Removal of the microwave

June 18, 2014 / Winnie / Leave a comment

When Dave and I moved into this house, I was on the look out for a nice upgrade to the counter microwave we had at the time. On Craigslist I found a brand new (never used) over the range microwave. It was $60…..what?! That microwave was an amazing add to our kitchen. See below:

A little bit ago – I noticed that there was something white dripping from the roof of the interior of the microwave. I cleaned the inside and didn’t think anything of it…..until it happened again…..and then a HOLE appeared in the plastic looking through to the mechanics of the microwave. ECK.

Decision made. That thing is coming down. I decided to take it down completely instead of replacing it, because it was really low. There was not a lot of room for our larger pots on the back burners. I liked the over the range convience of the microwave we had……but I am thinking of adding a built-in under our middle pass-thru.

I know I (Dave) could tie into the electricity in the back of the shelf on the left side of this picture with a new microwave…..but I am getting ahead of myself and giving Dave tons of work. Dave and I already have a plan for re-doing the middle area of this kitchen. We want to make this an island instead of keeping it as a pass thru. That plan is at least 1 year away and at most 5 years.

For the time being I am keeping an older microwave on our counter. It will do for now.

I am excited to pick out a new range hood. Maybe this? It will be very basic and something that mounts under our cabinets as I do not want to lose the cabinet space. One thing that annoys me to no end is the mis-matched levels on the cabinets on this side of the kitchen. When we lifted the cabinets we left these alone….because if I would have moved those to the ceiling as well…..there would be no way to use the over the range microwave (too tall). With the microwave down….eck. Check back later to see if I can convince Dave to move these as well.

As I live with a smaller microwave on the other side of our kitchen…I am sure that I will be moving a few things around (the black toaster oven???!!!) to make the placement a bit more functional.

Garden gone crazy

May 28, 2014 / Winnie / Leave a comment

I was out of town for 3 days….barely….and my garden went and exploded on me….in a good way. I had a few potted vegetable plants that were looking kind of sad and a raised garden full of seeds that hadn’t made an appearance yet. The Memorial Weekend treated my plants very well……….

Kale:

Cilantro:

Sweet Mint (hello – for awesome Mojitos):

Peas:

And here is a preview of the final garden area that is getting added:

Sweet, right?! Those are some left over gutters that we had and Dave set up a drip line. So pumped.

Thursday Early Wrap up

May 22, 2014 / Winnie / Leave a comment

This week has been intense after a hail storm hit us on Sunday. We had a few hours prep time as we had a storm chaser friend warn us about the strength of the storm blowing in.

We put away all of the ‘fragile’ furniture and outdoor cushions, moved all the plants inside or under the eaves and then covered my tomatoes and peppers that were already planted. ANNNNDDDDDD…………SUCCESS!! Everything made it. We had golf ball sized hail so there are other things that need attention. I addressed the chipped paint on my NEWLY painted front porch, and it is looking mighty fine.

The front porch update will be completed once the new front door is installed and my ground cover for the garden is delivered. Whew.

After I completed the outside paint touch-ups I moved the painting party inside. I cleaned up the edges in the kitchen……

Before:

After:

Lastly in the paint extravaganza….my stairs. They needed a pick me up.

Before:

After:

Well Peeps……..in anticipation for Memorial Weekend I am leaving for vacation Friday morning……see you on the flip side.

More wood work for the patio….and a little bit of snow

May 6, 2014 / Winnie / 1 Comment

I have a long list of items I want to complete this week…..see my white board below? I decided on staining the Adirondack chairs today. I got one chair completed – I am using the same stain….the Behr -Weather Proofing in Redwood.

You can see in the above picture the beautiful completed chair. It is so lovely. I was all set up to complete the second chair when my neighbor came to the back fence to chat with Jules and I. She told us that a storm was rolling in and that hail and snow were expected over the next 2 days. Jules went in to hyperdrive and moved all my plants into the dining room. She was a girl on a mission.

And they are now awaiting less threatening weather. Can you believe it? Snow forecasted….in May. I will be waiting to finish my other chair as well.

Dave decided to put the scrap wood to use as well. He made a slated holder for our recycle bins. Those bins are ridiculously ugly. Now that the holder is done…..I feel like it should have been taller….but it’s done and I am happy that we used up more scrap wood. The very end has a space big enough for another black garage can and I will be purchasing another one to hold the wood scraps we will be keeping as fire starter.

Parting shot of our newly mounted garden tool holder…..with Jezebelle watching over us from the doorway…..can you see her beautiful eyes?