Boring

I haven't posted much in the last few days.  Not because I haven't done anything, but because there isn't much to see and nothing is finished.  One day I cleaned out the garage. But ran out of time and it's not finished.  I worked on laundry. But it's not finished.  I cleaned up outside the house. But it's not finished either.  *sigh* Some days are like that. 

I did start painting the little house.  Here is the before photo:

 

And here is the after:

(crickets chirping)

Really?  I painted white on white.  Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.  I think I feel asleep for a moment there.  (Seriously, the photos are a before and after and except for the roller, you can't tell!)

The walls weren't bad in this room, but they needed refreshed.  I also want to paint the trim a cream color to add a little accent.  That won't be nearly so boring.  (har, har) 

Eclipse

Did you see the eclipse this morning?  Finally, there was an event in the sky that wasn't covered by clouds! I can not tell you how many times I have waited for meteor showers only to be disappointed by cloud cover or haze.

Going..

Going...
 

Going...
 

 
Almost gone.

I like how you could see the dark side of the moon, too.  The moon set behind the trees just as the eclipse reached totality.  Neat. 

Boo

Witch requirements:

Black Cat
Black Hat
Broom
Bats and Spiders
Stirring Brew

Ok let's see if I have everything on the list.

Black Cat (fang included)

Black Hat, broom and bats.  Ok, they are actually crows, but that's a good substitution. (The spiders are in every corner of this house.)
 

 
Stirring brew. It's really potatoes for potato soup.  Tomorrow is soup night. 

Mmmmmmmmm, soup.  Dumplings. Bread. Crackers.

Divide and Conquer

I don't check my email at all this weekend. This morning I have 219 new messages. 
 
Delete.  
Delete.  
Delete.  
Delete.  
Delete.  
Delete.  
Delete.  
Delete.  
Delete.
 
210 of those messages were junk.
 
This weekend Walt Kowalski and I worked together, but separate. Divide and conquer is what we call it.  Normally we use the divide and conquer when there are errands to run in different directions. "After the gym, you get a hair cut, make a stop at the beer store, and fuel up the truck.  I'll get groceries and drop off the items for donate.  We'll meet back home for dinner."
 
Walt Kowalski was busy finishing window trim at House #1 while I worked on removing the old plywood on the kitchen floor in the little house in the back. Removing the floor is helping to remove the old smell. Not foul, just old.  We want to install tile in the kitchen, so we'll need cement board and some most of the old floor boards need screws instead of nails.  After so many years, the nails are working their way up.
 

 
Meanwhile, Walt Kowalski set up a work area in the house in the front.
 

 
He came to find me because he needed assistance.  He was out of 1x6, white, painted boards for inside the windows.  As it turns out, the former remodeler of the house in the front used 1x6 white painted boards as trim instead of fancy trim.  I was able to gently pry the boards off of the walls so Walt Kowalski could reuse them.  I love recycling. 
 
 

 
Luckily I'm also going to replace the drywall in the house in the front, because the trim took off some of the plaster, too.  Oops.  There is that lath again.  No insulation.  {shakes head in disbelief}

 
I found three layers of wall paper under the trim.  It's a like a surprise from the past.  I can't wait to find more surprises. 

 

There are other things we're going to recycle from the house in the front.  Several doors will be used in the house in the rear and maybe even House #2 (if it fits). Walt Kowalski wants to use the old kitchen cabinets for storage in Shedzilla. Bathroom fixtures, dining room fixtures, window blinds.  All of these items will be used in another house.  

 

Tomorrow I start painting the little house in the back.

 

Zero Motivation

I have zero motivation today.  Less than zero.  (What is less than zero?)

The dishwasher is full of clean dishes. The sink is full of dirty dishes. There are clean clothes in the washer that need put in the dryer and clothes in the dryer that need put away. Halloween decorations need hung up. Walls need painted. Carpets need removed. Litter boxes. Sweeper. Dinner. Gym.

The list goes on and on.

I could just lay on the couch and watch movies and TV all day. 

I just need to get started. I did make the bed. I can check something off the list.  And I did bring up clothes from the laundry room.  I guess I already got started. 

I think another cup of tea is on the menu. 

It will work out to be a good day.  Painting is on the agenda.  Walt Kowalski and I are headed to the gym this evening, followed by dinner and movie night at home.   

Yesterday was very productive, which is probably why I'm slow moving today. Along with all of the regular work, I spent the evening cleaning up the garden while Walt Kowalski and Chain Saw Johnny split wood. 

 

It was a lovely autumn evening. 

Breakfast nook

Remember the kitchen photo from yesterday?  Here it is again:

Here is today:

 
It took me two hours to take out this small section of wall. 

You are probably thinking "Why did you take out the wall?"  I was thinking the same thing as I was pounding my way though it.  There were two outlets that were connected and the wire connecting them was not properly wired.  Instead of being enclosed in the wall, the wire came out of the wall, went around the wooden stud (on the outside) then went back into the wall and outlet. 

Between the outlet and the random holes, patching just the holes would have been difficult.  Let's hope I don't need to take out any additional of this wall.

I splurged yesterday.  I got a new wallet.  It wasn't really a splurge because I bought it previously on sale with a coupon.  I had it in the closet room of doom (bonus points for me for knowing and remembering where it was located!).

I needed a new wallet because my old one was stretched from all the receipts and change.  Also because I embarrassed myself in the dollar store. I thought I zipped the small change zipper on the back side of the wallet, but here the zipper broke, jumped the zipper track, and I spilled about $5 in change, the majority pennies, everywhere in the checkout line. 

I'm always hopeful with a new wallet. I'll keep this one neat and tidy.  That is usually true for about a week. 

Arm Workout

And shoulders.  And hands.  My legs are good.  I'll work those tonight at the gym.

I pulled out carpets, padding, and tact tract all day yesterday.  I think the installers got paid by the staple and nail.

The neighbors have a decoration on their house.  It's on the back and I never noticed it before.  Their sun has a sunburn on his nose. 

This is the small front bedroom in the little house. The carpet was AS bad as the other carpet, but it had a smell.  Goal: get rid of stinky smells. 

 
The dumpster is getting fuller by the minute. 

 
When Walt Kowalski arrived, we removed the old kitchen cabinets and, like a proper Italian family, took them to the basement.  It's probably more than just Italian, but it's not uncommon to have a second kitchen (your old kitchen) in the basement or garage.  I don't think we'll have a second stove in this little house anytime soon. 

The old sink base had water damage, so it went to the burn pile instead of the basement.  See the wall on the right, with the 5 holes? Yeah, that wall is on my list today.  The electrical outlet wasn't in a proper box.  *sigh*  I need to remove some of the plaster so I can repair the wall properly. This wall will no longer have cabinets and will now be seen.

The wall on the left with only 2 holes wasn't done properly either.  No box. That wall will be hidden by the microwave, so patchwork will be acceptable. After we install a proper electrical box.