Thursday, 5.27.2021 Reno Update

Good Morning Everyone!

So there is alot of noise in the house today!  The sheetrocker is here putting up new sheetrock in my kitchen and the master bath today.  I'm not looking forward to the sheetrock dust once they start sanding.  It will be everywhere!  Oh well, that is the price you pay for renovating.  

Yesterday I got it in my head that I was going to attack taking the wallpaper down in the front guest room.  No other rooms in the house have wallpaper, just this one thank goodness!  Some of the wallpaper comes off in sheets while other parts make me really work on it.  I did find that if you use a little bit of dish soap in the hot water, it really helps bigger sheets come off the wall.  Thank goodness for that!  

Here are some pictures I took of the wallpaper removal:

This is the front half of the room before I started.  The door you see leads to a huge walk-in closet.  Thank goodness there isn't any wallpaper!

This is part of the room before I started.  It is very pink with little blue flowers on it.  Very 1979-ish!

Here is a few photos of the wallpaper removal progress from yesterday:

Well now I'm off to work on some more of the removal!  I hope everyone has a great day!

Sherri

A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That 5.26.2021

Hi Everyone!

Well I have been busy the last few days.  Yesterday I had to drive 2 hours one way up and 2 hours back to NC to see the oral surgeon that started my implant before I moved.  Everything has healed nicely!  I have to go back up June 9th to my dentist to get the crown impressions done and then again when the crown comes in.  Then that will be it for that implant!  

I decided it was time to start knitting again.  Something that didn't take alot of concentration.  I missed knitting alot more than I thought I would.  Don't get me wrong I like to knit but I needed to take a break from it and I have been too tired at night to knit.  I decided to start the Morning Coffee Shawl (it's on Ravelry).  Here is the start of it:

This is the start of the shawl from the bottom.  I'm using yarn from Heidiandlana.com.  I just love the way it feels!

I have done quite a bit of garden, so here is an update on my plants:

My gardenia standard is blooming and smells intoxicating!

I planted this hosta about 2 weeks ago and it has doubled in size!

I have really been enjoying my moon vine.  There were 6 blossoms unfurling on the plant last night!

Graham Thomas (David Austin rose) is one of my all time favorites!  I planted this about 2.5 weeks ago on the fence.  Just love it!

This is the hanging basket I bought at the Moore Farm Botanical Gardens right down the road from me on 5/12 at the plant sale.  It has almost doubled in size!

My dusty miller winters over, so I just have to cut it back and it starts looking lovely.  I added some little petunias to the pot with them.  The purple goes so well with the grays of the dusty miller!

Coleus is my all time favorite plant.  So many colors.  I just had to have this!!!

The hummingbirds just love this plant.  It is filled with petunias and the hummingbirds just love it really more so than the feeder.

This mandevilla vine is a beautiful shade of red for sure.

Saturday I power washed the front of the house.  It looks so much better!!

       Now the house looks lovely!!  No more green!

As you can see by this photo, there was alot of green algae growing on the house and the front porch and steps.  I got rid of it all and in only 2 hours!  I love the electric power washer I bought.

Front porch, steps and walk.  You can actually see the gray mortar!

I started Home Chef up again because of the limited cooking space I have now until the new kitchen is in.  The made Shrimp Fajita Risotto the other night and it was so good!

Last night I made Marinated Turkey Meatballs and green beans.  They were so good!  Tonight I think it is some kind of chicken and pasta dish.  Love these meals.

Last night the sunset was just gorgeous!

I hope you all enjoyed the photos!  Have a wonderful day!

Sherri

5.20.2021 Renovations Continue!

 Hi Everyone!

Yesterday major demo was accomplished!!  All the carpet is removed from upstairs and one the stairs, the master bath is totally gutted now and the kitchen is half way gutted.  Here are some photos of the progress:

The stairs are all carpet free, clean and all staples removed.

This is the front bedroom.  Free from carpet, now I just have to get that wallpaper off the walls!

Bedroom #3 carpet free!

Master Bath demo complete!

Shower area all gutted and ready for tile and the beautiful glass door.  I am using a fairly new kind of door.  It is almost like a barn door but all glass.  It will be just beautiful!

This wallpaper was found behind the vanity in the master bath.  

Kitchen demo at the end of the day yesterday.

Today the rest of the kitchen will be gutted.  They are in there banging and smashing things now!  Poor Emma, she is just beside herself.  Ginger is doing fine.  She is sleeping but does jump every once in a while when it gets really loud.  Tomorrow I will start painting the Master Bedroom while the carpet is gone.  I usually don't spill or drip, but I'm not taking any chances on my new carpet!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Sherri

5.18.2021 In the Words of Chip Gaines- "It's DEMO Day!!"

 Hi Everyone!

Today is DEMO day!!  I am so excited about creating my new home!!  Over the weekend I really worked and got my temporary kitchen set up in the den.  It took some doing but I was able to get it all ready.  I also moved my other couch into my living room.  Here is a photo of my temp kitchen:

My table has my toaster, toaster oven, microwave along with salt, pepper, olive oil, my favorite tea, tea cup, electric tea kettle and my cooking utensils.  The moving boxes you see have plates, food and glassware in them.  I have also moved my Ninja Foodi and a hot plate borrowed from Jenny in that room.  Jenny came by yesterday and she helped me get my gas grill up on the deck, so I can do alot of cooking out there!  I think I'm ready!!

I'm going to show you some pictures of the rooms where the demo will be happening.  Please know when you see the condition of the carpet upstairs, my feet have never touch this floor.  I have vacuumed it multiple times but nothing will help this 1979 carpet.  Yes, folks it is the original carpet from when the house was built 42 years ago-YUK!!

This is the half bath downstairs.  This is a total gut job and the doorway is being moved so it doesn't open up into the kitchen!  That was just too gross for me.  The new entrance into the bath will be where the washer and dryer is now (see 2 photos down).

This is my beautiful (NOT!!) 1979 kitchen.  This is a total gut also.  Can't wait to show you all of my design choices when it is all done!

This is the washer and dryer area between the kitchen and the breakfast room area.  The washer and dryer are going to be relocated around the corner to the breakfast room area (see photo below).  The washer and dryer will go on the opposite wall from this bay window.  There will also be a pantry along side the washer and dryer for storage.  

Lots of changes will be happening in the breakfast room.  Washer and dryer relocated to here, pantry for more storage and new flooring.  The stained wood on the wall will also be painted glossy white.  I have picked out Valspar's Polar Star (see below), which is a very light gray for the walls in the kitchen, breakfast room area and half bath.  This will be more of a butler's pantry type room with my antique tiger oak round table.  I will probably eat breakfast in this room, but I will also be doing some craft projects there too!  I love the view of my backyard and the golf course beyond!

This is the color of the walls above the stained wood area.  The stained wood area, as I said will be glossy white.  I think this combo will be wonderful.  The kitchen cabinets will be white on the top and light gray on the bottom.  

On to the lovely Master Bath and carpet situation in the bedrooms, down the hall and stairs.

This is the Master Bath, which will be totally gutted.  So gross.

Master Bath vanity and mirror.  This will be all gone!

This is the carpet in my bedroom.  So disgusting!!  

Hallway the same-gross!

This is the 3rd bedroom.  I told the movers to keep the mattress in the moving bag.  I didn't want it touching the carpet in this room!

This is the second bedroom in the front of the house upstairs.  Gross, stained carpet in here too!  Don't you just love the blue/brown gross carpet!  The pink flowered wallpaper will be going too!

Same carpet in the hall and Master Bedroom going down the stairs.  Going!

This is the stairs going down.  Carpet will be all gone!  The treads of the stairs are all wood.  I have to see how the carpet would come down the turning stairs, but I am thinking of running it only down the middle of the stairs and staining the treads and painting the risers gloss white.  I have always loved this look.  With the stairs turning at the top and bottom though, I might not be able to do that.  I am also going to sand and restain the 2 banisters.  The spindles will stay white, but I'll give them a fresh coat of paint too!

Well that is the tour so far today.  I will keep everyone up to date with photos as I go along on this wonderful adventure!  It is going to look so nice when it is all done.  I have a vision in my head of every room and what it is going to look like.  I have always loved things like this!  My Dad was a house builder and I always was amazed how things turned out when they were all done.  Remodels are even more amazing because you take something old and worn and turn it into something new and reusable, almost like upcycling!

I hope everyone has a lovely day today!  More photos tomorrow! Stay tuned!

Sherri  

Wednesday, 5.12.21

 Happy Wednesday Everyone!

I hope everyone is having a really good day!  We are finally getting some very much needed rain here in SC.  It is a nice steady rain, so it should soak into the ground and help my new plants grow.  Talking about new plants, yesterday I received my Gilbert H. Wild & Sons plant order.  I planted what I could without having to dig anymore in the garden I started.  The lawnman is coming to rototill a garden area for me.  I started it a few weeks ago but it will go much faster with his rototiller.  I ended up having to take up some more sod due to the fact that I went crazy with ordering plants and this is only the first of 3 orders coming!

I planted the following:

Bridgeton Celebrity Daylily

Mardi Gras Parade Daylily

Siloam Ury Winniford Daylily

Big Daddy Hosta

Berry Taff Bee Balm

Country and Western Astilbe

Montgomery Astilbe

Plum Pudding Coral Bells

Sugar Plum Foxglove

Tanager Coneflower

Uptown Girl Tall Garden Phlox

Here are some photos of the extended garden and the hosta/astilbe area:

Every where you see grass, this will become garden with a path in front of the veg trug (raised bed garden)

Hostas, astilbes and an impatient.

When I was outside grilling my chicken for dinner, a female cardinal came to the feeder.  Usually they are so cautious but this one seemed very calm.  She did look around alot but I was able to lift my phone up and snap a photo before she flew away.

Before Jenny, Kevin and the boys arrived to pick up Ringo, their dog, Emma just chilled out by me out on the screened in porch.  She is never very far from my side, especially since we moved.  

When I was watering my blue hydrangea, I just really liked the way the water droplets sat on the big leaves.  I decided to share it with you.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day!  I am going antiquing with Jenny this morning and probably we'll have lunch.  Then this afternoon both dogs need 1 shot, so off to Florence to the vet we go!

Have a good one!

Sherri