DAY 2-CONDO RENOVATION...

DECISIONS! DECISIONS!!

More paint samples! I'm going with Sherwin Williams paint... I love the "buttery" feeling of their paint as it goes on the wall! I know, odd thing to say. But, it flows smoothly & SW didn't drip like the first samples I tested!

SHOWER PAN INSTALLED!

Dry wall has been "mudd-ed" & the shower pan has been set. The shower floor could be installed tomorrow, if everything is dry! 

SHOWER TILE

Your basic white tile! Six by six on the walls & smaller (cute stuff) will be installed on the shower floor & the inset (where you put your shampoo & cream rinse). 

STAIR CARPETING

The carpet guy brought eight samples & I picked this one BEFORE he showed me everything he brought. JPE's choice also! YEAH!

HAZARDOUS!! STAIRCASE

We are installed carpeting ONLY on the stair rungs... wrapped on the individual steps. The staircase is "L-shaped"... (this pic is looking down from landing into the living room).

FYI, this is the view LOLA gets when she visits! she loves her "perch" because she can see outside.

STAIRCASE & TOP LANDING

DON'T want anyone falling down our staircase! Carpeting will be installed on the stairs & landing. See the flat section where the ladder is standing - that's where LOLA sits!

JPE WORKING!

We're both leaving work early - so we can debrief with our job supervisor at 3:30. JPE did some work while I swept up some of the "crud" on the floors.

Other jobs completed today: crown molding & baseboard were painted. bedrooms upstairs got second coat of texture. 

Tomorrow - all ceilings get two coats of paint... molding will be cut... getting ready for installing the floors upstairs (maybe as early as Thursday?).

That's all for now! 

P52 {WEEK 17}

Check out that cottage cheese ceiling... 

that stuff's gotta go!

Getting ready for the reno! Sample paint chip taped to the wall.

Testing paint on the wall!

Thank goodness for those "taster paints" (sample sizes). Don't like either color!

Looking toward the fireplace... more "taster painting"... 

SEE the ceiling? Cottage cheese G.O.N.E.

Ceilings will be painted tomorrow.

Carpet ripped off staircase!

Steps are be finished with a berber (?) carpet.

Don't want to slip & break something.

REMEMBER THIS DAY?

Getting up & down those stairs on crutches was a bummer! Longest six months ever!

Bamboo composite for bedrooms upstairs!

The color is a smidge darker than the bamboo downstairs...

BYW, bamboo composite is stronger than the bamboo floor

we had installed downstairs in 2005.

The "new" bamboo strands are twisted then covered with a resin - resulting in a stronger flooring (more resistant to dents).

The bathroom we call the "master" (it's off the largest bedroom)

has a new wall installed...

...giving us a larger shower stall.

The new wall makes this bathroom smaller, but, we're looking excited about having a tiled shower (not that molded plastic shell).

A light will be installed in the ceiling of the shower!

This "reno" was prompted by the fact that we had MOLD

(no pictures, but we saw job supervisor's pictures)

& a water leak (went undetected for years)

in the bottom left hand corner of the shower stall!

we expected D.U.S.T.

SO, I think we can live with that T.E.M.P.O.R.A.R.I.L.Y!

Gotta go shake out the bedspread & put on fresh pillowcases.

Tonight will be like CAMPING!

Posting this at TAMAR'S for P52!

I hope to have a few rooms tidied by next week at this time.

Keep checking back for updates.

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY 4.28.13

SATURDAY'S BUNCH

My postings have been sporadic... Thanks for continuing to visit & for leaving me a comment! We start our condo renovation tomorrow, so most of our free time has been spent moving stuff, de-cluttering & bagging up trash.

I just can't give up my weekly photo shoot. This week's SHS words: WALKING, YUMMY TO THE TUMMY, FAVORITE TOY, WHAT I DID THIS WEEK & ANYTHING (PHOTOGRAPHER'S CHOICE).

Stop by RAMBLING & PHOTOS to check out Ashley's picture of YUMMY TO THE TUMMY. Adorable!

our guide, Lucio's feet {L} & JPE {R}

Destination vacations = lots of WALKING! Exploring the Amazon Rainforest in Peru was a once-in-a-lifetime experience!! We traversed 14 platforms (of varying heights) --- the top platform allowed us to look "over" the tops of the forest trees. Narrow walkways, with rope & cable sides, plus amazing views made WALKING "heart-stopping" {an archived photo}

Matthew, Katie & Derek decorating cookies

I don't want to brag, but I know my cut-out cookie recipe is a "winner" with everyone. Last Christmas Eve, I baked dozens of cut-out cookies, then I supervised (sounds like teacher-talk, eh) a cookie decorating corner on Christmas Day. These cookies are YUMMY TO THE TUMMY even without all the buttercream frosting & sprinkles. {another archived photo}

FAVORITE TOY?

OH-LA-LA! I know this might come as a shock to some people... but, I "LOVE" painting. As soon as the cottage cheese is removed from the ceiling, I'm ready to put some new color on the walls. For this week, a FAVORITE TOY... a brand new paint brush for cutting-in paint next to the crown molding. My old brush had to be t.r.a.s.h.e.d after painting three condos.

AFTERNOON CALORIE BURNER!

Our bedroom & bathroom flooring arrived! WHAT I DID THIS WEEK?? made three round-trips to bring it home & unload it from the car. Ummm, my trusty Honda Civic is a work-horse. JPE moved the flooring upstairs. We're helping the contractor as much as we can... we want this job to go s-m-o-o-t-h-l-y & them out of here on time!

SATURDAY'S BUNCH

ANYTHING? PHOTOGRAPHER'S CHOICE. Easy... I took pictures of JPE's roses... gorgeous & fragrant.

Last Sunday, ASHLEY made a request for more SHS words.

MY WORDS were "selected" for next week! Yippee! Think I better spend some time with my camera before I start painting.

The words are: BACKGROUND, SPOTTED or DOTS, WEATHER, MOTION & SWEET.

FRUIT OF THE EARTH...

BLUE & WHITE (ARLINGTON, VA)

The last Friday of April is National Arbor Day...

MONARCH BUTTERFLIES FEEDING ON
EUCALYPTUS LEAVES (PISMO BEACH, CA)

find your state adopted Arbor Day HERE!
(California's observation was March 7-14, 2013)

TREE IN THE RAINFOREST (AMAZON RIVER, PERU)

The trees in the Amazon Rainforest have brilliant colors on their bark.

MAN-MADE COLORS - ALONG CHORRO ST (SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA)

Don't you LOVE the sweaters adorning this tree?

ATTACK FROM A VISITOR (ALLIE'S - SUNNYVALE, CA)

Swirling, twirling BIRD feeder being attacked by the squirrel(s)...

"PERFECTION" (SHELL BEACH, CA)

my favorite tree... it's located on the Chapman Estate
(a beach home that sits on a rocky bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean)

A TREE OUTSIDE A FAMOUS HOME (MT VERNON, VIRGINIA)

...home of George Washington!

JPE ZIP-LINING - (BIG BEAR, CA)

Trees CAN BE for play!

"The tree which moves some to tears of joy
 is in the eyes of others
only a green thing which stands in their way." 
~ William Blake

AN ADVENTURE!! OF SORTS?

"airport art"

our big remodeling
:: ADVENTURE :: 
is about to begin!

:: THIS WEEKEND ::
we'll move the last of the furniture
 select paint for the crown molding!! (& walls?)
 move some work clothes & toiletries into the downstairs bathroom

:: MONDAY ::
all the carpet on the staircase & the bedrooms will be torn out

:: TUESDAY ::
the ceilings downstairs will be scraped
{good-bye cottage cheese}

I'm a bit anxious!
don't like messes!!
the B.O.N.U.S. --- a cleaner look!

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY 4.21.13

Saturday 4.20.13 @ 4:35pm

I missed blogging this past week!

I was in Sacramento --- spending my days reading  --- scoring grants doesn't seem as if it would be difficult --- but I got tired of sitting, pencil in hand, blurry-eyed --- such long days!

BUT, it WAS great to see my friends

from all parts of California. 

Glad to be home!

This week's SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY "finds" are: HAPPINESS, SPRING IN BLACK & WHITE, FAMILY (or FAITH), FUZZY & GATHERING (or PROVIDE).

Hop over to RAMBLING & PHOTOS for a peek at the other SHS postings. 

HAPPINESS

HAPPINESS is spending time "browsing" --- fabric stores (especially all the buttons), craft stores (ahh, paper & pens) & spending some time with Allie-Bug... last weekend, we spent some time at the fabric store & a yarn shop.

SPRING in BLACK & WHITE

Clipped some "flowering jasmine" to enjoy in the house --- a little touch of SPRING IN BLACK & WHITE (actually, the blossoms are white with a tinge of pink - see first photo)!

BTW --- the blur is an audio CD that I've almost finished. Have you read The Language of Flowers, by Vanessa Diffenbaugh? you must --- it's a fabulous read!

FAMILY

These tins remind me of FAMILY! As a child, a FAMILY treat was a foil wrapped box Cracker Jack's! I especially loved those little prizes. My daughters, SLE & ACE, would probably say their favorite FAMILY treat was So'Mores (graham cracker, a bit of milk chocolate & a toasted marshmallow) made over a campfire. 

FUZZY

Last weekend at Allie's, as the sun was going down, I noticed this FUZZY, orange & navy blue cloud, floating across the sky. 

GATHERING

It's happening! our cottage cheese ceilings are coming down. The contractor will scrape, retexture and add crown molding. To save money, we're happy to have them use their standard ceiling paint (Behr - Swiss Coffee & I don't remember the color for the crown molding). I'll be painting the walls in our condo --- JPE & I started GATHERING paint colors. SOOO excited! 

Okay - so, I challenge you to get your camera out & join us for SHS. To get you started, here are the words to look for this coming week: WALKING, YUMMY to my TUMMY, FAVORITE TOY, WHAT I DID THIS WEEK & ANYTHING (I think this means, your choice)!!

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY 4.14.13

SHS 4.14.13

Last week got away from me!

I'm "on the road again"...

Spent Saturday & Sunday with ACE (Allie-bug) & Lola!

& snapped a few pictures for today's hunt.

This week's words:

GLOW, OLD, SHADOW, SPRING & SMILE.

GLOW

Don't understand how this happened? I know I wouldn't be able to duplicate this process if I tried. We were in a store looking at big screen televisions - I was taking photos of the pictures that were showing on the TV screen. Sort of a GLOW, don't you think?

OLD

This picture was mounted inside a store window! I wonder how many elementary school children could identify this OLD telephone?

SHADOW

Loved the repetition of the SHADOWS on this building. Sorry, I don't know where this building is located (this is another "photo" of a "photo on the TV screen" as I mentioned in the GLOW photo, above).

SPRING

SPRING means "bugs" --- this picture was taken in the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto.

SMILE

We went to Penzy's Spices... this SMILING pirate was on the wall just above the "coloring table" for children. Great way to keep children occupied while their parents wandered the store looking at spices. If you haven't heard of Penzy's - check it out HERE!

Well, if you've visited before, you know Ashley @ Rambling & Photos is the hostess for SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY. It's easy! check her blog for details.

Two of five words in the next hunt will be tough! Wish me luck in finding something... The words are: HAPPINESS, SPRING in BLACK & WHITE, FAMILY or FAITH, FUZZY, GATHERING or PROVIDE.

See you tomorrow - off to Sacramento!

(a week of grant reading!)

P52 {WEEK 14}

"STREET ART"

Spring St, Los Angeles

Taking a "POLL" --- 

do these letters spell anything?

...linking photos to

Tamar's blog @ RANDOM-OSITY!

more "unique findings from the "THE LAST BOOKSTORE"

"COOL PLANTER"
The Last Bookstore

"FLYING TYPEWRITER"
The Last Bookstore

"NEED SOME LIGHT?"
The Last Bookstore

"HAPPY HOUR"
outside a liquor store on Spring St