Cabinets...

This tall cabinet is for dishes and a shelf for cookbooks.  The top will have doors with glass inserts.  When the First Baptist Church was being torn down several years ago, I was lucky enough to buy several of the windows.  I've been saving them for just this cabinet.  After I get the measurements, I'll take one of the window to The Glass Shop for them to cut. 

This is just one of the bookcases that will go on each side of the fireplace.  The bottom two shelves will have doors.  Sunday I got both of these bookcases sanded. 

Guest bath vanity.  Nothing fancy.  It will look much better when it's painted w/doors and countertop.  Oh, knobs and handles!  Another decision!!!  LOL!!!  I'll worry about that tomorrow.  :-)     I'll post this for now.  Can come back later and add more photos.

Ok... I'm back.  I did get several pieces sanded.  Can't do any priming until I get the wood putty to fill all the nail holes.  Then, one more sanding and the primer goes on... another sanding... first coat of paint... sanding... and the final coat of paint.  Whew!  I'm exhausted already!!!      :-)  This piece is the top of my computer desk.  It's just upside down.  There will be doors on the side sections with the center open.  I had planned to leave the inside of all the cabinets natural w/ a coat of clear polyurethane, but the open cabinets might not look right.  I need to do some research online to see what I like best.    

This is the bottom part of the desk.  I had originally wanted a corner desk, but with the sloped ceiling, it was getting a lot more complicated.  This is going to be just fine.  Four big file drawers!  And the big space in the center for the tower. 

Another upside down piece... This one is the over the range unit.  The vent hood goes in there.  There are several more pieces not here, but when Brian has time, he'll bring them out here.

Oh... This is the sink base w/a space for a trash can... a section w/ two shelves.  The open space on this end is part of the lazy susan space.  Down at the other end is a four drawer unit w/ space for another big lazy susan.  I know!  TWO lazy susans?  Yep! I was/am tired of having to crawl into a cabinet to get what has fallen into the black hole in the corner.  I have two of those right now, and don't like them one bit!!!  So, those two lazy susans are going to be AWESOME!!!!!   Oh... There is an open space between the drawer section and sink base for the dishwasher.  I almost forgot about it.

This is the big piece of the lazy susan unit that will go at the other end of the kitchen.  I don't know if those will have two shelves or three.  It really won't matter.  Every time I open that little door and turn that cute little shelf, I'm going to have the biggest smile on my face!!!  :-)

Lazy susan and set of drawers make up the bar unit.  The telephone will be located here on the bar since it's pretty much the center of the house.

Another upside down piece... There's two of these for each side of the window over the sink.  Another luxury I asked for was plate racks.  I've got 12 to 16 Fiesta plates in lots of different colors that will look good in there.  The one in back is a little different.  It has a very shallow set of shelves on the end for keys, phone books, note pad/pencil, etc.  I saw one similar in a magazine.  Brian did this just the way I wanted it!  Thank you!!!

This is most of the doors.  There's a few on top of the desk in the corner.  They're plain and simple.  I didn't want too much detail, since we've got the beadboard ceiling and oak flooring.  Shaker style, I think it's called.  I like it!

Drawer fronts... plain and simple.  Oh!  I haven't picked out door knobs or drawer pulls!  And there are thousands to choose from!!!! 

I guess that's it for now.  I'll post more photos when Brian brings more cabinets out here or when I get something painted.  I'm not sure when he'll want to start putting the upper cabinets up, but I'm hoping to have them painted first. 

It is so hard to believe we're this close... It's been such a long time since we started working on this project... There were times I didn't think we'd ever make it this far!

They're here! Our cabinets, that is...

Oh, M'Gosh! That's a lot of cabinets!!!  But, it's for the whole house, not just the kitchen.  Brian, the cabinet builder, came back with another load about an hour later, so we have cabinets all though the living room and sunroom.  I'll post more photos later, but this will give you and idea of what he's done so far.

You can see just the end of a bookcase on the left.  A tall cabinet is along the pantry wall.  Three of the base units are in the kitchen... The bar with the space for the lazy susan, then the sink with trash bin and a set of drawers... Space for the dishwasher, then the next unit.  I'll post photos of each piece later.  I need to get started getting ready to paint.  And, David & I are working on the deck to our other house.  It has several boards that need to be replaced.  

16 & 17 June 2011 Work on drainage system...

I was thoroughly impressed with the driver of the concrete truck.  He had to get that big truck up our driveway and through our yard to get to the cabin.  In the picture you can see where he drove across the grass.   It was hot that day... probably in the upper 90's.  Those guys worked hard, too.  I'm skipping a lot of pictures, but the concrete truck got here about 8am and didn't leave til 4pm. 

They did all of this and under the house they poured between 10 and 15 footings to level the house. 

It looks really good.  At some point we'll get this all cleaned up and finished.  It's been two months since we had this done and it hasn't rained enough to see how the drains will work.  It's been over 100 degrees for 2 weeks or more.  We've been under a burn ban for a while.  The water department has notified everyone to restrict water usage... no outside watering until further notice.  So the green grass in the first photo sure looks nice!  I'm watering our yard and our neighbor's yard with their water... they have a well and we're on city water. 

Wednesday's progress... Lots of digging.

Wow!  That is going to be great!  They have all three of the downspouts tied in to the underground drain.  We will put something at the top to stop leaves and stuff from clogging up the drains.  Some sort of screen should work. 

You can't see very much of this, but there are two catch basins in each inside corner.  That is where most of the water runs when it rains.  These guys have done some serious digging around our cabin!  They've already covered the main part of the drain system.  Concrete is coming Thursday.   The last photo is of the West side of the cabin.  It will go all the way to the end of the back porch.  That should stop any run-off or drainage problems we're having.

They're here!

Here's the truck and trailer full of all sorts of stuff.  I saw lots of concrete blocks... those concrete tube forms... lots of black drain pipe... a big roll of re-bar...   I wanted to get closer photos, but didn't want to look ... odd?  LOL!  I did get a short video, but don't know if I could put it on here.  They would have been here earlier, but they had two blow-outs on the trailer... One of each side.  Not a nice way to start a new project. 

  

Bob is down there showing them what to do and where. Earlier, I saw him running a string, then going back with white paint to mark something. They will be putting in a PVC drain line under a concrete walk.  The walk will be about 2 feet wide.  Bob said it will be similar to a sidewalk, but will be lower in the center to collect the water.  There will be eight or more drains/grates along the walk that will follow the outline of the cabin...  following this end where the trailer is parked, along the wall to the porch, around that corner with the gutter, then along the walkway with the railing...  I'm not sure how far down that way it will go, but at some point they will run the drain line over the the retaining wall.  It will hang over the top so all the water will drop out there instead of running across the yard, causing more drainage problems.   

More measuring and marking...  It might look like a pretty simple thing, but I never would have thought of doing this.  I was all set to start digging a trench for a french drain.  Oh!  That makes my back and shoulder hurt just to think about it!!!   I sure am glad David found their ad in the phone book!!!

You can see part of the concrete blocks next to the white truck.  The bed was half full.  The guys will be staying in a motel in town while they're here.  After they leave this evening, I'll get photos of what they've done.  Sorry... I didn't think to get "before" photos this time.  Oh... I might have photos of the last time it rained???  I found them... May 2nd.  Will put them on here later this evening.   

June 14th update...

No photos right now.  Will do that this afternoon.  I'm waiting on a construction crew from North Little Rock to get here.  They'll put in a drainage system and work on the foundation.  Every time it rains, water runs under the cabin...  Lots of water!  Straight to the basement.  Along the way it is washing away dirt around the concrete pads the cabin is sitting on.  Needless to say, the cabin isn't as close to level as it once was.  Also, the joists are not close enough, either.  They'll fix that, too.  We really should have had this done way back there, but we hadn't gotten to the point of finding, and knowing, our own limitations.  We have finally come to the realization that we could not do this ourselves... And that there is no one in this area that could do what we needed, either. 

Here's a link to American Structure Repair.  If you are having any drainage and/or foundation problems, give them a call.  But first... look over their website.  Bob came to look at our problems and talk to me.  I was very impressed!   

 http://americanstructure.com/index.html

May 15, 1971 ... 40 years ago today... Now & then

Now and then...  Well. This looked much better on my computer screen.  But it's what we are today.  We have changed a bit.  LOL!!!  But we've lived some, too.  Just like everyone else, some good and some not so good.  To be honest... There's been lots more good! 

 Well, I have to say that we were much younger... and thinner back then!!!  I love looking at all these old photos!  Brings back so many memories. 
From all the stories David has told over the years, he was a nervous wreck.  Well, I guess he had calmed down by the time this photo was taken, but about 30 minutes earlier he was ready to take off out the door running as fast as humanly possible!!!

From the left... Number 1 Attendant, David's niece, Judy. Number 1 "Groomer" David's cousin, Mike. The lovely, and quite skinny, bride, me. The exceptionally handsome Groom, David.  Best Man David's brother-in-law, Jimmy. Maid-of-Honor, my darling and very sweet baby sister, Mollie.

Ok... back to the story...  David was in the back room with cousin Mike and BIL Jimmy...  Being the faithful and completely honest and straight faced cousin that he is, Mike and BIL Jimmy would peek out the door every now and then to see what was going on.  They wouldn't let David get anywhere close to the door.  They told him that every seat was full.  There were people standing along each side of the room and hanging out each window.  (Of course, this was all to see how nervous and upset they could get him before having to actually go out there to stand and wait for things to get started.)  From all accounts, it worked.  I really am surprised that one of us didn't pass out right there in front of everyone!!!  LOL!!! 

These are polaroid photos, so they are not that great, but they're all I have.  Some day, I'll see if I can't clean them up with PhotoShop.

 Oh...  Bless their hearts!  I can't tell you how many times I've wondered how my parents made it through this and the week before.  This was on a Saturday night.  Wednesday, May 12th... I'd graduated from high school.  Yes.  I was just a child... LOL!!!  David was 35 and I was 13!!!  LOL!!!  But that is another story! 
No... I was really 18 and David was 27. 
In the photo... Judy, David & me, Mollie, my dad, Henry... David's step dad, Neland. David's mother, Fay. my mother, Ann.  I sure do miss them. 

And here is David and I cutting our wedding cake.  I still have the topper somewhere around here.  I'll find it when we move... 
While I'm here...  I don't know if I ever properly thanked my sisters for helping put together my wedding. 
Diane... thank you so much for working so hard to get that dress made.  I'm sure I wasn't very grateful at the time.  I'm sorry. 
Libby... I know that you and Wayne took pictures and maybe a video?  and for whatever else you did... Thank you!  I really do appreciate everything!!!
Relda...  I seem to remember you doing a lot of ironing... Seems like the table cloths were permanently wrinkled when we got them.  Thank you!
Mollie...  Thank you for being there!  I wouldn't have wanted anyone else to be my best friend and confidant. 

I guess that's it for now.  David's coming home early.  We're going out tonight.