Smelling the flowers

I really hope your parents and siblings remain healthy, Petunia.
Thank you, Evie. This morning I woke up remembering that I've read that scientists are figuring out that some people are super spreaders, but others are not. The fact that my uncle hasn't gotten sick (so far) gives me hope that my aunt is not a super spreader and that my family is safe. Last night I spoke to my mom and I used her tactic of guilt to encourage them to get tested today for my brother's sake and for his stepson's sake. Knowing if our parents are infected or not will have a big impact on them and the decisions they make going forward.
 
That is definitely true - there are even people that live in the same house as infected people that didn't get infected, and this was a much shorter exposure than that. Fingers crossed for you.
 
That is definitely true - there are even people that live in the same house as infected people that didn't get infected, and this was a much shorter exposure than that. Fingers crossed for you.
Yes! :) Thank you.
 
Tomorrow is Bond's 50th birthday. Wil is arriving today. I'm not sure what kind of plan we have for tonight. Tomorrow we're doing pizza, I think, and Friday we're taking the family to a corn maze and then dropping the boys at their mom's. I believe we're eating a bit more upscale Friday night and Saturday B says she's planning on being drunk. Probably good food that night, too.

Last night we rewatched several Letterkenny episodes and I decided that I'd order feather boas, birthday hats for us, and a tiara for Bond. Everything should arrive by tomorrow. We may not be able to have the Super Soft birthday party we initially planned, but we can do it on a small scale at least. :) I should figure out some froo-froo drinks and make cupcakes.
 
Yesterday shortly after I posted I decided I was making a run for it and I sent an email to my boss saying I was taking the afternoon off. I went up to [STR Name] and washed the exterior of the windows that I could reach and swept cobwebs off the siding. It looks so much better. I want to go up on Saturday and use the big ladder to reach the upper windows, power-wash the deck, clean up the gas grill, clean up the downed branches in the yard, maybe talk to the self-appointed neighborhood president about who does snow removal, and possibly switch outlets in the bedrooms to the USB ones that Bond ordered. I'm feeling much better having gotten the siding swept and the windows that I could reach washed. It looks so much better. I talked to Stark (the guy that works for WP, and a kind of friend, mostly an acquaintance) about whether or not he thought WP would get the deck done before winter. He thinks not. That's why I think we need to take responsibility for power-washing the deck. If WP can get the top rails replaced it should be decent enough for winter and we can do the other modifications next spring.
 
Let's see...Bond's 50th birthday was a lot of fun, even if there were only 5 of us. I bought some fancy cupcakes and the feather boas, tiara, and party hats arrived. Wil and I set things up when Bond ran his boys to their mother's. He was so happy to see all of the stuff when he walked in the door. We ordered takeout, but I recall what it was - we ordered so many meals of takeout during his birthday week that I've lost track. Highly likely that it was Indian.

(pics are from the morning after) There were feathers everywhere! LOL
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Today the granite countertops are getting installed - probably right this very minute. Stark has gotten the flooring down in two bedrooms and part of the living room/dining room and kitchen on the main floor, and the bunk room in the lower level. WP is back from his vacation and he is putting in the pipe for the gas today, so Stark can finish the living/dining rooms and then the remainder of the bedrooms. I'm not sure where he's at in the lower level other than that the bunk room is complete.

The roofing starts next week and WP said he will get the deck power-washed and the top rail replaced next week. That's a huge relief. The weather is supposed to be really nice next week with multiple days in the mid-50's and no rain. Woot! I hope the forecast is accurate and doesn't change! :)

I found someone to do the snow plowing. Decent rate, too. :)

COVID updates:
  • my parents did not get sick ♥️
  • my aunt is in serious trouble. The transported her to a larger hospital because she has a leaky lung and there is a specialist at the larger hospital that may be able to fix it. If that fails, she'll lose the lung. 😿
  • my youngest son and his GF have COVID for the second time and this time he's sicker than the first round, although it's still not terribly bad. He's congested and tired and his equilibrium is affected. :cry:
 
Wow, there are so many highs and lows in here; I'm so glad for you that things are going so well with the immediately you stuff, but I'm really sorry your family are sick.

Following along avidly.
 
Wow, there are so many highs and lows in here; I'm so glad for you that things are going so well with the immediately you stuff, but I'm really sorry your family are sick.

Following along avidly.
Thanks, Evie. ♥️

I'm fighting down panic over the cost of all these renovations coupled with worry over whether or not people will rent the house. Today I went on Airbnb and compared prices and availability for houses this size on small lakes in the area. It helps quell the panic. Holidays and summer they run $1,000/night. Breath. It's going to be okay.

I've added another big ticket item to the list (although it may be pushed out to a future date when the house is paying for itself); fill along the driveway section that has a hill. There is barely a shoulder along the asphalt and from there it drops right off about 10 feet. Presently, it's scary as fuck just thinking of driving up the driveway when it's slippery. I can't imagine how truly frightening it'll be once there is snow and ice. I project that this will run $5K. I'm meeting with a guy next Friday (one week from today) and I'll update you guys here when the estimate comes in.

The new countertops were installed yesterday. WP is installing the faucet himself, and for some reason he will cut the holes for the faucet and soap dispenser himself, too. That surprised both Bond and me. In our experience the granite people do the cutting. New appliances will arrive in mid-December. Yesterday I ordered black knobs for the cabinets to replace the white ones.

Through the window over the sink you can see the roof of the firewood shed (?) I'm not sure how to refer to it. It's a roof with posts supporting it and the firewood is stacked under it.

I need to select backsplash tile. Stark has bartered installing it in exchange for use of the house for a long weekend. :) I should order some samples so I can see how the colors work in the space.

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The bunk room is long and narrow. The window looks out towards the lake. The other end of the room will have an owner's closet that we can lock. The electric baseboard heaters will need to be relocated to the opposite wall. The light fixtures will also need to be moved over.
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My brother called Friday to see if I was coming up to visit our parents. He was up there, although he hadn't let them know at that point that he was there. Guilt won and I canceled my plans to work at [STR Name] and went up there instead. It was good and bad. My parents are cray-cray Republicans and it drives me nuts. I did a big detour (extra 90 minutes of driving) and picked up the white ceiling fan we took out of a bedroom at [STR Name] and my brother and his son-in-law installed it in the kitchen. The one they had there before died quite a while ago. It looks good and it casts a lot of light.

Yesterday I picked up 12 shelves and the pipe they sit on. I ordered them from a lady that I found via Facebook Marketplace. Industrial-Rustic shelves They will be used as nightstands. And then yesterday evening the lady I contracted to make 6 headboards let me know that she had them all built and would finish staining them today. That's a relief, because I paid her a $200 deposit and have never met her and have no contact information other than via FB. I was totally relying on her wanting to keep her good standing on FB Marketplace to keep her from walking with my money and not producing anything. She was terribly excited about the business when I contacted her, and seemed very genuine, so I kept the faith that she'd be honest and she was. I pick them up next Sunday. Handmade Headboards The lady who made the shelves used the same stain as the headboard lady, so they'll all be matchy-matchy.

Five of the six bedrooms on the main floor are really small and none of them have closets. Rather than buy dressers, I'm leaning towards these units: Bathild Hall Tree with Shoe Storage. (I'll need to find a smaller one for one of the rooms, because WP talked me into moving the door, so now there isn't enough wall space for this wide of a hall tree.) I will also place one luggage rack in each room, so when two people share a room there is space for two suitcases. Bond thinks these are ridiculously expensive, but I think it solves a problem and continues the aesthetic. It's too hard to hunt down deals on used dressers on Marketplace and then get a trailer and pick them up. Plus, I'll be able to place towels and washcloths for each guest on the unit. The bathroom on the main level is too small to hold two bath towels plus washcloths for each guest, so this will be a nice solution. I will add several wood hangers to each, and two or three baskets to the shelves and guests that like unpacking their suitcases can place clothing in them.

Here is something I could use some feedback on: I am tempted to create a coffee station. I could do this on the kitchen counter, or I could go all out and put it in the dining room on the wall opposite the kitchen.

Dining room: I could create something similar to this: Eddie 3 Coffee Bar or something like the second picture.
Kitchen counter: Use a bar and s-hooks to hang cups. I'm would probably need two bars in order to han enough coffee cups, or I could do a combo of a bar and a cup rack.

So, my questions:
  • Would you find it inconvenient to have to go between the sink and a coffee station with water to make the coffee?
  • Would you find it a hassle to have to clean up a coffee station?

Next weekend is a three-day weekend for me and it's going to be all [STR Name] projects.

WP is asking to have the kids on NYE, which is his b-day and traditionally he's always gone out for his b-day, but I guess with the pandemic he doesn't plan to go out this year. B doesn't want to mess with tradition of having a kids' NYE party and she thinks her kids will be upset if they have to spend it with their dad. I offered for us to host everyone at [STR Name], including WP and GF, Naya and her BF. WP likes the idea, but his GF has insomnia, so he's not sure about trying to be there with all of us, 'cause she may not sleep.
 
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Good news: the tree removal company is planning on taking the tree down sometime towards the end of this week. Woot!
I messaged WP with the news and inquired about the roofing and deck work that is supposed to be happening this week, but he has yet to reply. I really, really hope that the roofing happens this week, because we have the most gorgeous weather happening right now.
 
I like a separate coffee bar. If someone is cooking breakfast, others can make coffee without getting in the way. I've enjoyed that at rentals and have set it up that way at my house now too!
 
I like a separate coffee bar. If someone is cooking breakfast, others can make coffee without getting in the way. I've enjoyed that at rentals and have set it up that way at my house now too!
Thanks for the feedback, AG. :)
 
Thanks for the feedback, AG. :)

Anytime. If I'm gonna be a creeper and read people's life stories, I may as well be helpful when possible. Lol
 
Anytime. If I'm gonna be a creeper and read people's life stories, I may as well be helpful when possible. Lol
Excellent! LOL

Inspiration Photo:

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5' wide by 16" deep by 36" to counter top ($1,699 on Etsy)

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Found this on Marketplace
"Very sturdy solid wood buffet 38” high x 54” long x 18” deep Few scratches One of the magnetic catches needs replacing"

It seems that with minor (ha!) work, one of the guys could add some pipe and a shelf and I'd be in business. What do you think?
 
Is it Friday yet? All week I have felt like it should be Friday. It makes for a long week.

WP sent these pics yesterday. He has closed off the walkway for safety, and will remove the walkway later. He did a tiny bit of powerwashing and discovered that the wood is cedar, which he wasn't expecting. That means the new section will not match the rest. It is what it is. We'll stain that part and then clear coat the remainder, or that's what I believe we'll be doing. I'm so excited by how lovely the wood looks where he has sprayed the green-gray and lichen off.

WP says the roofing is slated for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday next week.

These pics really show how much the house needs to be power-washed and stained. Oh, and gutters added so the rain doesn't wash out the coloring like it is next to the window.

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Stark says he should complete the bathroom floors and moving onto the great room. I'm not sure which room he is referring to as the great room. It could be the lower level family room, or the main level. I think he must mean the main level. Great room might be the best term for the dining and living area as they are in the same space and it's open. ???

We're starting to plan B's birthday and that's on Thanksgiving and I haven't even sent my youngest kid a bday present and it's tomorrow. I did ask him this morning via Snapchat what he'd like for his bday. I'm so lame. I should send him a gift card for takeout for him and his gf, as they have the same bday. How cute is that having matching birthdays?
 
Mike and his meta have matching birthdays, too, lol! I uncovered this back when I was getting to know both of them (I didn't stay friends with the meta or the hinge). And Puck has the same birthday as Tech. It's uncanny.
 
Mike and his meta have matching birthdays, too, lol! I uncovered this back when I was getting to know both of them (I didn't stay friends with the meta or the hinge). And Puck has the same birthday as Tech. It's uncanny.
That is uncanny! Wow.
 
Today's news: all three of the new toilet were broken when WP and Stark unboxed them today. Like smashed, smashed, dropped them off the truck smashed.

WP also thought the Delta faucet I ordered for the kitchen sink was missing pieces, but the issue was that the instructions were incorrect. Luckily the documentation online with the order showed the correct parts and those are there.

Wednesday he is bringing his/B's kids to the lake house to help for the day. They are taking down the walkway that we disconnected from the rest of the deck.

I picked up paint swatches and got pricing on paint during my lunch hour today. I'm going with one near-black colored accent wall in the bedrooms. The other walls will be Hint of Vanilla - a warm white/cream.

WP is asking if we plan on using the house for Thanksgiving, which I really didn't think was going to be possible, but now I'm wondering. It makes me think that I should order the new mattresses.

I spent part of this morning creating an Airbnb listing. I'm trying to not let myself become overwhelmed with all the stuff I need to align.
 
Life has been busy, so I haven't found time to write on my blog. Let's see, Bond and I went to [STR Name] on Friday. Stark was there and we chatted some. He's incredibly gabby. The roofers were finally there shingling the house and garage. (Started Friday and completed Saturday.) Mid-morning Stark asked Bond and I to come into the house, we were installing light fixtures by the door. He let us know that he had just gotten off the phone with his gf and her daughter had just tested positive. Ugh. He had ridden in the car with her Sunday night for 1.5 hrs when they picked her up from her father's. I sent him home which took forever for him to gather his stuff. He moves so slow! We masked up and worked outside. We debated leaving, but instead we opened windows, masked up, and I wiped down high-touch surfaces with disinfectant and then we moved our projects to outside for hours.

We canceled our weekend plans with B, Wil, and The Therapist. They were all going to help with projects at [STR Name], but in the interest of isolating until we knew if Stark was contagious we didn't feel comfortable taking an risks. Instead Bond and I made the daily trek by ourselves and knocked out a few things on the to-do list, or at least got started on them.

We installed two of these, one on each side of the new entrance, but we're going to have to shim them out so they aren't angled.
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Bond spray painted the banister that goes around the stairwell in living room on the main floor. He about froze, because he didn't put on a winter jacket and the wind was crisp.
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Roofers doing roofing. :)
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I started painting the accent wall in the primary bedroom on Saturday and finished on Sunday, and then started the other walls Sunday until daylight faded and it was nearly impossible to see where I had been. I love this paint color. In person it appears more brownish-black. I can't wait to see it with the headboards and lights in here. I got one coat of the dark paint on bedroom #4's headboard wall on Sunday, too. It'll need a second coat, but that should be quick. Six bedrooms, the main level, the lower level, and the game room...plus three bathrooms...to paint. zoicks.

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Sunday around 10:30 am we heard from Stark that his test results were negative! Yay! Thanksgiving is back on and we can hang with our pod.

We tested the hot tub and discovered that the heater is shot and leaking. Hopefully it won't cost an arm and a leg to replace and hopefully nothing else is leaking.

B's birthday is on Thanksgiving, so we started b-day celebrations last night. We all had so much seeing each other again. Wil ordered wings and pizza (at my plea) so we had food when we got back from the lake house. The Therapist had had an idea a few weeks back that we should write/draw on his head with markers. Here are our artistic endeavors. He was expecting mandelas. Whoops! LOL

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This morning B decided she wasn't going to wait any longer to get a new TV and was making plans for WP to meet her at Costco so he could haul it in his truck. (Of course she did. LOL. ) We bought her one on Thursday and were going to install it today while she was running errands. Bond sent WP a text telling him that we had already bought her a TV for her b-day, so he could skip the Costco trip, and then Wil and Bond went to her house and surprised her with it. Wil was in charge of videoing the whole thing, but got mixed up and didn't start the recording, so they got her to do a silly reenactment which was pretty adorable. She's super duper happy about the new TV.

I'm antsy to get things done at [STR Name]so I can rent it and we can use it. My nerves are stretched pretty thin and I'm having to remind myself to breathe. Having the new roof on helps a lot. I doubt anything will get done on it this week, even though Bond and Wil could go up there without me and knock a few things out. I just don't expect they'll do it. And this weekend is going to be more b-day shenanigans. I'm trying to roll with it, but kind of panicking internally. Reminding myself to be nice and measured and not the stress bitch I feel like inside. Whew! Breathing.
 
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Omg, it would be my dream to stay there. I love watching the makeover, I hope you post these somewhere in your advertising (stories sell).
 
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