Category: home improvement

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Planting the garden

Boy did we get a late start on the vegetable garden this year.  First of all it rained and rained and rained.  You can’t get into a garden with it’s as wet as ours has been lately.  Then when it finally got dry enough to plow and get ready to plant, we had a heck of a time finding plants and seeds.

I am guessing that because of the economy, more and more people are planting gardens this year.  That has to be what it was since there’s usually plenty of plants and seeds available most anywhere you go.  We’ll keep looking for the seeds we haven’t found yet but if it’s much longer, they won’t grow very well because it’s be too late in the season to plant them.

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Okay, where did March go?

I’ve been so busy lately that March just flew by.  Between the normal spring cleaning that we do and looking for new items to accessorize the rooms we rent out, I just didn’t realize that March was gone today.  I was also looking for some new bedspreads for the rooms for summer.  Instead of new bedspreads,  I found some absolutely gorgeous duvet covers at plumeriabay.com online.  I didn’t realize just how beautiful a duvet set could be.  It sure makes it easy to turn your winter look to a spring look in no time at all.

I was amazed at the  colors, the accessories that came with them and the total transformation they would make to a room.  Not to mention, they fold up flat and require a lot less storage room when you take them off to store for the winter.  I have to admit, I was tickled pink when I found these.  You have to see them to appreciate them.  They come with pillow shams and covers for your accent pillows too.  Check them out for yourself and I bet you’ll fall in love with them too!!!

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Adding some pizazz to the house

I told you that there were fireplaces in every room and also in the main family room and dining room.  Fireplaces should be a focal point in any room and so I’ve decided to add some pizazz to them to do just that.  I love Blomus Stainless Steel.  It’s not only excellent quality but they make some beautiful things.  I found everything I wanted it at thestainlesssteelstore.com online.  I have gotten some of the fireplaces for some of the rooms from this site since they didn’t have built in fireplaces and they have been a huge hit with my guests.  How do you like it?

fireplace

I was looking to accessorize some of them a little more.   Since some of the fireplaces are Blomus Stainless Steel fireplaces, I really think the fireplace tools would look nice with them.  In fact, there are several Blomus Stainless Steel things I want to get not only for each bedroom but for the kitchen and also for the main family room.  Oh I could go on and on but I better stop before I spend more than I mean to if you know what I mean.  With the economy so tight, my business is already off a bit so I better not splurge too awfully much.  This is the tool set I’m getting.  What do you think?

fireplacetoolset

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Looking for a new mailbox now

Some kids have been running up and down the road knocking every one’s mailboxes off of their posts.  I decided I needed a new, more secure mailbox that not only looked great but just might stop those kids from knocking it off of the post.  I decided to check online at mailboxixchange.com and found exactly what I needed. They have a wide variety of mailboxes to choose from and and I had no idea of just how many different types of mailboxes there were.

I never really thought much about them in all reality because I usually just went to a local hardware store and picked one up.  Well these mailboxes will protect your mail from someone steeling your mail and possibly steeling your identity which is going on more and more with the economy in the shape it’s in now.  I know that I can sleep at night and not have to worry if my mailbox will be there in the morning and I also know that my mail is safe and secure because without the key, no one can get into my mailbox but myself or one of my staff.  You just can’t be too careful these days and this mailbox sure helps you to do just that, be careful.

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Time for spring to bring in the new life

Everyone gets into the mood to do spring cleaning and making everything look better after a long winters hibernation in some cases.  Well my place is no different.  Every spring, I always look around to find something that might need a little fine tuning to make the place even more inviting.  Well this year, I decided to start by taking an honest look at it from the road.  I know what it looks like from inside but you need to view from the road to spark some interest in what’s inside.

There is a nice sign at the road telling the name of the place and what it is but it needs a touch of ‘class’.  That I found in a custom address sign.  It hangs off of the sign that has the name on it and I had my choice of what I wanted on top of it.  JustAddressPlaques.com had the best selection I could find online.  I loved the selection they had.  It was hard to decide which one I wanted but once I did and put it up, it was absolutely perfect.  It was just what I needed to bring the attention to my sign that I was looking for.  The home address plaque on the front porch worked great too.

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Right on schedule

We have decided that the apartment for Celeste has to be completed by Valentines day.  Or at least completed enough that she can move in as my Valentines Day gift to her and Little Joe.  Well if things keep going like they are right now, that is very possible.  The furniture I have ordered online for them is scheduled to be here on the 12th.  I just hope it’s not late.

An artist friend of mine is coming in on the 10 to start the special painting of Little Joe’s room.  She’s going to paint a mural all the way round the room of a forest with all of the animals he loves so much.  He spends as much time as he can with my animals so I thought we would surprise him with the animals in his room.  She does wonderful work and I know Little Joe will love it.

I’m really surprised that Celeste has not mentioned the apartment at all.  I guess she is so used to not being able to ask questions at home that she feels it’s better to just leave it alone.  That actually helps me to make the surprise even better I think.

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Things I believe

I Believe…That just because two people argue, it doesn’t mean they don’t love each other. And just because they don’t argue, it doesn’t mean they do love each other.

I Believe… That we don’t have to change friends if we understand that friends change.

I Believe…That no matter how good a friend is, they’re going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I Believe…That true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.

I Believe…That you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.

I Believe…That my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.

I Believe…That sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you’re down will be the ones to help you get back up.

I Believe…That sometimes when I’m angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn’t give me the right to be cruel.

I Believe…That no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn’t stop for your grief.

I Believe…That our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but, we are responsible for who we become.

I Believe…That your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don’t even know you.

I Believe…That even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you – you will find the strength to help.

I Believe…That the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.

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Well we’re moving right along

All of the dry wall is up and now they’re going to put the ceramic tile on the bathroom and kitchen floors.  They’ll start that tomorrow.  The tile in both rooms is the same.  I got a sand or tan color that is sort of mingled so dirt won’t show on it.  When you have a little one running around, you have to think of stuff like that because they can make a mess on a floor and you sure don’t want it to show.

Well I guess I’ll be getting the toilet, bathtub, vanity, sink and all of the other stuff for the bathroom this weekend.  I may as well go ahead and start looking for all of the stuff for the kitchen too.  It’s a good thing that things have been a bit quite around here over the weekends.  No snow means not many people up here for anything.  Oh well, they’ll be back soon enough.

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Well they were right

Here it is Friday and they’re starting to put up the dry wall in the kitchen.  I showed him some of my ideas and some of them he is incorporating into the job but he said that some of them were great ideas but then showed me better ways to do what I wanted.  That was pretty neat.  One of the things I wanted was since the walls are slanted on the bedroom sides was for him to build the closet and storage spaces in the lower parts of the bedrooms.  He had already come up with most of that but the built in drawers and desk, he hadn’t thought of.

In the living room, I wanted the drywall cut out to make shelves for pictures and things like that.  The shelves wouldn’t be deep enough for books or anything very deep but that’s okay.  He liked that idea too.  Since I could not read the blue prints, I couldn’t tell that most of my ideas, he had already planned into the apartment anyway but like I said, he also had not thought of some of the ideas I had too.  I am loving doing this.  I guess I’ll be shopping this weekend for cabinets, flooring, and all of the light and other fixtures too.

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The work has begun

Well today they started on the apartment over the garage.  Surprisingly Celeste has not mentioned anything about it.  I thought she would be curious as to what was going on but so far, she hasn’t said a word.  I guess she’s used to me doing stuff around here all the time.  Besides, between school and her other part-time job, she doesn’t have much time when she gets home for anything other than what she does around here, Little Joe and her homework.  A young woman her age shouldn’t have so much on her but she handles it so good.

I have been told by the contractor that by Friday, they should be putting up dry wall.  I guess if I’m going to have any of my ideas used then I better get off of here and draw them up for him so he can hopefully see what I’m wanting and let me know if it can be done or not.