Lots Accomplished while my man was away...

As stated in my previous post there would be more to follow about the weekend....well this is the rest of the story...

I decided since I was on my own for a few days I was going to get a lot of little projects done and one major one accomplished. Well you heard about Thursday night so that night was shot. Starting Friday night I set the plan in motion to get sanding and more mudding done in the kitchen on Saturday as well as have a large walk in closet constructed in the space next to our bedroom. We had discussed it so I knew I wasn't going to get it trouble for just doing it and I wanted to take a project off Mike's list. I enlisted my friends Cindi and Mike Raimer to come out and help. All the tools and necessary lumber was accumulated and set up so Mike R wouldn't have to go looking for anything. A few general instructions of what I wanted and he was off. In the kitchen Cindi and I start putting together this really nifty gadget they have that allows you to sand and not have the mess flying all over. It is wonderful!! I may never give it back. We got everything sanded and one more coat of mud completed. Tonight will hopefully be the last of the sanding so we can start priming and painting....woohoo!! Well at about 8 p.m. or so things got wrapped up for the day....not the end of my day, but the closet was completely framed and ready for my step on Sunday. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP CINDI & MIKE!!!

I wrapped up Saturday cleaning, straightening and getting more laundry done, planted a perennial garden around the tree in the back yard, got the deck cleared of all the demo stuff, loaded (Mike & Cindi did this) and donated the old stove. Chris trimmed with the new trimmer I purchased (boy did we need one and I took into consideration the featurs Mike wanted) I think it was about 2 when I finally dropped.

Sunday morning, 6 a.m. was the time the birds and the sun decided I needed to peel out of bed. Got the curtain rods installed and curtains up in our bedroom. No more sunny mornings on weekends will push us out of bed! Did a little more unpacking of kitchen stuff from my house started another load of laundry and hopped in the shower. "mom, hurry up!" is what I hear when I'm genuinely enjoying my shower. Let's go kayaking! Here I thought he'd changed his mind. Oh well! He loaded up the boats while I finished my shower and off we went to get some breakfast, drop #1 son off at work and then headed to Kickapoo. Storms were coming in but heck we were in water anyway so what if it rained?! Well we were doing our thing for about an hour and the lightening started up. We were out and headed home. All of this and back home by 11 a.m. It has been a productive day already. After some lunch I proceeded to run the electrical needed for the closet and outside wall for my craft area to be organized later, drywall the interior of our new closet and install the rod for Mike's side....done! Decided to not put all the screws in over the area the electrical was run just in case I did something wrong. Taping an mudding to be done soon, but only after the kitchen is moving as it should. Will he be surprised, pleased or discusted...hmmmm jury is still out on that one. Sunday night I collapsed!

3 less pets

Well it has been a long few days with Michael basking in Alaska. Thursday night (the first night) we had a bird in the house and the dog got skunked. PEEEEEUUUUUU! My son sent me to get pellets and the bb gun. One down that night. Did you know, skunks are mates for life but they aren't very good parents. They start getting shot at the baby's are left to fend for themselves.

Oh, I caught the bird with a butterfly net and a box and he was set free. Only one mess to clean up. We were very fortunate.

Friday night...another one dealt with...another baby. According to Michael there were three. I haven't seen the parents since Thursday. I think they send the baby out to see if they come back.

Saturday morning the third one is out there all by itself. Chris takes care of him later that morning. You'll hear about the rest of this day later.

Sunday, Chris and I go kyaking at Kickapoo for a while until the storm comes in. Wasn't worried about the rain, but the lightening was pretty intense. Haven't seen any skunks lately. I think the mom & dad relocated...or they were the fur that was scattered in the mancave. Good Fox!

Time to mow...Chris won't until I move the remains. He said "I killed them, you can get rid of them". ....hmmmm....what to do. I'm not about to grab a leg and cart them anywhere...are you kidding? Ok, the pitchfork...scooped them up and hurled them over the fence into the prairie. I thought it would bother me more, but the feat of dealing with stinky dog reminded me they were pests not pets.

It was a busy weekend and as I said, more on that later. Michael gets home today, can't wait! Welcome home sweetie!!

New Pets

Have some new outside only pets. Wasn't sure what I wanted to get.

Goats, horses, chickens, peacocks, cows have all been thrown about.

But then these little beauties showed up and I am not sure how to get rid of them.

So stay they may.

Getting closer...

Decisions have been made as we needed to...this weekend we found the perfect granite for the countertop. With that came the paint color and the backsplash decisions as well. Yippee! We are still probably a month out from pulling it all together, but at least there is light at the end of the tunnel.

We spent most of this past weekend working on my house fixing things that needed fixing in order to finally put that "for sale" sign in the front yard. By the time I (we) go to bed on Tuesday night, the house should be ready for showing. The garage & shed should be the only messes to contend with from that point. I have built up a lot of stuff in the past unmentionable years of my life. It is time for a purge and merge. I have no problem purging, but my better half seems to so it should be interesting over the next few months when I'm pulling things together for a garage sale or donation as we organize our stuff under one roof.

Wish us luck!

Down Time

Nothing constructive got done on the house this weekend - not even the grass mowed. Oh well. I good time was hiking Starved Rock and Mattheissen state parks this weekend. So I am not complaining.

Found out that my girl and her boy are not in the kind of shape I thought they were in. The big boy scout hiking people just aren't used to that kind of movement. I think i can go longer than either of them. Ally did very well, but did tire out. Chris didn't do too bad but the nap he took just wasn't long enough for him to recover. Oh well.

So this week it is mowing, finish the mudding. I will then prime the walls and hopefully paint. Then I can hang cabinets and do the floor at my leisure. And that can be done alone with no help. Ally has to start concentrating on her house for getting it sold.

There is some stuff I will have to go over and help with, but it is fairly simple and quick to do. She needs to get her place painted and cleaned up. She did alot over there tonite, which was good.

As the kitchen comes to a close (which is still at least 2 weeks away) I will get more pictures up. It will be beautiful, once it is complete.