Lazy Sunday

It felt so nice to sleep in this morning

Robins Really Do Lay Blue Eggs

Yes, we have robin blue eggs that have finally hatched this past week.  All the watching and waiting has ended and now it's turned to taking videos to watch them grow.

The first peck.

Yesterday.

This morning.

This evening.

I think I'll try to get a video each evening to show their progress.  Wouldn't it be cool if I could capture their first flight?  I'm dreaming of course.  Our very own nature show with an iPhone. 

Kitchen Remodel Project First Phase

As you remember, we finished the family room not that long ago.  The house got a thorough cleaning and all was back to normal for a couple of weeks.  Until last weekend.

A week ago on Saturday Michael wanted me to list the kitchen cabinets on Craigslist to see if I could sell them.  I took several photos and did my little write up on them, gave all the measurements and details in the listing.  That same night I received an email from a lady that was interested in seeing them.  She came by the following morning (Sunday) and purchased the whole kitchen including the microwave oven, which I might add was a very nice convection oven.

Last Monday we began tearing the kitchen cabinets out.  And the mess began yet again...

This is what the kitchen looked like before.  Now, you might say, "What a lovely kitchen!"  Yes, it was.  However, what you don't know is how cheaply the cabinets were made.  I also didn't have ample storage in this kitchen and hated (hated) the lazy susans in the corners.  Hate those things!

Here are the cabinets I sold on Craigslist last weekend along with the microwave above the stove.

We hired a contractor to work with us on our little project.  The first step after the cabinets were both removed was to take out the soffits.

The next step was to put up plastic at both openings so the rest of the house didn't get too too dusty.

Then began the hard work of taking out the old tile and hardibacker flooring.

I helped with this tough job and the next day my triceps were feeling it.

Securing the header.

That was a job!

Here's our temporary kitchen:

On Wednesday we ordered and paid for our new sliding pocket door.

On Friday we had a kitchen designer come over to help us plan our new kitchen and he suggested French sliding doors moved but over two feet to allow for cabinets along the wall.  I loved the idea.  So, we canceled and then reordered for a pair of French sliding pocket doors.  With glass!  It's going to be beautiful.

Last Tuesday Michael was cutting the (very large and heavy) laminate countertop that was in the old kitchen (to take it to the dumps) and BANG, down it fell on his right foot.  He ended up with a bad contusion and blood blister and swelling.  Poor guy continued to work on it that entire day and wouldn't show me his foot until the evening.  By then, it was looking purty ugly.  Of course I want to take him to the ER to have it X-rayed.  Of course that's what we do.  Nothing broken, good.  Very good.

Our neighbor (it works every time) brings over some homemade cookies every time Michael gets hurt.  I think he's got it all figured out by now.  Wink!  

And last but not least, we're awaiting some new baby robins to be hatched early this week.  If my counting was right from the last egg laid, that is.

Our little devoted Mrs. Mama Robin off our back porch.  She's found the perfect spot.  I love going out there to check on her.  I do it several times throughout the day and every evening and every single morning.  She just looks down at me.  I want to kiss her!

Until we meet again...

Decorating Fun

Since we're in the remodeling mode, I have kind of started redecorating some of the other rooms in our home, too.

Our antique dining table, we gave to Mike's daughter, Nancy.  I'm so glad she wanted it.  I've always loved the table and we had many good meals with family and friends at it but honestly it was just too big for the space, that and it belonged to Nancy's grandmother, so it had sentimental value for her.  I'm really thrilled she could use it and now she can love and take care of it like I did.

We drove over to Petaluma last week and found the perfect 48 inch round table.  It's not an antique and it wasn't very much money so I painted it using chalk paint.  It was my second time using this product and I cannot tell you if I love it or hate it.  I need to practice on some other things first and just did one of our coffee tables in red.  They say it's a product that's easy for beginners but I think you should have some experience with painting and antiquing furniture before using it.  I didn't find the product all that user friendly.  Once the wax goes on, it sets up almost immediately and then if you have any areas that are uneven or you need to add to or change it up, it's a bitch to remove or loosen up the wax or paint.  So that's my two cents whatever that's worth.  It's also very, very expensive to use their products.  They want over $50- for one stinking paint brush.  My brushes worked just fine.  The paint costs roughly $45- per quart.  I'm beginning to think it's a lot of hype.  Honestly, I was really excited to try it out and one little round table I did turned out fantastic.  It's just not that easy to work with.  I'm still willing to give it a few more tries though.  Not throwing in the towel on it yet.  I'm sure I need to just gain experience working with it.

I can't tell you how pretty things are turning out.  We both love it and it's just our style.  Mike is really enjoying everything I do.  He keeps thanking me and telling me how beautiful the house is.  I'm so pleased he likes it.

This is the room you see when you first walk in the front door.  The door is situated near where I'm standing when I took the above photo.  As you can see, we have a small dining space.  My Auntie Yvonne painted the yellow abstract painting you see near the table and I did the smaller ones to each side of the large tree painting above the sofa.  Most of those small paintings are for sale in my Etsy shop: Honey's Colors.  Until the paintings sell, I'm going to enjoy them on my wall.

This is looking toward the front door where those two brightly colored paintings are that I painted.

The round dining table I painted with the chalk paint and the dark red coffee table I just finished painting with chalk paint.  I'm not sure yet if the rug under the coffee table will stay or go.  I wanted something light to make the table stand out.  The dark red picks up some dark red that's in the sofa and also in the braided rug under the dining table.

My two favorite red antiques in the room.

This is the site where I got my curtains and the cute pillows you see above.  Country Curtains.
I love pretty much everything on that site and I have my eye on a couple of lamps for the bedroom.  My lamp on my nightstand is not working and I like to read in bed before I sleep if I can.  It relaxes me.

The walls are painted with Benjamin Moore's governor's gold.  I love Benjamin Moore's historic colors.  They work well with my style.  Our kitchen and the living room and on down the hallway are painted with buxton blue.

The white chairs above are getting some pretty chair pads that I ordered and are on their way from Country Curtains.

We just sold all of our kitchen cabinets, sink and microwave this morning.  Looking at the floor you see here, is the kitchen, and that will be coming up soon and will be a new tile to match the room we just remodeled with the fireplace.  The table you see above is going to get a new coat of paint on the top.  The distressed black legs will stay as they are.  Mike made that table for us.  I might change the color on the chairs, too.  Not sure yet.  Waiting on some new chair pads to arrive for those as well.

The two books where I get a lot of good tips for decorating and my inspiration comes from cottage chic style magazines.  My style is sort of shabby chic and traditional combined.  A little eclectic I guess you'd say because I don't follow any rules and kind of just go with what I love and what works for me.

A little Italian tray I bought yesterday at an antique store in Petaluma.  I can spend a whole day antiquing in Petaluma and looking at all the beautiful homes there.  So many good restaurants, too.

Springtime Nesting

I'm not the only one that's been nesting, busy redecorating our home that is.  Things are busy in our yard.  Robins and squirrels are feeling the pull of spring, too.

A pair of robins have begun building their nest on our back porch off the bedroom.   Some squirrels are busy as well building their nest in our next door neighbor's palm tree.  The thing is, that same palm tree is going to be cut down by PGE in June.  Wondering if the squirrel is going to make it out on time.

Here's some pictures that Mike captured.