Grandkids - siblings - kitchen pictures

Lot's of things going on this week and of course 95% of it was about the house. So before I write about the house I'll fill you in on other things.

Monday we went to our grand-son's T-Ball game. These kids are all 5-6 year olds so there are no "outs". Pretty much they each get to hit the ball and the last person up to bat just runs all the bases. It's fun to watch these kids, some are good at hitting the ball, some are really good at hitting the Tee, some have their mitt just waiting for the ball to come their way, some have their mitt full of sand, some run the base's and touch every one, some have to return to the previous base cause they forgot, but the funniest one was the little guy that was so intent on getting to home plate he passed the other base runners.

That night our grand-daughter Anissa came home with us. The next morning we went down to the house and while Larry and I worked inside Anissa crawled up in the bench seat in the Big Truck ans went back to sleep. That afternoon she and I went in to Lansing and did some window shopping for a kitchen table. We didn't find one but we had a good time together and that's what I wanted.

Friday night Bob & Diane invited the siblings over for strawberry short cake. Candace (gr-niece), Delilah (our newest gr-gr-niece) and Adam (Candace's BIL) were there too so they got to listen to some old people talking about the days gone by. As I was sitting there I was thinking we all pretty much grew up in this house and except for my sister Nadene (who lived in one of the tenant houses) we all have lived in that house after we were married. Like the TV show - if walls could talk - lots of memories for all of us.

OK, time for the house update. The kitchen flooring was installed on Wednesday and we really like it. That afternoon the counter top guy came and took measurements and left a zillon samples. I hate trying to visualize something by looking at a 1x1 inch sample but we finally decided and got that ordered.

Larry ran the water line for the refrig and we moved that out of the living room to the kitchen.

Than he got the gas line run for the range and set that all up.

Larry cut the baseboard and I got it painted so today we installed that and got the cabinet hardware attached. Have to pick up some screws tomorrow at Menards as the ones that came with the handles aren't long enough for the drawers.

But other than the counter top, sink and putting the microwave in above the range the kitchen is done. Here's a couple of before and after pictures.

Eating area

When we get the rest done in a couple of weeks I'll take some updated pictures and share.

That's it for now. Tomorrow our good friends Donna and Grant Zinnerker arrive to spend a night here. Can't wait to see them.

Till next time.....................................

Cabinet's installed

Another week gone but we've accomplished quite a bit.

Our sales person Jamie from Danford Flooring came out on Monday and measured the rooms for flooring and carpet. We've picked out a new product by Armstrong for the kitchen, it's called Empire Slate but it's a vinyl sheeting flooring. Really cool. The carpet is still up in the air, we had one with lots of browns, tans, cream colors but it may be just a little too dark. Have some time before we have to make a final decision.

Once we got the quote I went ahead and ordered the kitchen flooring as Jamie said it would take 2-3 weeks. So when she called back that afternoon and said the flooring is in stock and would be shipped on Monday (20th) with installation on Wednesday (22nd) if we wanted.

So we had to get things completed in the kitchen a little faster than we planned but that's ok. We got the cabinets all set, I'm just glad we don't have a very big kitchen. Larry said a few choice words but eventually they were all in. Once the flooring is in I'll post some before and after pictures.

The insurance appraiser came this week too. We had a estimate for repairs on the garage and of course the bill for the tree. Hopefully we'll be able to get the garage taken care of in the next couple of weeks.

The range and refrig. were delivered on Friday. Until the flooring is done they are sitting in the living room. Larry run the water line for the kitchen sink (to be purchased yet) and we will need to decide on the counter top.

Thursday's our grandson spends the day with us and we kept him over night. As much as I love that little guy he sure does wear me out. Of course we're trying to work in the kitchen so I have some games on the computer that kept him busy - for awhile. Than he wanted to do some painting so I fixed up a container with primer in it and turned him lose in the bathroom. Larry said we should leave the walls that way - looks like modern art - no thanks. But the one thing that kept him busy the longest was sending him outside with the paint container and giving him the hose to clean things up.

Guess that fills you in on the last week. Till next time...............................

Another New Baby to cuddle

With everything going on the last couple of weeks I just realized I never introduced you to our newest member of the family.

Welcome Delilah Michelle Marrison

Delilah joined our family on June 1st and she sure is a tiny thing but oh so cute. Can you believe Delilah is our great-great niece, scary ha.

Did a little shopping this weekend. Had no intention of buying any kitchen appliances but Menard's was having a awesome sale so we ended up getting a gas range and refrigerator. The painting of the kitchen is getting close to being done than we can put the trim up, sub-floor down and the upper cabinets installed. Flooring person coming tomorrow to measure all the rooms and give us a price. We purchased new lights for the kitchen and Larry got those up . While he worked on painting the kitchen I put the second coat on the trim and started painting the hall.

Guess that's it for tonight. Till next time................................

House update- No more leaves to rake

It's been a long time since the last post. I don't think I've ever gone this long between posts but we've been busy and our router died so we had to share the wifi card.

Of course we've been working on the house pretty much daily and making our almost daily trip to Menards. Actually I think we have it down to once a day so things are looking up.

We purchased a 5 gallon pail of primer. I don't think I mentioned that the whole house is painted in a high gloss and dark colors. So we need to use primer in every room. We've been working on the kitchen to try and get that completed. Not sure if any of you remember some of the posts about the colors and putting wains-coating up. Well scratch all that. Decided against the wains-coating and green colors. All this was decided when we were walking back to the paint dept at Menards. The ceiling and about three quarters of the walls will be a light gray, the other quarter is a pumpkin color (called Spanish Tile) and the trim around the windows is a dark gray. Oh the crown molding and chair rail will be a dark gray. Trust me once you see the finish project it will look great (I hope).

The other night we had a one heck of a wind storm, know rain, thunder or lighting, just the wind. I was just starting to get back to sleep when the phone rang. Our new neighbor wanted to let us know that part of that tree in the back yard came down on our garage.

Here's what the tree looked like last fall
This is what we saw the next morning

Our poor neighbors ended up with the top of this trunk in their patio

Not a pretty site, especially when our neighbors were having their daughters open house in two days and that patio was the point of gathering.

So first a quick call to the insurance agency than one to the major Tree Service in our area. The guy came out within a hour but said it would probably be Friday or early Sat. morning, until he checked the standing tree. When the limb went down it put a rather large split in the base trunk and he said the next storm (which was forecast for the following day) would probably take it down. Not good since this portion would go thru the house. So he said he'd see if he could make some changes in the scheduled appointments and get back with us. By 1:30 that afternoon we had a crane, bucket truck, chipper and dump truck lining our little street.

Three and a half hours later they were removing the last of the tree.

I've posted lots of pictures on our Webshot so take a look if your interested in seeing this hundred year old tree taken down. I guess the bright side is I won't have all those damn leaves next fall to rake. Oh and the neighbors patio is all cleaned up and ready for their party.

Weather has been a little crazy here. The rain finally quit but than the 90 degree temp's moved in. That lasted a few days than the cold front came (which brought the wind) and today's temperature was 60 and the rain is back.

So that's about it. Will try and post soon but really not much to write about. Painting and more painting isn't very exciting.

Till next time.....................................

Tornado Sirens work

One thing we found out today is we can clearly hear the Tornado Siren's in our new house. Skies weren't looking too good when we were ready to call it a day so decided to stay put for awhile. Strong storms were showing on the radar just west of us. Shortly after the thunderstorm started one of the towns sirens went off. There is another one that's just a few blocks from us and I was wondering if one siren meant only half the town needed to take cover. Next question - which half are we? It must have been five minutes before the other siren went off. And no we didn't go to the basement, since we didn't have a radio here we weren't sure what part of the county it was really for and figured we could move fast if need be. I will admit this has been the first time in a long time that I didn't get nervous in a storm, maybe cause I wasn't sitting on wheels.

Several hours later:
The week has been busy going to Menard's every morning before starting projects at the house. At this point I think we own isles 2 &3 of the plumbing area. Larry has all the new plumbing run for the house. In between running the water lines he was fixing unscheduled projects such as the tub not draining and lots of time spent on getting the hot water heater. Today he worked on the electrical in the kitchen. Ok so your wondering what I've been doing. Besides being a gofer I got the floor in the hall taken up, mowed the yard again, took all the baseboard up in the kitchen, hall and bathroom. If I had a penny f. or every nail I pulled out I'd be able to give back one of the isle's in Menard's.

Update on storm this afternoon. South of us they had several houses damaged and many trees down. In our area we had 1.5 inches of rain in 15 minutes. Know wonder it looked like a lake running down our side walk. There's so much standing water in the fields. Afraid it will be awhile before farmers can get in the fields around here. Stock up on your food items because prices are really going to go up. So many States are way behind on their planting due to the flooding/rains and by the time things dry out it may be to late to plant.

Guess that's it for now. Till next time...........................................

Family Time

Not sure where the four days went. Seems like we just pulled into the brothers farm.

The weekend was a whirl wind of seeing family. One of the nice things about stopping at the farm for a few days is the nieces/nephews with all the rug rats (5 1/2 kids, Tina is due in July) come here. Bob & Diane (DB &SIL) are now staying over at the other farm while they wait for their great grand child to make her appearance. Candace is due any day now.

Friday night we went out to eat with Larry/Stint (DB & SIL on the farm) to a place called Swedes in Mulliken. This place has been there since I was little and owned by the same family members. If you've ever seen a small building along a side road that has "cafe" out front then you know what kind of place this is. The food is wonderful and at a price that would put these big restaurants to shame. The two Larry's each got the fish dinner, with potatoes, Stint got the lasagna and I got the shrimp. Everyone had the salad bar and drinks and the whole bill was $33.00.

Stopped at Dave/Dawns/Sydneys (where we park in the back yard) and got caught up with them. As usual their lives are busy. Not sure yet when we'll pull the rig down to their place. It's suppose to rain the next three days and things were just starting to dry out. This rig of ours doesn't go very far pulling it across grass.

Brandi & grand kids were over and I was able to sneak a couple of good hugs from Darrius. He starts baseball this weekend so I'm sure we'll be hitting those.

We've been down to the house and Larry's working on the plumbing. I'm happy to say the kitchen cupboards that have been sitting in the living room since last Nov are the ones that I visioned. Larry has the bathroom set so we at least have a potty and water in there. I'd help him when I could, but also got the flower beds cleaned out, mowed the yard yesterday (Larry did it Friday) and puttered around with unimportant things.

I went in to the Walk-In clinic today. The day after we left Mission (Sat) I broke out in Hives all over my legs and arms. When we got to S.D. Tuesday I tried to find a clinic there but I either had to make a appt or go to the one that is only open at night and that was 30 miles away. Don't think so. It was getting better but the itchiness was driving me up a wall. So this morning I went in and got some strong med's. Hopefully will sleep better tonight.

Guess that fills you in. Weather has been ok, had some storms the other night but not as bad as they predicted. In the 70's today but now their talking rain the next three days with temps in the low 60's.

A lot of the farmer's here are behind on getting the corn in. Larry B has his in but still has about 300 acres of soys to plant. Maybe the rain will go around us, lets hope.

Haven't Welcomed new readers recently so here's a few.
Dublin OH, Ravenna OH, Holt MI, Willmar MN, West Linn OR, St Paul MN, Kaina Nitra Slovakia (?) Ft Worth TX, Northampton, Northamptonshire United Kingdom, Phnom Penh Cambodia, Belleville IL, Lakeland FL, Dortmund Germany, Cannahon IL

I'm sure there's some I missed, only went back two pages. But welcome to all and please come back.

Till next time....................................

Final Day of traveling to Michigan

No we aren't quite home yet but within a hour we will pull into the brothers farm. When we got to the turn off for tonight's stay it wasn't even noon yet so we made the decision to keep on going. We will finish up our last travel day with 475 miles, not the best but really wanted to get through the Chicago area.

I80 around Chicago was a pain. But than we new it would be. There was construction near Peru IN that had us backed up for miles. I away's want Larry to slow down but not 10mph for miles. Finally got out of there and into Michigan. When we got near Benton Harbor it was a mess. Three lanes of traffic needing to go down to one and idiots that just had to go right up to the end which of couse messes the rest of us up. It took close to 45 minutes to go five miles. Oh to have that 10mph speed back.

Than when we got to Battle Creek we had this weird looking stuff coming down on us. And it was coming in sheets. We were pretty sure it was this thing called rain but since we haven't seen any of that since last Nov. we just aren't sure.

So this wraps up our trip home. We left Mission Tx six days ago and have traveled 1990 miles.
Time now to see the families and do some Major GrandKids spoiling.

Till next time....................................