HARD HAT AREA

This is what my house has looked like for over a week now.

A construction zone.

What you're seeing in these pics is the foyer and upstairs hall.

Yuk!!! After 17 years, I just HATE all the stained woodwork in our house. Part of our massive repainting efforts will include me painting the spindles of the staircase banister you see there. I'll be leaving the handrail and main banister support posts stained, but painting every.single.spindle a creamy white color called "Malted Milk". Oh . . . not sure if I'm ready for that tedious job!

I'm not complaining . . . well maybe just a teeny tiny bit about having to vacuum and dust and wipe everything down almost everyday for the past 10 days.

You see, the finished drywall work that was done in our house when it was built 17 years ago was not done very well at all. After a few years of living here, the drywall tape in practically every wall corner and every place where a wall joined to the ceiling started to pull away and/or ripple from the drywall.

Below is an example of what I'm talking about. Purdy, isn't it?! :o(

When we contacted the builder about this happening, he told us it was normal house settling. Ughhh . . . don't think so. Nail pops and maybe little cracks in the drywall around door ways, windows, etc., would be a result of settling. What we were dealing with was poor workmanship. And we weren't the only ones in the neighborhood who've had this problem over the years.

The Master Bath Below

The master bath will be going under a huge transformation. Not only newly painted walls, but new tile floor, new tile tub surround, new countertop and sinks, and a complete transformation of the vanity base - it's ugly stained finish will be gone and will receive a new painted finish.

The Main Bath (or boy's bathroom) Below

It's been something we've been kind of ignoring for years. Hubby didn't have the confidence to fix it himself, as drywall finishing work can be tricky. And I actually had a hard time trying to find someone who would do the work. It's one of those jobs that can not be done in a one day. One day to apply the tape and spackle, then one day for it dry to be able to be sanded.

It's a process.

The guy who's been doing the job has been here 7 days over the course of the last week and a half. And that's just to do the second floor. We still have to have him come in and do the first floor.

What all this work means for me, aside from all the extra cleaning due to the sanding process, is pretty much me having to repaint every.single.room in our house. And a few of those areas upstairs, I just painted within this past year.

The master bedroom striped walls and stained molding and trim, after today, will be no more!!! Or at least will begin to be "no more" today. Shouldn't get too over-confident that I'll get the entire room done in a day. ;o)

But the bestest part of this total house upheaval, is our master bedroom and master bathroom is finally getting their terribly overdo redo. YAY!!! I can get started on redecorating those areas by painting and not have to worry about the unsightly corners and ceilings.

We went to Lowes over the weekend and bought lots and lots of paint. We're trying their new "Hi-Def" paint in the bedroom.

It's paint with primer added. I'm hoping it will make covering those painted stripes a little easier and with less coats of regular paint.

Still have more paint to buy for the master bath. But with just lit'l ole me doing all the painting, I don't want to feel too overwhelmed having mountains of paint cans taunting me.

(I'm pretty much the painter of the family. Not that I'm all that great of a painter, I actually enjoy it.)

If I'm MIA for a few days or more, you'll know what I'll be up to. I'll be sure to share any significant strides in my work as I go along.

I'm off to gather up all my painting supplies . . .

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TWILIGHT - NO, NOT THE MOVIE

But twilight on our deck. We love our deck. We sit out here as much as possible. It's not big or fancy, but it's a comfy outdoor space for us. A variety of seating areas, lots of plants and flowers make it super relaxing.

It's one of my favorite places to hang out.

One corner of the deck is set-up as cozy conversation area. This is where we hang out most.

A stack of magazines and a glass of wine makes for a very relaxing evening.

I love this glass cylinder taper candle holder. It's just perfect for outside use. I found it at Yankee Candle years ago. Of course, it didn't start out this color. It was originally an olivey green, but I decided it need a makeover using my can of ORB paint.

A chaise lounge for sunning, taking a little cat nap or just getting extra relaxed and comfy.

Opposite the conversation seating area - a place for dining alfresco.

We've always had big plans for this deck. Adding a roof. Then one day adding screening. Eventually enclosing it with windows, and making a three-season room. But some other expense always crops up and takes priority over our bank account.

The dining area that's down by the little fish pond next to the deck.

Below, a view of the pond from the deck

As darkness settles in a little more, the candles and twinkle lights add a warm glow.

We're still dreaming of upgrading our little deck someday, but until then, we enjoy every moment we spend out here just the way it is.

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POPCORN AND A MOVIE

Earlier this week, I asked Hubby to pick up this movie.

I've been dying to see it, and heard the scenery and sets in the movie were incredible especially after reading Lisa's review of the movie at her blog

Pickles and Cheese.

Hubby decided to try one of those Red Box movie rental kiosks.

Seems like a good idea. One dollar a night for as long as you have the movie, and you can return it to any other Red Box kiosk.

I popped the popcorn in my fairly new oh-so-cute pink Cuisinart popcorn maker.

Isn't it adorable . . . and PINK!!! We are a big popcorn family. Me and Son No. 3 have popcorn almost every night. Usually microwave, but sometimes I would break out the big gun of popcorn makers.

We bought this monstrosity a few Christmas's ago for the boys.

Thought they'd get a big kick out of it. They weren't entirely impressed. I like the big popcorn maker. It's cool to watch the popcorn fly out of the pot, but it is a pain in the arse to clean.

Hubby saw this Cuisinart popper in a sales flyer in the pink and knew immediately he had to get if for me. He drove nearly 30 miles to the store that had the pink one. What a doll!

The most wonderful thing about this popcorn maker is everything . . .

I'm talking everything . . .

can go in the dishwasher.

How cool is that?!

And the dome the corn pops into flips over and becomes the bowl.

Neato!

Well, I got my popcorn all made just way the I like.

Simple.

Salt and butter.

Or, in my case, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter butter spray. Oh, I'd much rather be almost soaking the popcorn in real, creamy melted butter, and I do sometimes. But mostly I try to be good and stick with the almost reasonable facsimile.

A little butter-flavored popping oil and popping corn.

As I was saying, I got the corn popped and fixed the way I like it. Poured myself a big glass of diet Mountain Dew. Popped the DVD into the player, and got comfortable. Well, the stupid DVD was messed up and wouldn't play past the previews. It kept looping through the previews. Not a great impression made on our first time using Red Box.

Oh well. The popcorn was yummy anyway!

Hubby called Red Box and they were more than accommodating. They emailed him codes for two free rentals. Nice. So, we tried It's Complicated once again. It actually worked out great, because the night we watched it was the last night Son No. 1's girlfriend was with us. The four of us watched it together.

I thought it was the cutest movie I've seen in a while. Son and Hubby, who are usually nothing but action adventure types, admitted it was okay. And the scenery and sets in the movie did not disappoint.

In doing some research, I found that a lot of the scenes in the movie were shot on sets. The rooms in her house were all sets. And the bakery she owned in the movie, was set up in a building on an old estate that's used for conferences. The movie takes place in Santa Barbara, but was not entirely filmed there.

The Kitchen

The Bakery

More of the bakery.

Regardless of where it was filmed, and if the rooms used in the movie were actual rooms of a house or constructed in a warehouse, it was all gorgeous. The grounds around the house, and the GARDEN . . . oh my, just amazing.

No plans this weekend?

How 'bout popcorn and a movie?

You can also see more pics and read more about the movie and the sets here at

Traditional Homes

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PERSISTENCE

Momma and Papa Robin are determined to build their nest in the frame of my outdoor umbrella.

I realize it's the perfect support structure for their home, but it's not exactly ideal. There are times when we have to put the umbrella down. And with us outside all the time and passing by the door of the deck all the time and walking across the deck to come inside all the time, I don't think they'll have much privacy.

But they keep at it. For almost a couple weeks now. They start to build that nest, and I take it down. Some days several times a day.

And they're making quite a mess during construction.

What to do????

Oh I know, I could just keep the umbrella down, but I really like having it open.

It just looks nicer open.

I tried putting windchimes up inside the umbrella thinking maybe it would make noise when they landed and scare them away.

Didn't work.

Obviously me dismantling their work every day isn't a deterrence either! Any suggestions?

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