Thumbs Up—Day 51

About 4:30 this afternoon, Dr. Wyman called to say that Woody's scan looked good.  He said that he still wanted him to come back in three months...we were hoping for a bit more time between scans.  He had worked up to six months between scans and was about to go to a year.  But his surgery and infection set him back when a lymph node showed up in his scan back in January.  Both the infection and the surgery were good reasons for lymph nodes to not to be exactly right...but given his previous melanoma, they don't dare take a chance and just say that it is "nothing."  Woody thinks that they are being overly cautious...he's ready to not go back for a year!

I got up and headed to the kitchen to make cucumber jello salad...something that Woody can eat.  I did get started on putting things away in the guest room closet.  I didn't get very far but at least it is a start.  This afternoon Donna and I worked in the library for a while.  We did maintenance and then worked with the overdue list.  The overdue books have been coming back after I drew attention to them to the patrons who have them.  Today we went upstairs to the children's area and found quite a few that a teacher had checked out.  We found them all...left them in the room and came back down and renewed them so they would get off "the list."

Woody had pasta for supper that I made last night for him.  I decided that I was in the mood for a tomato pasta sauce so made that for me.  Now it is time to go clean up the kitchen!

Wondering if the upstairs bathrooms' floors will get finished tomorrow.  Supposedly the flooring was to come in today.

On the Road Again—Day 50

We didn't leave till around 8:45am and returned at 3:45.  We got to Vanderbilt about an hour early for his first appointment.  But he was registered for his CT quickly and got taken back for his scan almost as soon as he sat down.  We were out of the radiology area and heading back down the looooooong hallway about the time that his CT was scheduled for.  He then registered for his labs and was literally called back to have labs done before he got sat back down from registering.  The only problem with that is they were too efficient as he also had to talk to the folk who file insurance as they had been billing us for something that we shouldn't be billed for.  They are going to resubmit it to his suplimentary insurance. As soon as he got that taken care of, he walked right in to have his labs done.  Being early for Dr. Wyman isn't very helpful as he only has very short hours in the Vanderbilt cancer clinic.  And, those hours start after lunch.  But we did luck out and were the first ones for him to see.  Once again, we were walking back down the hall after seeing him and it was just time for Woody's appointment.  So everything went as quickly as it could have today.

We don't know results of CT scan.  Dr. Wyman will call us.  His labs looked good...except for kidney labs...which is par for the course, unfortunately, these days.

I did a little more putting away of items that were still in the living room this morning before we left. At the moment I have a pile on the living room floor that is for a future yard sale (that may be soon, as Kathy mentioned having one in August).  I emptied out a bin that I had borrowed from Nathan and Kathy, so I will fill it back up with the pile of things and send it back their way!  I put cleaning items that used to go under the sink out in the laundry room on a little bookshelf.  The space under the sink is much smaller than what we had before...seems to be more cords, etc. under there so I don't have a lot of room to store the things that I had under the sink in old kitchen.  I think that this new spot for storing them will work well.  Before, that little bookcase in the laundry room was just a catch all...so will either do away with what was there or find another storage place.  Next I need to load up a couple of bins with decorative items and store those in the guest closet.  That's pretty much what I have left to put away.  Then I will try to give the living room a good cleaning.  The school room has a couple of boxes in it that I need to remove so I can get the school room ready for school to start.  Tullahoma starts day after tomorrow.  Dorrell Academy doesn't start till the week after next...at least I think that is right. They have started doing some lessons while they were traveling this past week.  So they are underway, but Grammy's school is a bit delayed in starting!  But I still need to get the school room ready.

Dusting Accomplishments—Day 49

Today I spent less time in the kitchen...except when I was baking some bread and then cooking our supper.  Well, part of the dusting did involve the sink...washing decorative items that belong in the dining room that had been removed during the renovation.  My mother's cup and saucer collection all had to be hand washed.  I started out the morning vacuuming off the walls...there has to be someway to get the best of all the construction white dust.  You should have seen the layer of white dust on top of my china cabinet!  The top of the buffet wasn't as bad as I had put down dish towels.  But there was a line around those towels when I picked them up.  I shook those towels outside and then added them to a pile of towels that need to be washed.  The buffet hadn't had anything on it except for some kitchen things since after Christmas.  I had packed up the decorative everyday items at Christmas and  put out our Precious Moments Nativity scene.  When I put it away after Christmas, I just left it empty till I started taking things out of the kitchen.  So it's been a while since I have seen these items.  I didn't take the cups and saucers down till the renovation began.  The dining room table is still part of the renovation...papers and items that pertain to the renovation are still on it.  I did put pictures back on the walls in the dining room.  I still haven't brought my Loara Standish sampler back downstairs.  I will wait till the renovation is totally finished.  The workmen have the flooring and several other items stored under the dining room table...so will wait for those to go before I put my table back the way it should be and bring the sampler back to its rightful place.  Today ends the 7th week since the renovation began.  I am so glad that we are at this end of the time period!  If the flooring comes in, I think that all inside work will be finished towards the end of the week. 

This morning I make bread...a flat bread—Rosemary Garlic Focaccia Bread...a new recipe...very good...definitely a keeper!  We ate part of it and put the rest in the freezer.  If I hadn't put it in the freezer, it would probably be all gone!  I love that I can turn my oven on to "proof" and let the dough rise in the oven...perfect conditions for the dough to rise.  This bread used both fresh rosemary and thyme...so our herb garden was put to good use!

We stayed home most of the day.  Woody took a friend to the doctor, but that didn't keep him out very long as the doctor wasn't seeing patients today.  This evening he is at the Monday night Furnace Room Prayer Meeting.  Tomorrow will probably be a full day.  He has his three month check-in at Vanderbilt for a CAt scan, labs, and sees Dr. Wyman.  At least the first appointment isn't a super early appointment so we won't have to start at the crack of dawn!

Both Sides—Day 47

I decided that it was time to show both sides of our kitchen now that it isn't just a blank counter...things are still evolving...but for the moment this is what is on them.  I decided that the only way to show the entire side of the sink side of the kitchen was with a panoramic photo...there really isn't a curve in our kitchen on that side!  It doesn't show, but I do have calendar hung on the wall above the phone as you go into the family room.  I got some Command hooks and that worked well and didn't make me put a hole in the wall...at least not yet!  Still no clock on the wall...that is still to come.  Today I put things in the upper pantry that I want to store there and also in the cabinets over the refrigerator.  I "think" that I have pretty much got everything put away that I plan to put in the kitchen.  I have decided to store my Fall and Spring decorations elsewhere and have some other decorative items that I am going to store someplace else.  Now to work on getting those packed up and concentrate on getting the living room and dining room back to "normal."  I'm ready to have our house not look like a storage area!

Woody went to the public library this morning and ran a couple of errands.  Later in the day he got busy and made his slaw recipe...I helped a little when it came to finding some things he needed and I cooked the dressing for him.

Look Who Had a Birthday—Day 46

Note that tonight's blog title says "had" a birthday!  This is our oldest grandson, Alex, and his birthday was yesterday and Grammy didn't put it the blog last night!  Yesterday morning I told myself that I would go find an old photo of Alex and use it for the blog photo that night.  Well, I guess I got too wrapped up in the doings of the day in our renovation and I didn't think about it when I was actually blogging.  This is a picture of him showing off his Easter outfit I made for him back in 2001.  He is showing off the hidden dinosaurs on the lining of the vest and the dinosaur on his shirt pocket.  He was very much "into" dinosaurs back in those days!  Yesterday this cute little boy turned 22!  No way!

Woody got up and headed off to the grocery store to do our weekly shopping early this morning, as he had to take his friend to McMinnville for a doctor appointment later in the morning. I enjoyed putting the food away in our new refrigerator and pantry!  He headed off to McMinnville and I started working in the kitchen.  Woody bought chicken breasts so I needed to debone them.  I then decided to make a small amount of broth with the bones, some veggies,  and some herbs from the garden.  After that had cooked a while, I removed the meat from the bones that I didn't get removed and decided to use that to make Woody a chicken pasta dish.  I made a sauce from the broth, and cut up then chicken and added some penne pasta.  I mixed all that together and popped it in the oven to bake with some panko bread crumbs and a small amount of parmasan cheese on top.  It came out of the oven just a little before Woody got home.  He enjoyed his late lunch.

I believe that I can say that the kitchen is now done from the contractor's perspective.  This afternoon, the electrician stopped by and fixed the circuit.  Woody reminded me that the kitchen still wasn't finished as I haven't ordered the window treatments yet...but that is on our end of the completion...that is in our control to finish...what got finished today was in the contractor's hands and his workers...on their time frame...out of my control.  So as of 3pm today the kitchen is back in our hands to have final touches added when and how we see fit!  The electrician who came today is one of our contractor's subcontractors.  He saw the original kitchen, was a part of the demolition, part of the initial work, did the final task toward completion, and got to see the kitchen as a working kitchen today...as I was in the midst of making a mess when he walked through today!

New View—Day 45

I guess you can see why we call this the sunroom, though really a porch.  Our floor layer arrived bright and early and got right to work.  He was very efficient and worked quickly.  I "think" that all the floors would have been finished...IF...they had ordered enough!  His first conclusion, when I showed him the rooms that were getting new floor, was that we didn't have enough.  And, he was right.  He had to order three more boxes!  The floor order won't be here till probably next Wednesday.  He did finish sunporch, laundry room, and downstairs bathroom...so three steps (rooms) closer!  We continue to be very happy with this floor.

This morning I prepared a dry rub for a rack of ribs.  I used the convection oven...still learning cooked it part of the time in the baking mode instead of roasting mode...one of these days I'll have the ovens figured out.  The ribs turned out well despite cooking them in wrong mode for a while.  

After lunch I got busy putting things back into the sunroom and laundry room.  I decided that I 

needed to wash the Windows before putting everything back.  Got that job done and then swept and vacuumed new floors and then wet mopped all the new floors including the kitchen.  Nice clean floors.  Figured that it would be a while till workers walked through...wrong!  Toward the end of the afternoon, the electrician showed up.  He figured out what needs to be done to fix the electrical problem.  He will be back tomorrow. 

Woody ran an errand for Nathan and Graham—went to the Post Office to mail a couple packages for them.  

We're settling for the evening watching Master Chef.  I'm more than ready to put my feet up tonight.  It has been a busy day! Lot's accomplished, though.  

Kitchen Finished...Except—Day 44

The finishing touches were done by 4pm today.  The "except" for the kitchen is for an electrician to come fix the problem that two big appliances are on the same circuit.  I feel like I can claim the kitchen as mine at this point!

This morning since I got a call from the painter saying that she wouldn't be here till mid afternoon, I went on and did some baking...my second angel food cake.  This one did come out better than the last one...last one didn't brown like today's did.  Woody bought some strawberries and wanted another angel food cake.  After that I have been trying to get ready for new floors in four places tomorrow.  I need to move some things out of the rooms and also need to clear a path down the hallway upstairs so the workman can got to the guest bathroom!  I'm pretty tired tonight, but trying to press on.  At the moment I am taking a break...blogging and watching Master Chef.

Woody spent the morning and afternoon watching the Mueller Hearings.  I heard some of it while I cooked and cleaned.

Late this afternoon, Woody and I headed off to Lowe's to purchase a toilet and some heat register covers and transition strips.  I think that is the last purchase that we have to make that a worker is dependent on us having here for him when he's ready. I hope...anyway!  That light at the end of the tunnel is getting closer!

Within a Hair—Day 43

The start of the 7th week and I can say that the kitchen is finished within a hair's breadth! First thing this morning a workman from the cabinet making shop was here to put finishing touches on including  putting in shelves in the upper pantry and adding a couple of half shelves in two cabinets.  He saw to little things that needed fixing.  Then after lunch the lone woman in the crews (or at the least the only one that has worked here) came and finished up the painting and did touch ups.  This is the first time that the baseboards have had the gold paint on them.  So the only thing left is for her to come back in the morning and put the second coat on the baseboards and do one more touch up that I forgot when she was here.

That means the kitchen is really "all but finished!"  EXCEPT...today I ran the dish washer right after the morning workman left and then decided to fix lunch before the next worker came.  AND, I decided that I would use the new microwave, which I haven't used much yet except to warm up water for my tea.  I turned on the microwave and went out to shake out my microfiber mop and when I came back in the microwave had stopped...which it should have...but when I tried to turn it back on it wouldn't start.  I finally realized that it might have tripped a breaker...sure enough.  So fixed the breaker and tried again...and it did the same thing.  I wondered if having the dishwasher on at the same time had done it...and sure enough...the dishwasher had turned off too.  Rarely would I run the dishwasher and microwave at the same time, but I am glad that I did so I found this problem.  I emailed the contractor and got almost an immediate response...both by email and by phone telling me that they would have someone from the electrical team come by and take care of it.  So a little more paint AND a bit more electrical work and the kitchen "should" be finished!

Woody got out in the yard today and worked in the garden for a little while.  The weather is absolutely wonderful...very cool and low humidity for this time of the year...so Woody took advantage!

I collapsed a lot of boxes that I had emptied so they be picked up at our curbside recycling tomorrow. It's so good to see empty boxes and the empty spots where they have resided for so long!  I started putting things up in our cabinet over the refrigerator...that is where he put one of the half shelves in today.  I had been waiting to fill that cabinet till there was a shelf in there and it worked perfectly...just like I wanted.  One of the first things that I put on that shelf was an oil lamp...not used very often...but when needed (like the time we were without electricity for a week during an ice storm) very useful and needed!  Now it is up and out of the way, but in a place where we can get to it.

Woody went to the prayer room at church after supper.  He is back home now and we are settling in for another quiet evening.

Tomorrow I've got to get things ready for new flooring to be put in all our bathrooms and the sunporch/laundry room. At least not a ton of things to move out of those rooms...but still things to do to get ready...including finding the time to go buy a new toilet for one of the bathrooms.

Knobs and Handles—Day 42

As we finish up the sixth week of renovation, we are definitely in the final stages.  This morning one of the cabinet workers was here bright and early to put on the knobs and handles and adjust doors, etc.  While he was here our contractor stopped by and looked things over.  I pointed out several things that need to be done and he assigned the worker several of the tasks that need to be done.  The missing pantry shelves and a coulee of other shelves that I have asked for will be put in tomorrow and a coule of other things he will do to prepare for the painter to come and do touch ups.  The contractor also told us that a worker would probably start Thursday putting in the floors in our three bathrooms and in the sunporch/laundry area.  He also checked to see what else needs to be done on the outside of the house to correct the way the water is running down the corner of our house near the front porch.  Looks like things really are winding down!  

I ran a coule of errands this afternoon...one for Kathy and one for my Sunday School class.  Woody is at the Monday night Furnace Room Prayer meeting currently.  I planned to make some bread today and never had time due to the workman and then my errands and then it was time to make dinner.  I am thinking about making it as soon as I publish tonight's blog.  I have everything all out and ready.  I think that I will bake the bread using the convection oven...also I have a mode on the oven to have just enough heat to hel the dough rise...think that will try that too. I had planned to let the dough rise in the smaller oven, but I used that oven to cook our supper (an eggplant casserole) so it is still too hot to proof the dough.  So will use the lower oven.  Nice to have two to choose from!  I did put away a few more things today.  I am emptying out boxes in the hall upstairs.  Maybe it won't be too long till the hallway is clear once again?!?  Still quite a bit to do, but at least I can see progress of boxes getting emptied out and items getting put away.  It is good to have handles and knobs...so much easier to open the cabinets and drawers.

We are in the midst of another storm.  This is the second rain event that we have had today. I'm hearing altitude thunder in the distance.  Guess I'll get back to my baking...not sure that this is a good idea at this hour of the day!

Busy Saturday--Day 40

I have worked in the kitchen most of the day.  The first thing that I did this morning, was to make a pot of Boston Baked Beans from my mother's recipe. (They turned out good...I had them for supper. Woody, of course, can't eat them.)

While they cooked, I continued to put more things away in the cabinets.  I ran several loads in the dishwasher.  When I finish blogging, I have a load that I need to go down and take care of.

Woody headed off to the library this morning...part of his usual Saturday routine.

Mid morning, I stopped and made myself a treat,,,some of Woody's zucchini blueberry bread and a glass of iced tea.  I used our new dishes and used ice from the ice machine.  The ice was a first for me as we have never had an ice maker connected with our refrigerators.  I have enjoyed that feature several times today both in my iced tea and in ice water,

The big happening of the day was that this afternoon, Nathan and Graham got our old refrigerator out of our house and over to theirs!  They made it safely to their garage just prior to a hard rainstorm.  After that I had to use my little Green Machine to suck up some water from the carpet that came out of the refrigerator.  Carpet none the worse for wear and the refrigerator is out of the family room.  Graham also put the charcoal filter in our stove hood.

So far I am very pleased with the way the new kitchen functions...and, am so glad that I have a sink with running water and a hooked up running dishwasher. Woody was glad to be able to put the desk back in its place after the refrigerator was removed.  I had had a little table there that had been cooking on during the renovation so that came down today and the desk went back.  My next job is to put things back in the shadow box that came down in the family room...the shadow box is back on the wall, putting little things back in it can wait for another day!  I think that I have reached my capacity of "doing" for today.  I came up to blog and I just woke up a few minutes ago...I guess I wore myself out!

Wish Came True—Day 39

My wish for a sink, running water in the kitchen, the dish washer connected, and the refrigerator delivered and connected before the weekend...and it happened!  We actually have a fully functioning kitchen.  This morning around 7:30 the first work crew started showing up.  They had contacted the appliance place to have the refrigerator delivered and they were coming to do the plumbing that needed to be done.  And, all those were not the easiest tasks...the old refrigerator was hard to get out of the kitchen...they had to figure out how to take it apart to get it out.  They got it out and then put it back together and put it in the family room so I could transfer things easily.  They "say" that it will go out the last two doors without a problem...time will tell!  The new fridge has our food in it now and the old is empty.  The dishwasher has been run for its first time.  And, the sink/faucet is working.  We still need hardware put on the doors and drawers and some shelves for the pantry and some adjusting of the doors on the cabinets.  Then a crew will come in and do paint touch ups and a couple of other things.  After that I "think" that the kitchen will be done from what the workers need to do.  Then they can go on with the floors in the bathrooms and sunporch/laundry room and finish the fix on the outside to make sure that our leak is stopped.  There are things that I still need to do...like order the honeycomb blinds and a few other things to help with the organizing of the cabinets...but it will soon be just things that we need to do.

Woody delayed our grocery shopping till this afternoon until it looked like the workers were close to finished...that way I could get things transferred to the new refrigerator and be ready to put away the food he bought when he got back.  This morning he ran errands with his friend who has no transportation.

This evening was the culmination of a week of Kid's Music Camp at our church.  Kathy and Abigail were two of the leaders and Isaac and Joseph were campers.  Tonight they sang the songs and did the hand motions that they learned during the week. I will end the blog with a few pictures of tonight's program.

Yay—Day 38

First this morning we received a call from the appliance salesman—the refrigerator is in Tullahoma.  I then emailed the contractor that the refrigerator was here and that I was turning it over to him to arrange for it to be delivered when his workers can put it in.  I have specific instructions that only his workers are to out appliances in...so ball is back in his court!  In another hour or so, I got a call from contractor's office wanting to know if they could install countertops TODAY!  They got no argument from me!  I quickly took the few things out of the drawers that I had put in so there was nothing in the areas with no tops.  I figured that they would arrive after lunch since it was almost 11am...but NO...they were here very quickly. It took about an hour and a half.  The counter top is definitely yellow...just about the same color as the walls.  The bottom photo just shows the pattern in the countertop...not the correct color.  I am really pleased with them.  And, it was so good to cook supper tonight with plenty of counter space!  

Now, I am hoping that someone will come tomorrow to at least hook up the sink and dishwasher!  And, I wouldn't mind if they arranged for the refrigerator would arrive!  That would have me set for a weekend of getting things straightened out.  I have already begun to put things in the drawers and I put quite a few things in the lower cabinets today.  

Later in the afternoon, I heard a racket out on the driveway and looked out and the folk were here to bury the cable for our internet.  So lots going on!  Good progress all around!

Firsts—Day 37

Two firsts for the new oven today = Woody's zucchini bread and my first ever from scratch angel food cake.  The cake is still cooking so verdict is still out.  The zucchini bread has been tested by me, Isaac, and Joseph.  Verdict = Excellent!  My only comment is that it will definitely be easier when countertops and dishwasher are installed!

My morning started out with getting ready to make the angel food cake.  Isaac came over because he needed me to take him to the dentist.  He had an accident on a playground last night and chipped off the corner of one of his front teeth.  Nathan was working at the Baptist Collegiatr Ministry center today.  Kathy is heading up the kids' music camp that is being held at our church this week.  So Grammy got to take him to the dentist.  After it was over I took him to the church so he could rejoin the music camp kids.  I picked up a list of new Sunday School students for Woody, stopped at the public library to return a book, and stopped at the pharmacy to leave an antibiotic prescription for Isaac.  I hadn't ever thought about it, but the dentist explained that sometimes the body can try to reject a broken tooth so he wanted Isaac in an antibiotic for a few days.  When I got home, I had the surprise that Woody had just gotten zucchini bread batter into the bread pans and was ready for me to set the new oven and pop them in to cook.  The oven met the challenge and baked them to perfection.

Donna and I decided to go to the church and work in the library for a while this afternoon rather than tomorrow.  We got more new books processed and checked in a lot of books (I had given out some over due notes to some of our patrons and they had responded and brought many back!). When I got home, I decided to rest for a few minutes and fell asleep!  So...got started a little later than planned on  the Angel food cake.  But it is out of the oven now and cooling upside down on a bottle neck.  Maybe Woody will get a slice with some strawberries and sauce over it before he goes to bed!

Tuesday Doings—Day 36

TWO KITTIES IN ONE SHOT!

I have had a busy day...I went shopping in the afternoon.  Got home in time to eat a quick lunch and then headed off to get my hair cut and then shopped some more.  I knew that we didn't have to be home for workmen today so decided that today I would attempt to get out to run a few errands and find a few things for the kitchen that I needed.  I was successful in finding several things that I wanted to help organize my kitchen cupboards.  While I was shopping this afternoon, Woody made a visit to one of his Deacon Family shut-in couples.  

I managed to get my shopping done in dry weather.  Not long after I got home, we had a rain shower. Then a bit later we had another and I am hearing rain on the roof again just now.  

Today starts the sixth week of kitchen renovations.  I wonder if the refrigerator will make it to Tullahoma tomorrow...and if the countertops will get to Tullahoma tomorrow.  Time will tell!

A Test Drive—Day 35

Isaac and Joseph came over for a little while this evening and tested out playing with the Osmo game/learning system in the new kitchen.  They have had trouble doing some of the "games" because of poor lighting where they usually play.  It worked fine under the new lighting in the kitchen.  They only played the car racing game so we haven't thoroughly tested it with new lighting, but I am sure that it will work better under good lights.

I did get a call from the contractor's office today.  They called to say that the countertop Quartz is expected in the next day or so and that they would call later in the week to set up an install time!  Sounds good!  Now...if it will just happen!  I put away more items in the cabinets today.  I also made a cucumber jello salad.  Both putting away items and cooking meant that I also did quite a few dishes.  I'm more than ready for the dishwasher to be hooked up.

Woody visited with a widow who is in his Deacon family.  Then this evening he went to the Monday Night Furnace Room Prayer Meeting.  He just got home from that.  So I guess we are settling in for another quiet evening.  I'm attempting to finish a book that is due today and can't be renewed  Woody has also been reading, working at the computer, doing puzzles, and watching TV.  We had more rain this afternoon...still in a rainy pattern.  The grass isn't crunchy underfoot any more.

Sunday Extra—Day 34

Look what came out of my new oven a little while ago.  And, I didn't have to do anything except turn on the oven and timer!  This is one of Abigail's creations.  She needed to make three cheesecakes today and needed to use our oven for one of them. I had told her that she could use it when she needed it when she looked longingly at our new double ovens!  All we get to do is look and smell as it is for a church function later in the week.  But I was glad to see that our new oven did well at baking one of her cheesecakes!

I don't usually blog on Sunday (my day of rest), but couldn't resist sharing this delight that got cooked in my new oven.

Saturday Silence—Day 33

At least, silence from the point of view of no workmen hammering, etc.  It was pretty much a typical Saturday.  I continued to find things here and there to put away—a few more things found homes and quite a lot are still homeless!

Woody went to the library per usual this morning. Late this morning.  He has been reading, doing crossword puzzles, and watching TV most of the rest of the day.

Kathy and Graham came over here to get their laptop online (they haven't gotten everything worked out with the new wifi) so Graham could register for a couple of college classes at our local Motlow Community College.  He will be doing what is called dual-enrollment (getting both high school and college credit during his senior year in high school). He will be taking an Engish and a math course in the Fall semester. We're excited for him as he moves on to this next step in his education.  This is the campus where Nathan is beginning this Fall as the Baptist Collegiate Ministry director.  So both will be venturing into something new on the Motlow campus this Fall.  Motlow isn't entirely new for Nathan as he went there for his first two years of college. Nor is the Baptist Collegiatr Ministry (BCM), (formerly Baptist Student Union (BSU), new to Nathan as he was very active in it both at Motlow and at Tennessee Tech...but new to him being the director!

I mainly cooked and washed dishes this afternoon.  I made an eggplant casserole with some home-grown eggplants that a friend gave us.  It turned out quite good.  I think that Woody was happy for the change of pace...hadn't had that recipe in a while.  So I used both the stove top and the upper (smaller) oven for this dish.  I still have two dishes to wash and then get what is in the dish drainer put away.  More and more I have a spot in the kitchen to put things...just wish that I had the top drawers and we would really have most of our most used items in a place.  Along with my stove and my pantry, I am really enjoying the wonderful lighting...no longer do I ever work in my shadow!  The small strips of LED lights that are under the cabinets are phenomenal when I consider how tiny and how little space they take up...the main space they take up is where their wires and plugs are in three places inside my upper cabinets.  But so far I have been able to work around them.  But the amount of light in the kitchen makes the rest of the rooms in the house seem dim and dingy!

We had another storm blow up this afternoon.  I would say that we once again got a decent amount of rain.  Our plants should be MUCH happier.  It is good to be back in a rain pattern.  Of course, rain means hot and steamy when the sun comes back out...typical for Middle TN at this time of the year.

And, the 2nd Month Begins—Day 32

Here's a peek into a couple of the drawers...this is going to be my baking/mixing section.  I will have utinsels that I use for mixing and baking in the top drawer.  But at this point can't put things in the top drawers because I was told that it would be best to wait to put things in them till after the countertops are in.  So waiting patiently (?) for that to happen!  No countertop crew again today...have only had workers here one day this week.

Woody went to the grocery store for us early this morning.  It was nice to have the pantry to put things away in...much easier than putting them on a non movable shelf that is way down low...even if the pantry shelf is down low at least it rolls out and you can see where you want to put things away!  After Woody rested for a few minutes from getting home from our errands, he headed off to run errands with his friend.

Later in the afternoons, I was upstairs and I got an SOS from Woody.  I went downstairs to see what he needed and he had gotten some cauliflower ready to cook for Italian Cauliflower.  He had managed to find the pot to steam the cauliflower in and also the mixing bowl to put the cauliflower in, BUT he couldn't get the stove to turn on!  I gave him a lesson!  "Maybe" he'll remember how the next time!  We'll see!  I had a lot of dishes to wash after that cooking project.  Isaac came over and talked to me while I washed them and then he helped me carry them back downstairs and put them away.  "Things" are starting to find a place.  The places I have chosen to put them make sense to me...now we will see if they make sense to Woody.  It is sort of like moving into a new house and everything is in a new place...forces new information into our old brains!

We have had several storms pass through that have given us rain.  We had one pass through that had some really loud thunder.  Found out later that one of the loud thunder booms was right over us...as one of our across the street neighbor had a tree hit by lightning.  We had big trucks from the city utilities down there cutting up the limb/s that fell.  

Kathy and Elijah got home from kids camp that took place in Kentucky this week.  I got a hug from our now 10-year-old grandson.  I hadn't seen him since he turned 10 officially!  Looks pretty grown up if you ask me...another one with a double-digit age!  They are all growing up too fast! He and Karhy needed a tour of what had happened in the kitchen while they were gone...and, really quite a bit did happen on Tuesday...it's just that advancement stopped on Tuesday and  we're back to treading water.  At least I can continue to put things away.  And, am doing that slowly, but surely.

One Month Ago—Day 31

One month ago this date was the first day of renovation...the start of the demolition.  I'm glad that I can post the pictures that I am tonight!  At least it is looking more finished...despite no workers for two days now.  Well, we had a worker, but it was a worker to hook us up to a different Internet and telephone provider...that took three hours!  But it is working and perhaps it is faster.  The main thing is that I'm glad that it is back up and working.  Nathan worked hard too getting things back up and connected.  I got to wondering what we would have done if Nathan hadn't been here...most of what was said today about the Internet sounded like Greek to me!  I do have a mess to clean up...a shelf of books got knocked off  as did some of the picture frames on top of the bookcase and have to put my little table back where it goes that has a little TV that I sometimes watch DVDs on while I am seeing. The sewing room was one of the rooms that hadn't gotten messed up by the renovations...but it got messed up with an Internet update!  Can't win for losing around here...just one mess after another.  Well, the kitchen is in pretty good shape.

I did get disappointing news this morning when I called to check on the status of my refrigerator...it still isn't in.  When they went to pick it up yesterday, it hadn't arrived yet..."supposed" to have gotten to the Nashville warehouse today and they will pick it up NEXT Wednesday on their run to the warehouse! I'm so glad that our old refrigerator didn't get moved out at the beginning of the renovation as the workers had planned!  And, I'm really glad to have my new stove and a makeshift counter next to the stove using a large cutting board.  I had just hoped for counter and sink and refrigerator and the plumbing to be connected so I could run the dishwasher...but then very few get everything that they wish for!  I am guessing that we will be going through another weekend without countertops, a sink, water, or usable dishwasher.  Just when things were rolling along and the end was in sight everything slooooooows way down again.

We had rain today...a good steady rain for a while.  Our plants are very happy!

The Cupboards Are No Longer Bare—Day 30

Since no countertop workers showed today, I went to work putting things away in the pantry and some of the cupboards.  I emptied two large boxes that had pantry items in them and found spots for everything in those boxes except for the sugar canister.  It's too tall for one of the pantry pullout shelves.  I plan to get a new airtight container to put the sugar in and then use the large canister as a kitchen tool holder near the stove.  The canister was part of a set that we received as a wedding present...so the gold color that I have chosen to use in the kitchen.  I have vacuumed and dusted and am still finding a thin layer of white dust in the cabinets...so am now dusting them out with a damp rag...not sure that has totally gotten them dust free...but better!  I think that I will be getting rid of white dust for a very long time!  Oh, in the bottom photo...the white baseboard will be gold after they come back to paint it and retouch where there are dings.  I also got almost all my cookbook collection  put away above the stove.  The top shelf isn't the most accessible, but those cookbooks aren't used as much as the ones on the lower shelf.  I am using our waffle maker as a bookend on the top shelf...not the most used appliance in our kitchen...but we have used it during the renovation so it isn't "one of 

those" items that we "never" use!  

I have also started a drawer with measuring devices...and one with mixing bowls...and one with colendars and graters.  I finally have a place in a cabinet that my air fryer can fit in and not be on the counter!  I put it behind our stock pot and there was room enough to place some roasting pans next to them on their side.  I really like the drawers...so nice to be able to pull them out and get to the back of them...they are like a pull-out shelf...and deep enough to hold mixing bowl sets stacked inside each other.  They are quite roomy and I can see everything...at least for the moment.  Whether my choice of where I am putting things will make sense to Woody once he gets back to doing things in the kitchen...well, time will tell!  I am trying to out things close to where they were in our cabinets prior to the renovation.  Maybe that will help make placement make sense to him?!?

Woody had his monthly appointment at the oconology place here in town for his shot for anemia and his B-12 shot.  He now gets a late morning appointment and he gets out sooner than he used to.  This is the appointment that one never knows how long it will last...one time he didn't get back from it till 2am!  That was because they sent him to the hospital for a blood transfusion.  Thankfully lately he has not needed blood transfusions!  

Hopefully I will be able to blog tomorrow night.  We are changing Internet service tomorrow afternoon so there is no telling how that will go and if we will have things set up correctly! I'll post if I can!  Also, hope that I can report about kitchen countertops and/or a refrigerator...but it is best that we don't hold our breaths for that to happen!

Settling Back In...At Least a Little—Day 29

Today crew three completed the phase of the kitchen reno that they were working on.  So it is now being passed to the fourth worker=the countertop man.  I have no idea when to expect him, but I was told that once he comes to measure that as soon as things are ready for him then he will follow right behind...we will see how quickly that happens!  They left shortly after noon so I decided to try out the new stove and I made Woody and me an omelet for lunch.  Stove top worked great...and I was able to figure out how to use it!  This afternoon, I had Nathan help me put in the oven racks.  Then I decided to make supper...my back is telling me that I haven't done this much cooking in a while!  I used the "pop-up" shelf for my food process  with a cutting board on it to prepare both meals.  I had some pork chops that needed to be cooked so I browned them on top of the stove, made cream of celery soup from scratch, and then popped them into the small upper oven.  I managed the timer on the stove two different ways and both going at the same time.  I managed to turn on the oven and preheat it.  I think that I have now used all the sizes of burners...and used the multiple-size burner, and changed the temperatures on the eyes of the stove to different temperatures.  Oh, and, made rice.  So I guess you can say that the stove top and one oven has been broken in!  I came up to blog while the stovetop was cooling down.  After I finish here, I will go down and clean up the stovetop.  But I can say that I like my new stove!  Now I just wish that I had a dishwasher so I wouldn't have to bring everything upstairs and get down on my knees to wash them in the tub!  My hands are not very happy with all the dishwater they have been in lately!  Hopefully I will be able to use the dishwasher before much longer.

I was told to go on and load up shelves and drawers if I want to.  I did put my herbs and spices in the cabinet today as I used them.  I had the workman us my filled lazy Susan to set the height of the shelves in one of my cabinets...so both lazy Susans went into that cabinet.  Only problem is that they are now on the opposite side of the stove than they had been!  I'll bet we are confused as to where things are for quite a while!  I still can't put things in drawers and shelves where the countertop isn't covering them...but at least things are starting to be put in places.  When I finished with the flour, I put it in a pull-out drawer in the pantry.  

By the end of their work time here today, they had shelves in all the cabinets except for the upper pantry...they didn't find any shelves for them.  They are supposed to let the cabinet makers know.  The cabinet makers will come here and get doors adjusted and put on the knobs and handles.  

Speaking of knobs and handles, they arrived today and I had just ordered them Sunday...pretty good service for free shipping!  I bought these from Wayfair.  My first experience of ordering from them.  I like what I chose...now to get them on the doors and drawers!  That will make opening doors and drawers much easier!  

Woody visited with a "shut-in" couple in his Deacon family care group this afternoon.  Then this evening he went to the prayer room at church.  When I was downstairs a few minutes ago he had turned on the All-Star Baseball game.  

I haven't taken a picture of the kitchen as it ended up today.  I will take a few after I get it cleaned up!  So tonight I will just post our lunch omelet in the making and then on the plates.  

Isaac and Joseph had a good time over here for a while today and played so well together in the school room.  They played with Magformers for a while.  Then I got out my grandfather's blocks and they had fun building with those and using some of Joseph's wild animals.  

 

Progress—Day 28

I'm having problems adding a photo at the start so I will start typing and see if it will let me add on into the blog!  It has been a very busy day and lots of progress has been made...just not sure that I can show it in pictures!  Crown molding has been put around all the ceiling.  There is still some detail work to do, but it looks great.  The molding that goes around the bottom of the pantry got put in too!

The big news is that the appliances are here AND in our house...all except for the refrigerator that is due to arrive on Wednesday.  The dishwasher is in...but not hooked up till sink gets put in when the countertops are put in.  The microwave is in its place.  The hood is on the floor where the stove will go.  The stove is in the living room!  But definitely progress.  I'm hoping that tomorrow night I might be able to use my new stove.  

Finally I got the pictures to post!  With the picture of the stove,  you can get a glimpse of the kitchen mess in the living room!  Seeing appliances going in lets me know that there really is a light at the end of the tunnel and that we are beginning to see it! It's hard to tell, but the color of our appliances is slate...sort of a brown-gray.

Woody was gone for a while this morning running errands with his friend.  The rest of the day we have just stayed inside as much as possible and tried to keep cool.  It has been a really hot today.  Nathan and Kathy and family are back from a vacation with Kathy's parents and siblings and their families and also a mission trip with a group from our local Baptist Association to Pennsylvania.  The kids have been in and out today checking on progress of the kitchen while they were away.  They saw that a lot had been accomplished.  Abigail decided that she wants to come over here to cook now that she has seen our stove with the double ovens!  I told her she was welcome to use them when she has big cheese cake orders...or any time she wants! I still haven't seen Elijah as a ten-year-old as he heded off to kid's church camp in Kentucky this morning.  Can you say "On the go?" Busy! Busy!

Hopefully more progress to report tomorrow!  As of today we have completed four weeks of renovation...week five begins tomorrow!  

Happy 10th Birthday, Elijah!—Day 27

Liquid Gold—Day 26

When I walk out the door with something in my hands, Esther's kitties are hopeful! This time it was just a camera.  I'll bet that they were disappointed!

I have been back and forth between our house and Nathan and Kathy's today as I was stewing a chicken and making liquid gold aka chicken stock.  That just wasn't something that I felt that I could do over here as the chicken Woody bought was quite large and I felt that it just wouldn't be able to cook correctly in our crockpot.  So I used a real stove for the first time since we started renovations. It was definitely easier using a real kitchen...except for the transferring of items back and forth between our two houses...that added quite a bit of extra time and effort to the task.

Woody went to the library and stopped at the store on the way home and got some celery so I can make some chicken noodle soup for him.  The liquid gold is in the fridge getting good and cold so I can take the layer of fat off of it before I make soup.

Late this afternoon, Woody and I headed to the church for a "meet and greet" for our new prospective  Minister to Children and Families.  Then we came home and ever since I have been trying to get knobs and handles for our kitchen cabinets ordered.  I thought that I had them chosen until a moment ago and I realized when I looked at pictures next to each other that what I have chosen may not be the best match.  So will look some more, I guess.  Woody has been reading and watching television...typical quiet evening in our household.

Friday Extras—Day 25

While Woody was at the grocery store this morning, I did a little more checking out the extras in the cabinets.  This is the extra that I wanted the most...a place for our food processor which is also a mixer, a blender, a slicer, and a dough kneader...pretty much a "do-everything" machine.  We have had this processor for some years now and we both use it a lot.  Woody uses it to make his coleslaw, shred zucchini for his zucchini bread, etc.  I use it for all sorts of things and do utilize all its many 

parts.  I am glad for it to have its own special place in the new kitchen...enough to give up a whole cabinet space for it!  There is a small amount of space that I am going to be able to put some flat things on the floor of that cabinet.  The French rolling pin that I bought in Williamsburg, VA for Woody (figured that he benefits from me making pies so the rolling pin was a good present for 

him?!?). I bought it the one time that I went to Williamsburg without him.  I went with the owner of 

the Montessori school where I taught for 27 years.  One of her daughter's went to William and Mary 

and we decided that it was a good time to go visit!  We went the first of December for the Grand Illumination.  Anyway, that time I bought the long French rolling pin and it isn't the easiest thing to 

find a good place to store it.  It has been at the end of our countertop tucked in next to the General Store box that is our bread box.  Now it will have a home in the bottom of this cabinet along with the silicone mat that I roll my crusts out on...another loooong item that barely fit in one of our old drawers.  I am planning to store some other flat oversized utinsels on that bottom shelf too.  Note that there is a plug inside the cabinet to plug in the food processor.  If and when this appliance bites the dust, I have hopes to replace it with a Kitchen Aide mixer.  But for now this processor is an awesome appliance.  I plan to get a stool for the kitchen so we can prop ourselves on it when we are working with the processor.  Also the food processor can be removed from its special lift shelf and we can put a cutting board on the shelf and sit while chopping/slicing by hand.  There is method in my madness...trying to save our tired old backs and legs and feet!

I am going to have to be creative with where I put things as I have taken away cabinet space by making speciality places.  Like for our kitchen trash can...I didn't want it out in the kitchen the way it 

used to be so had the contractor make a place for it.  So another cabinet sacrificed!  Woody keeps 

saying that I won't be able to get everything back in that I had in it...and, I'm pretty sure that he is right...so I have to be extra picky in what I decide gets priority and gets a space in new kitchen!

The other cabinet space that I have given up is due to me wanting more cabinet space and have a space for the microwave "carved" out of the lower cabinets.  And, I didn't want it but in so chose to have a place in the lower cBinets for it to slide in.  I hope we can read the dials.  This will be a time till we get used to the new placement of buttons that we will probably pull up our little stool and sit in front of it to read what we need to push!  Woody is enjoying having a microwave in the family room...he's thinking of leaving the old one in there...one that he is used to using!  All these new appliances will take some getting used to them...that is when we get them installed!

Of course, adding the pantry gives us added space.  I'm figuring out what I can slide into all those dividers!  I really like the drawers.  They are two different depths and will hold a lot...I think!  

Well, the blog is objecting mightily to all these pictures tonight...there is no telling what the typing part will look like!  Woody did his normal routine for Friday...doing our grocery shopping and then taking his friend shopping.  He also did several pickings of Nathan and Kathy's blueberries.  I did some cooking today.  I tried to change things up a bit for Woody and adapted a favorite marinated salad so it fit Woody's dietary "demands."  Woody bought a chicken to stew...well, I think that I am going to go next door tomorrow to use their kitchen as I just don't think that the size chicken that he bought (quite large) will cook properly in our crock pot.  I am really hoping that it won't be many more days till we have a kitchen sink, stove and dishwasher installed and up and running.  I am soooo ready to not have to figure out how to cook things without an oven or cooktop.  And, I am more than ready to have a dishwasher again.  My hands will be thankful...they are not reacting well to being in dishwater so much!  

Well, I am going tonquit for tonight...there is no telling as to what I have actually typed as it is going back and forth and not letting me see where I am typing except for once in a while.  Please don't judge my accuracy on this one!  I hope that you enjoy looking at the extras in our kitchen!

Invisible July 4th Work—Day 24

Surprisingly a worker did show up today, despite it being July 4th.  The work he did was invisible, but necessary.  He measured for the countertop template.  He also told me the "almost" sad story about the quartz color that I chose.  It had been discontinued for almost a year and it just hadn't been pulled from the sample box.  BUT good news, when he called and found out that it was discontinued, he asked them to please check the warehouse to make sure that they had no more of it.  Well, perhaps this countertop was "meant to be," as when they checked they still had two slabs of it...enough for our kitchen!  So now, as long as it doesn't get broken in the process of cutting it or when putting it in, we will have the countertop that I chose from the beginning.  Again, as so many things...time will tell!

Woody spent time picking blueberries from Nathan's blueberry bushes this morning.  He also started doing some watering and then I took over that job.  We have both taken time to do a lot of nothing with our feet  up today...just taking it easy.  Sort of nice not having workers around...well, except for the unexpected show of one late this afternoon!  I told myself that I was going to sew, put in a Project Runway DVD, and watch and sew...well, so far that hasn't happened, but there is still more of the day and of the July 4th weekend ahead of me.  I'm still trying to decide on handles and/or knobs for the kitchen cabinets and drawers.  I have narrowed down the choices, but still no final decision.  Decisions! Decisions!  When will they end for things in the kitchen...I guess not for a while as there will continue to be decision making to do even after renovation is complete...as I will have to decide where everything...or at least what...will go back in the kitchen and where!

Happy 243rd birthday, USA!!!