This N' That

There hasn't been a lot to blog about lately. Bob has been working on plumbing and getting the radiant heat up and running. It's taking longer than he/we thought it would. Step by little step we are inching towards completion though. We may need to speed up the process as the bank lady reminded us of our deadline. Although she said end of March, I believe it is actually end of April. Either way, the deadline is looming......Some days it seems as if there is not much left to do and other days it seems daunting. Bob has been working in his "real" job a lot lately which keeps him from achieving much in the house. Previously, he was filling in as a case manager so he could work less for more money. However, now he is back to per diem and a new kind of paperwork that is taking more time for him and everyone to complete. It equates to more hours for less pay as he gets paid per visit, NOT per hour!
Anyway, this is our little alcove under the stairs where said plumbing is taking place. Bob hauled in the water heater by himself last Friday. He and friend got the boiler up and in place. They had to add a board to hold it up. It was Farmer Girl's job to paint the board and the all around it so it would blend in better. I had to go in to pick up one more gallon of Toast. I thought I had all ready done that! I remember looking at the paint on the top of the can and thinking it looked different, but, hey, they have mixed probably 10 gallons of this color for me so it had to be right. Right? Farmer Girl painted the board, but I didn't look at it. Bob saw it and had me look to confirm that it was in fact the wrong color! It had this golden tone to it. He went in to get another and show them the difference with what we had left in another can. As a joke, he told them I had used the paint to touch up all over the house and now our house was polka dotted! They don't know what happened, but replaced the can for us as well as gave us the wrong one. We used this color to paint the pantry. I don't really like it too well, but it was a free color and we can always change it later. It will be covered with shelves and food anyway......

Boldly, I chose a plum color for our half bath at the urging of the girls and I love it! I was considering Mixed Berry Jam (remember? to go with the Toast and Melted Butter?), but liked the Spiced Plum better. It was less red. However, when she tried to color match, she was unable to do it so she made us a Benjamin Moore color called Bordeaux. We also picked up this smaller vanity that matches the double one in the upstairs bath for the girls. I was afraid it would be too small, but think it works well. We have the master bath left to paint and I think I am going with a lighter color all over just so it will be done. Later I can add accent walls. We just want to be done with painting! It will be so nice to put away the brushes, the rollers etc. and scratch painting off our Punch list.
We also began flooring the loft upstairs with the bamboo. We had to come out of The Scribbler's room and reverse the direction of the tongue and groove moving towards the windows. We are running into some difficulty as the darker bamboo is not as dark as some boxes have been so we are not getting as much contrast as before. We completed most of this on Monday, but had to stop as Bob's back was hurting. Our goal is to finish flooring the entire upstairs this weekend. As an aside: A major hurdle for me has been using the power tools. The Scribbler usually will do the cutting for her dad when necessary while I pick out and choose the next row of wood. Well, Monday afternoon while Bob was off getting something and The Scribbler was walking the dog, I decided to try making the cut myself. It was successful. The Scribbler didn't know whether to be elated or sad that she wasn't needed any more :) Bob assured her that she is ALWAYS needed. Bob was just surprised at my accomplishment and now I have lost my advantage at playing "dumb" when it comes to using the circular saw. :)
Another story I would like to share is about the ceiling fan in the above picture. We bought it on clearance at Lowe's, but the only one available was the display. It was marked down from $89 to $43.18. The employee was very good to remove it and make it transportable for me. He also rang us up at checkout and made note of our retired military status so we were able to get an additional 10% discount that I had previously been unaware of. Later, as I was looking at our receipt, which had numerous other fans, lights and misc items on it, I did not see the $43.18. Once I compared the UPC, I realized the fan actually only cost a little under $20. What a deal and I LOVE deals!
Well, we are off to complete our day with shopping, drum lessons and AWANA. Have a wonderful rest of the week! and we will keep you posted!
Ellie~