We're back......

It's been a while, I know, but we kind of ran out of umph!  It seems that our trip to the Oregon Coast was the beginning of the slow down, then family visits and the holidays kept us more than busy - and happy I might add.  Guilt for not working on the house was heavy, but not so much so to get us back to work.  And then, a few weeks ago, the sun started shining again and I accepted the fact that a sunny, swimming winter vacation wasn't in the picture this year, so it was time to get back to work.  We also reorganized our approach - including spending sometime on Sunday's planning out the week and giving ourselves permission to work on the house just a few days of the week.  It's worked well. So here we go.....  (Oh yeah, I went back to the old layout for this blog.  Let me know what you think.  Is the flip cards layout better?)

At last, artwork!  For several reasons we decided it was finally
time to unload the storage locker. The big bonus in doing so
was getting the art up on the walls again!  It sure helps
the place feel like home!

Even Sam likes it...  Okay, I may be stretching that a bit!

Our new entry lights!  We needed a little color (and light) in
the entry and since we could find a fixture we liked we decided
to go with these stars for the time being.  Knowing us they'll be
there until we decide to sell the house in 20 years! 

Well, the fireplace isn't done, but we did get in boxed in just in time to
decorate for the holidays!  We had a couple of gatherings here so it was nice
to have it look a little more finished.  Still trying to figure out that design.

The loft ended up being the location to finish the maple for the master
bathroom trim.  It was great for light, not so good for dust control.  We continue
to use water-based ZAR for the wood work and so far, so good.

One of the tasks that was so daunting that we didn't want to face it
was color sealing the grout in the master bath.  The grout was supposed
to be a Charcoal Grey, but cam out a mixture of light and dark. We purchased
a colored sealer to even out the color and while it is now even, it isn't
even close to the original grey.  Oh well, so much for color cards.  It
does look better overall and as my sister Pat said, I'll won't be able to
see the difference in a few years anyway, so......  Age has some advantages!

And the master bath with the trim and tub front all done!  Yahoo!  We're still
working on the perfect paint color for the room.  The reflection off the yellow
house next door really changes the apparent color of the paint!  We agree that
choosing paint colors isn't our strong point.

The "great" room with all of its furniture and natural light.  We
love the way the natural light floods the place.

After the loft experience we decided to try heating the garage and doing
the wood finishing work in there.  With a double heater system Bill rigged up
it worked great.  Here is the set up for the dining nook cabinets.

Here are the cabinets in the nook, waiting to be installed.

Here is the wall before the cabinets were installed (just the other day).... 

.... and what it looks like now.  The black thing is a TV that swings out
so the cook can watch  TV while he (sometimes she) is working. The funny
divider on the bottom of the right side is an angled "shelf" for paper recycling -
thanks again for the idea, Howie. The left side will eventually  have doors and
hold glassware and hooch.

The new addition to the powder room. We saw these
cows at a local shop and couldn't resist them.  Might be
our Wisconsin heritage. (Sorry for the open toilet, Erica!)

Billie's finishing the trim in the guest bath as I type this.  He even took out
some fir trim so that it would all be maple and look better.  He's  going to love
having it done.

A typical night - Billie with his book and Minnie taking it easy in his lap.
This is in the den - out next BIG project.  Lots of books shelves for all of those
books and space for the TV and games.  We have a could of little projects first -
the laundry room and the shelving for the office closet, so we'll be busy for a while.