We have decided to tackle the living room remodel. Phase One-The ceiling is the first step. There is a texture effect we call popcorn. It's just drywall mud sprayed on, no asbestos. There's a nifty tool/scraper we found which makes the job less strenuous. It took us a full day. But not as messy as we expected. After Rich patched a few spots and re-sanded, we primered and painted the room and hallway ceilings. What an improvement. Phase Two will be demolishing the fireplace surround and hearth. We finished that today 10/22/09. The plan is to reduce the size of surround and hearth. Phase Three-There will be a tile surround, new mantel and tile hearth. Phase Four is putting up crown moulding in the living room and hallway. Next, we'll add a decorative trim to all the door frame tops. All the moulding and trim have to be painted and that's a big job.  This project should keep us pretty busy for a few months. We will pace ourselves, no need to rush.

     Check the photos here. Click on picture to get full size and descriptions. More added as the project coninues.

    

     Nick organized a cook-out last night. He and Kay provided the chicken and drinks. Everyone else brought a salad. After dinner and cake and ice cream, Kay opened cards and gifts. It was a coolish evening on the patio, we sang her the Birthday song and enjoyed a good visit. Lynn and Steve shared some of their memories and photos of their Mediterranean cruise just completed. Actually, they were still jet lagged since arriving two days ago. We called it an early evening since ALMOST everyone had to go to work on Friday.

     Spokane can finally say it's Spring. After a wicked heavy snow on the 17th of December (30+ inches in 18 hours) it seemed like the glacier in our yard would never melt! It didn't warm up for weeks. Finally, it began to thaw in March. We have had some warmer weather in the last few weeks.

     With the warmer weather comes the urge to garden. I don't think we'll do much except keep the grass green and maybe plant a few hanging planters for the deck. I have new roses to plant, too. The front lawn was edged with a cement curb border last fall. We have river rock borders surrounding the lawn. Really easy care. I planted the irises from Linda's yard and they are looking fine. I can't wait for blooms to show in June. Our new trees look OK, but time will tell. I think my desire for a weeping japanese maple will go unfulfilled. The one we have seems to be still in dormancy or dead. The neighbors' tree has leaf buds already, ours has none.  It's the second and final try at one. I'll have to figure out what to do in its place. Maybe a water feature. We kept the one from Seattle, and could use it there.

     We had a great weekend over April 25-26. Linda's brother David has two wineries. We went to the Maison de Padgett winery for Spring Barrel Tasting held annually in the Yakima Valley wine country.  Jerry and Janet Padgett (Linda's parents)let us park the motorhome at their house next to the winery. We had volunteered to help them at the winery with the expected crowds.  Rich handed out party beads, like Mardi Gras beads. I used the pipette to serve samples of the new Pleasure Point Peach dessert wine. Considering the record number of tasters, everything went pretty smoothly. There was a good band with good music. Stew and Linda were helping David at his Horizon's Edge winery. Sunday was not so hectic at either winery. We got to see the grandkids Saturday evening and for a little while Sunday. They are growing up so fast. I created an album of photos to go with this article. Click on the photo to see full size photo slide show and text description. 4/26/2009

 

     After a long ride with a stopover at Moses Lake Park, the family arrived late Thursday  (7/24) afternoon. We were so happy to see them. The kids are getting so big. Austin is crawling and he has his 2nd tooth coming in. What a happy baby he is. Niclas and Sophia are growing fast. They played in the yard before settling down in the basement for bed. Sophia was so cute when she said they were on a sleep over and had their sleeping bags ready.

   Friday morning we packed up the kids and took the boat to Williams Lake at Klinks Resort for fishing and swimming. Niclas and Sophia waited and waited for bites, but no luck. We did see eagles nesting. We headed back in for lunch. The resort had a floating raft with a water slide. Niclas made a bee-line to it and jumped in the water almost before we knew what he did. He really loved it, he went down the slide over and over. Linda jumped in too, she had Sophia with her and they "noodled" around the dock. Stew had Austin and kept him shaded from the sun. We had a nice lunch at the resort restaurant and returned home.

     Saturday morning we headed to Cat Tales Zoo. It is about 15 miles N. on Highway 2. There were several big cats in their enclosures. It is a very small zoo. Not at all like Woodland Park or Tacoma Zoo. After that, we drove to Riverside State Park for lunch. We hiked down to the river and crossed the swinging bridge(it doesn't swing) and the kids played on the rocky shore for a while. Then we returned home for more backyard play.

     Sunday was the day we planned to go to Splashdown Water Park. It's a family friendly park. We were very pleased with the cleanliness, the life guards were very attentive and watchfull over everyone. They have a kiddie area for the youngest. There are 4 long waterslides, a tube slide, and the FastBall slide which is a sheer drop and is very fast. Rich, Stew, Linda and the kids went down all the slides . Bette had Austin while they were in the water. It was a really fun time. We got home for dinner and prepared for the Ice Cream Party open house we planned to have that evening. We wanted to have Stew & Linda meet our friends and neighbors who have welcomed us into the neighborhood since we moved in last summer.

     Monday morning was time for the family to drive back to Bothell. It was a short visit, but packed with good times and sweet moments. We are looking forward to seeing them again in mid August.

 

 

He'll try to keep us in the loop while he's training for diving instructor and Rescue diving located in the British Virgin Islands.  He has email    jack.e.chamberlain@gmail.com.

     After a long drippy early Spring, it's finally getting warm enough to spend time outdoors. I made hanging planters for the backyard. I potted petunias for the front steps.The rose plants given to me as gifts are in their pots until I decide where to plant them in the yard. Each one is growing and sending up buds. The nurseries are offering tons of plants, I can hardly keep myself from buying one of everything!! I am still discovering where to shop for the few things I can buy.( Added 6/25)--I folded, we got a Japanese Maple to replace the one that didn't survive transplant earlier this year. Since we're downsizing the amount of yard work, I cannot have a yard as intensely high maintenence as our Seattle yard. I am still unsure what the final yard landscape will look like. We are in the process of taking out some of the shrubs and ratty trees which are just plain ugly and too close to the house. Rich got out the chainsaw and took them out-TIMMBERR watch-out for the lumberjack. Next items for removal-the dreaded junipers, yuck. See photos ---

     Rich has not been going overboard in his activities, his back is healing and he's doing exercises on his own as well as building strength and stamina with daily around the house projects. One of the things we have accomplished is clearing out the garage of packed boxes from the Seattle garage and shop. We hung the old sturdy cupboards from the kitchen remodel and Rich stocked them with almost everything unpacked. Funnything, we found duplicates of things we lost track of and had to buy over. Has that happened to anyone else? The previous owner had many outlets in the garage ceiling which made it very convenient to hang shop lights. Rich put up eight 4 ft. lights. All the better to do his woodworking projects.

     Since Rich is now off pain meds completely, he's discovered how sore his shoulder is. He had an MRI and it showed he needs a steroid shot to handle the inflammation on the tendon caused by calcification deposits in it. He got the shot today and can already feel an improvement. He'll have therapy sessions and hopefully be better. Yikes, Rich could be pain free, Yea!

     This weekend, we are heading out for 8 days. We'll stay at Two Rivers Casino Resort and RV Park. It's on Lake Roosevelt where the Spokane River flows into it. It's about 75 mi N. of here. It has all the amenities we need for a long stay. There's full hook-up, a marina for the boat, gas($$$), groceries and the casino. It's on the reservation and is a neat place to stay. Nick & Kay will stay with us and Katie & Aaron will spend this weekend and maybe over the Fourth. Our weatherman has predicted 80's and 90's for the week. Summer has finally arrived, hooray!

    

 

    Presenting Our New Kitchen...At Last!!

Thanks for everyone's gifts and cards! Jack sent these roses, Melissa ordered bush roses for April planting. Frank and Liz sent an e-card, very cute. Kay & Nick gave me a digital photo frame, and now I have two. One for the motorhome and one for inside the house. My friend Mary sent a card too. I had a call from Shane and Chris and a video call this evening with Stew, Linda, Niclas, Sophia & Austin. Boy, have the grand kids grown! It was a great time..we miss you all so much. Rich and I will go to dinner Saturday. A really great present would be the news that the countertops are ready..oh well, maybe next week.

The kitchen doors needed to have the trim applied. We just got it last week. Rich was feeling OK enough and with clearance from the physical theapist, to do a little each day. He took it slow and did it over a couple days. We'll paint it soon with the semi-gloss color the same as the doors and walls. We will be doing the baseboard trim next. Rich did get the cabinet handles put on. They are a weathered nickel in the same pattern as we had for the Seattle house kitchen. The glass shelves were ready on Wed. 3/5 and I got them in the glass front cabinets and put the dishes and glasses into them. I finally made a decision about window treatment for the Living room. I bought the drapes and added the sheers we brought from Seattle. They look just fine.

I thought I would try, but  my camera isn't equipped to shoot astronomical sights. Luckily enough the clouds were blown clear for a nice view of the complete eclipse. I remember staying up very late to see one when I was younger. We got to spread out our blankets in the back yard in Mountain View CA. in the mid 50's.

 

 

Look at how great they look. It's so amazing to see the improvement. We'll finish painting this weekend. The countertop guy will come to measure after the drawer base arrives next Tue. or Wed. It will be a week or so to get the countertops fabricated and installed. As soon as that's done, the plumber will set the sink and disposer, and hook up the dishwasher. The electrician can then finish the lighting. I will have under cabinet lites as well as over cabinet to show off  a few of the bean pots. There will be in cabinet lighting in the glass front ones. Antonio comes back to put down the floor and do the trim work and the remodel is finished. We expect it to be mid March at the latest. Hooray!

Rich's Operation will be on Wed 2/13 at 9:15AM in Holy Family Hospital. It's expected to take 3 hours. He'll be staying just overnight. That's because his surgery is minimally invasive and will cut down on the hospital stay as well as significantly shorten the recovery process. He's ready for it to be done and is hoping for a good outcome. We're keeping our fingers crossed for speedy recovery and less chronic pain.

Here's Austin at 4 mo. on 1/30. I just had to show it!

 

     The kitchen cabinets were delivered today. We're disappointed that the one base drawer cabinet had a significant scratch right on the front of a drawer, we rejected that base. The cabinet coordinator will send for a replacement ASAP. This may hold up the whole job. Our fingers are crossed. We have to store them in the heated garage to bring them to house temps before installing. In the meantime, our contractor will be repairing the walls and Bette & Rich will prime and paint them. We'll paint the remaining walls after taking the rest of the bad wallpaper off.