Little Things Mean a Lot

Big deal.. running water. But this is particularly exciting because it is coming from the refrigerator and it was filtered and cold. Along with water we have a choice of ice, cubes or crushed. This is light years from what we had in May and there is more to this than meets the eye.

Our old water tank was a dinosaur. It was big and it leaked air making the pressure terrible. The tank was full of rust and silt that got stirred up every time we re-charged the pressure. We were going through water way too many water filters and the aerators on the faucets kept clogging up.

We replaced the tank with a smaller tank with an adjustable bladder and installed a new house filter. To increase the pressure in the house we also installed 30-50lb pressure control that is a bit higher than most, though from the stock in Home Depot is growing in popularity. Every little bit helps the plumbing in this house.

Now the water heater, furnace, water tank and filters are all new in the basement. What we didn't know was that the pump and drainage would soon cause us problems. The plumbing in this house was worse than we thought. Eventually it will all be new.

We added finishing touches to the bathroom. In all the construction we lost the connectors for the ceiling light fixture temporarily but happily found them and finished the job.

We painted the bathroom "cottage white" even though it looks more like a pale yellow. In this picture it looks off white. We were actually able to go shopping someplace other than Home Depot to pick up some towels and new artwork. We placed some long forgotten knic knacs on a shelf we made from an unused portion of back splash from the sink and we were finished with the bathroom.

Parties are getting more common in the house now that it has become livable. Originally we had asked Shima and Eileen to visit and check out the place. Shima was feeling a little overwhelmed with things and needed a break.

Since Donald and Anthony had never seen it either, we thought we would make it a "gay ol' time" and asked them to come along too. Once everyone arrived, (Shima fashionably late of course) we were confident that we had the perfect combination of people.

When we realized that Jack's birthday was the same day as the party, we had to throw in a celebration for him too. Annie and Jack have missed few events at the new house and like family, they get along great with all our friends.

Its becoming apparent that this house is party friendly and we love entertaining our friends together. Once again, Paul did his bit in the kitchen, serving up all kinds of appetizers and two kinds of shish kabob on the grill.

Lee made sure everyone was comfortable and enjoying themselves.

We certainly had the right combination of loved ones for this event and everyone brought desserts, not to mention birthday cake for Jack.

We ended up eating and laughing well into the night. Our "money pit" is turning out to be worth the investments.

Trudging Along

Though its not quite done, the bathroom came out nicely. All the tile from the 1960s are long gone, as are the fixtures. We replaced the sink with a vanity and granite top, a big medicine cabinet with internal and external mirrors and the tiles with a more modern look in a neutral tone and went with standard features. We need a coat of paint and personal touches and we're finished.

We stayed with a standard toilet, though it has an extraordinary flush and we connected it to the main well rather than the pumpless artesian well from which it used to get water. The only place that water now runs from the artesian well is the toilet in the cabana. That plumbing will be updated once the main house is done. The skylight (not shown here) really brightens up the room.

The kitchen is becoming the jewel of the house. This weekend we put the closet doors on the pantry which brightened up the room considerably. Except for some patchwork, trim, some molding and paint, the kitchen is nearing completion.

But we are still enjoying dinner outside. This weekend was one of the few we have had where temps went over 90, so we spent the afternoon in the pool and stayed outside as much as possible.

Summer Progress

We continue to make progress though the summer. The kitchen takes precedence, which required finishing the floor in the main living area. What Paul thought would take a couple of hours took him and Lee a full week working nights after work. With every floor board, Paul exclaimed,"now its REALLY looking nice."

As we encroached the Kitchen from the living room, we ran into a couple of tricky areas like the pantry and cubbies for the range and dishwasher. Pitoune had grown fond of the ugly yellow linoleum and wondered how she would get any traction on the slick new floor.
It was time to remove the old cabinets we were using as a make shift island and install the permanent one. This required some floor leveling where the peninsula used to be. Right on time, we got the phone call that our counter tops were finished and could be delivered.


Once we got the counters in and the floors were down, we could see the kitchen we so carefully planned coming to life. Even without paint and the finishing touches, we had transformed the kitchen into something that worked for us.



Although the living room is far from complete, the floor really adds a sense of home. The room is ready to be painted and furnished. But wait, before we do that, the picture window that Lee loves so much is coming out! Next we are planning a total face lift on the outside including new siding and gutters, new windows and a bay window in the living room. Keep posted, we will blog pictures here.