House 99% Finished!

View as you come up the driveway. (Yes, the peak over the porch is not finished-hence the 99% not 100% finished-the contractor is delinquent in his return visit, again.)

Another view of the front.

Beloved garage.

South addition from the backyard view.

View of the backyard. (Sometime this Fall we will add a pool/patio!)

Easy Weekend

Bill brought in some fresh ingredients from the garden and I put them in the pot-fresh spahgetti sauce with onions, banana peppers and tomatoes from our garden. I wish I could waft some aroma onto this picture for you!

Marsel shared a Greek Dressing with me and this idea of tossing some cucumber chunks with feta cheese for a wonderful dish. (I can spend time in the kitchen........it just isn't the highlight of my day. I do like a meal like this because it takes care of the next day's meal, too!)

I am speeding along on the shawl for Marsel...............440 stitches on a round now. (Actually it does move right along if you just keep knitting one stitch at a time!)

I have a new quilting job set up on the quilting frame!

A Qucik Beach Visit

We had to go to Daytona Beach to have the oil changed in my Yaris (free oil change) and so we did a few errands as long as we were in town.

We went to the beach! Always a restorative walk........there is a bit of controversy over this pier/ house-the renters had promised to do upkeep and improvements and they haven't kept their end of the bargain. They face eviction soon and in the meantime , it deteriorates more!

We went underneath to appreciate the waves and Bill checked out the underpinnings! (Guys!)

We visited JoAnns, where I bought a handle for this purse Marsel passed this on to me-the bamboo handle that came with it had broken beyond repair.
Harbor Freight finally had this tool chest in stock-Bill has had a raincheck for a few months! What a nice garage accessory-no garage should be without one! We have been cleaning up the yard because this remodeling mathematical equation still holds true:

building + contractors = ditritus

Life

Yup, Monday set the pace for the rest of the week........

I finished the ribbon yarn shawl (8' x 20" of silky deliciousness);

making progress on the pi shawl( it is now 14" across);

and finished up four more plastic totes:

We are even making progress on the arches-(we wanted curves not angles on our arches-think spanish style) so now just one more finish coat and we are completely finished!

Mondays are Full of Promise

I find that very often Mondays set the pace for the whole week. I like to do a run through of cleaning to get it out of the way, bills also go out, and then the unfun things are out of the way for the rest of the week!






















I discovered a mistake in the shawl I'm knitting for Marsel-somehow I had 9 sections (top pic)in my 8 section pattern! I gave myself an appropriate amount of moaning (1 minute) and then ripped it out and began again. I must admit it went faster the second time around! I am now beyond where I was when I ripped out, row 39 of pattern which means 78 rounds of knitting that is right this time (bottom pic)!



I finished weaving the ribbon yarn shawl and am working on the fringe. It is getting exciting to see one end done.
I also had many hours of discussion with the contractor to remedy the arches for the the front porch. He does like to do things the easy way but it just wasn't working out so Bill went to Home Depot for some more supplies to do it better/(right) and we will try again tomorrow. You can see he had the right idea but it didn't cut the mustard......-

Waves and Weaves

My sons and a co-worker came for a day of boating and relaxation. We laughed through Matthew and Caleb's antics while skiing and enjoyed their company as always! When they got too hot they jumped in for a dip to cool off. The water was 88 degrees so it was a pleasure to hit the waves! We went to our usual destination, Corky Bells, for lunch then back to the lake for another bout of skiing. It was a perfect day. (We doused ourselves with sunblock this time and no one looked like a lobster when we were done!)

I did a bit of weaving when they left this evening. The Lion brand ribbon yarn (copper penny dye lot) works up beautifully-it glows with colorful glory! I can't wait to wear this shawl!

For now, the little columns sit here to welcome guests and owners alike!

Layers

The men covered up the styrofoam with cement today.........glad we got a peek of the before preparations because you'd never guess what lies below looking at it now!

We went into the city to run some errands and on the way home Bill stopped at a local junk/thrift store , I sat in the car knitting (my usual mode when he runs into each store) and as I glanced up I saw these. I have wanted a pair for so many years, and now I am the proud owner ! I have to decide what color to paint them as they have a few nicks but no cracks (they are ceramic, 32" tall). I am thinking white........sitting on each side of the front door. We shall see. I put on a new warp (172 threads of 10/2 cotton, black)............almost ready for me to begin weaving tomorrow but I ran out of light when a thunderstorm moved in!

I also started a new knitting project, before I finished the shawl I am working on-which is very unusual for me but this project is calling me and I caved. (This is the lace yarn Marsel bought while we were visiting! ) It is invigorating to live on the edge!

In the Weaving Seat

I finally had time to sit and weave up the last of the warp for plastic bag totes. It was so good to sit after the break while on vacation. But now the loom is empty and needing a new warp and another project-perhaps the ribbon 'yarn' I have.......
Thought you would be interested in the way Bill chose to insulate the original part of the cement block house. The men glued 2" styrofoam onto the blocks. The sanded the whole wall to even out the surface, then they work on the window sills to reinforce it with cement. Today they glue a fiberglass webbing to the whole wall so it will be ready to receive the stucco. Neat idea-it sure makes a difference to the insulating factor of the house which was zilch before we added any! The back of the house faces east and gets the full impact of the sun all morning and the front faces west to get baked all afternoon-now we have the beauty of the sun without the baking affects! Perfect.

Stucco Update

We came home to an exciting sight-the front of the house is all stucco-ed!

Now the arches are not arches and Bill says it is what happens when you allow men to work when you are not there to supervise. The contractor will fill in the angles and make them curves, he apologized for the mix up. They are working on the back of the house today. The end is in sight!!!!

We came home to a wonderful thunderstorm; in fact we got over 4" of rain while we were gone; it is a good thing to love to come home-it helps with the sting of the goodbyes that end a wonderful week.....

Many thanks to the Lord for safe travel-we saw a terrible accident on the way up and was almost involved in one ourselves on the way home. The traffic was mild all the way until we got to our own little city and hit a major jam for over an hour. This was why-a trucker fell asleep at the wheel and drove through the fruit stand! Can you believe no one was injured-not even the driver!

Saturday's Hike

We went to Buford Dam State Park for a family day on Saturday! We brought a picnic lunch and fed the geese-who ,we discovered, are related to their FL counterparts.........seagulls and their ability to rudely scrounge!


This is the outlet side of the dam; where the river continues on its way without a view of the interruption just to the other side of the earthen barrier! We made plans to come here for another family trip with canoes/rafts for a river ride day in the future!







After exploring the river side we drove over to the Lake Lanier side and explored a small portion of this beautiful man made lake; we hiked, saw the mounted police, played on the various playgrounds, admired the water activities and then let the kids cool off in the water before heading to dinner out and home! A perfect day.

(On a side note-David brought home an unwanted gift-poison ivy! We couldn't keep him on the trails 'cuz there were interesting things like sticks (which became bows for imaginary arrows and pinecones which he launched into the water like bombs...!)