Detours off Britta Blvd

Back in January I posted what house projects I completed in 2008, plus what I had planned for 2009. I've gotten a lot done already with 2009 not quite half over yet, including the most ambitious project on my list that is well underway!

( Brittahytta home & garden improvements for 2009 already completed )


( still to-do for 2009 )


( ...and last but by no means least...(fanfare please!)...the kitchen remodel is well underway, hopefully all finished before 4th of July! :D )




kitchen color story = raw copper sink, EcoTop samples (Pecan is the winner), Tuscan Bronze faucet, IKEA "antique effect" flooring

So, now you can see why I've been so busy the past few months! When not at work or doing all the other stuff I've already posted, I've been either revising layout drawings, researching & purchasing, packing up my kitchen or bashing tile off my floor! I also was wary of posting too early in case I might jinx something...the cabinet order was one of the last details to get in place for sure, but now that's in process, I feel much better that everything is underway!

The last major detail is choosing castley stone(like) backsplash tile, but since I can't install that until after the cabinets & counter are in anyway, I have a little time to go shopping. I have a general idea in my head of what I'd like (think the flagstone pattern from my Halloween walls, but more tan than gray), but haven't investigated local tile stores. I also haven't found any knobs or pulls I like enough, but at my request Richard is making me fingerpull cabinet doors & drawers, so I won't have to install knobs or pulls anyway. My parents' kitchen doesn't have hardware, and I might like the cleaner look.

From my estimates, since I don't always know what the price would be if I paid labor for what I've been doing by myself so far, I will probably get a $35K kitchen including new hallway & living room flooring for about $25K that was secured last year when our company stock was nice & high, so sure glad I sold options when I did...still not any low-budget kitchen & I could have cut more corners to be cheaper, but I think the value I'm getting is definitely worth it!

Biggest splurge = gorgeous copper farmhouse sink...almost as expensive as the fridge(!), but smiling every time I do dishes will be as worth it as the expensive teal custom paint job is every time I smile when I see the Briata, even 5 years later... :)

Best deal (so far?) = found the matching finish dishwasher air gap for $20 online but won on eBay new in box for $0.99 + $4 shipping...woohoo!

Happy Friday everyone!

Current Mood: excited

Last year was the first year my dad was retired, and my mom wanted to go to Stitches West, so the plan was for both of them to come stay at my house, I would take some vacation days, and my dad & I would build the two gates I asked for as Christmas presents while my mom was at the conference. This worked well enough last year that Stitches Project Weekend has become an annual tradition. This year my mom even brought a friend for the conference, so I had 3 guests for Mardi Gras, then only a couple days later, another 3 guests, so I'm glad my guest room & office have gotten good use!

When I make my wish list of projects to do, it is truly a wish list of things I want done eventually, but usually a stretch goal I don't expect to complete, so I prioritize, plan out what we think we can do in the time we have vs. daylight hours, and see what we can do. We actually got EVERYTHING done on my list this time...wow! Thanks Dad! :)

To read details about each project, click the links.


Day One (only afternoon/evening):

( site survey & shopping )

( leaky sprinkler valve )

( new kitchen light )


Ugly old kitchen track light before...now prettier & brighter new kitchen light!



Day Two:

( proper drainage from 3 downspouts )


Drain ditch in process


( paving front porch to go with new brick pathway )


Voila! Front porch before I moved in & now! So much more charm than the pebbly concrete before!




Spillover Day Three (morning only):

( hallway linen closet doors closing properly )


Linen closet doors with new hinges that match my hallway doorknobs...and should I repaint the fronts but leave the insides of the doors the "painted desert" effect as house history? ;)


( restabilize pipe organ )


( old kitchen light installed on wall switch in garage )


Track light from kitchen now illuminating the garage


( new fridge water supply valve in kitchen )


new water pipe extension through garage wall...and the valve moved inside ready for a new fridge!


( stabilize screened patio structure to be ready for outdoor patio carpeting )


so...

leaky sprinkler valve = $13
new kitchen light = $175
proper drainage from 3 downspouts = $60
paving front porch to go with new brick pathway = $144
hallway linen closet doors closing properly = $25
restabilize pipe organ = $0
old kitchen light installed on wall switch in garage = $4
new fridge water supply valve in kitchen = $35
stabilize screened patio structure = $0

...project weekend with Dad = priceless! :)


P.S. I did get the living room, dining area & hallway all painted with a "wheatland beige" base coat then a hand-rubbed "wam oats" topcoat all in January! Those photos are here if you'd like to see...

Current Location: Brittahytta
Current Mood: accomplished

I'm still recovering from my latest illness, but I decided to take stock of last year's home improvements and organize my thoughts for this year. I thought I didn't get much done on my house last year, but now it looks like I did after all! In rough chronological order...

( Brittahytta home & garden improvements in 2008 )

( Brittahytta home & garden improvements for 2009 )

( farther future because timing will be tricky, plus not all kitchen decisions made yet anyway )

Speaking of the kitchen, one part I am struggling on is the sink. I hate stainless steel, and I want warm colors in my kitchen, not a white enamel sink that will stand out as too bright against all my warm tans & beiges. I cannot find any enamel sink darker than "biscuit" which is still too light. I found a gorgeous natural stone travertine farmhouse sink with a carved apron, but I am worried a bit about the cleaning care. I have seen some custom-painted fireclay sinks, but none in designs I like enough. Why can't someone just paint a fireclay sink to look like stone? Or why can't they let ME paint one myself, then fire it for me? heh...If anyone comes across any sinks you think I might like, please let me know!

Once I find a sink I think I might be close, but the timing is tricky, since I have to have half my house unusable for quite awhile, since the flooring can't be done until the existing kitchen is dismantled, and as you know I have party schedules to work around... ;) Unless I have decisions finalized by Mardi Gras to be able to start work, which is only a month away, I won't be able to start until after next Mardi Gras. At least the summer parties I can work around having no kitchen since the parties are out back or on the patio, I have a fridge out there already, I do have a sink in the garage and can move appliances like the microwave to the patio too.

...and speaking of Mardi Gras, I have to get an invitation out, since the party is now only one month away!

Current Location: at work
Current Mood: accomplished

Various projects small & large have been completed recently for my house. I'm still behind on writing up the little things I did before the Clue party that were mostly furniture, artwork & accessories, but I'll catch up with the more recent projects right now.


( Kitty-inspired bug protection ;) )

Foam pieces cut to fit and painted to match, then in place on the patio



( New Skylight Shades )

Living room and kitchen skylight shades installed by me



( New Front Screen Door )


New Retractable Front Screen Door


( New French Doors )

Old Sliding Door vs. New French Doors


French Doors completely open...ah, what wonderful party flow space this will be! :)



( New Window Trim )

Side window before & after trim


Living room window before & after trim


Front window before & after trim


Ready for my window box! Backyard window before moving in, now after trim added



Fear not...more projects will appear here for your reading pleasure as I have the time & motivation to document them... :)

Current Location: at work

Finally the right cabinet arrived! My parents drove over to attend our concert at Chateau Julien winery on Sunday, so on Saturday my dad & I installed the new brushed nickel faucet on the granite countertop after getting the CatGenie into the new vanity cabinet. Since the cabinet is 3" deeper plus about 4" taller, it is much more comfortable for me, and I even have more counterspace since the sink itself is also smaller...which the kittens also like, making it a bit difficult to get ready in the mornings with both of them wandering around playing with running water, batting the curling iron and sitting in the sink! The cabinet has only been modified slightly, with cutouts to accommodate the underneath power outlet, plus a slot just big enough for the cables to reach the water intake and the toilet. Luckily the only modifications to the drain trap were to shorten it towards the wall, so the CatGenie scooper doesn't hit, plus there's still as much room as Kylie had to use the litter bowl, so I think it'll be fine when the kittens grow up. I have the left door removed for now, since the kittens aren't big enough to pull the door open, but when they're big enough, I'm sure I'll be able to teach them how to open it by themselves. Kylie was smart enough to figure that out on her own, which is what gave me the idea of the cabinet-hidden litter box in the first place!

Master Bathroom Before:


Master Bathroom Today:


...and showing how the litter box fits inside, plus full inspection complete!



...and speaking of the inspectors, there are indeed even more kitten photos starting here!

Current Location: at work
Current Mood: accomplished

Let's see...it's been a long time since any Brittahytta remodeling updates...

Before Halloween I did spackle the drywall in the living room that replaced the fake & real wood paneling I removed, but it still has not been painted. The holiday season was filled with parties and decorating instead of home improvement projects. I did find some cool shelves for my bedroom just before Christmas, but I still am figuring out what to put on them for sure. Also, I had never properly screwed the wooden cover back into the wall after the plumbing incident last January since I wanted to eventually find a real access panel, so I finally got around to finding one that would fit - had to purchase online vs. local - so no more "clunk clunk" of Kylie trying to get past the loose wood panel into the plumbing hole! I had to pry out a couple extra wood spacers and add drywall to resize the hole enough to fit the panel mount. The wall paint isn't completely white, and I've only primed the panel so far, but since it's under the table you don't really notice, so that will wait until after the walls are done being covered with fake stone this summer & Halloween anyway. ;) I also just acquired a Scandinavian-style post box to replace my sad old & crooked mailbox, and it's nice that the color ties in with my Brittahytta house sign from Lincoln Sign Company! :)

( However, the project with the most impact is the hall bathroom... )

Here are some before & after photos of the hall bathroom...as in before I moved in!





I doubt there will be many more DIY house projects between now and July 21st for obvious reasons of a giant party in process! I still hope to get AC installed & the insulation going, but I still don't have leads from the contractor yet...so we'll see what happens!

Current Location: at work

I've been so busy, plus it's been a matter of choosing what to say, since so many things have been going on...but when two or more people ask "you haven't blogged in awhile, are you ok?" I guess it's time for at least a little catchup! :)

I guess my last post was about Robin's lame ER bills. A few generous people contributed, so Robin has $376.36 waiting in her new PayPal account to be used to chip away at a tiny bit of that horrendous bill. Donations can still be accepted of course if you feel so inclined. The odd number is because to accept credit/debit cards, people had to send to my account which took out fees, so whatever was left after fees went from my account to Robin's as PayPal cash...little did I know it'd be such a hassle!

We had a Choral Project concert up in Santa Rosa on March 25th that went very well, with complete strangers coming up to us raving about how much they enjoyed the concert...which is always nice to hear! We actually sold out our CD stock that we brought to that concert, so that was amazing! Should have brought more I guess! We're also doing pretty darn well at iTunes sales so far, which is really cool to hear...I'm still amazed that my solo on Mary's Little Boy Child ended up on the preview clip! :-o

My garden is doing well. I did get irrigation for the new concrete patio installed, just some mini-half-circle sprayers, but some of the baby tears inbetwen the pavers got crunchy before then, so I'll probably have to dig up some more from the volunteer bumper crop on the north side of my house. My roses started going to town while I wasn't noticing (hooray for pruning properly in December AND planting red onions between as organic insect control!), so Sunday morning I already deadheaded a bunch of blooms! I also pruned my lilac tree since so many branches were crossing, so I have two giant lilac bouquets in the house now!

Solar might not be the project for 2007, since Nanosolar is an up & coming new technology that should be 10% of the cost of standard PV panels, which sounds worth waiting for. I had an appointment with a friend of a friend "green" contractor last week, who recommended improving the efficiency of my house for the major expense vs. solar right now, especially with Nanosolar already constructing their first plant in San Jose for production in 2007, so he's getting me leads for new HVAC (including roof-mounted AC and replacement furnace), new polyurethane foam roof (R24 insulation! attic fiberglass gets max of something like R14 only if properly installed, and I have no attic option anyway), and blowing insulation into my exterior walls by punching small holes in the stucco. Unfortunately my gas supply line is too small for a tankless water heater, so my existing functional water heater will probably stay as-is for this year, since it actually fits in my utility closet, and with a new furnace space inside there might be an issue to solve later!

As an excuse for getting some college friends together I haven't seen in awhile, plus I've discovered some more recently-acquired friends are also fans, I had Mystery Science Theatre March Madness, which was a Saturday afternoon BBQ plus two MST3K movies, Hobgoblins (ARGH! SOOO painful!) and the infamous Mitchell! It was a lot of fun, and the majority opinion was to have another one soon...so it'll just be a matter of fitting it into my hectic schedule!

Speaking of hectic schedules, yes, inbetween concerts and dates (! - yes, still going well with Patrick! :D ), I'm already working on the Big Bash, aka Final Festivities, aka Year 7 at Hogwarts for July 21st. Copious supplies have been ordered and/or received, decorations are in the works, my costume is designed, but there is so much to do! I'm putting extra pressure on myself since I'm considering this to be my last chance to do some of the ideas I've had since 2000 but ran out of time for the previous parties...like the edible Hogwarts gingerbread castle centerpiece, edible Mandrake Seedlings, edible bugs for Potions, Sugar Quills, Ice Mice, Polyjuice Potion, etc, etc, plus it's a new location with this house, so I have to figure out the most logical party setup, which will include a new Marauder's Map too...I hope I can do it all!

Current Location: at work

Oh my gosh...it was just a thermostat setting! I didn't even see the thermostat had switches underneath it for Cool - Off - Heat (like it cools anything! no AC in this house :P )...and somehow even though I never touched it since I never knew it existed, it had gotten switched to Off...so now the heater is going, verified hot air coming out of the vents...I blame not being able to see it on my height, which is also probably why my dad didn't notice it this weekend, too...I have to lean down to see the switches, and I didn't even see or feel them when I took the whole thermostat cover off last week...$45 & a week of freezing for nothing! Oh well...

Current Location: Brittahytta
Current Mood: feeling stupid

So much for holiday baking starting last night! Since it was finally getting so cold, scheduled to freeze last night in the Bay Area, I tried turning on my furnace but nothing happened! It worked fine all last winter, but I haven't used it since March or so. When he was turning my gas back on when I moved in last year, I remember the PG&E guy specifically saying "you won't have to worry about a pilot light since it's electronic ignition" but it's not kicking on, even after flipping every circuit one by one on my breaker & the two unidentified switches near the furnace itself. It probably just finally died, since it was installed November 1975, so 31 years is well past standard furnace age I'm told... Thank goodness my home warranty doesn't expire until Dec 9th, but they can't come investigate until Monday morning! This really sucks for the weekend because my parents are staying Saturday night to go to the Chateau Julien concert on Sunday, so we'll all be cold together! :( I was fine sleeping under my down comforter last night, but my nose was ice and even Kylie was refusing to leave the toasty warm bed this morning...ugh!

Current Location: at work
Current Mood: frustrated

One year ago today my offer was finally accepted on my house, escrow began & I started mentally remodeling, researching & buying things for when the house became officially mine on Dec 9th. Since I'm taking the holidays off from remodeling in favor of decorating for Christmas (hooray!), I think this is a good time for a recap. :)

I have gotten a lot done in the past year, but there is still plenty to do, most obviously the kitchen. I recapped the first Eight Months of Effort before, and since then it was mostly the backyard sprinkler system, brick work, vacation & Halloween, so this time I'll give my wish list of what I hope to do in 2007.

( Inside projects )
( Outside projects )
( ...and the biggest & most expensive dream that requires copious research first )

So, I think all that will be keeping me busy for quite awhile yet...and that's just the house projects, not the parties, website work, video editing, or party book writing that I also want to do too! There have never been enough hours in the day for me, ever since I can remember...

Happy Friday everyone!

Current Location: at work
Current Mood: anticipatory

I hope you all had a relaxing holiday weekend...I however am still more exhausted than I've been in a long time! As my dad said "I haven't been this tired in at least 20 years!" Why you ask? Well, since there are some garden projects on my list that needed either extra hands or other expertise than just myself, I had requested awhile back if my dad could help me at some point, so we had agreed on Labor Day Project Weekend. I was already at my vacation accrual cap anyway, so I took a 5-day weekend, but then I got that darn cold, so my parents decided to give me an extra day for the germs to disperse before coming up on Thursday during the day. They brought both Labs, including cute little Elsie the puppy, so Kylie the Kitty was not pleased & hid in my bedroom closet all day long as the dogs were roaming.

Day Minus 1 - While still feeling awful & weak from my cold after a very long day at work since I'd be gone for 2 days, Wednesday night I unloaded 340 free bricks out of the truck to the back patio all by myself...took about 3 hrs since I had to keep taking rest breaks & only could take 2 bricks at a time...ugh!

( Day Zero - prepping only, but it was labor too! )

( Day One - the real labor begins! )

( Day Two - the labor continues... )

( Day Three - and now the conclusion...or is it? )

( Collateral Damage - worth it for all the work we got done! )

As my parents left on Labor Day, I finally took a little rest, since I knew I had to last through rehearsal, and my congestion wasn't fully gone yet. I finished the laundry & did some bills, then went to Home Depot to get the 1x4s to finish the bench, and had them cut them there since my dad took his circular saw with him. I did haul the rest of the river rock out to the front, then I also got most of the boards onto the bench before I had to leave for rehearsal. Last night I finished the bench construction & weeded the front side yard a little more, which was the only section my mom didn't have the chance to weed for me. All in all, a very productive weekend, but boy do I still have work to do and I'm still exhausted!



Backyard after Labor Day Project Weekend



Front yard after Labor Day Project Weekend - Dad & Mom are rightfully proud! :)

If you're interested in seeing all the Labor Day Project Weekend photos, it's easier just to start here on page 7 & keep going to the end of the album:

Britta's Garden at Brittahytta

Still much too much to get done before I leave for Oktoberfest in Munich on the 26th...ACK! ...but tonight I need some sleep...haven't gone to bed this early in a long time, but I am wiped out...

update: I don't really have any good before photos, definitely not at the same angles, but here are some to compare...we jumped straight into doing work, completely forgetting to take the immediate before photos, which is why I started taking daily progress photos in the morning before we started working again...



Backyard Oct 2005 before my offer was accepted - plants had grown a LOT in the meanwhile


Front Yard June 2006 after the liquid amber tree was removed - can't see the mess that was the front beds though

Current Location: Brittahytta
Current Mood: accomplished

Since it's been awhile since I've posted remodeling progress, let's recap now that I'm just starting my ninth month of living at Brittahytta. All work has been performed by me, myself & I unless otherwise noted:

( House projects so far... )

As for the garden, not as much work has happened there until recently, but notable events:

( Garden projects so far... )

All that while having 3 big parties (housewarming party, Mardi Gras, and 4th of July) and a few smaller get-togethers, plus having my grandmother & parents stay the weekend of our big choir concert...whew! I keep thinking I must not have done much since there is so much more still to do, but looking at the list, that's not that shabby knowing I've also still been working a solid 40+hrs/week the whole time! ;)

Now since the last update, here's the new house progress:

I started my faux wood beam treatment by painting the beams with leftover hall bathroom tan that will also be the darker shading color for the stone wall effect. I had already tried stripping the beams in another room, but it was stained a deep burgundy before being painted white, so even getting past the white I still can't get past the burgundy to any real wood color...hence a paint treatment to bring out the texture in the wood again...

Tan beams in living room vs. still-white beams in kitchen


I have started the stain overlay of the faux wood treatment that picks up the wood grain & texture, but nowhere yet finished...I need better daylight but I thought the drywall should go up first vs. trying to store it while I stained the beams...

Stain overlay in flash looks pinkier than in person

Stain overlay in daylight


I acquired 3 full sheets of drywall in the family truck (thanks Robin for the extra arms!) & finally enclosed the open wall where the solid wood paneling was...just tonight finished the last long cut, then taped & put on the first coat of mud ...since this wall & the rest of the living room will be textured like the bathrooms, then painted to be stone blocks, I have a LONG way to go here too...

Drywall is up in living room!


New garden progress basically all this weekend to now:

I acquired 70 free new clay bricks - perfect for testing patio & walkway layout! That confirmed that I wanted to use clay brick vs. fancier pavers...I think it will really look nice when it's finally finished, especially with the curves...

Brick walkway test under arbor

My dad & I had started troubleshooting the broken sprinkler system when he visited last, and most of the heads were buried & we had already found some broken parts. Now from careful & logical digging I have found about half the sprinkler lines (rear sprinklers were listed as broken on the inspection), but still at least one more section to trace.

Backyard archeology - don't the white pipes look like dinosaur bones on a dig site? ;)

Wait - I even found a real dinosaur!


After copious months of planning & sketching, I finally laid out an extra garden hose, marked with some spare spray paint, then dug out the edge of the walkway & new open patio in back. Of course I have to dig out all the rest now, which will take a long time, but once I know where all the sprinkler lines are, I'll know where I'm safe just to hack away at the ground vs. being careful...

Patio edge dug out so far


I'm almost tempted to set up my videocamera, since it has got to be a riot seeing me balancing with both feet on the shovel like a pogo stick, weaving around this way & that trying to dig into the hard ground...what surprised me was that my butt muscles were sore from all that pole action! haha...I have LOTS more digging still to do...and I'm still sore from digging 2 days ago, which is why I took a break tonight & only finished the drywall...those full sheets of drywall are quite awkward & heavy to move around all by yourself, but I did it! :)

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Current Location: Brittahytta
Current Mood: accomplished

It's way too hot...I might have to sleep out on my newly-re-screened patio tonight if I can't get my bedroom cooled down any more! I'm on my laptop out on the patio right now as Kylie is exploring the heck out of every nook & cranny, even on top of the fridge! So, since it's been so hot lately anyway, I've been working up a real sweat by tackling hefty house projects. Might as well get really grungy if you have to take a shower before bed to cool down anyway!

I did take a little break after 4th of July to clean up, enjoy party leftovers, sew twin flannel baby blankets & see Pirates, but the next day I was back working on my house...

Last Monday night was the Attack of Britta vs. the Solid Wood Paneling. Not that much to tell except that it takes a lot of hammer vs. prybar, plus a LOT of elbow grease to get 8ftx6"x1" solid wood tongue & groove planks off of solid wood studs. I wore earplugs & kept trying to get Kylie to leave the room but she didn't seem to mind - that piercing ping of metal hammer vs. metal prybar plus the squeaking of nails as they finally start to give is horrid noise for 4 hours! I was plenty sore after that workout, but now I have an open wall ready for drywall, then a much easier spackle texture job like the rest of the living room!


New living room wall - no, not finished yet, silly!


( Pressure washing done plus patio progress )


New patio - trust me, all the screen is new behind the curtains, plus the structure now matches the house color


New patio showing the bar & fridge - if you look closely you can see that above the curtains matches the wall in back


( I'm smarter than Kylie the Kitty...for now...? ;) )


How to foil a kitty's cunning plan - make the door open inward instead! heehee...

Now to see if it's cool enough yet to sleep inside...good night!

Current Location: Brittahytta
Current Mood: melting in the heat

This was a very productive weekend for house work and even socializing! Friday night I was able to leave work in time to rush by home for mojito fixings & chips, then off to the "drinkorization" party at Robin's house. We ran the whole show choreography in her backyard with only 9 of us, but we did it! During War Song her neighbor to the back on her upper story steps looked rather scared of us, but we hope we rejuventated her with Musica Animam Tangens, which sounded damn good with so few of us ringing full-voice into the open air!

COME TO ONE IS THE ALL...PLEASE! :D

( Spackling & spartying... )

( Hall bathroom & front porch, plus pressure-washing begins... )

Here are some more before & after photos (if you haven't seen the master bathroom before & after photos yet, check that out too):

Earlier in the week I ironed the curtains & put up the IKEA clip rings:


Gold Curtains Before


Gold Curtains After


Porch wall before destruction, then after reconstruction & painting:


Front Porch Wall Before


Front Porch Wall After


Hall bathroom before, then after water damage repair, spackling for texture, new paint & new light fixture:



Hall Bathroom Before



Hall Bathroom After



Close-up of "Old World" wall texture


Screened patio floor with sparkly stuff, then during pressure-washing...yes note the color of the painted concrete! Someone who owned this house was more of an aqua freak than I am! ;)


Screened Patio Floor Before


Screened Patio Floor "After" (more "during" really)


Onward to another busy week, with trying to keep pressure-washing each evening I possibly can...whew!

Current Location: leaving work soon
Current Mood: accomplished

( Warning: stream of consciousness account of the past few days to follow...just remember, no one is forcing you to read this...if you'd rather not read, as you were, move on along, etc, etc... :)  )


Stay tuned for more house progress later in the week I hope...I did acquire the light fixture for the hall bathroom today, so even though I still need a mirror for that cabinet, I am now incented to spackle & paint that bathroom, now that the big water damage hole has been patched...

---

gam·ut n.

1. A complete range or extent: a face that expressed a gamut of emotions, from rage to peaceful contentment.
2. Music. The entire series of recognized notes.

[Middle English, the musical scale, from Medieval Latin gamma ut, low G : gamma, lowest note of the medieval scale (from Greek, gamma. See gamma) + ut, first note of the lowest hexachord (after ut, first word in a Latin hymn to Saint John the Baptist, the initial syllables of successive lines of which were sung to the notes of an ascending scale CDEFGA: Utqueant laxis resonare fibris Mira gestorum famuli tuorum, Solve polluti labii reatum, Sancte Iohannes).]

Current Location: Brittahytta
Current Mood: tired
Current Music: hungry kitty causing chaos

I think I've done pretty well this week for getting projects done. I'm definitely ready for the weekend, but too bad I can't relax since I have two full days of choir rehearsal. Well, how much relaxing would I have done anyway? We all know I would have just been killing myself doing more projects... ;)

So, here's the progress for this week:


( Tuesday evening )


Porch wall completely torn out!


( Wednesday evening )


Hall bathroom previous water damage hole ready for patching


( Thursday evening )


Porch wall redone, caulked & ready for painting!


( Friday evening )


Final touch for now - new master bathroom light fixture!


I'm still not sure if I'll put the cheap white cabinet back in my bathroom over my toilet, since it would give me more room for more teal accessories, but it'll cover up my pretty aqua wall...plus I think I will put a towel bar back under the window but I need to find one I like...then someday a new vanity, maybe even a coat of paint on the current one, and I need to get the enlargement of the Caribbean Sea at Grand Cayman photo I took in March to go in the matching frame...but even with all that, I think the master bathroom is finished enough for a before & after comparison:


Master Bathroom Before


Master Bathroom Now

...and now I think I deserve a mojito with freshly picked mint from my garden! :)

Have a good weekend everyone!

Current Location: Brittahytta
Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: Seinfeld reruns

( Way too much remodeling progress to update... )

( ...including tearing down my front porch wall! )



Last but not least, I cracked up when I got the first sheet of plywood off the porch wall...to find aqua paint behind! hahaha...I wouldn't be surprised if that was the original house color, since it is quite a 50s mint shade...there must be something creative I can do with it, let alone the other scrap wood...and no, the irony of the original paint color being so close to the aqua I just painted my bathroom did not escape me! ;)

Current Location: Brittahytta
Current Mood: accomplished

Yes, more changes at my house, especially lighting! :)

( New dining chandelier )


New dining chandelier!

( New entry sconce )


New entry sconce!

( New bookcase )


"New" bookcase!

So, you can tell this week has been busy, and it's not over yet...Saturday is our recording session for the CD for our big June concert "One is the All." It's in Carmel Valley, a 90 minute drive in no traffic, we have to be there 9:30am, and we're scheduled until 11pm! We'll see how that goes. I have a Costco pack of Ricola, an entire box of Lemon Throat Coat teabags to keep refilling my big thermos, and water with comfy clothes, so hopefully I'll last. This is at the Chateau Julien winery & I'm almost out of their port I bought at Christmas, so if I can run over while we're grabbing lunch & buy another bottle, at least that will be a bright spot in the day no matter how anything else might go! ;) Wish us luck!

Current Location: Brittahytta
Current Mood: accomplished

Now that it's already Thursday afternoon, I finally have the chance to catch up on my productive weekend...heh! ;)

( Friday - work, luggage returned, sleep at long last! )

( Saturday shopping for groceries, gardening & lighting... )

( Woodgrain gossamer project has begun! )

( Sunday - third electrical project done! Gardening and even SUN! )


New hallway wall sconce

I like the new sconce lots better! :)

This weekend is attending a housewarming party on Saturday, then salvage shopping in Berkeley Sunday afternoon...and I must remember to check all the major websites for April Fools pranks on Saturday! ;)

Current Music: clickety clack of office typing

My mom had seen some cool fake candle electrical wall sconces she thought might go in my house and they weren't even too expensive. Of course, when she pointed them out in the Roseville Home Depot, only the display model was there, none to buy, and they're not listed on homedepot.com. With Mardi Gras inbetween, I didn't have any chance go to the Home Depot by work until Friday, when I bought two of those sconces to try. Since they're quite castley, I didn't think they'd go as well in the guest room or the office, since those won't be castle-themed inside those rooms, so just my bedroom & the piano room to start.

( My first electrical work on my house! )



So, what do you think? :)

Current Mood: accomplished