Memorial Weekend Fun.

Let me start by acknowledging the fact that I had no idea Paul, the neighbor’s pelican, was around when taking these pictures. Additionally, I’ve informed Felix’s owners, he’s the other neighbor’s cat, of his whereabouts. If you look closely at the first picture, you'll see what I'm talking about.

The first three pictures were taken after a corner and window trim were removed. At first, the badly weathered trim was going to be sanded and re-painted, but after closer inspection (by myself and termite inspectors) it was decided to have them replaced with quality lumber that was less termite-infested.

After two days of painting in the garage, two coats of both primer and the final tan, the new lumber was installed with screws. If anyone knows why nails are used, please let me know. Quicker maybe, but what a pain. We have too many siding and trim pieces that have pulled away from the house with little warping, but soon they will all be firmly secured with 3.5” deck screws. They're expensive, but the trim/siding pulls up snug and can be easily sealed with paint and caulking. Again, Paul made his way in to both of these shots.

And that brings me to the finishing touches of this job… or almost the finishing touches. Caulking. What a fun job (enter jokes here). There’s instant gratification when seams are filled and a quick stroke with a damp finger puts a professional finishing touch on the job that could have been completed by a monkey (another round of jokes here).

HOLY CRAP!!! We own a home!

Welcome. The gate was left open to show you to our front door... come on in. (As for the crazy multiple pictures poorly graphed together with word.doc and paint, please use your imagination or consider a poorly done paint job. Thanks.)

As you enter, the garage entrance is before the steps and to your left. As for the two-tone wall and mirror, just realize we start many projects and finish few around here. Through the walk way ahead, you'll reach the dinning room, 1/2 bath, and kitchen. Take a left past the stairs and down the hall, you'll be in the living room.

This view of the living room is from the hall directly from the entry way. Though not pictured, a hard left turn at this point would have you standing directly in front of the fully furnished wet-bar... but let's not stop there, as it's off to the patio. (Please don't question why there's a second door in this room on the left... we too don't know why it's there... thanks.)

Standing at the patio door facing West, you see the fence that divides our 1/2 lot front the front (a lovely Japanese couple that has invited us to dinner when the vb player returns from MN). With no two-story buildings to our South, this patio receives plenty of sunshine. Can you picture a vegetable garden on ladder shelves against the fence? Well that makes two of us.

Just thought we'd include another picture of the patio (looks like we need to even out that paint).

Before we head up stairs, let's check out the dinning room and kitchen. Here, you get a great view of the newly installed chandelier (Ikea has yet to let us down). To the left is the hall from the entry way to living room. Straight ahead is the living room, and a hard right will put you in the kitchen.

Standing with the dinning room table behind me, you get a full view of the kitchen. Please take note of the fancy new fridge (thanks Best Buy and your 18 months of 0% financing) and the dishwasher. Oh how I've missed you. Actually, how do you work? I've never really used a gizmo like you before... you do what? MARRY ME!!!

Before we head up stairs, let's take a look at that garage. WOW! Is that a new washer and dryer. Gas dryer even? Yes it is. Again, let's thank Best Buy for their low financing rates. Do I need to remind Sears again that these could be their products? If I weren't already set to marry the dishwasher, I'd probably ask the washer/dryer... maybe we can all move to Utah?

At the top of the stairs and turned to the right (West) you can see the doorways to bedrooms two and three (we call them 'throw that in that other room' and 'let's watch some Netflix'). Straight ahead is the second full bath.

Check out the curved shower rod and wonderful curtain. If there were ever a better house warming gift, I don't know that I've seen it. This bathroom has wonderful natural light with a window to the West (if you don't mind the neighbors watching you shower). Now if only we could do something about the gold fixtures... and not just in this room, but the entire house.

Exiting the guest bath and down the hall is the master bedroom. Stop at the door... is that a walk-in closet? A couch? And to think the last time I said, "Welcome to the Master Bedroom..." never mind.

Another picture from the bedroom. It's still not as clean as we'd like with limited closet storage bins (Ikea here we come), but with James Dean watching over us, we couldn't sleep more soundly. The windows on the right face East.




Finishing off our first blog, the Master Bath. Again, to think of the last time I showed pictures of a Master Bath... but anyway. We couldn't be happier and hope to have many blogs in the near future. Hope you enjoyed.