"Ma in her kerchief and I in my cap had just settled down for a long winter's nap..."

Yesterday was an awakening...no, not a spiritual awakening; not a physical awakening. It was the awakening of the season of yard care! The sun shone brightly, and the yard looked so pathetic after we had a bout of weather (before Christmas) with temperatures in the teens followed by a fair amount of rain.

So, yesterday, with the temperature mild and the weather dry and sunny, Jill and I began to putter a little. The dracaena had a ton of brown leaves, and since it sits just outside the living room window, it began to depress us to look at it. So, I went out to trim the dead leaves. Meanwhile, Jill went out the other door to weed the front flower bed.

Once the dracaena was trimmed, I took on the aralia, which hangs over our fish pond. It is a pretty hardy plant, but the freeze had killed a lot of the leaves and some of the branches. By the time I had trimmed all of that dead material off, the plant was about 1/2 its original size. But there is a lot of new growth sprouting on the remaining branches, and I know it will rebound.

About the time I had finished trimming the aralia, Jill came around the corner with the yard debris bin and began picking up the trimmings. That freed me up to attack the vine maple, which is apparently way too happy in its location, because it grows very dense foliage and is like an opaque wall in the summer. I trimmed out some of the biggest branches and quite a few smaller ones. I believe it will give us filtered sunlight, with just enough privacy this coming summer.

Next I trimmed a few branches off the volunteer birch tree on the south edge of the yard and some small branches from the pine in the corner. I followed that with judicious trimming of the spruce on the north side of the yard. Well, of course, when I was done with all my limb lopping, and in spite of the fact that Jill had been madly cleaning up behind me, we had quite a pile of debris. Two of our three pair of garden shears had disappeared somewhere, and the third pair was frustratingly difficult for Jill to use in cutting up the branches I had trimmed.

We hopped in the car and made a run to Lowe's, where we found new garden shears and some paper yard debris bags. (We knew that all of this stuff was not going to fit in the yard debris bin.) Back in the yard again, we clipped up the branches into stuffable sizes and filled three of the bags. Then we raked up the last of the fall leaves (already, in February, no less) and stuffed them in a fourth bag.

The yard looks so much better. I will mow the lawn and edge it, after the morning fog lifts today. The front bed that Jill weeded is transformed, but we have decided to do a complete renovation later in the spring. We found a beautiful water feature at Lowe's that we think might make a great center piece...but that is another story for another post.

Done and done...well, not completely done.

Today, I finished the kitchen tile project. We now have new backsplashes throughout the kitchen. They make an amazing difference in the appearance of the kitchen.

Next project is to install the same style tile backsplash in the built in buffet area in the dining room.

The finished product!

Here is the biggest part of the kitchen remodel project, completed.

Moving right along

The kitchen remodel is coming along splendidly. Last Wednesday, I started setting tile. It has gone amazingly well. The tile saw I bought for $79 works quite well for this sized project and this sized tile. I'm not sure it would work so well for 16"X16" tiles!!

Last week was one of those weeks that just kept filling with things to do. On Tuesday, I took Mom to the dentist, which took much longer than anticipated, by either of us. On Wednesday, I just got started setting tile, when a coffee date with one of my best pals came up. Thursday, I got a little more done, but then I had a coffee date with my mentee, or protege, or whatever the appropriate word is (the young man whom I mentor.) Friday, I had a breakfast date with a bunch of retirees from the dental group I worked for some 23 years.

To say the least, progress has been steady, but it has gone in fits and starts. Today, I finished setting the tiles for the main counter backsplash. I still need to redo the backsplash on the bar and the built in buffet. The sum of those two projects represents less area than the part I have already finished. Actually, finished is not quite accurate. Tomorrow, I plan to grout the tiles I have already set. That will be followed by sealing the grout and the decorative stone stripe. THEN it will be finished.

I have included a slide show of the progress. Click the photo.

At long last.

It's the new year. Let the home improvement projects begin! When we had new counter tops installed last June, we thought the pattern we picked would work pretty well with our existing backsplash. But the longer we have lived with our green slate tiles in juxtaposition with our new counter tops, the more we have become convinced that new backsplashes are in order.

In early November, Jill asked if we could get them done in time for our Thanksgiving Day feast. I was leary of tearing up the kitchen just before we had to prepare dinner for a crowd. So, I agreed that we could get the job done by Christmas.

We began shopping for tile in November. That is a bigger job than you might think. We went to numerous stores, and finally we found something we liked. That was one reason I thought we could finish the project before Christmas.

We brought a sample home and set it next to the counter top. We found it to be quite attractive, but then we realized that it was another slate. Now one of the things we DIDN'T like about the green slate was that it tended to absorb grease and was difficult to clean.

Thanksgiving came and went. It was pretty wonderful, by the way, but I digress. In early December we found some porcelain tile that we liked even better than the previous choice. We both agreed this was it. Well, amidst the shopping and decorating and so on, we eventually came to a mutual agreement that we would postpone the project and enjoy the Yuletide season.

Here's the tile pattern we chose. Click on the picture for a slideshow of our progress.

Last week we decided to pull out the stops and get on with our project. We began beating on the tiles, poking at the grout, digging, whacking, prying...who knew that removing tile would be this hard? Eventually, we got a half dozen tiles off, complete with most of the drywall behind them.

Our Bible study group came over on Thursday night. Great! A chance to consult with my buddies and fellow DIYers. I got some really good advice, and the offer of a tool that might make the job easier. Friday was occupied with other things, but Saturday I called Ben to see about borrowing his tool. He wasn't in.

Then, it happened. I had an inspiration. Why not combine our project misery with something that would give me great joy? I grabbed Jill and we headed for Harbor Freight. Now, this store is like a candy store for tool enthusiasts. As a matter of fact, Jill even likes it. They must have one of every kind of tool there ever was. Soon, I found what I was looking for: a variable speed vibrating multi-tool. Then, wonder of wonders, I found a diamond blade for it. Perfect.

We hurried home, right after we spent 45 minutes or so examining most of the tools in the place. I switched on my new toy and went to work. Wow! Who knew that removing grout could be this easy. Ben called and said he had got my message, and did I want to come over and get his angled chisel.

While I was gone, Jill got busy with the new multi-tool and she went crazy! By the time I got back, she had most of the grout and several more tiles removed. The tiles still removed a lot of dry wall, when they came off, but we were moving ahead. Soon we had all the tiles on the main counter area removed.

Today I used my new tool, with a different blade to remove a strip of the damaged drywall all along the counter top and behind the stove. In no time, I was able to patch the wall with new drywall. After taping and mudding the seams, I sat down to write this post. Stay tuned.

It's not over 'til it's over, but now it's over.

We enjoyed, perhaps, the best Christmas season of our lives last month, and it was the longest, but there was no cause and effect relationship between the length and the quality of our time. No, the quality was provided by our family. They are about as amiable a bunch as you could hope to assemble for a celebration. We had all of our kids and grand-kids home for Christmas Day and the several days surrounding it.

The length of our season was provided by our dear friends who comprise our Bible study group. It has become a tradition for the guys in the group to gather for a sumptuous breakfast provided, prepared and presented by Mike, before braving the elements in a group stalking of the wily Christmas tree. Those events happened on December 5th this year, about 10 days earlier than we usually get a tree. Well, what is the point of having a Christmas tree sitting on the patio for ten days? Might as well put it up.

Fortunately, Jill had beautifully orchestrated our shopping so that by the time the house was decorated, we had little more to do than enjoy the season. And enjoy it we did. We saw a Christmas play and went to a Christmas concert. We took the whole family to church for a candlelight service on Christmas Eve. There was feasting and gaming and presents for all.

And when the kids started leaving we were saddened, but we enjoyed those who were still with us. The season for us is not really over until the last of the kids goes home. When that happened on New Year's Eve, we were sad it was over, but we look forward happily to the new year with great anticipation of God's blessings.

Today, with the outdoor lights safely tucked away for storage and the Christmas tree relinquished to the capable care of Boy Scout Troop 611, it is finally over. But this Christmas will live in our memories for a long, long time.

Let it snow; let it snow; let it snow...

We had a surprise today. Here's how it went down. Jill needed to take the car to the shop for a repair estimate. At the same time I had to wait home for the cable guy to come and install our internet upgrade. Laura had a date with a friend from high school, so Tim drove her to Tualatin.

After the car appointment, Jill and Tara drove to IKEA for some shopping. On the way home they picked up my mom and brought her to the house so she could see the kids and grandkids. Meantime, Tim stopped by his favorite bento house and picked up lunch.

During lunch, I was studying the sky out the dining room window, and I said, "The sky kind of looks like a snow sky." It was less than half an hour later, when snow flakes started drifting down here and there. Soon, there was heavy snow falling. Tim took Josiah out to play in the snow. They threw snowballs. They made a snow man. Tim tied a rope to a recycling bin and then put it around his waist. Josiah got in and Tim towed him around the neighborhood. I'm not sure who had more fun!


Initially, the weather stations indicated that there would be some flurries, but little accumulation...WRONG!! After a little while, we began making plans for Mom to stay the night. In addition, we were concerned about getting Tara to the airport at 5:00 AM!

In the long run, the snow stopped, the temperature rose, and the rain began to fall. I was able to take Mom home, and I believe the wee-hours trip to PDX will not be a problem...well, at least not weather-wise!!

While we were dealing with our paltry little problems, son Patrick was on a bus traveling from Amity to Portland with his high school basketball team. About the time they arrived in Portland, the game was called, and they turned the bus around. By the time they got back to the high school in Amity, they had been on the bus for nearly 8 hours. I'll get the full story later, but I am sure it was not the best day he has ever had.

So, now it is late evening. The snow has begun melting. The grandkids are bedded down. It may be time to go to bed soon!

Here's our fishpond with a garnish of snow.