We Have a Firm Foundation!

Everyone came early this morning to do this.......

The weather was perfect; tho rain pelted north, south and west of us we remained dry so the men could finish their appointed tasks.

I even felt better today and was able to sit out front and watch the show... When it had set enough, they used this machine all around to finish the cement surface.

I got this shot of the veranda just before they covered it with plastic.

Here is Bill's garage...note the step down level from the house to the breezeway, and from there to the garage. There is a slope to the yard that is not noticeable until you start to build! It will all work out just fine!

Now we wait for it to cure; the lumber will be here on Tuesday or Wednesday!

I have knitted a bit on Bill's sock, the 2 x 2 ribbed cuff takes forever and I am not quick of hand or thought. I looked at fabric for a Mystery Tote that Mom, Marsel and I have signed up for. Now that is progress!

Worth It

Surgery pain is worth it to see this sight...........he has loaded the dishwasher for years but I am the only dishwasher here at this house and Bill says he is allergic to the water..........glad I got to witness this event!

Interim

Here is a shot of the pond now that Fay has filled it in. Bill caught a perfect shot of an incredible cloud at sunset while out back.

I feel like I have been hit with a truck but better today than yesterday. Meds messed with everything that the surgeon hadn't tampered with.........doing a little knitting, sleeping a lot. Starting to turn the heel for Bill's sock.......remember he has large feet so it took a long time to get along the foot! I fall asleep with it in my hands and then just pick up where I left off when I awaken. Knitting is therapeutic.

We passed the cursed plumbing inspection, finally, and the men will be pouring the slab tomorrow, Lord willing! I will be passing the camera on to Bill so he can capture the moment!

Post Op

Did a bit of knitting in the hour before prepping me for the surgery. I had thought I would have many hours in the waiting room but they moved my surgery time up from 11 to 8 so things moved along much quicker. My Pastor and his wife made it in time to pray with me, tease me about being dopey after the meds and then stayed with Bill during my surgery. It is good to have a church family. I am doing pretty well; the pain meds remove the edge off the surgical pinches and Bill is doing fine with being my nurse-he has always been at work when I required care in the years gone by so he is liking being needed. As for the building project, it is on hold while the necessary papers go back through the board for approval again. It is nice to have it be quiet I must admit. I thank the many friends for well wishes, prayers and meals that have come my way-it is good medicine.

Last Day with GB

Today will be the last post for a few days; I am going to have my gall bladder removed tomorrow. My gall bladder has not been a friend for a long time so I am glad to part company with it! Bill will be taking me into St Augustine's Flagler Hospital for the one-day surgery.

The men will be working on the house while we are busy. Bill has made the revisions on the print and made the changes they required for the washer plumbing. Hopefully things will proceed this week again.

I finished up loose ends yesterday; dyed the sock yarn I have put off for months...these are for Bill who wanted red, white and blue socks. I have the pattern, yarn and needles packed for tomorrow's waiting room visit! I am going to make toe-up socks and had to rewind the socks because the first time I had the balls wound so that the red would knit out first-I couldn't knit them in the wrong direction!

I finished the tank top for the Ravelympics.

I finished the curtains for Caleb's livingroom. Too bad I can't mail the 80" bamboo pole for the curtain rod! The fabric is decorator weight, the lining is muslin. Yes, it is the same fabric I used for his pillows.

I put up some of the blocks for the GI quilt so that I can admire the progress we have made...NY, Ga and FL hands have worked on this so far! I will be recouperating in the sewing room during the day (it doubles as the spare room, too) so that I will have a bit of peace and quiet as the men work -there is no window in there so I will also have some privacy! The bathroom is only 5 steps from the bed with is also a plus!

Fay's Last Hoorah!

While the winds and rains raged and the storm radio sent out tornado warnings, I placidly cleaned, erranded and was creative......my usual self!

Here is a lesson in erosion.......my veranda needs some remedial attention.

And except for some branches, we were happy to receive the attention of Fay, all 13" of her!
I had a brainstorm idea for the pile of handspun, hand knitted socks my daughter had sent to me for their own kind of remedial attention, the heels were windowed and needed sealing up. I started with a pair of my own so I could see if it felt (no pun intended!) okay after it was mended. Success and with an easy, quick and painless fix! I tackled the rest of the stack with energy and was thrilled with the results. I packed up the pile and mailed them right out!

I am definitely on to a good thing with the embellisher to the rescue!

When I came back from the Post Office, I was reaching into the back seat to pick up the detritus of previous trips and popped a rib...........I don't know how a broken rib feels, but I definitely heard a snap and have the impaired mobility I think is consistent with such an injury. Great, says I, just in time for my gall bladder surgery on Monday!

Next week, I won't notice the pain but today I am in slow-motion!

As long as I had my embellishing machine out, I thought to try and get artistic. I joined a postcard swap with a group on-line using our machines. I had a very fun hour and was satisfied with the end product. I have to mail mine to Kentucky, but I am to receive one from Australia and that will be fun! Since I am a rookie, I wanted to get mine out before I got discouraged from the other entries! Does this make sense or is it definitely a character flaw?!

I also made a couple of headbands to go with the skirts I made a few months ago.....I got to use my new Hot Fix crystals and wand and it was hard to stop and recognize when enough was a enough for the bling!

A new quilt is up on the design wall..........a wallhanging for us will happen eventually. Before I get to it, I will enjoy it on the wall for now.

Fay Day

Fay is here.........beautiful rain and gentle winds are a gift of precipitation!

Finished Caleb's quilt!


Here is the quilting up close.

Delays

I am hand sewing the binding to the back of Caleb's quilt! I have to finish all these projects before the gall bladder surgery on Monday ! I hope to be knitting soon after the surgery but don't expect to be sitting at the sewing machine or standing at the quilting frame!

I am sewing curtains for Caleb's livingroom-yes, the same fabric as the pillow I made him. We are going to use some of our own bamboo for the curtain rod-cool, huh?!
And they are lined-using a sheet from WalMart for the lining fabric-he is on a budget.

Well, we had a good run but because of the rain from Fay, we haven't done any work today . The other reason there has been no work is because there is a little glitch....the plumbing for the washer in the breezeway has been refused. It is existing plumbing but it goes to a dry well and that is now illegal so we have to move the pipes to the new septic system. It could be worse and we will face up the the latest challenges without a fuss. Well, mostly....

I almost forgot-this is the plumbing that did pass inspection for our master bath!



The rain is great for we are in need of precipitation and so far the winds have been very mild with just a few preliminary gusts. Since Fay is still 2 hours southeast of us, that may change tomorrow.

Battening the Hatches

The guys finished up for today, they have to wait for the inspector tomorrow to okay everything before they pour the cement slab. They also enjoyed the light breezes Fay is pushing our way which blew away all the humidity! It is beautiful out right now........

Bill played foreman well this morning.........here the men are putting the footers in for the garage door.

And tamping down the fill in the breezeway area.

The veranda is all ready-see the steps.........they have done a good job with bringing my ideas to reality! The plumber is here.....he set out lines for the bathroom and decided we didn't leave a wide enough area by the toilet for Bill's shoulders. We did some measuring and have widened the bathroom by 3". Easier to do now than to wish we had later-it was fun to see the parameters set out for the bedroom , closet and bathroom....I did a walk through!

The men found this old bottle-can you read it?!

(Pepto-Mangan "Gude")

It doesn't have factory made screw lines on the mouth-a cork stopper had to be used instead so we know it is older. It does have markings on the bottom so I looked it up-it is from the around 1910 from the Dr A Gude & Co worth about $10. We have quite a collection of old bottles from here now. (No, they are not worth enough to sell; just to admire!)

We have had a band of rain come through this morning-very heavy for 10 minutes...just a reminder to us to get ready for Fay as she makes her appearance! We are all stocked up (food and water) and have removed 'flying objects' from around the yard. It will bring us the much needed rain and will hopefully not knock out power for too long! (I posted early today just in case we do lose power!)

Block Progress

This morning the big trucks arrived with their loads of sand to level the area for the slab to be poured later this week. Bill got right to work to level and pack the area to save time.....the men were very glad they didn't have to do it by hand! I had to leave to go to St Augustine for pre-op appointment while Bill stayed to meet with the plumber (he is coming to do the work tomorrow) and to help the men stay focused! What progress they had made by the time I got back!


They had a good laugh showing me the air conditioner...........

It has to be off the ground so they can pour the cement on Thursday..........they were proud of their solution!

Look, I am going to have a veranda!

I worked a bit at the quilt frame before my appointment.

And while waiting at the offices I knit quite a bit. Are the Olympics done yet.......?!!!

I have the right , back shoulder to finish!

Blocks Down

Working on laying the foundation row for the garage and breezeway.

Making good progress for a bunch of men who didn't want to be here on a Saturday!

David wondered what the 'plan' was for all the work and I e-mailed him a copy of our prints. Here is a copy for any who are curious........

north side-garage and breezeway-

and south side-livingroom, spare bedroom, master bedroom and bath. (The shaded area is the house that we now live in.)

Coming along on my Ravelympics top.........up the fronts now.

Finished the quilting on Millie's quilt and loaded Caleb's on the frame and did about 12".