Where did I leave my motivation?

Here are a couple more photos of my remodeling attempt.  I can no longer take a decent photograph, I'm afraid.  The first reason is my declining eyesight.  I just can't see through a viewfinder the way I used to, and taking a picture with a smart phone isn't any easier to me.   Click on a photo to make it a little larger.

These were taken before we rehung the cabinet fronts and before the new flooring was put down.   The 2nd photo is a bit fuzzy, and catches the supervisor grabbing a quick nap.  Also I got my finger in the photo somehow.
 

 I have other photos but can't find them.  I give up on using the phone for more than making or receiving a call, and most of the time I can't even do that.

 The rain is pelting down again, but fortunately Rocky has been out several times and won't need to go again for a while.

I'm feeling pretty good and worry that I'm coming across as depressed, when I'm really not.  I do have that nagging feeling in the back of my brain that I will never get packed and moved!

Work on the kitchen

The kitchen cabinets are finally painted, and Donald laid the new floor tiles, so everything is looking good.  I still have to find places for all the things I accumulate on countertops and in drawers, which is mostly a lot of JUNK!  I'm working on that now.

Note those beautifully cleaned drawer pulls and hinges.  They were dark with dirt and tarnish before I cleaned them up!
 
I have other photos but can't upload them from my phone, nor can I upload them from those I've just taken with a point & shoot camera.  I give up!  Remember when it was a simple thing to take a photo and add it to the blog? People still do it but I sure have either forgotten how, or it's more complex than it's worth to me to figure it out.   I might have Jeanne or Donald take some and get them on my computer where I can access them.  The picture shows only a few of the many cabinets I've cleaned and painted, above and below the countertop.  

After some really nice weather we will be back to rain off and on this week.  When the weeds grow to be taller than the house, I am really going to worry.

That's all for now, but I'll be back soon.  Hope everyone has a good week.  I sure plan to enjoy mine, no matter what!

Where will it all lead!

My kitchen "touch-up" project has taken on a life of its own.  All I needed to do was to paint a few drawers and 3 cabinet fronts that I had neglected to finish several years ago.  Jeannie came over and painted it all, and as I may have mentioned I cleaned the hardware in a TSP solution.  It looked so good I had to take all the other hardware off the cabinets and clean them to match.

Jeannie put one coat of a high quality paint on the cabinets, and now I think she wants to repaint all of them.  I think she will also want to touch up the paint on the walls, which does need it in some places, but it's all going to make the countertop look so dingy I will have to replace it.  You can't replace a countertop and then put back the old faucet apparatus.

I wanted to call in two prescriptions to my pharmacy this morning, but find I don't know how to make a simple call on this damn phone!  If I hit the phone symbol on the screen it takes me to a place that I can't figure out, which includes a list of past calls made.  It's really a good thing I'm not addicted to a phone, but lord help me if my computer gives up the ghost and I have to send an SOS message to someone!

Other than that, I'm fine as can be!  My beautiful dog keeps me hopping.  We just started out for a walk but it's trying to rain and I don't want to walk in the rain. 

I can't rest for too long or I won't be able to get back to work today.  So I'll say "so long" and see you again soon.

More on the paint job!

Does anyone else find that when you start a project or chore, especially one involving cleaning, you just can't stop.  What you've cleaned makes everything else look dingy, and that's what I face.  

The hardware I cleaned in TSP turned out to be beautiful, so I began taking hardware off some of the other cabinets.  That means the cabinet doors have to sit on the kitchen floor propped up against something while the hinges and pulls are being soaked and cleaned.  This is going to take me a while - over a period of days!  I tried to take "before" and "after" photographs,  but just can't deal with the phone.  I have no clue how it works, so I guess I will just have to be satisfied to be able to make and receive a phone call, although I often have trouble with that.  I'll get Jeannie to photograph the work when she gets here this evening.

Yesterday I ordered groceries to be delivered this morning.  I often make the mistake of not completing every last screen to confirm my order.  This is so aggravating, but I was able to place the order which will be delivered between 1:30 and 2pm this afternoon.  I sure hope I haven't sent the order twice, especially since I am to get two 1-gallon bottles of vinegar for weed/grass killing!  I certainly don't need 4 bottles!

If I sit much longer I won't be able to get up, so I'd better close up the computer for now.  Have a great day!

It's been a while!

I just haven't had much to talk about.  Today it got hot and I'm afraid our beautiful cool weather is just about over for this year.

When I got this mobile home the interior was total paneling - everywhere, walls, ceilings, closet doors, and you name it - the same crappy fake paneling.  One of the first things I did was to start painting, from the bedroom, to the spare room, to the hallway, to the living room and finally to the kitchen.  (I never did get around to the bathroom).  By the time I reached the kitchen I was sick and tired of painting, especially considering the time and number of coats it took to paint over the paneling.  I am ashamed to say it, but since there are so many cabinets in the kitchen, requiring removal of all the hardware to soak the dirt out, and the painting of everything, I quit before I was finished!  I still had three doors below the sink, plus about 12 drawers to paint.  Now that I want to sell this place, I have to finish what I started all those years ago.  I just hope the newly painted drawers don't make the rest of them look dingy.

I'm wiped out after removing all the hardware and screws, and placing them in a container of TSP to soak overnight.  I'll scrub them with an old toothbrush tomorrow.  Right now my back aches worse than usual.  I also started deep cleaning the fridge, and threw out a bunch of things I haven't used in a long while.

I took Rocky out for a short walk first thing this morning and one of the nicer ladies in the park was there with her dog, so we joined them.  I didn't intend to stay long, but several others came with their dogs, and Rocky was in heaven.  An hour after we came back home Andrew came to walk him, and when he brought him back he said Rocky just couldn't walk anymore.  All the running with the dogs caught up to him.  I even noticed the few more times I tried to walk him this afternoon he was still unable to go very far.  I hope he recuperates overnight!

Regarding the painting, Jeannie said she would come over Wednesday and possibly Thursday and do the painting for me.  That's why I had to stick with the hardware removal and cleaning everything so it will be ready for her.  Rocky and I are both too tired to move right now.

That's how exciting my life as been today.  I'm too old for this!

 

End of the great weather?

It looks like the next 3 days will be in the 60's and then will rise to the 70's, which is about what I consider the upper limits of great weather!  I figured it would happen, but with frigid temps and snow/ice storms forecast for the upper midwest, I thought we might be lucky enough to get temps just a bit lower than normal. 

For some reason Rocky walked like a perfect gentleman when I took him out this morning.  He's usually eager to rock & roll first thing in the a.m.  Andrew will be taking him into the dog park shortly, and he can run to his heart's content.  And he runs like a speeding bullet - that dog is really fast!  He's fun to watch.

I think I will try again to begin packing some things from my desk for my upcoming move.  I can't put everything off any longer, and I'm worried about space in the duplex.  It has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, but the actual storage probably won't equal what I have here.  I have said before, the older mobile homes (60's or so) had incredible storage space, especially in the kitchen.  I would need 3 modern apartments to equal the cabinets and storage in my kitchen.  I would certainly be better off to decide what I don't need anymore and not try to move it.  About two years ago I really got rid of a lot of unnecessary and unused small items, but I must have filled the space with new things!  I don't know how I managed in a 34' fifth wheel, but it actually had good storage for what it was.

I will say it now, but getting rid of most of my belongings to move into the 5th wheel was probably the biggest mistake of my life, although another person might say it was the biggest learning experience.  I love to travel but love a home to come back to as well, and dealing with a large 5th wheel by myself wasn't fun at all.

I hope everyone has a good Thursday; it's hard to believe we are almost to the middle of March.  I feel like I'm on a runaway train! 

Spring is almost here

As I've said many times, I don't mind rain or cold weather in Sacramento, but I really dislike excessive heat in summer.  Right now it is just beautiful, with trees and flowering bushes starting to bloom everywhere.  One thing that I notice on my walks around the neighborhood are the many fruit trees - tangerines, oranges, and grapefruit.  I've always wanted a tangerine tree in my yard, but I guess I won't ever have one at this point.

 The dog park is open today and I took Rocky over for a few minutes this morning and again this afternoon.  It's a shame that they didn't wait for another week of dry weather as a large patch of the ground is awful - wet and muddy - and there is no way to keep the dogs away from this large area.  

When I was walking a short while ago, a man in a truck slowed down and called to me, saying "What a beautiful dog - absolutely a gorgeous dog!"   That happens often enough but surprises me every time.

I went into my spare room this afternoon thinking I'd organize a few items from the desk and box them up for the move.  I ended up spending about 5 minutes in there and then just left the room and closed the door.  I wish I'd get a burst of energy and mental clarity, and be able to start the packing process, but so far I am paralyzed just thinking about it.

I fooled around with my computer today and was able to greatly brighten the screen and the contrast, but it seems to only applies to emails, my blog, etc., and not to web sites I visit such as news, youtube, and the like.  I really like the font I'm using on the blog, and hope no one finds it annoying.  I enlarged the font a bit, but the best part is that it leaves just a bit more space between the lines, which makes it easier for me to read.  I hope some of you out there find it easy as well.