get all this stuff done. You know things are bad when you volunteer in your child's kindergarten classroom and you panic a little when the teacher hands you small scissors and asks you to cut out 18 snowflakes.

Fun in the snow!

Icing on the cake....make that the counters!

Finally Finally Finally!! We found some Carrera marble for our countertops. We've been looking for about 6 weeks and all we could find was really grey stuff. We wanted the traditional white with grey veining and it was getting very hard to find. Even all the guys at the stone yards were saying that they were getting very grey stuff in that was unlike what they are used to. Each yard wished us luck as we left trying to find whiter marble. Late on Tuesday our stone fabricator called all excited that he had found "gorgeous carrera marble" in Connecticut. That is a few states a way from us and I guess he drove down there and bought every last slab they had. He drove it up to my house on Wednesday to show me and a friend of mine who is about to start her kitchen. We will have counters from the same marble. Our guy bought 14 slabs from the same lot so basically they are all identical. We are very excited to have found something we liked and didn't have to settle for something we didn't love. Counters should be installed on Wednesday. Floors are being done now.

Introductions

I am one of those people who likes to name things. I think all important things should have a name. Don't you? I mean, my children each have a name, my husband had one when I met him and nearly all my friends have names. Names help give us identity. Some things I own already have their own identity and so I think it is fitting that they also have names. For instance I have a wonderful Michael Kors handbag. Her name is Pricilla. If I ask my children to go get Pricilla one of them returns with a beautiful tan leather purse with gold fittings. So one of the things that we have added to our kitchen remodel is so special that it too will have a name. Meet Jules....


She is a 48" double oven range by BlueStar. She's got 6 burners and a grill. While the photo here may look like she is red, she is actually Raspberry. BlueStar started off as Prizer-Painter in 1880 making coal ranges. Over the next 100 years they expanded their business to other heating appliances and eventually started making ranges under other brand names including Garland which was Julia Child's range. This is how Jules got her name. In 2002 they relaunched their business under the BlueStar name making professional ranges for the home.

We are so excited she is home. She'll be hooked up soon and then I have to arrange for a BlueStar person to come and calibrate her.

PS The brick will be painted white.

My Wonder Boy

Per usual, Buddy has decided to show us a new talent already mastered. This child never likes to show us a developing or emerging skill. He is quiet about it until he has mastered it and then he reveals it. We are at a local cafe having hot chocolate and doing homework right now. (yes it has wifi) I was just going through a collection of spelling tests from Sweet Pea and Buddy asked to see one of the pages. He then proceeded to read every word on the page. Yup. The boy can read. Hot damn! Sweet Pea was an early reader so I thought I was going to get a super late reader with Buddy to balance things out. Guess I was wrong about that. I adore my kids - they are so cool!

Pantry Shelving Identification Help!!!

I found this picture of shelving (supposedly inexpensive shelving) on Garden Web and it is exactly what I want for my pantry. Can anyone tell me if they recognize this as a brand of shelving?? I am going to try to contact the person through Garden Web but the post was from a long time ago. FYI, anyone starting any kind of home remodel - check out Gardenweb.com. Oh boy that is a jackpot of information!

Purdy

This morning, I awoke to a cacophony of drills, hammers and saws. It is a symphony of sounds I have grown used to but this morning I must have slept in a bit because it was those noises, not the delightful sounds of my children, that pulled me from my slumber. Ah, the party people (as I like to call them) are here and off and running. The kitchen is moving along very well and very fast. We are covered in dust. My hair is constantly dirty. I can't remember the last time I had clean sheets. The entirety of the house from the basement to the third floor is covered in a film of grime. I have eaten more hot dogs, quesadillas, pizza, and chinese food than I have ever cared to eat. I started off trying to cook regular meals using a crockpot and a griddler but doing dish duty in a bathtub just pushed me over the edge. The entire first floor is not usable because the kitchen remodel is stealing a bit of space from the living room and a fireplace is going in as well. The dining room is being used for cabinet and appliance storage so we are relegated to the second and third floors. We call it the apartment and I am not the only one tired of living in such tight quarters. I will take some more pictures today and post them so you can see where we are as we head into the new year. I do see the light at the end of the tunnel...literally. The pendant lamp pictured here just shipped yesterday after being out of stock for a month! I am very happy my pretty things are starting to arrive!

D Day

Our very long awaited renovation project has begun! Workmen arrived bright and early this morning to rip apart our kitchen. Here are some photos from day one!


Before Picture. The crazy layout is due to a chimney running through the kitchen. On Wednesday we have the pleasure of having said chimney removed. It runs through the CENTER of our home. For sure- this will be ugly.


Demo pic 1


Demo pic 2


Massive Trash 1


Massive Trash 2



My attempt at making Chicken Gumbo using only a Griddler and a slow cooker. It came out just fine actually. Couldn't get the sauce thick because I could not cook it down well enough but other than that it was great.