Armoire Restoration Phase 1.....

New projects have been started which means the house is a mess again.  Sigh......

I am now living out of boxes.  Which you'd think after 40 years, I'd be used to it.  LOL!

D wasn't able to repaint the armoire last summer because we just didn't have enough warm days in a row for the repairs and paint to dry.

The armoire needed two new legs for more support so it wouldn't sag since it's 9 feet wide.  Luckily, when D took the footboard apart so he could use parts off of it to widen the headboard (into a king size), he kept the old legs.  He's cutting and fitting dowels for the legs so it'll be a tight joint.  It's much stronger than screws and looks more professional.  Since the piece is so old, they didn't use screws on it, it makes sense to keep with that trend.

D, like his son, hates his picture taken so I was surprised to see him pose for me.

D's putting on the primer coat after I cleaned the surfaces.

He had to use filler and wood to create a strong base for the new corner leg to fit into.  Where the old leg used to be, there was a big gaping hole.

Once the filler dried, he sanded it smooth for a nice clean fit.

As you can tell, the dogs have become immune to our smelly, noisy projects.  They just take anything the humans do with a grain of salt.

This is only a fraction of the pieces that need painting but the more we bring out, the more that needs to be covered and protected from the night and morning dew.  So this is just the top, bottom and two of the back panels.  Later we'll tackle the two outside and two inside panels.

Believe it or not, the top of this piece is black.  I painted it today.  The way the sun shines on it makes it look white but trust me it's not.  It's an optical illusion.

This has become our paint of choice for furniture and picture frames.  It's automotive paint that can't be bought at a regular store.  It's usually for the black trim pieces on your car.  It's expensive but extremely durable.  The nightstands we did two years ago, look like we did them yesterday.  

D also painted the entertainment armoire in the family room years ago with the same paint and it still looks beautiful.

This is why I hate to paint.  I get impatient and make the paint run or do stupid stuff.  Although out of fairness, I think this checkered because the surface wasn't clean enough.  I didn't clean the legs but I think D believed I did.  Unfortunately, sometimes things like this happen.  I'm waiting for it to dry so I can sand and fix this booboo even though it won't be seen and will be facing the wall.

The Daughter Returns!!!!

 
H returned for a very short visit recently.  She brought her wonderful boyfriend Dax.  Yep, that's his name.  It not short for anything, just Dax.

It was a wonderful surprise.  We met for lunch and then again dinner.

This is H and S.  Yep, her brother and sister-in-law were able to make it.

D's brother and sister-in-law even dropped by for a visit.

Considering it was a quick fly in and out I was surprised to see Marge and Patrick there with their new baby Conner.  He's just a few weeks old.

It was my first time meeting him so I naturally latched onto him and did some grandmotherly cuddling.

Sean was sporting a black eye.  He ran smack dab into a wall full steam ahead.  He thought it was funny to tell strangers his daddy did it.  Patrick had to explain, if he kept saying that he wouldn't see daddy anymore because they'd take him away.

M was wonderful.  It was way past her bedtime and she was a little trooper.  S & I took her for a walk when she got fussy and it was great being able to kiss and hug her for awhile.

I love this picture of M watching Dax.  Is she asking, "Is this my new uncle or what?"  LOL!

Here's one of the few pictures with me and my two kids.  Okay, little Conner is in it too but he's like family for it's just fine with me.

As is typical with HD, they wouldn't let D off work for the evening so he missed it.  We were able to squeeze in a lunch with H and Dax so we could meet him on a more private setting.  It was great.  He's a really sweet guy.

We should have had the waiter in the picture so I could photoshop D's head on him.  LOL!

I hate the new blogger, I just can't figure out how to get my text by the pictures where I want it.  So, please forgive me until I figure the darn thing out.

The Deck is Done...Done....Done....

Well the deck is done.  It took a little over a year to complete it which isn't bad considering D was working two jobs and spending time on it in the evenings.

I thought it might be nice to see some before and after pictures.....so here they are.

This was the first section completed. 

This corner was one of the hardest things to get right.  D actually took it apart after he had the framing done because it wasn't quite right in his mind.

He made a good choice, it turned out beautiful.  See those pickets?  I cut almost every cotton pickin' one of them.  D cut the first few sections and then turned them over to me.  He had to rip the posts from  2x6's or 2x8's first.  Then he'd pile them in the pick up and I'd cut them to size.

This is where you can see the deck is on a hillside.  Those are the tops of the neighbors Oak trees.  

I hadn't a clue how D was going to navigate this odd angle but he did a beautiful job.

See?  Goregous!  I believe this was the side that cost D two fingers.  He no longer has beautiful soft Banker's hands.  Nothing like a circular saw to shorten your digits.  LOL!

This and the above side were dangerous to walk on they were so rotten.  I had to tread carefully just to get these pictures.

I love the way D curved the rail with his router on the two ends of the deck where you stand and look at the view.  The wider wood makes it comfortable to lean on.

If it were my house, I'd take those windows out and replace them with french doors leading to the new deck.

For me to access the deck,  I had to navigate these dangerous stairs.  I had to try and walk right up the center where the support beams where or my foot would go through the wood.  It was scary and I'm really glad to see these gone.

These are much more elegant and I love the caps D put on the pillars.

Honest to goodness.  I don't know what kept this deck in one piece.  Look at the lack of framing and movement over the years of the existing support beams.  Now that's a slipshod job.

I think this desk is going to last for many many years.  D's framing and supports are far superior to what the original deck had.

D added gravel for drainage once he pulled all this garbage off.

Which would you rather have?  This one or the one above it?  I love this view.  It puts  the scope of the job in context.

D did admit to me while working on this section, he lost his footing and rolled down this hill.  The tree I'm standing under stopped his spiral downhill.  Oh...by they way, I'm further down than it looks, I used the zoom on this shot.

D was able to sister joists to the original ones on the front.  He wanted to do that because they were actually attached to the framing of the house.  This is where D hoisted me up there to work then went to the back to saw some stuff and I was stuck sitting on the beam until he decided to come back.

When my husband builds, it'll take an act of God to take it down.  LOL!

Look at the lack of support.  How did that pass an inspection?

D's solution to the lack of support in the previous picture.  It looks like an erector set to me.

Okay, D did a beautiful job on this deck but I had to toot my horn too.  It was my suggestion to miter the tops of the pickets to give the deck personality.  I mentioned it in passing and the next thing I knew, he was putting them in the plan.

I love that you see the deck as you drive up to the front of the house.

Even though this is a job D did for the neighbor, we won't forget it because we can see the deck as we drive up our driveway.  So we can still enjoy it in the future.

This is the best gift I've ever bought for D.  Okay, one of the best.  This little JawHorse is a real workhorse.   It's easy to move and extremely stable.  We wished several times during this job that we had two and not just one.  I'm thinking, it would have saved both of D's fingers from the circular saw blade.  Santa will probably put another one under the tree this year.  (NOTE:  For those who don't know, that's a compound miter saw in the picture, not a circular saw.  I've lost count of how many different saws the man owns.  My favorite is the reciprocating saw.  It trims trees and bushes great.  Don't let your husband know that's what you used it for though.  LOL!)

If you have a man who does any kind of handyman stuff.  Be it working on a car, yard, house, etc.  I can't stress how great it would be to buy them one of these.  They fold up so they're easy to carry and store.  They come with different attachments...I believe I bought D two.

Don't get a lookalike.  Buy a JawHorse.  He'll laugh at you when he opens it and make fun of it.  (Have him call D if they're questioning your purchase.)   I guarantee it's the one gift after he uses it, he'll thank you over and over.  

It's like the Dremel I bought him years ago.  He didn't open the package for about 3 years and then one day opened it and used it.  Both D and S had to apologize to me about thinking it was a stupid gift.  We now have 3 Dremels around the house and a gazillion attachments.

Parks & Park Settings

Well, it's almost 10:00 and his lordship is still in lala land.  He's been working 4 jobs.  HD, ITN, the deck next door and shagging cars for our friend in Austalia.  Since he's been working as a temp at ITN full-time (don't know how long that will last), he finally told HD he can't work evenings anymore.  

He works at ITN M-F 1 - 4 comes home gets a bite to eat and heads to HD to work until 10 or 11 p.m.  He also works at HD Sat and Sun.  They didn't like him saying he can't work weeknights anymore so I gave him permission to tell them to stuff it.  Of course, he has more class than me and didn't.  So this week, I actually had him home a couple of evenings.

This all leads up to, he deserves to sleep until noon or 1 today if he wants.  LOL!

I don't know if I posted this or not on a previous day but I think it's cool.  I went to a birthday party last month for a 4 year old.  This is a bridge over a creek in Danville.  I thought it was pretty cool.  When you get into the middle of the bridge, off to left there is a small waterfall.  It was very pretty and relaxing to look at.

My big sis was mentioning the wind at her house and we've got it here too.  Because of it, the animals seem to feel they can take refuge in the trees.  The next pictures are a small herd of deer that felt safer up here.  I'm missing a picture but didn't think you'd mind.  I think I counted something like 23 in this group.  That's the largest we had here so far.

They divided into sections.  Trampoline, shed and horsehoe pit.  It was funny really.

Check this gal out.  No she isn't sick.  They all looked like this.  She's losing her winter coat.  This was taken a few weeks ago and today all the deer are beautiful and sleek again.

D and I go to lunch with each other everyday.  This is the park I like to take him to.  I'm disappointed because I want him to walk but we end up eating our lunch in the car and vegging out.  I think I'm going to start leaving him in the car and walking by myself.

It's a huge park on Hopyard Road.  I think they call it the soccer field but there are also baseball diamonds, two play areas for the kids and picnic areas.

This is where I wish I had a panoramic camera.  LOL!  Well, I hear thumping in the other room.  Don't know if it's the wind again or D is actually moving around.  Guess I'd better go investigate.

I need to shut my computer down and restart it.  So I'll do that in a minute.  I can't get the pictures from my camera to load that I took at my great nieces wedding Saturday.  I think a restart is definitely in order.

Adios friends and family!