The View From Napoleon

Lookie what I got!

2012-02-10T05:58:00.001-08:00

Woot! Got it! It’s mine!!

2012 Fiat 500 Sport in Rame (copper)

Drove it home last night. Andy drove the last leg of the trip and wants one of his own.

I guess it must be fun!

Useful gift

2012-02-02T16:03:00.001-08:00

This is what Rachel, Nathan, and the kids got me for Christmas! I love it! (It's even this nice red color.) I use the Keurig on mornings before work. Sometimes Dennis and I split a decaf at supper... just enough to have with dessert. Mmmm... nice! Andy is also enjoying it. I think he'll miss it if he moves out. Anyway, we have found the Donut Shop coffee and the Green Mountain decaf to be very good. We also really like the Chai and the Hot Chocolate. Needless to say, it is getting a lot of use!

Needed to post something that wasn't Christmas!

2012-01-20T18:17:00.001-08:00

Andy made me this Library Gnome. It is all of 2" tall. That's TWO INCHES!! I have the Gnome at work. Wish he could actually keep people quiet!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-18T08:28:00.001-08:00

Time for a new car?

2011-12-05T16:16:00.001-08:00

Photo of the actual mileage on my 1997 Honda Civic DX Hatchback.

Finishing touches

2011-10-07T17:32:00.001-07:00

I’m happy to report that our kitchen remodel project has been completed! Painting the walls (covering the patches, primer, & flaws in the old paint) made us realize the project was coming to an end. The last bit was making & installing a “proper” butcher block beside the range. I made it from a chunk of 8/4 hard maple sliced the same thickness as the rest of the countertops and glued together into a solid slab. Take a look…

Now we need to decide what project comes next…

Cheers- dj

Chair

2011-09-02T07:29:00.000-07:00

We got a cute little over-stuffed chair for Orion's visit a few weeks ago, thinking he'd like it. He really didn't. (I'm sure he will at some point.)

Our cat, George Bofur, has decided it is HIS chair.

Good it's not going to waste!

Grandson, part deux

2011-07-08T05:06:00.000-07:00

Grandpa and Des

Nana & Des

What could be better?

last doors!!

2011-06-26T06:28:00.001-07:00

The last doors have finally been installed. This brings the major sawdust producing phase of the project to an end. We still have a lot to do before we’re ‘done’ but this is a big milestone!!

still closer…

2011-06-15T17:37:00.001-07:00

I’ve been able to check a few more items off the ever shortening to-do list. First I covered the raw two by four cabinet bases with quarter inch oak plywood. Most kitchen cabinets just use black hard board in this area but I thought it would look better to match the cabinets. Each piece needed to be scribed to match the contours of the floor (not as flat as it appears) so it took a fair while to accomplish. Here, take a look.

The other thing to notice in this photo is the knob on the corner cabinet. Here’s the same cabinet with the door open.

Another of the week’s projects was applying an oak face to the small knife drawer and making the cut-out to use a a pull. I’m pleased by how well it came out. Today’s project was installing the last two paneled doors in the kitchen proper.

To the left you can see part of a dark stained built in cupboard door. As you see the built in is around the corner so it obviously can’t be considered to be “in” the kitchen.. In any case, replacing the cupboard doors with oak doors to match the kitchen is next on the agenda.

cheers – dj

getting closer…

2011-06-06T19:56:00.001-07:00

I was on vacation last week and spent most of the time working on the kitchen and made real progress. It took a bunch of time to assemble and varnish the last four doors. The first door, the largest in the kitchen, is at the end of the peninsula and opens into the dining room. It’s on the left in the photo.

Inside the cabinet is another set of the same pull-out wire racks we used in the microwave cabinet. Su has already filled these with cookbooks!

The second door is for the corner cabinet. this one required special hinges so that you can access the pull out shelves inside. The other two doors completed this week will go on the built in cabinet on the wall to the left of the fridge but those will have to wait until I have a chance to build matching frames.

I also installed LED under cabinet lights to the left of the microwave cabinet and to the right of the fridge. They came out quite nicely if I do say so myself.

If you're real observant you noticed that I spackled over the flaws in the back splash and sealed it with a quick coat of primer. It looks much cleaner and brighter now.

cheers - dj

and even more doors!!

2011-05-14T17:33:00.001-07:00

I applied the final coats of varnish to the latest batch of five cabinet doors this week and installed them today.

With the doors on the sink cabinet we can no longer see the cleaning products and plumbing, attractive as they are. We think the full height doors look better that the typical false-drawer-on-top design.

The three doors to the left of the microwave cabinet came out quite well. A measuring/mental math error when making the cabinet’s face frame made me fear I’d need to make the doors different sizes to keep the spacing between them consistent. By using hinges with different offsets on each door I was able to work around the problem. I’ve got to say I’m rather pleased with the result.

cheers – dj

Last drawer front!

2011-05-05T19:20:00.001-07:00

Even though I haven’t posted in a while I am still making progress on the kitchen project. Not only has the last drawer front been installed but I have five cabinet doors that only need to be varnished before they can be installed plus most of the parts milled for a couple more doors. You know, I do believe the light at the end on the tunnel is getting a little brighter all the time!

cheers – dj

Mire, the Swamp Serpent

2011-04-23T14:52:00.001-07:00

The rare but indigenous Tree Limb Swamp Serpent ventures to the watering hole to quench it’s thirst.

I feel privileged to have captured a snap shot of this rare beasty!

more doors..

2011-03-27T17:51:00.001-07:00

It seems that life has been getting in the way of our kitchen project even more than normal lately so it’s encouraging to be making some real progress again. Yesterday I installed six more cabinet doors and attached the pulls on those as well as the six doors that were already in place.

Here is the tall microwave cabinet with its four new doors. Yes, I know it looks silly to have the beautiful doors and no front on the drawer. Now that the doors are in place I can cut the drawer front to the exact width.

The other two new doors are on the small cabinet above the fridge. On the right you can see the jig I made to locate the screw holes for the cabinet pulls.

Speaking of jigs, here’s a photo of the way clever jig I’m using to glue up thin narrow slats into the wide panels for the next batch of drawers. The jig is based on one I saw that was designed to glue guitar sound boards together. Pounding in the wedges not only squeezes the panel between the upper & lower sections of the jig (so all of the slats remain in the same plane) but also tightens the rope against the edges of the slats thus pulling the slats tightly together.

I’m not at all sure that I explained the jigs function very well so just take my word for it, it works great – it’s cool.. Honest…

cheers – dj

How do I like my B&N Nook? An update:

2011-03-18T05:58:00.001-07:00

I do.

Mostly.

I'll explain then, shall I?

I received my first Nook. I'd ordered the Nook with 3G thinking it would be nice, while traveling, to be able to access the Internet anywhere there was a phone signal. Sounds good, right? Turns out, the 3G only connects with Barnes & Noble.com for shopping purposes and does not connect to any other Internet sites!

Can you say, "rip off"? (The Kindle has unlimited free 3G)

So, I called Barnes & Nobel and told them I wanted to return the Nook 3G and get the basic Nook. (all Nooks have WiFi) No problem. The representative gave me a "return authorization" code and I sent it back. Of course I had to pay postage, and I also insured it.

I got my new basic Nook and I have to say I do quite like it.

PROS:

WiFi connectivity is very good.
Downloading books from B&N, Google ebooks, and our Library's Online sites is quick and easy.
Reading on the Nook non-glare screen is pleasant and non-eye-straining.
The color touchscreen is very nice and user friendly.
One may customize one's Nook with personal screen savers and backgrounds. (ie: grandchildren, pets, etc.)
The Nook also easily downloads audio books but must be hooked up to speakers or headphones to listen properly.

CONS:

No 3G (I already addressed that one)
The Internet browser isn't very good or user friendly
The touch screen keyboard is very sensitive and if one's fingers are pudgy, it's a bit difficult to use.
The scroll bars are not easy to use.

As you can see, over all, the pros outweigh the cons.

I really enjoy reading on the Nook and that is, after all, the reason I got it.

Well that, and I love gadgets!

~Su~

: Nook 3g WiFi ebook reader

Doors!

2011-02-24T06:37:00.001-08:00

I’ve finally been able to assemble, finish, and install the first six upper cabinet doors. All the pieces for these doors had been cut out months ago but only now have I been able to complete these final steps. Six more doors are ready and waiting for the final glue-up and finish steps and yet another six (or eight if you include the doors for the big storage area in the hallway) still need to be made. Here are the first six…

cheers – dj

Too cold

2011-01-23T17:18:00.001-08:00

The temperature on all of my days off lately has ranged between too cold and way too cold to be working in my (unheated) shop so I’ve been making precious little progress on our kitchen project. Even so, I have been able to check a couple small items off the to-do list.

First I installed a third pull out wire basket on the lower section of the microwave cabinet. One would think that should have been easy but, well, it wasn’t. It was well worth the effort. As you can see Su is already using the new basket.

Today I fixed the pantry pull out on the tall cabinet next to the fridge. We installed this cabinet quite some time ago but the lower pull out just didn’t work as well as it should. When I took it apart I discovered the undermount slides were a bit out of parallel. That problem has been resolved and it now works just fine.

cheers – dj

one more down

2011-01-09T16:59:00.001-08:00

The weekend was too cold to be working in the shop but I was still able to put the finishing touches on one more cabinet. I put the last coat of finish on the drawer fronts of the three drawer cabinet on Saturday and installed the fronts and pulls on Sunday. Looks pretty good, don’t you think?

cheers – dj

window

2011-01-05T15:52:00.001-08:00

The latest step in our kitchen remodel project has been trimming out our new kitchen window. This has been (another) multi-step process. The replacement window we choose is has a vinyl frame with energy efficient glass. The bit that makes these windows special is that they have real oak panels that snap into the vinyl sash frame so they appear to be made of wood from the inside. An advantage of this arrangement is that I was able to remove the wooden parts, finish them, and put them back without worrying about the finish gluing the window shut.

Here is the window as it was installed. Note that the window isn’t as thick as the wall so the first step was to make spacers to make the window frame appear to be the same thickness as the wall.

Several changes here. The spacers (made from the same oak as the cabinet face frames) are in place, foam insulation fills the gaps around the frame, and the oak coverings have been removed from the sash. The paper is there to mask the fuzzy weather striping.

Here are the oak bits that will clip onto the vinyl frame as well as the window molding in the back. Much easier to finish this was than it would have ben to do it in place.

Project completed! Having the trimmed out is a big step toward making the room look more like a real kitchen and less like a work zone. The window trim matches the cabinets quite well.

The next step will be to get back to working on the cabinet doors and drawer fronts.

cheers – dj

One of the best Christmases EVER!

2011-01-01T06:30:00.001-08:00

trim

2010-12-22T07:11:00.001-08:00

I realize that it’s been a while since I’ve posted an update on our kitchen project but I just haven’t had much to show. The major project I’ve been working on involves re-installing the trim molding that was removed when the new floor, door and window were installed. Sounds simple, right? We decided to reuse the base molding and door trim for the sake of remaining consistent with the rest of the house but we couldn’t just tack it back in place. Each piece of base molding first needed to be cleaned, repaired, stained, varnished, and then ripped to width (to compensate for the thickness of the new tile floor). Only after all that was done could I actually begin to nail it all back in place. The window will be trimmed to match the cabinets. To do this I’ve made some molding from the same wood as the cabinet frames and I’ll install it as soon as I’m able to apply some finish. This part of the project has involved a lot of time and effort but, as I said, there’s not much to show for it.

Other side projects I’ve been working on include installing thresholds (to transition the new kitchen/entryway floor to the adjoining rooms), putting a gate on the basement stairway (in anticipation of Orion’s Christmas visit), and installing a slick articulated arm wall mount for our kitchen/dining room TV.

Door molding & wall mount TV.

Merry Christmas! – dj

Snowy, with a chance of snow!

2010-12-12T13:51:00.001-08:00

12/12/10

The Graduate

2010-12-11T14:05:00.001-08:00

Andy has graduated from Adrian College with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.

Now all he needs is a job!

O Christmas Tree!

2010-12-03T06:51:00.001-08:00

This is what I see every morning. Bits of the tree knocked off; lights skewed. I've not put any ornaments on the tree yet. I'm not sure I will do until nearly Christmas. In the past, it's been the orange cat, George Bofur, who has done the destruction, or at least that's what I've thought. This year they're BOTH at it! Both Bofur and Fred have been seen cavorting around the tree; in it and beneath it. I may wrap some gifts and put them under the tree and see if that helps at all. If it doesn't stop them, this year we may have...

wait for it...

Two cats in a bare tree!

Sad, but true.

Oh so innocent!

Related media here.

New ride

2010-12-01T19:46:00.001-08:00

Since we no longer have our van, we needed to find another vehicle. We decided we might want something we could haul stuff in but still be comfortable, reliable, semi-fuel efficient, and look OK as well.

Here’s what we bought:

2003 dark green Chevy S 10 pickup.

We brought it home today. Andy will be driving it to school tomorrow. Hopefully he will not meet any wildlife along the way!

R.I.P Leslie Neilsen

2010-11-29T08:37:00.000-08:00

Comic actor, Leslie Neilsen has died at age 84.

Surely one of a kind.
He was, but don't call him Shirley.

almost a real kitchen

2010-11-28T16:32:00.001-08:00

We’ve had an eventful couple of weeks here at the Jones household. Andy had his accident, we had Thanksgiving gatherings both with my extended family and Su’s, Rite Aid had the grand opening at the new Napoleon store (it’s a beautiful place – stop by and take a look!), and we had the new kitchen window, door, floor, and countertops installed. With all the new stuff in place we’ve been able to start putting things back together. Our new sink was installed at the same time as the countertop and I’ve been able to connect the plumbing for it, the dishwasher, & the filtered drinking water. With that done we were actually able to reconnect the dishwasher! Not only that, we also moved the fridge out of the den and and back into the kitchen!! Today I made a cutting board to sit beside the range until I have a chance to make a proper butcher block for that space. Overall I’d say that it’s almost starting to look like a real kitchen…. Still a long way to go but the “to do” list is now down to a single (full) page so we must be making progress.

Beautiful new countertop & floor plus a real actual working fridge in the fridge section.

New countertop, floor, sink, & faucet. Pay close attention to all the plumbing bits under the sink. It took me a full day (and multiple trips to the hardware) to hook it all up. (The photos don’t do justice to the beautiful quartz countertops.)

As you can see the floor guys were just a couple tiles short. we’re waiting for these final tiles to arrive.

cheers – dj

Revenge of the Turkeys! (or how turkeys nearly killed our son!)

2010-11-26T07:10:00.001-08:00

23 November 2010 - one day pre-Thanksgiving

Andy was on his way to College in Adrian when:

It went something like this:

Andy was following another car at a safe distance. He saw her apply her brakes and noticed wild turkeys crossing the road in front of her. The turkeys then took flight, in front the the other car, and there was an entire flock of them. He looked up at them for just a moment and when he looked back the other car had all but stopped on the highway. He couldn't stop in time. He rear-ended the car going about 40 MPH. The van's airbags deployed. The other car's rear-end was damaged but was drivable. The van is "totaled" and worth nothing because we didn't carry collision on it. (1996 Dodge Caravan) It's at a towing place in Adrian and we will sign it off for scrap. Andy has minor burns and bruises on both hands, his right ear lobe, and a bruise on the top of his leg. His right ear rings. It's all from the air bag, not the crash itself. A few MPHs more and things could have been really bad. We feel very fortunate nobody was badly hurt and also the woman driving the other vehicle was very nice. She completely understood how it happened and both she and Andy blamed the turkeys. Must've been "Thanksgiving Turkey Revenge" a bit early. Also, Andy had an omen of what was to come. If you look at the photo, there is a small bird lodged in the grille of the van. It flew up in front of him earlier in the trip. It was a warning! Oh, if he only would've recognized it! (click on the photo to enlarge)

Now we have to decide what to replace the van with.

Sneak peek

2010-11-22T07:11:00.001-08:00

New work top!

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

2010-11-19T06:37:00.001-08:00

Orion is 1 year old today!

Happy Birthday little man!

waiting for countertop & floor

2010-11-15T17:06:00.001-08:00

We don’t have a lot to show since our last update, mostly we’ve been doing dull but necessary prep work so we’ll be completely ready when they come to install the countertops and floor and I think (hope?) we’re done with this step. We’ve been working on the kitchen project almost nonstop since we started tearing out the old cabinets so I guess our biggest accomplishment this week was taking some time off to go visit Rachel, Nathan & Orion! We had a great visit. It’s amazing to see how much Orion had grown and how many new things he’s learned…

We were able to apply the pulls to a few more cabinets. Notice that we are using different length pulls depending on drawer size.

Next on the agenda is to continue to work on the remaining doors and drawer fronts as we wait for the countertops, floor, patio door, and kitchen window to arrive.

cheers – dj

this weeks progress

2010-11-07T17:19:00.001-08:00

We’re still working away on the things that need to be done before the countertops & floors can be installed. The biggest item that we were able to check off the list this week was the completion & installation of the large panel that covers the backs of the peninsula cabinets & range. Making this simple looking panel was a rather involved multistep project but I think it came out rather well. The photo below really doesn’t do it justice.

We also put the pulls on the first set of drawers

and installed the first of the paneled doors.

Of course there’s lots more to do but it’s encouraging to see the progress we’ve made…

Another thing checked off the list!

2010-11-01T08:31:00.001-07:00

Ordered various sizes of these pulls today. Also ordered 1 of the knobs pictured on the far right. You’ll have to wait to see where that one goes!

Halloween, Japanese style

2010-10-30T10:10:00.001-07:00

Almost.

still plugging away..

2010-10-25T18:18:00.001-07:00

We were able to get a fair amount done on our kitchen project over the past week. Probably the biggest thing is that we ordered the floor & countertop. Much of the weeks work involved mundane things like pulling up the old base boards but we did get more spectacular looking things done this weekend. On Saturday Ben came by and helped us install a new light fixture above the window and a dimmer switch that controls both the new light and the lights over the range that we installed last week.

Looks pretty good with the lights dimmed down, don’t you think? While Ben was working on the lights Andy was banishing squeaks from the kitchen by running a whole bunch on deck screws through the floor into the joists below and I was installing pull out wire shelves in the lower section of the microwave cabinet.

We’re quite impressed with these shelves, so much so that we’re planning to get a second set to put in the space above the microwave. (Yes, it will fit – honest.)

Sunday’s project was to install drawer fronts, a full dozen of them. We still have four more drawer fronts that need to be installed but they need to be cut to final size and finished first. Just another item on the to do list.

As you can see we’re already starting to fill the cabinets. Were you wondering about the tape on the drawer fronts? We stuck these on as visual aids to help us choose drawer pulls!

cheers – dj

kitchen update

2010-10-17T19:41:00.001-07:00

Although out rate of progress has been slower since our vacation week ended we’re still advancing toward our goal. Over the past week I’ve installed all but one of the drawers & the corner cabinet hardware. Ben came over Saturday and helped us install four halogen lights above the range (look closely and you can see two of them in the photo below). It looks like it should have been an easy job to install them but, trust me on this, it wasn’t. Today Andy & I installed the final cabinet.

While the boys and I were playing with cabinets & electricity Su has been busy removing the nasty old carpet & was able to get the last of it up today. Future plans are to get the countertop and flooring ordered (they’ll be out to measure this week), install drawer fronts, make the panel to cover the back of the range & adjoining cabinets, complete doors & etc… We’ve come a long way be we still have miles to go!!

cheers - dj

vacation week progress

2010-10-11T19:39:00.001-07:00

We’re heading back to work tomorrow so it seems like a good time to show the progress we’ve make on our kitchen remodel project. As of tonight all but one of the new cabinets have been installed. We can’t install that one until we run the wire for some additional lighting

Test fitting the first three cabinets on this side of the room. They must fit together precisely, lots of messing around involved to make it so. By the way, the long piece of wood laying at the back of the cabinets on the left isn’t a random scrap rather it’s a “story stick” that is marked with the exact location of each cabinet along that wall.

The dishwasher set in place to be sure it’s door will clear the range. It does. All the cabinets here have been set in place. The upper cabinet above the dishwasher still needs to be put up. Our new range came this week too. We’ve installed it (but not the down draft vent ductwork – that will have to wait) and it works!

Fred supervising from the microwave cabinet…

These are all firmly attached. Still bunches to do but it’s starting to look almost like a real kitchen…

cheers - dj

(You can see I have more 37 year old carpet to remove. I’m hoping to have it all up by the end of the week so we can have the floors measured for porcelain tile! We also have the kitchen sink ordered and it should be here Thursday. THEN we can have the cupboards measured for quartz worktops! I'm so excited!! This is so cool! ~Su)

Cambria Brownhill quartz countertop

Acaire porcelain tile floor (18” tiles)

time to get serious

2010-10-06T20:00:00.001-07:00

I’m using a week of vacation to take a giant leap in our kitchen remodel project. The goal is to have all of the new cabinets installed before I go back to work. With Su & Andy’s help I think we have a fighting chance…

Out with the old! The east side cabinets came down first. The uppers came down fairly easily. The lowers, not so much. Since moving here I’d always assumed that where were cheap crap cabinets. In the process of removing them I’ve had a better opportunity to study their design and construction and have come the the conclusion that my original assessment was wrong. They are in fact really, really cheap crap cabinets.

In with the new!! Here are the first three set in place for a test fit. These have been anchored in place with cabinet backs and drawers installed. I originally thought we’d need to completely gut the kitchen & replace the underlayment before installing the new cabinets but the floor we’ve chosen will work just fine with the existing underlayment even though it’s not perfectly smooth. Because of this we can do one side of the kitchen at a time.

Removing the old cabinets on the west side of the kitchen proved to be even more problematic . Several of them were glued to chunks of two by four which were in turn stuck to the floor with construction adhesive. I had to destroy three of the cabinets to get them out, including the tall oven cabinet that I had to saw in half with a jig saw!

Here’s how it looks tonight. The plumbing has been disconnected and the last of the old cabinets have gone out the door. Here is the base for the next set of cabinets, just waiting to be leveled and screwed into place. Hope to start setting cabinets on this side tomorrow…

cheers - dj

...and the kitchen sink!

2010-10-06T12:14:00.001-07:00

This is the sink I've chosen. It's an ELKAY. Sorta sad that I'm excited about a new sink isn't it?

Surface ideas:

2010-10-01T06:23:00.001-07:00

Travertine

Mixed stone

Ivory glass

These are 3 more back-splash ideas for our kitchen project. Opinions requested.

Keep in mind the floor tile:

These are the 2 quartz worktops we will likely choose between:

Cambria Brownhill

Cambria Sutton

Let the destruction begin!

2010-09-27T06:44:00.000-07:00

Don'tcha just love the curved laminate work top?

After removing laminate backsplash

Where the fridge was - 1974 carpet which is positively WELDED to the floor!

We’ve got a lot of hard work ahead of us!

More decisions to be made

2010-09-24T13:59:00.001-07:00

Today I went virtual shopping at Lowes. I actually went to the store but took along a small camera and snapped photos of the stuff I thought may actually work in our new kitchen.

I saw these two faucets. They may be contenders.

Thoughts?

At last! Eureka!

2010-09-21T05:06:00.001-07:00

: Avaire porcelain tile "Tucson" color

Last Friday, after looking for weeks, nay MONTHS for flooring we both liked for our kitchen project, we found this! It's an 18" porcelain tile but not like typical ceramic tile. This is a "floating" floor, much like a laminate floor but it's real porcelain tile. It's interlocking and has a 1/4" grout line. The grout may be tinted any variety of colors and the grout is flexible so if the floor moves at all, the grout will not crack!

I'm very excited about it!

Really!

Out with the old!

2010-09-17T10:57:00.001-07:00

This is a photo of our current cupboards, worktops, and cook top. We will soon rip them out! Dennis has the new cupboards nearly ready to install. In the meantime, we need to tear up old flooring as well.

We will continue to post about the kitchen project both here and on Dennis’ website. (click on toolbox icon in the right sidebar)

Busy weekend!

2010-08-23T05:55:00.001-07:00

Friday evening we drove to Carlisle to visit with Rachel, Nathan, and Orion. We had a nice evening of visiting with them and the other Lambeses. They are always so welcoming!

Saturday, Larry fixed us all breakfast (except Nathan ‘cause he actually was able to “sleep-in” for awhile. He starts his week days at 6:00 A.M.) We just relaxed all morning and went out for lunch.

We went to Bravo! again and, as always, the food was excellent! Here are some fuzzy mobile phone photos of Orion having his lunch and acting silly, which is something he excels at! (Click on photos to enlarge them.)

What a goof-ball! So much fun! He also enjoyed eating bits of bread but I didn’t take pictures because I was busy stuffing my own gob!

When we were done eating, we went shopping and had fun spending time together.

Our day ended quickly and it was 6:00 P.M. before we knew it. Robin invited us for dinner but we wanted to hit the road so we would have time to relax once we got home.

Well… 7 miles south of Wapakoneta, traffic STOPPED! Both lanes of traffic on the North bound side of I 75 just stopped dead. Periodically we would move a few feet. Of course we figured it was some sort of accident ahead but we didn’t know for sure and didn’t know where it was. Many vehicles were cutting through the median strip and merging into South bound traffic (which was going a minimum of 70 mph and of course they were merging from “stop” into the “fast” lane of traffic!) After 1 1/2 hours stuck in stop and go traffic, (mostly stopped) we finally reached the exit for Wapakoneta. We had to merge into the right hand lane and were diverted onto the shoulder to get around all the emergency vehicles. It appeared they were doing road construction but there were fire trucks and police cars there. We hadn’t eaten dinner yet so at 9:00 we pulled into the Arbys and ordered our food. The workers there said the reason for being stuck in traffic was a semi-truck had flipped onto it’s side! It took a long time to get it cleared away and of course by that time there were miles of vehicles backed up on the highway! We finally got home at 10:40 P.M.

We should have stayed for dinner! (it would have been way better than Arby’s food too. Robin made lasagna!)

Sunday, we went to church and then on to our Great-Niece’s first birthday! So cute and so much fun. Todd and Stacy have a very nice, older home in Archbold. The weather was perfect and the party was in their garage and yard. We had a really nice time. Callie just turned 1 year old. So cute.

This is Callie smiling at the soft baby doll we got her. The doll giggles when you press it’s tummy. She loved it!

After the party we drove to Mom’s to visit and see her new flooring. It looks great and Denny was able to fix a cabinet drawer for Mom while we were there.

We had a great weekend!

Smokin’ !

2010-08-18T09:06:00.001-07:00

Finally got a new grill!

It’s got 3 vertically placed burners inside and a side burner. Wow! We can really grill now!

Do you remember these things?

2010-08-17T05:21:00.001-07:00

Most students entering college for the first time this fall - members of the Class of 2014 - were born in 1992. For these students, Benny Hill, Sam Kinison, Sam Walton, Burt Parks and Tony Perkins have always been dead.
___
1. Few in the class know how to write in cursive.
2. E-mail is just too slow, and they seldom if ever use snail mail.
3. "Go west, young college grad," has always implied "and don't stop until you get to Asia and learn Chinese along the way."
4. Al Gore has always been animated.

Beloit College Mindset List: http://www.beloit.edu/mindset

Drawers!

2010-08-04T16:15:00.001-07:00

We’re nearly finished with the current phase of the kitchen project – making cabinet drawers. There are a bunch of drawers in the cabinets I’m building , seventeen to be exact, and making them has been rather a long process. Thanks to Andy’s help varnishing they are all very nearly done. We just need to varnish and install a few more and then apply the drawer fronts. The next step will be to make the pull-out shelves and then the cabinet doors. You know, there just may be a bit of light at the end of the tunnel!

cheers - dj

DIY

2010-07-09T07:02:00.001-07:00

Inspiration picture from a magazine

My take on the inspiration photo.

So, what d’ya think? Good? I love it! I wanted a shade that went all the way across like the magazine photo but it would need custom making. I opted for two shades from Lowes instead. They are matchstick bamboo Roman shades. Really good look I think.

We're lumberjacks and we're OK

2010-06-12T16:20:00.001-07:00

Well, make that we're OK except for being hot, tired, and sore. I had expected that I'd be spending my spare time lately working on my cabinets but that plan changed when we discovered this big old ash tree had fallen out of our woods and into the field behind us.

Andy and I went into lumberjack mode to chop it up into firewood and haul it up to the wood pile. Sounds simple doesn't it? I'll admit the project may well have gone quicker if I had more advanced chain saw sharpening skills but no matter how you slice it (and for that mater just cutting a tree up with a chain saw qualifies as real work) moving a tree this size is back breaking work. I'd estimate that we cut up about 50 feet of tree with the large end, in the woods to the right in the photo, nearly two feet in diameter. Here's a photo of the work in progress.

As of this afternoon all of the tree that was in the field has been cut up and moved although the bigger chunks will need to be split before they would have any chance of fitting in our fireplace. That's a project that will wait, right now we're tired and past ready to call it a day.

By the way this ash tree had indeed been attacked by the infamous emerald ash borer and indeed we saw some of the critters on the tree bark as we worked. I don't know if they are to blame for killing the tree though as the lower twenty feet or so of the tree's trunk (that is still standing in the woods) had rotted so much as to be nearly hollow.

cheers - dj

Black pasta?

2010-06-05T08:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Dennis and I took a day to drive into the city to eat a nice meal and get wine and grocery items we can’t get in our town. We ate at a nice restaurant called, “Biaggis Ristoriante Italiano.” The food was excellent! It was even above our expectations. It was extraordinary!

Here is a fuzzy snap (from my mobile phone) of my meal:

FETTUCCINI WITH LOBSTER: Black fettuccini tossed
with lobster, wild mushrooms and a homemade
lobster-cream sauce.

That’s right. BLACK pasta! It’s dyed with squid ink!!

It looked just like this, close up:

It was one of the best things I’ve ever tasted!

kitchen update

2010-06-03T16:49:00.001-07:00

Work has been progressing on my kitchen cabinet project, even though it’s been a fair while since I’ve posted an update. Perhaps the biggest step has been the completion of the final two cabinet carcasses, shown above. These were the largest of the bunch and the prospect of making them intimidated me. I’m glad they’re done. I had intended to make the paneled doors next but decided to put that bit off after becoming frustrated when the doors refused to go together properly. So – now I’m working on the cabinet drawers. You can see the blanks for the drawer fronts in the foreground of the photo above. So far I’ve got all four drawers made & installed in one cabinet and, just as importantly, become comfortable this the process so the other dozen drawers should (in theory) go together more quickly & easily.

wish me luck! - dj

30 years

2010-05-31T09:50:00.001-07:00

Happy Anniversary to us!

Edible bird house, discovered!

2010-05-29T08:51:00.001-07:00

This is the edible bird house Bill gave me for Mother’s Day. It has been discovered by Downey woodpeckers, Titmice, and yesterday I saw an Indigo Bunting!

Seed in beak

Action shot

Thanks, Bill!

Andy's in another exhibition!

2010-05-28T16:26:00.000-07:00

(I wrote this 3 weeks ago but forgot to post it. Sheesh!)

Friday 7 May, in the afternoon, Dennis, Andy, and I went to a digital theater in Adrian and saw Iron Man 2. We enjoyed it quite a lot. If you liked the first one you'll likely enjoy the second.

After that we drove further North to Ann Arbor to attend a reception at The Gallery Project where Andy has another piece displayed. (The link will tell you about the current show.)

First we needed dinner. We decided on The Blue Nile Ethiopian Restaurant. None of us had ever eaten Ethiopian food before, so what the heck?

It was wonderful.

First they bring you hot towels to clean your hands with. Then they bring a tray lined with Injera bread and covered with various meats and veg. Injera bread is made from teff and takes 3 days to make. (see the links)

: Presentation

: rolls of Injera bread

One tears off bits of the bread and uses it to grab the food off the communal plate. No other plates or utensils are provided or needed. It was delicious, spicy, and filling. Also quite expensive but well worth the experience.

The gallery reception was very nice and loads of people were there. The show's theme was "Imaging the Future." Many of the contributors were scientists and architects, not strictly artists. Andy was, again, the only under graduate. Nice, eh?


: Colony JS-6; (click on the photo for close-ups; on Andy's website)

This is his piece. It depicts a Lunar surface with a terraformed colony under a dome. It is, of course, quite excellently done. The photos at Andy's website are close-ups and you can actually see the contents of the dome.

Mod Lounge

2010-05-15T06:52:00.000-07:00

I've a new post on my Mod Lounge on Tumblr.

Vacation Wednesday, 2nd travel day

2010-05-10T07:09:00.000-07:00

Wednesday morning at Rachel and Nathan's place brought breakfast, bad coffee (I made it myself), and then Dennis, Rachel, and Allie (one of Nate's sisters) went out for a 2 mile run! 2 MILES! I watched Clean House on TV while they were gone. What?! I have bad feet! Give me a break!

After they got back and showered, it was already lunch time. We went to a nearby town called RED LION.

: A red lion

They don't have a lot there but do have Mom's Restaurant.

This little place serves breakfast all day and has home made pies and cheesecakes! We each had way enough to eat and the pies/cheesecakes were phenomenal! (I had blueberry cheesecake!)

We drove into Lebanon, Ohio and visited some antique stores. None of us bought anything but it was fun looking.

We drove out into the country to a junk store and I have photos but they're stuck on my phone until I get a Bluetooth™ dongle to get them transferred to our computer.

Then we briefly visited Fort Ancient. I'd love to go back there sometime and really have a look around. If you have time, look at the link and read about this fascinating place! Wow, it was amazing.

: Google Image

At dinner time we made another trip to Bravo! Italian restaurant. I had:

Grilled Chicken And Shrimp Scampi Pasta

With garlic, asparagus and tomatoes tossed with angel hair pasta in our white wine lemon sauce. SO GOOD!

: Google Images

After going back to their place, we kissed them good bye and were off home again. (Nathan was busy and we didn't say good bye to him. Sorry Nate!)

Another great day.

On vacation

2010-05-10T06:30:00.000-07:00

Tuesday of on vacation week was spent on the move. Dennis and I had a leisurely breakfast then left on a road trip through…

Yeah, I know. Indiana isn’t that exciting, but it IS Ohio’s next door neighbor. We crossed the state line and then turned South. First stop was an antique mall.

Sadly, I don’t remember the name of it. We walked around for quite awhile. It was a very big place with loads of interesting stuff. I saw stuff I own myself, including stuff I had as a teen. Could I really be so old that my old stuff is antique? I’m I an antique as well?!?

I’m going to stop thinking about that!

Moving on…

I got some earrings and matching tennis bracelet for Mom while there, all for a mere $10! I also got a lovely multi-strand gold and pearl bracelet for myself for $5. V nice! I got a “Train Handling” book for Ben. It was a fantastic store.

We drove on further Southward until we were hungry. We were in Winchester Indiana by then and drove around looking for a unique place to eat. Eating at local places is one of our favorite things to do on trips. We found this place:

Mrs. Wick’s Pies / Restaurant

What a find!!

Special of the day was a Deluxe Hamburger served with a dill pickle wedge and homemade onion rings, all for $3.50!! Then came the pie… They offered about 25 varieties of pie, many of which were already sold out by our 1:30 P.M. lunch. I had the fresh strawberry and Dennis had the cherry almond with crumb topping. Both were excellent.

With full bellies, off we went with a destination of Richmond, Indiana which is the beginning point of “Antique Alley.” Richmond was undergoing road destruction construction. We followed some of the historic roads into small historic towns and found a few antique stores that were open. We didn’t arrive there until about 3:00 or so and most closed at 5:00! Most of what we found couldn’t compare with the very first antique mall we visited at the beginning of our trip. We did find another very large antique mall and it was fun and very nice and we were there until a few minutes before they closed. It was time to head East. Our destination?

Rachel and Nathan’s house!

We were going to eat on the way but wound up finding a closed restaurant, a biker bar, and our GPS lead us out into the country to somebody’s house! We thought about going to the door and asking for dinner but changed our minds. We went to Rachel and Nathan’s thinking we’d just order pizza when we got there, ’cause it was nearly 7:00 P.M. by then. Instead, she dished up delicious leftovers from their dinner including home made ice cream cake! Wow! Way better than a restaurant! We spent the evening hanging out with Rachel, Nathan, and Orion watching the new Dr. Who on TV.

Great day? Yup.

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-08T17:52:00.000-07:00

Behold the beautiful fresh flowers I received for Mother's Day! My children co-conspired, without my knowledge, and got these for me! The ring leader was Rachel. The delivery man was Andy. Ben had full knowledge of the arrangement. (pun intended) What sneaky kids! I think it's great! A bit of sneakiness can be a good thing if used in positive ways, right? Thanks you three!

My brother Bill also surprised me and sent me this edible birdhouse. The OUTSIDE is edible, by birds, not me, and what remains is the birdhouse! So cool! Now I have to place it where the squirrels can't nibble on it, 'cause they will! This is from Basu Enterprises, Four Oaks, NC.

I feel so special! Wow!

I'll be seeing Mom and Jim and Carol as well. What a great Mother's Day!

Visitor

2010-04-30T19:49:00.001-07:00

Luna Moth

This beautiful creature spent the day on our porch and flew off into the night tonight. I'm so glad we got to see him.

Who's calling?

2010-04-25T07:35:00.000-07:00

I got a new mobile phone! I’m rather stupidly excited about it. I don’t even chat on the phone that much but I LOVE my new phone!

LG290c "slider" phone (Google Images)

It’s a very stylish slider phone, perfect if you want a reliable, fun, full-featured phone.

Plus, it’s got a 1.3 Megapixel camera, Bluetooth®, Mobile Web Access and more.

Here’s the list of features:

Mobile Web Services
Stylish Slider Phone Design
1.3 Megapixel Camera
Bluetooth® Wireless Technology
Downloadable Ringtones and Graphics
Hands-free Speaker
Hearing Aid Compatible (HAC) Rating: M3/T3
MMS Picture Messaging
Voicemail and Call Waiting
Key Pad Lock and Alarm Clock
Phone Book with up to 1000 Entries
Battery Talk Time up to 3 hours
Standby Time up to 7.5 days
Color Screen
Text Messaging
Vibration Alert
Auto Redial
Voice Recorder
Voice Commands
Voice Dialing
33 Polyphonic Ringtones
Calculator
Includes Charger and Services Guide

I have a pre-pay account with Tracfone™. I’ve been with them for many years and have always had good service. I called them to transfer my phone number and minutes from my old phone to my new one. I was told that the Web and download services wouldn’t work in my area! I’d bought the phone through their website and typed in my zip code and this phone was supposed to work in my area! I complained about that and asked to speak to his supervisor. The supervisor told me the same thing and I proceeded to ream her out saying I felt conned. It was like a “bait & switch” ploy! I was disappointed and angry and told her to go ahead and activate my new phone but that I expected to hear from somebody in her company.

I am, by nature, rather stubborn and curious. I tried the mobile web service. It worked!! I then proceeded to download not one but two ring tones! Both services worked! Obviously the right and left hands don’t have an inkling of what the other one is doing while their backs are turned!

So now I’ve got a sparkling new mobile phone with fully functioning services. With shipping and tax, the phone only cost me $36.00!!

Awesome!

Now I’ve ordered these from ebay:

Misc. accessories including screen protector

Shiny cover

Guess that puts the price up a bit but hey, gotta have cool stuff to go with the cool phone, right?

At the Gallery

2010-04-19T05:40:00.000-07:00

Down's Hall is the oldest building on the Adrian College Campus and contains the Stubnitz Gallery where Andy's Senior Art Show was exhibited.

Andy's Senior exhibition was titled, "Archipelago" with a sister piece titled, "Adrift." (Adrift is pictured in an earlier post.)

Nathan, Orion, Nick Freeman, and Andy discussing his large island.
(I'm afraid I don't know the woman.)

Great Grandma Irene had a chance to hold Orion while he slept at his Uncle Andy's Senior Art Show.

The show was really nice, well attended, and fun. It was so enjoyable to hear people talking about Andy's work in such positive ways. Many marveled at the detail and workmanship of his miniature people. Two of his Art Professors were in attendance and of course said very flattering things about Andy's work.

Are we proud? Need you ask?

On the road again!

2010-04-01T17:55:00.001-07:00

I took advantage of the nice weather take the cover off the X and drive it to work for the first time this year. The trip home was the best part. The the top was off, the sun was shining, and I took the long curvy way home. Great fun for a beautiful spring day!

Cheers - dj

Gallery Project exhibit

2010-03-10T16:52:00.001-08:00

This is the piece, titled: "Adrift" Andy has on exhibit at the Gallery Project in downtown Ann Arbor, Michigan. It is featured on Ann Arbor’s official website. Click HERE to visit the website and read about the gallery, the exhibition, and Andy’s piece.

We’re fairly exited!

Gallery Project

2010-03-06T11:47:00.001-08:00

Here is a photo of the interior of the Gallery Project in Ann Arbor, Michigan where Andy currently has a piece on display.

Because of the snow and freezing drizzle we had on the night of the Reception, Andy was not able to attend. We're hoping to visit the gallery very soon to take photos of his piece on display.

Kitchen update

2010-02-28T13:39:00.001-08:00

It’s been slow going over the cold winter but I have been making some progress toward completing the kitchen cabinets. Now fully a dozen cabinets have been assembled, face framed, and varnished. I even installed the pull-out shelves on a couple of the lower cabinets including the fancy corner cabinet hardware in the photo above. Still a long, long way to go (backs, doors & drawers come next) but there does appear to be reason to hope that we just may get ‘em completed eventually!

cheers - dj

And again 2, 3, 4.

2010-02-26T14:00:00.001-08:00

I suppose it is still February... until Sunday.

Freezing fog Can be beautiful!

2010-02-15T13:47:00.001-08:00

This morning looked like this, all thanks to freezing fog. Who knew fog was such an artist?

As always, click on the photos to enlarge them.

… but you already knew that!

What a nice birthday!

2010-02-11T06:37:00.001-08:00

Saturday was my birthday. I don’t usually want any sort of celebration but was happily surprised by a weekend visit by Rachel, Nathan, and Orion! They arrived Friday afternoon and stayed until Monday morning. Friday afternoon, just as the snow began, Mom brought me my birthday apple pie! Not only was it delicious but it was ready-made dessert for the weekend! Thanks Mom! She also got to see Orion and his parents and my newly painted living room. Bonus!

Saturday, for lunch, we, and Ben, went to Azul Tequila and had fantastic Mexican food. Rachel gave me a fun chunky (designer) bracelet, which I’ve worn twice already. That night, for dinner, I made a brisket seasoned with a dry rub. So good! I’ll provide the recipe if anybody wants it. We spent the evening watching the first season of “Chuck” which Dennis and I had never seen. So fun! Now I’m addicted.

Sunday for lunch we had ham, smashed potatoes, and corn. Yummy. Ben was able to join us for lunch again and visit with his sister, Nathan and Orion. We just hung out, napped, and played with Orion. For supper we got pizzas from Pizza Hut because they had any large pizza for $10 not matter how many you ordered. We got 2! In the evening we watched more “Chuck.”

The only thing missing was Andy.

Monday came too soon and they all went home. *sigh* When I got to work, two coworkers gave me gifts and hugs! What a surprise! So nice to work with great people.

I have to say this was one of my best birthdays EVER!

Sometimes the simple things are the best!

~Su~

New license

2010-02-04T17:18:00.001-08:00

I had to get car tags and a new driving license today. I waited in line at the License Bureau for about an hour. I shoulda brought a lunch! This is what the new license looks like with an explanation as to why they made changes to it:

The tragic thing is, mine looks just like me! Only worse than me! See how the curvy lines run through the woman’s photo? It makes me look even older and more decrepit than I do in real life!! I want my money back! I want a re-take! I want a face lift!! They also said I can drive without my eye glasses. Fools! I’ve worn glasses all my life for distance vision! I’m not risking it. *tsk*

Voilà! C'est fini!

2010-01-31T09:05:00.001-08:00

Before

After

Close-up of paint colors.

Ready to go!

2010-01-30T06:19:00.001-08:00

Natural disaster, furniture confab, or ready to paint?

Mysterious green lines have appeared!
What's next?!?

Ah, yes! Time to paint! Hope to post the “after” photo Monday!

Painting weekend!

2010-01-28T09:27:00.001-08:00

Here's a "before shot of our living room with the current "butter mint" yellow paint.
With Dennis' help I will prep the room for new paint on Friday, paint the room on Saturday, and post the "after" photo, well, after!
(click on the photo for a better look at the current paint)

New paint color

2010-01-18T10:52:00.001-08:00

When we moved here the living room was white. Well that just wouldn’t do! I painted it yellow; sunny, neutral. Sort of the color of butter mints. Something like this:

Now I’m tired of it. It’s been 5 or 6 years since it’s been painted so it’s due anyway. The stairway meets the living room color in one corner. The stairway is a deep tan like this:

I’m thinking a color like this one may work. It's called Dried Hydrangea. (Ace Hardware)

I don’t want boring but I do want something I won’t tire of quickly. Something in the light gold family. (our living room lamp shades are gold-ish)

I really need to pick up some color chips from the hardware where I get my paint. Hmmm…

Toasty toes

2010-01-14T14:28:00.000-08:00

We've been using the fireplace insert a lot these cold nights. Very toasty!
Now all we need is to hook the den's TV up to the stereo so we can watch stuff and still hear it over the blower fan on the stove!

We're off to see the Wizard

2010-01-11T06:18:00.001-08:00

Ignore the ~~man~~ cat behind the curtain...

Current Photos

2010-01-08T13:26:00.000-08:00

L'il Goober

2010-01-05T17:49:00.001-08:00

Orion and Great Grandma Irene

2009-12-26T11:41:00.000-08:00

Ready!

2009-12-21T06:21:00.001-08:00

Orion’s stocking

Tree and gifts

There are still no cookies but those may happen. MAYBE!

Nearly Christmas

2009-12-20T06:26:00.001-08:00

Today I need to make Orion's Christmas stocking. I should also make some cookies but have some other things to do. We'll see if any cookies get made!

Baby update

2009-12-14T06:25:00.001-08:00

"Goober" and his papa

Over the weekend we visited Rachel, Nathan, and “Goober.” No, his real name is NOT Goober, but that is what they are calling him. Goober, in American slang, means peanut. In this little snow suit, Orion does resemble a peanut. Perhaps he has a future in advertising!

Well? What d’ya think? Picture him with a monocle, top hat, white gloves. See? I think it could work.

Anyway, Goober is 3 weeks old and starting to get the hang of living on the outside.

We think he’s über cute!

Kitchen Project Update!

2009-12-08T18:00:00.001-08:00

The arrival of winter weather has made the made the shop too cold to comfortably work in for very long so I decided to bring the cabinet boxes that I've already made into the basement and apply the finish. The first four have received their three coats of polyurethane. They're looking pretty good if I do say so myself!

Live photo! Well it was when I took it just now!

2009-12-07T06:52:00.000-08:00

Taken at 9:45 A.M. EST
Yep. It's snowing.
Pretty!

Christmas video

2009-12-03T14:54:00.000-08:00

If you have about 6 minutes, this is a very cute little video.

Promotion

2009-12-03T06:53:00.001-08:00

Well, it's happened. I've been promoted. Not sure if this is good or bad news. I'm going to be the Department Head of the Adult Department at the Library. It takes effect on February 1st. Wish me luck. I'll need it!

'tis the Season

2009-11-28T06:44:00.000-08:00

Making a list
Checking it twice (or more)
Knowing everybody is good
Knowing everybody is nice.
Shopping, shopping, shopping.

Are you done with your Christmas shopping?

Orion's first bath

2009-11-24T05:26:00.001-08:00

Baby album... so far!

2009-11-20T09:50:00.000-08:00

New photos!

2009-11-20T09:21:00.001-08:00

He's here!!

2009-11-20T06:04:00.000-08:00

Before

After

(click on photos to enlarge them)

Introducing Orion Lawrence Lambes
born 11/19/09
7# 11 oz. 21" long

Baby countdown!

2009-11-17T08:33:00.000-08:00

Rachel is in the hospital! Her water broke early this morning.

Orion will be here very soon!

Pictures to follow...

Friday the 13th

2009-11-13T05:38:00.000-08:00

Here's our black cat:Careful! If he crosses your path you may trip over him.

Oooh! Scary!

Today’s weather

2009-11-12T14:26:00.001-08:00

Today's weather: November with a chance of "frog." That's frost + fog = frog!

Waxing Poetic

2009-11-08T09:08:00.001-08:00

I was trying very hard to NOT write this but it was niggling at the edges of my brain so I decided to get it over with before I had nothing left to think with.

(click on the photos to enlarge them)

An Autumn Drive

Driving in my pocket-rocket

the leaves fly up behind me

like sparks and flames.

The river I follow sparkles

despite the muddy brown water.

It's brown from the farmer's fields

but lovely in the sunlight.

It twists and turns like some

long fluid serpent.

A guardrail on the bridge protects me from the serpent

yet allows a view of it's winding edges.

It's waters are high for Autumn.

October was generous with rain.

I drive past a farm and

slow down to look at Belgian horses

whose owners have dressed them for the chill.

They look back at me.

Woo hoo!!

2009-11-06T16:41:00.001-08:00

My car passed the State Patrol inspection and is now road-legal again! I am so happy!

We drove it to Findlay for the inspection and after it passed we got the new title, put the license plates back on it and went shopping!

Hurrah! I love my wee car!

(NOTE: To anybody who was reading my "Mod Lounge" blog, I've merged it with this blog and will only post here now. Thanks for reading!)

face frames

2009-10-28T17:33:00.001-07:00

The kitchen cabinet project has been progressing rather slowly over the last several weeks. Making the face frames has proven to be more tedious and time consuming than I had expected, it’s very “fiddly” work. (Yes, I know that I usually enjoy fiddly projects but this approaches being too much of a good thing!) As of this evening seven of the cabinets have their face frames installed and number eight’s pieces have all been milled & just need to be assembled.

The best part is that the cabinets are now looking a lot more like real cabinets and not just funky plywood boxes! Maybe, just maybe there is a bit of light at the end of the tunnel….

cheers - dj

Weekend road trip

2009-10-27T06:32:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, Dennis and I drove to the Home of the OSU Buckeyes, Columbus, Ohio to visit our good friends who live in North Columbus.

Saturday, after eating a wonderful lunch prepared by Peggy, we women went shopping while Dennis and Dave drove Italian cars. Dave has a Ferrari 308 just like Magnum PI used to have. He also has a Fiat X 1/9 like Dennis’ (but yellow) and they drove them around on the premise of burning off some stale gas so Dave could put fresh gas in them for the Winter. Sure guys. Whatever! Anyway, Peggy and I went to Filene’s Basement and Stein Mart. For dinner, we all met up again and dined at Bone Fish. Dennis had the Swordfish and I had Rainbow Trout with warm mango salsa. Both were excellent! We also had a nice Ecco Domani Pinot Grigio. After dinner the men trotted off to Best Buy to look at mini laptop computers while Peggy and I went to World Market for yet more shopping! We drove back to their place and settled on comfy furniture and watched some college football and talked.

Sunday we had a leisurely breakfast of coffee cake, which I had made, and coffee. We went to a local place for lunch. Some of us had breakfast type foods (omlettes and home fries) and some of us had calzones. Wonderful food! Then we parted company for, you guessed it, more shopping!! We were in the big city after all! The guys went back out to purchase a mini laptop for Dave and Peggy and I looked at baby stuff and women’s clothing. We went to Marshalls and Home Goods which is discounted home goods; crockery, cookware, furniture, linens, specialty food items, home decor.

By the time we arrived back at their home, it was time for us to head back North. We stopped in Ada, Ohio, home of Ohio Northern University (where Dennis was at university) for supper at Taco Bell and arrived home at 8:00 P.M.

We really enjoyed our visit with our good friends.

Why does time pass so quickly when you are having a good time?

Pass the salt, won't you?

2009-10-23T10:06:00.000-07:00

Picked these up during last week's trip to the antique mall.