I have a shower!!!!!!

Finally after what seems like years, the shower in the Master bedroom it is finished! Dale, sealed the grout, put in the faucet, drain and the door..........Yahoo! He then sealed the seems with silicone sealer and we get to use it for the first time tonight! This is the before photo if you remember from a past blog post.

 

 Here is a picture of it finished.....sorry you can't see the door it is clear glass and actually I took the pictures with the door closed......

 

and this...........

see it matches the floor tile.......

Now we can move on to the closet in the Master bedroom, then paint, and carpet..........sounds like a piece of cake compared to the bathroom........hopefully it will move along smoother and quicker.

YAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

more of the same

We just have 26 more tiles to lay in the bathroom and we will be finished with the tiling. Then is has to cure and we will grout it.....then it has to cure and we can seal it. We then have to put the shower faucets in and the drain cover and we will have that bathroom almost finished. We still have the trim around the door and a door for the hot water tank.........
Dale has 3 more vacation days so he took off Wednesday so he could finish the tiling and work on a few other things. The day started off as any other day, the puppies woke us up at 6:30 needing to go outside. Then they have to eat and play for 2 hours then down for a 2 hour nap and repeat the process. So the puppies had just gone down for a nap, Dale went outside to take care of the critters outside and I came into the office here to check on emails.......
No one was aware of what was going on in the kitchen until Dale came back in the house and began screaming and cussing (unusual for Dale). I ran to see what was going on, I thought he had cut himself or something. There is the kitchen was 2 inches of water  and it was running down the hallway in a deluge. The pipe under the kitchen sink, had for some still unknown reason  just came loose.
Water was everywhere, packed boxes got wet, water got into Joshua's bedroom and got a edge of the new carpet wet, more packed boxes got wet, the puppies woke up crying, Mollie was running around barking at everyone..........it was a mess!!!
Needless to say the 26 tiles didn't get laid.......we cleaned up the mess......and went to bed earlier then usual last night.........
 

update on bathroom

I thought I would try to send you a update on the progress being made on the bathroom. We finally got the tile laid on the floor, it looks a bit dusty in the photo as we had just finished installing the cabinets. We decided to put tile under the sink, it still needs to be grouted. The plumbing to the sink and faucet is not attached. We installed the mirror and lighting finally. The trim on the wall between the two paints needs put on...mostly little bits and pieces need finished....trim around the door needs painted and attached. The BIG job left to do is the shower tile .....it will match the floor and the sink tile. Here are a few pictures........

the SHOWER

the sink
 

mirror and lights.......had to turn them off to take photo

tile floor

linen cabinet


 

another view of the sink
 

Still dancing.......

Someone asked how the house was coming along, rather then answer that questions several times I will just update the blog with the information.
We are still dancing basically..........two steps forward 5 steps back.......

Lets see where to begin, we continue to work on the house on the weekdays and the spindles for etsy on the weekends........that's about to change more on that later in this blog.

We decided to replace our foggy glassed windows for more efficient SEE THRU windows. When we ordered the windows over a month ago we were told the old ones would come out and the new ones would just slide in there place...........wrong!!!! So we painted the trim around the windows and caulked them, then took the time to remove the plants that we under the windows so they wouldn't get broken and tromped all over. The day came for the windows to go in..windows were removed and we were informed that they would have to remove the trim around the windows..... WHAT< we just painted and caulked those!!!???? Two steps forward.........so now we have to repaint the trim around the windows.........five steps back.

 Dale has been trying to finishe putting up sheetrock in the bathroom....he is almost finished mudding and taping the seams in the sheetrock......Two steps forward.......MOM needs help on her house again..........five steps back!!! She has a gas line leak and they turned off her gas while she was at work WITHOUT telling her.

Mom taken care of back to mudding and taping the bathroom we were actully beginning to feel like we might get something accomplished this weekend....Two steps forward!  What the he double hockey sticks  were we thinking!!! .....the house laughed silently while we were sleeping last night, and at 3:00 am last night the hot water tank decided to bust open. It's not that old we just put it in 5-6 years ago!!!!!! FIVE steps back............

This house is beginning to remind me of that old movie.......The Money Pit!!!

"Well, I told Dale, all we need to do is buy a new dishwasher and a new garbage disposal and we will have replaced ALL of the appliances, windows, and heater/AC in the house THIS YEAR"!

This all beginning to take a toll on us.....working on the house and trying to keep spindles in the etsy shop to sell and make the rest of the special orders. We have decided to close the barn for the whole month of September. There will be NO spindles for sale in the etsy shop for the month of September so we can try to get this house in a more managable place. We will go back to making and selling spindles again in October. I will keep the etsy shop open in case someone needs fiber or books and I will be getting a few charkha's in there..... hopefully this next weekend.

Thanks for understanding..........

It just keeps getting better!!!!

To tell you the truth I am so tired at this moment, I am at a lose for words.....I'll let the pictures talk for me........

Saturday, I had a dye class with 6 wonderfully fun fabulous ladies. We kettle dyed we microwave dyed, we steamed, we had a wonderful time. I was exhauseted by the end of the day....and it din't help that my stomach decided to revolt at the end of the day either. I will blame it on stress of knowing what was going on at home...!!!!

Dale was home working on the bathroom shower, he got the termite board replaced and worked on boxing in the shower again. We even have a light in the shower now! Cool I can see to shave. LOL! Then he worked in his shop for awhile working on a inkle loom special order......then Sunday came.

We decided to go ahead and pull down the one piece of sheetrock above the bathroom window, it has termite damage and would need to be replaced. We found a really rottten board with extensive termite damage... We found a LOT of termite damage and decided we needed to remove some more of the sheet rock. YIKES! We finally found the little buggers...not just damage but termites as well and more rotten boards.!!! We sprayed them with termite spray and killed the ones we could see. That dark brown spot you see is/was a 2 by 4 that ran all the way up the wall and supports the ceiling.

More sheetrock was removed and more damaged wood was found........we will be replacing several 2 by 4 boards before we can begin to get things put back in order.

This is that dark brown board after he pulled it off the wall........click on the pictures to enlarge them.

It is tottaly rotten and full of termites........

We had to stop about noon so we could make a mad dash to my Mom's, she lives about 2 hours away. If you have been keeping up with this blog then you will know for the last 2 years it has been back and forth with us. She gets sick has to go to the doctors, her doctors are in Tulsa, then she has to have surgery to remove her thyroid and stays at our house to recoperate. I also had to have surgery at about the same time for a hernia.........Then this year I was diagnosed with endometrial cancer and had to have surgery.....soon after the floor guys came to work on the house and Mom had to have test run on her coratid artery...thank fully no surgery was involved just extensive testing.
So now her house has decided to shake itself apart.......I don't think the earthquakes are helping she is 50 miles away from where most of them are happening. So her house is on a wooden floor and supported by cement blocks and they are coming loose. We had to go meet with a contractor to talk to him about getting work done on her foundation. If it isn't one thing its a half a dozen more ...... what happened to the simple life!
.......and my doctor wants to know if I have any stress in my life!!!!
Stay tuned I'm sure its going to get better...........it has to doesn't it!!!

Whew! What a day!

Well we hauled out about 400 pounds of cement and tile out of the shower this morning. We found some termite damage in one outside wall. The damage isn't as bad as we thought, but it is termite damage so bad enough. Dale is worn out his both shoulders of course are killing him right now. So we scooted off to look at tile and cement boards and all kind of goodies. They have done away with the stuff I had picked out from several months ago, so natually I have to pick something else. Will ponder the possibilities and pick some later.....for now its sit back in the easy chair and drink something nice and cool.........tea for me......gatorade and water for Dale.

I am just trying to keep up updated on why we are so slow getting things in the etsy shop. Here are a few pictures they can say it better then me.......lovely isn't it! Here is the shower.....

or what is left of it.........

some of the termite tunnels we found.......

That's part of the bedroom.....see Dale's rollaway he gets to sleep on at night. We still have bare cement floors in the bedroom and down the hallway.

We are working as fast as we can...........Dale has a day job then comes hom to work on spindles, inkles, and other items. Then on the weekend we work on the house........no wonder he looks tired. Please be patient with us we are doing the best we can..........Thank You!

more updates on house renovations

Well we got the cement poured and the floor level in the Master bedroom. We are now getting ready  to rip out the shelves and stuff in the closet then pour cement in there to level the floor. We also have to rip out part of the wall to repair termite damage. Then we move to the bathroom, we need to rip out the vanity and the shower stall, the pan under neath the tile has a leak, so it has to all be replaced. I figure we will be working on this the rest of the summer. Dale is getting old and worn out, he has to stop for a few days to rest his shoulder.

We have also been cleaning up the yard, we have a bumper crop of poisin ivy this year and some kind of vine that looks like a grape vine but it isn't. The goats will eat the poison ivy so we don't have to burn it but they won't touch that ivy vine. I thought at first it was possum grapes but it isn't it does have little purple grapes on it in the fall but it grows fast and will smother and kill whatever it grows onto. I HATE THE STUFF! The neighbors across from us love it, they call it their privacy fence. The electric company has came out and sprayed it but it just slows it down. It's not Kudzo, I have seen it when we visited Georgia, not the same vine but I guess the same principal anyway. So anyway we have been pulling weeds off the fences......well Dale and Josh have I am allergic to the poison ivy. I had a really bad case of it when I was about 16, now all I have to do is look  it and I''ll get it........really I gave Dale a hug to thank him for pulling the darn things and I got poison ivy on my arms.......Dale and Josh did'nt get it and they were the ones pulling it!!!

Anyway, Dale has been working in the barn from time to time, mostly he has been cleaning. Picking up wood scraps which he has a lot of, tossing it to the burn pile, and rearranging his work space. He has cut out some spindles but nothing is finished......so when I re-open on Monday there may not be any spindles. He plans on working in the closet this weekend........

He did make me something......I bought some old sewing machine drawers with the idea of making a small table out of them. He wasn't sure about the idea .....so they have been sitting around for some time now. He finally made it and surprised me with it last week. These are over 100 years old, the warranty for the Minnesota Model A, sewing machine was in the drawers....no sewing machine just the drawers. The warranty says September 3, 1903.......I plan on framing it and hanging it above the drawers. The top is the actual top of the sewing machine cabinet. One of the handles is missing but I finally found a replacement for it.....it came today so we have'nt had time to put it on the drawer. The legs are store bought to save time and Dale stained them to match the wood.......here is a photo of my new/old table.

They are in my one room that is almost finished, I need to finish hanging pictures and stuff. I call it my sanctuary, it keeps me from going crazy when I get tired of looking at a torn up house full of boxes.The walls are called Peach Surprise but it is more of a pale apricot, the carpet is pumkin spice which is a darker apricot.....it is very relaxing to me. The trim on the doors I did in a paint called Sandstorm.....so a lot of pale colors.

Come sit and spin awhile with me ..................

I plan on filling the walls with shelves and stuff that I have made through the years.... I used to paint, that is Sparky a cockatiel we used to have. He/she died long ago......it began as a he but after it began laying eggs it became a she.....and the name was changed to Sparkles... LOL! sorry colors are a bit off had to close the blinds too much light....then not enough. :(

Some beaded bags I used to make and sell, hanging on the wall. I also made and sold teddy bears...Paw Print Bears......that was me. They all had, hand sewn either suede or embroideried paws on the hands and feet. I made them from one inch tall (I had better eyes then) up to 36 inches tall. The little guys on the table are from 5 to 7 inches tall and made of mohair. I also made some out of alpaca, so I was into fiber before I knew how to spin.....LOL! Anyway that is what we have been up to and why we may not have spindles ready by Monday when we re-open the shop.........

I just wanted a lattice panel

I wish I had taken a before picture of the front entry but as usual I forgot. I asked  Dale if he would put up a lattice panel between the two front pillars so I could move the little table and chair out on the patio and maybe hang a few plants. It was bare before just a old huge back chair and table and a firewood rack. I thought the lattice panel would be something simple and easy to do and then he could go back to working on the bedroom/bathroom from he....double fiddlesticks...he had other plans..........
He looked at me and said, "why don't you create a wall of flowers with hanging baskets". I'm thinking a simple lattice panel would be more economical but if you want me to create a wall of flowers with hanging baskets....well ok! He had to help me with the chains.......I don't like ladders and apparently they don't like me! :(
So I went to my local buy it here store and they were having a half price sale on their flowers !!!! Can you beleive the luck!! LOL! So here are a few photos of the front entry way as it looks now.....wish I had taken a before shot!

And here is another one..........see the red gingerbread on the eave of the roof.....Dale cut all of those out of cedar fence pickets last fall when we painted the front of the house........still have to do the back and side of the house.

 Here is the view walking up to the front door.....we are eventually going to paint the white door to match the red shingles on the ginger bread but that will wait for another day.......

 

Come on in pull up a chair and sit a spell......would you like a glass of ice tea! I even moved my diamond dove out there......I love to hear them coo......coo....

Hopefully we will get the bedroom done soon and I can post photos of it........

House renovation updates!

Sooo for any of you who have been keeping up with the house renovations you will remember that we have been at this for sometime now! We were to have the floor jacked up in February, but first we had to move all of our stuff out of the house. Then I found out I had cancer during the move....had surgery in January and all of the cancer was removed...GOOD NEWS! The floor was to be jacked up in February, 2 weeks after surgery to remove the cancer. They came, they cracked the floor and jacked up maybe a 1/3 of the floor leaving one hell of a mess for me to clean up....did I mention I was 2 weeks out of surgery!!!
So since the carpet had to be pulled up for them to jack up the floor, which they did not succeed in doing, we decided to paint the walls and replace all the trim and carpet. Here is Joshua's room after the paint and new carpet.

New paint, new trim boards, new desk, all he needs is the rest of his things out of the POD. What why are they in the POD because we still have to do the room from Hell, the room they could not jack up. We are going to have to pour a filler on the floor to raise it up and fill in the cracks....here is our bedroom.

Dale,is sleeping on a twin bed and I am sleeping in the living room on a rollaway....

Want to see more....here is the kitchen and hallway..... I have been living like this for going on 2 MONTHS! My house does not normally look like this!!! It is driving me crazy!!!

I have one room that is my getaway room which is where I go to hide from it all. I can sit and clear my mind and think about what it is going to look like finished.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse....I was pulling down the wallpaper above the shower in the bathroom and found this over the weekend.

TERMITES!!!!!

Pearl

You know the saying if it fits it ships! We we aren't quite sure where to ship her to but she does fit.

Pearl, is a special kitty, we adopted her almost 2 years ago after I lost my 14 year old calico, Patches to bone cancer.
I have never had a cat like Pearl... Pearl was a little over 3 months old when we adopted her, she was small for her age and had health issues when she was younger. I understand they almost lost her several times before she finally got healthy enough for adoption.....guess she was waiting for me to decide. I lost Patches in August and wasn't sure I wanted another cat so soon. We were only going to look, when I picked her up she rolled with her belly up and began purring...that was it she came home with us. Pearl will still roll over and show you her belly, she loves a good belly rub. Sometimes we jokily call it her pull my finger position......if you get my meaning. I have to watch what foods I feed her she sometimes get a tummy upset.
Pearl knows no stranger which is kind of unusual for a cat. Any stranger or guest coming into the house gets the exposed belly and that please rub my belly blue eyed look. If your a woman with a large bag, you better keep and eye on it or Pearl will be inside of it exploring to her hearts content in no time. After she gets done exploring all the contents of your bag she then decides its a good place for a nap.
Pearl may have been tiny when we got her, the vet said she would be a small cat. Well something happened because Pearl comes in at a whopping 14.9 pounds these days. Mollie, my Yorkshire Terrior only weighs 5.5 pounds! So yeah! My cat is bigger then my dog! LOL! Don't tell Mollie that though she is the boss and Pearl knows it. LOL! They do play chase from time to time and it is a funny thing to behold.
Pearl loves boxes, hench the reason she is in the box in the photo, doesn't matter what size the box she HAS to get in it. I once tossed a freezer bag box in the floor when I was busy packaging fibers. I heard a strange noise a little later only to look and there was Pearl with her head in the box. If a new box comes in she has to inspect it throughly, although she knows if it has stuff in it she has to wait until I empty it before she jumps in and makes herslf a fort. LOL!
When she wants to be feed she walks up to you and reaches out with her paws and lovingly pats you with her paws.It always amazes me that she can do that without her claws coming out. It is a soft gentle pat and then if she is really wanting attention all 14.9 pounds of her will jump up into your lap,OOOHHHF! LOL! Pearl is a special cat! Just ask anyone who has met her!

more updates

Well the floor jack guys came on the 14th (Happy Valentines) after they cancelled  the 13th because we received a inch of snow over night. PLEEEAASE! For crying out loud the roads were clear! So these guys call at about 8:45 and say they are on their way.........at 11:45 they called to say they were in our town.........at 1:00 they showed up at the door ready to go to work.
Now we have been working on this project since late September of 2011, OK! We got bids from several companies all with good names and reputations, including this one. We finally settled on a company in November after we got all the bids in from the other companies. So since mid November we have been moving out of the house. You have to move completely out so they can drill holes in the cement floor and jack the floor back up in place.
Then in late November I went to the doctor to check on a bleeding problem I was having......he took a biopsy then and there and said, "Mrs. Thomas, it looks like you might have cancer!!" You can only imagine the thoughts going through my mind...... He called the next week to confirm his concerns.....it was cancer!
Well here is where it gets even more twisted, the floor jack guy said he could get to the floor the first of  December.......then he changed it to January and then we got it in writing for the 13th of February. The doctor thought I might be in Stage One endometrial cancer but wanted to remove it as soon as possible. So the surgery was scheduled for mid December.......hold on not so fast says the Oncologist who was to assist, I want to go on vacation! So the surgery was put off until the 27th of January. Are you still with me!!!
So we rented a POD and began packing the house in anticipation of having the floor jacked back up and getting some renovations done around the house. This meant things were being made for the etsy store as well as packing and moving boxes. Dale of course still has his day job and Josh was working days and going to school. Things are getting made for the etsy store but much more slowly then before...
Now for the next twist.....I have high blood pressure and take medication for it which is keeping it in check. I went in for pre-op testing I flunked two of the test....one was the EKG and the other was something in the blood was too high (kretone levels) never can spell that word right. Sooo the surgery was cancellled.....only no one told my doctor!!! I was told by the lady who conducted the pre-op testing that she would give hi the results only that didn't happen. I was also told I would have to go see a cardiologist and my doctor would make that appointment for me..... one hand washing other!!! Anyway I waited 2 days and decided to call my doctor to see what was going to be done about the surgery and the cardiologist. He had NO IDEA what I was talking about!!! He said he would call me back, within 15 minutes the phone rang and I had a appointment with a cardioligist the next day. Now the doctor also told me HE had not cancelled the surgery and it was going on as scheduled. The day I went to see the cardiologist was also the day I was supposed to begin drinking the "GO JUICE" you know the stuff that makes you go so you are cleaned out before surgery. I was told to wait until after I saw the cardiologist........she ran all kinds of test and said there was nothing wrong with my heart, some one had made a mistake. So I go home drank the "GO JUICE" and prepared for surgery the next day. The next morning I had not been allowed to drink anything the day before and could not drink anything after I began preparing for surgery.....so I went in dehdrated! It took them almost 2 hours to find a vein to place the IV fluids in...... After poking both my hands, feet, bend of my arms, wrist and shoulders, and not finding a open vein.....they kept collapsing. They gave me some gas and put me out, they then cut into my right shoulder and placed a cathader in a vein there.......it stayed there until I was ready to leave the hospital. Everywhere they tried to find a vein was bruised and some places are still sore.........
The suregery was "challenging" as my doctor would later tell me...but with the removal of the uterus he aslo removed all of the cancer. I do not have to take radiation or chemotherapy.........miracles do happen!
OH! Back to the floor jack guys.........Dale and Josh had to finish the packing and getting things moved out of the house. The floor jack guys finally showed up at 1:00 and began drilling holes......immediately the floor began to crack, first one the another. I told Dale I didn't like the looks of it.......I had a place out in my converted garage for me to go rest and sit while all the noise and mess was going on in the house, so I mostly stayed there. They spent two and a half days on the house and made all kinds of messses of which they didn't clean up. The base boards are all a mess the walls are filthy and I can't do anything about it. I am still under doctors orders not to do any lifting, or moving, or cleaning of any kind. They jacked the floor up about a inch...it needed 3 in some places.....and then said they couldn't do anymore for fear of busting the cement even more..... Well then why didn't you stop sooner!!??
So now we have to find a cement guy to come fill in the cracks and mud the floor!!?? Have you ever antisipated something so bad and then had it to go terribly wrong.......then you know how we feel.  Dale and Josh are sleeping on mattresses on the floor I have the only bed which isn't mine and is very uncomfortable. We have most of our belongings packed in a POD in front of the house....... We can't move back in until the floor is fixed and new carpeting put back down. In the mean time Dale are Josh are painting the walls and ceiling in the their spare time...........and I sit here wishing I could do something to help......

Updates on what is going on around here.

Well, I went for my pre-op testing yesterday and so far so good, surgery is scheduled for next Wednesday. For those who don't know I have been diagnosed with endomertrial cancer.......hopefully stage one. The doctors won't really know until they get inside.......

The move with the house is still going on as planned, this will be my last weekend to help pack stuff up. We have to move out of the house so the floor jack people can fix the fallen slab of our house. The outside walls are fine it is the inside floor that has fallen. So we have spent 2 months slowly packing the house and its contents into a pod. Then they will spend 3 days to fix the floor and we will spend 3 months moving back in.......or longer since I won't be allowed to help. I have always been a better supervisor anyway. LOL!

That is why we are so slow to get things into the etsy shop right now, Dale is working on inkle looms at the moment. He has found he likes the Ambrosia maple and as long as we can get it we will use it for the inkle looms. He is also going to make a floor inkle out of the Ambrosia maple and Walnut.  He will work on spindles when he gets caught up on Inkle looms and shuttles.

Joshua, is back in school (college), working part time and still making support spindles and other items for the shop. Speaking of support spindles he was recently asked to submit a spindle to be critiqued for a book a lady is writing on Supported Spindles......so he will be mentioned along with his spindle in the book......more on that later.

I hope you have all found us on the ThreadsthruTime Ravelry group if not go check us out. We are a very friendly if somewhat laid back group. You can watch the shop announcements for soon to be listings on spindles, fibers, inkle looms, and all of the other items we make. Hope to see you there.......