Memorial Day 2020

Secret Squirrel Project Reveal

No matter what is going on in the world  I seem to be able to find a project where there is none.   It is no wonder my to-do list never gets completed.    I don't plan this.   I don't search these tasks out.   I just look around and think hey, what if I.....     I am forever on the short bus of the Hot Mess Express.....and that is what led me to painting my kitchen cabinets.

This is my secret squirrel home improvement project.   I've had it on my to-do  list for a couple of years and after the new countertop install last fall it was moved closer to the top of the list.  I exercised my editorial prerogative by deciding not to share until I knew if it was successful.  Heck successful, what do I mean......how about waited until I knew I was finished!

Having no garage or basement, the dining room table became my workspace.   This meant I had to do the doors in batches of 5 or 6.    Each batch took about four days for the prep-coat-dry-coat again-dry-glaze-dry-seal-dry.  With no visitors and me not flitting here-there-and-everywhere this was the perfect time to do it.  The prep is by far the worse.   This is something that sounds familiar to people my age, but I digress.

Project Reveal.....
This is where we began.   October 2019 - Pre-Phase 1

Breakfast bar, countertops, dishwasher, sink and appliance barn gone.  Little decorative 'fencing' removed from top of cabinets.

November - Ta-da, end of Phase 1.   Little trim at top replaced with crown molding, breakfast bar gone and replaced with granite countertop, new appliances, new vinyl beadboard backsplash, new sink and faucet, new bar stools and under cabinet lighting.     A gal should be happy.

But then comes the self-isolating,  May 2020 - Phase 2 - The prep begins, doors off and tape going up.  Initially I thought yuck, the primer doesn't cover well.  But the second coat proved to do the job.   And then I though yuck again,  the color doesn't look good.   It is so hard to choose from a color chip on top of the box in the fluorescent lighting of the store.   It was hard for me to imagine the final look when looking at what appeared to be gray cabinets.  The glaze did the trick.  Mr. Wonderful was a great help.    He took down all the doors and removed all the hardware for me.   He made me little stands with wood screws and 2 by 4's to prop my doors on.   He also ordered enough soft-closing hinges to retrofit the doors.   And although he did no cleaning, sanding, painting or offering to cook dinner, he became my cheerleader.    When I lamented about the color, he encouraged me to have a wait and see attitude adding if I didn't like it, I could re-do it.  Very easy for him to say since I was the one with the elbow grease but it gave me an option which I welcomed.  It was much better than a you-picked-it/you-live-with-it attitude.  I still need to get new hardware but want to get a couple different styles to bring home and install before I decide.

An added bonus is all the cabinets got cleaned and organized.   I had a couple of cans of condensed milk and a couple cake mixes that expired and got trashed.   The canned goods are all back in a FIFO order now.  They bring to mind Julia Roberts' compulsive husband in the movie Sleeping with the Enemy.

last of the drawers on my 'workbench'

And Ta-da Phase 2 completed.  I calculated it would take me four weeks doing 5 or 6 doors at a time but I was able to finish in 17 days!  Overall this was not such a terrible project, again the prep was the worse.    Because of dry times, I worked about three to four total hours each day.  I used Rustoleum's Cabinet Transformations Kit that included everything but brushes, painters tape and drop clothes.

This is not what I originally envisioned but that does not mean I am unhappy with the results.  It is not without some boo-boos but as we Jersey Girls say, it looks fine from the top of the bridge!

Phase 2 - Overall costs
paint kit   $90.00
new hinges $95.00
new cabinet hardware - $120 estimated
brushes, drop clothes, painters tape - $70

So for under $400, I got new cabinets.   Much better than a $20,000 upgrade that would have been the same configuration as the existing layout!   Mr. Wonderful should be so thankful I am always saving him money.   LOL

After all, there only so much Sudoku one can play......and now back to stitching.....

Have a great day, stay safe and keep on stitching.

Yard Work

  This is the before.....




I took on this little corner by the deck that was overgrown with yucky ornamental grass that was long past needing to be removed.   Out it came with Mr. Wonderful's help.
























Instead I now have the makings of an herb garden.    This looks underwhelming because the plants are small.   The wrought iron chair is from my parent's yard; I remember it as a child so it has to be 50+ year's old.    The two round cast iron "planters" are the bottoms from two different chimeneas we had when the kids were in high school.

I put my lavender at the right forefront positioned so that as it grows I will be able to walk by,  brush against it and fill the air with the scent of lavender.    Ever-bloom strawberries for Sweet Mr. William are in the left forefront.   I don't know if the bunnies will leave them alone and they may need to be moved inside the fenced vegetable garden.

I have sage, oregano and chives so far.  Like all the other plants, the local nurseries have such a limited selection this year.  I'm going to have to think what else I can add.      

Maybe I can use the cast iron bowl with the potted plant in it for mint......it would be a way to contain the mint and keep it from taking over.   Lord knows I don't need to put anything invasive back in this bed!

This is the only critter I want to see in this bed!

Before    and   after......

Even Mr. Wonderful, who would prefer to cement the entire yard and paint it green, said it was a great improvement and it the best this little corner has ever looked.   I think he may have been in isolation too long.

Thanks for stopping by and indulging me.  And now on to my next project to conquer!

Ornaments Progress

Wrapping up week seven Ornaments ala Round.  It is slow going for me on this.   My other two co-horts are several ornaments ahead of me.   I have one more ornament to go and I can say I am half way.   I have been busy on my herb garden re-do and my other secret home improvement project which has left little time for stitching.    And although I am enjoying this stitch I a really jonesing to stitch on something else....but I dare not for fear this will land in the UFO basket.   Nothing like the peer pressure of a SAL.  

The herb garden and the secret project should wind up this week and I will be free to share each and to spend my time stitching away - yea, right, who I am kidding, I'll find another mega project.  

Anyway, I give this project about an hour each morning and then another hour in the afternoon.   I pull it out each evening when I am watching Homeland - a new to me series.   Unfortunately in the evenings I usually don't even take a stitch because I have to keep my eyes on the show!

One stitch at a time and I'll get there.  

Thanks for stopping by, keep healthy and keep on stitching.

Happy Mother's Day

one and all

May......

...the forth be with me......and the gardening forth has been.

Just when I thought there would be no future major yard projects in my life......I ate those words.   We continue to remove the Liriope in one last corner.  The weather has been great for yard work and I have been hitting the yard with gusto and consequently not so much stitching.  The sunny days in the 50's are perfect for the digging, pulling cutting, trimming.   In addition to this bed upgrade, I have been removing the briars and brambles along the tree line at the back of my property.  LOL - my property is only 100 by 125 lot but calling it 'my property' makes it sound like I have acres.  Anyway, this area is where I 'toss' my extras.   When I need to thin my lilies or hosta or black-eyed susans or shasta daisies or milkweed or whatever, I toss the extras here.   If they grow they grow.  It is kind of an overgrown mini (mini) meadow.  Pre-retirement, I never had the time to manicure this area so it has become so overgrown with honeysuckle, sticker vines, saplings, etc. and is now my work in progress for this summer.  Photos to come later, much later in the summer.

This is the last section on my list to get rid of the Liriope.   I cut it back with the weedwhacker, sprayed it with vegetation killer and we are half done with the removal in this section.  I plan to augment the soil and make this my herb garden.  

In the foreground I transplanted the lavender from front yard where it had started to get smothered by my ever expanding Scotch Broom.

I left these large hosta in place.   They have a very pretty blue-green leaf rather than the normal variegated.

After 8 days straight in the yard, I decided enough was enough and just relaxed on the deck and did a little finishing yesterday.  I don't recommend making cording on the deck.   The wind was blowing and the ball of perle cotton was rolling but I got it done.  This is Stitch Every Day by Hands On Design.

Thanks to Deb of Country Stitchers Floss Tube for her idea on mounting this piece on the box lid.   This is one of those project that I put off starting but once I did I was amazed at how fast it stitched up.  I did not stitch this on the recommended fabric but used the gray instead. 

 Sometimes my vision doesn't materialize so I am super happy that what I visualized actually came to be.  Now where to put it and what to put in it!

Next is Blackbird Designs Easter Parade.   I did frog the peach tulip and restitched it as charted.  This is the start of my finishing.    I need to lace the green and then attach the linen to it and add a bow or trim.  Not sure yet if I am adding cording or not.

I finished the baby quilt for my grand-daughter adding her name.  I was in such a hurry to include it with all the other things I needed to get to the Post Office last week that I neglected to take a photo of the finished project.

On Ornaments ala Round, I am trudging along.   Being outside all day, I have spent little stitching time.   I get it out in the evening and then never take a stitch.

The evergreen sprays are a bugger and the two on the right are not finished but I needed to move away from them.   I know, I know,  I am just delaying the inevitable.

Once I get this yard work under my belt I have a new indoor project that I have no business starting but that has never stopped me  before.    Just call me Side-track Robin.    More on that once I get started and know if it is going to work as I visualize it and does not put me on the Hot Mess Express.  So that's my status.

One last program note.......is anyone else having issues with their comments showing up?   Not on my blog but when I comment on others, my comments don't appear.   I understand some need moderator approval, but none of my comments are showing up anywhere.   Since I retired I have been trying to be more faithful to not only read but also comment.   Is there a blogger update I missed?  Shudder that thought; usually means you gain some things but lose others.  I use Safari and am wondering if I need to use Chrome.   Anyone else notice this issue? Or is it operator error?

Thanks for stopping by, stay healthy and keep on stitching.