Are We Having Fun Yet?

Our day yesterday started off with me going to town for paint and hubby picking up some lumber for re-framing the door between the kitchen and living room.

When we put on the addition many years ago, the first year it was just a shell with no insulation so put an "outside" door there to keep more of the heat in the part of the house we were living in. The door was put in a wall where a double window had been leaving the opening wider than the door. We filled in the gaps on each side and put some (ugly) wide molding on both sides and over the top of the door which was torn off just prior to this picture.

When we got home from town, I put a coat of poly on the covers for a storage area and wood box on our porch. They'd gotten a little beat up looking in the last fifteen years (imagine that) so we pulled them off, Papa Pea sanded them and I put a new coat of finish on them.

I thought I'd share the above fetching shot of me in my full regalia doing the polying. Feel free to use it as a screen saver. It's guaranteed to scare viruses so badly they will stay far, far away from your computer.

Then B stopped by to tell us everything she wanted us to get done before she comes to play with us all day today. (She can be so bossy some times!) I was making a very creative and elegantly gourmet-ish lunch while she visited (peanut butter and jelly because who the heck has time to cook around here these days?) so we talked her into sitting still for a couple of minutes and joining us for a sandwich.

Then hubby and I set to work washing the kitchen ceiling and walls in preparation for painting.

Here's Papa Pea doing a little patch work on holes where my pot rack used to hang.

While he was up at that level, I talked him into washing off the tops of the cabinets. Omigosh, where the heck did all that dirt, grit and grime come from? Does somebody come in at night and dump bucketfuls up there? Ish!

After we finished washing the ceiling I put up masking tape to make painting the ceiling as easy as possible. (I think doing the taping takes as long as the painting does.)

We were going to paint the ceiling last night but right after dinner, Papa Pea's good friend (or his BFF as Chicken Mama calls him) stopped over and the first thing I knew they both had cold beers in their hands. That was fine with me 'cause I was having trouble finding more oompf and was glad for a little time off. But first thing this morning (as soon as we get some fortifying breakfast in our tummies), those rollers and brushes will be splashing that paint on the ceiling.

The Big Unveiling

I finally just a few minutes ago got the photos Chicken Mama sent me of her slowly and carefully (sort of like a strip tease if you ask me) unwrapping her present.

Unloaded from her car into the wheelbarrow for the trip to the house.

The box is opened . . .

The box is gone.

Slowly the wrapping slips to the ground . . .

And there it is, Folks. One handcrafted, wooden kitchen cupboard with slotted plate racks. She's got just the spot in her kitchen picked out for this unique piece.

I haven't talked with Chicken Mama since she sent me these pictures. So I'll ask here and now. Do you like your present? Is it all you expected? When do we get to see it mounted on the wall and full of your pretty dishes? Should we all come for dinner, too?

Tile for Kitchen Area

I know it's hard to get an idea of what the tile I've chosen for the kitchen will look like from this picture . . .

. . . especially since these tiles are just laid on the floor side by side, but I think I'm going to be very happy with it. Having a floor covering with an actual design will be very different for us after having lived with stained and varnished plywood for a floor for so long. I picked this pattern out and, frankly, was surprised that hubby like it a lot, too. (Score one for our side!)

The floor project should happen fairly soon. That seven-foot long kitchen island that is now living in our garage needs to be moved out of there and into the kitchen. But that can't happen until the tile gets laid on the floor. Everything always depends on everything else, doesn't it?

We're also thinking it would be wise to give the ceiling in the kitchen its new coat of paint before laying the new floor. I'm not saying we're messy painters (ahem), but unavoidable drips and drops do happen.

Today I got the last coat of finish on the door jamb and second side of the French door that will go between the kitchen and living room. Thunderstorms are threatening as we speak and I think the door and jamb are dry enough so we'd better skeedaddle and get them hauled into the safety of the garage.

Drawing Out The Suspense

Well, I tell ya, such a job Chicken Mama and I set up for ourselves! Picking a winner for the Name the Birthday Present contest has resulted in quite the go-round between the two of us in order to come to a consensus.

First of all, I have to say that a picture of the gift for the birthday girl who turned forty this momentous birthday year of 2011 will not be pictured in this post.

Here she is opening the box to take a peek.

And a peek is all she's had so far. She was concerned that if she unpacked it here, she'd never get it back into the box for the trip home. In order to get the box and two dogs in her little red car, Tucker the Corgi will have to ride on top of the box.

So the bottom line is that we won't get a picture of the actual item until it is unpacked in her house at Swamp River Ridge sometime tomorrow.

I will tell you that although we received oodles of really good guesses, no one came up with what is in the box. (Actually, I would have fallen right off my desk chair if anyone had nailed it.)

In lieu of posting a picture (and ending this awful suspense I know all of you are going through) and revealing what the item is we will now announce the winners we've chosen as the best guesses.

Drum roll, please.

First place . . . is a tie! Judy and Apple Pie Gal both submitted similar answers that really tickled Chicken Mama's funny bone. Judy guessed it was Ole, a blow-up doll who had to be packaged in a big box because Ole is a big man! Apple Pie Gal thought it was Sven from Sveeden, maybe conscious, maybe not. Perhaps these two answers appealed to Chicken Mama because of wishful thinking?

Second prize goes to Trailshome who thought it was a garden gnome to lurk around the deck at Swamp River Ridge and scare off Chicken Mama's pesky raccoon.

I guess I'd have to agree that even though she doesn't currently have one of any of the above (an Ole, a Sven or a guard gnome) she could probably make use of several of any of them! (Hahahaha!)

Chicken Mama wants to give Honorable Mention to the comment from Katidids. She thought it might be fireplace andirons and tools and that Chicken Mama's home had multiple fireplaces so she needed several sets. CM loved the fantasy that anyone thought she might have so grand a house as to have several fireplaces!

Now I'll need mailing addresses from Judy, APG and Trailshome so your prizes can be sent out to you. Just go over to my right hand side bar, hit the "Contact Me" button and send me an e-mail with the info needed.

Go ahead and call us mean and nasty for making you wait for the picture and reveal of the birthday present. We're dragging this out for all it's worth. Thanks to all who jumped in and participated in the fun!

The Island Arrives

While I spent more quality time with my paint brush yesterday morning, Papa Pea went to B's house to pick up my kitchen island she's been building in her shop.

The new island will go in the same place as this makeshift island I've been working with for the past couple/few weeks. Guess who has already leaned on the left hand end of the counter (more than once, I must confess) and barely avoided a calamity as she righted the counter and caught multiple items sliding her way?

Ta-dah! Here is the new unit in the garage where I got the first coat of poly on it. (I had other projects set up outside but with the threatening rain, we knew the island would be too cumbersome and heavy to move inside quickly if the need arose. It's seven feet long and heavier than it looks. Just ask my arms and shoulders this morning!)

Knotty pine on the back and sides. (What else??) Looks like a big ol' box from this angle, doesn't it?

The drawers are stacked underneath it under the gray tarp. After finishing the first coat on the island frame, I set up the drawers outside and got one coat on them also.

Unfortunately, it's dripping quite vigorously outside already this morning so it looks like it might be an inside non-painting/polying day for me. (Dare I sneak into the pantry and start playing in there?)

P.S. If you haven't already, don't forget to put in your guess as to Chicken Mama's birthday present. (See previous post.)

A Gift for a Guess About a Gift

Back earlier this summer, we asked Chicken Mama what she would like for her birthday this year. Her reply came quickly and succinctly. She knew exactly what she wanted. Okay, sounds good to us, we said. She provided the needed info and we sent in the order.

Although we thought the order was placed in time for arrival for her special day of July 5th, it didn't arrive until this week. She's been home at Swamp River Ridge for her days off this week since the arrival of the package so it's still here waiting for her.

Now for the fun part. She suggested I do a blog post asking if any of you would care to hazard a guess as to what her birthday present is.

To give you an idea of the size of the box, here I am standing next to it on our porch. (Bad mommy that I am, I'm not going to wrap it before she gets here. What you see is what she'll get to open!)

Here are a few hints as to what might be in the package:

1) It's bigger than a bread box.
2) There are no air holes in the box so it's nothing alive.
3) Chicken Mama has one of these in her house but she says she needs many more.
4) It was handmade after the order was placed.
5) It is something you might possibly see in Europe more than in the U.S.

Chicken Mama is offering a set of her beautiful photographic note cards to the answer we deem the "best." And I'll throw in two of my quilted pot holders for the second best. Your entry can be funny or serious. Of course, if somebody hits it on the head, you are the weiner!!

Leave your guess in my comments section by this coming Saturday at 6 p.m. We'll look through all entries then and post the winner by Sunday, the 14th. Good luck and have fun! (Hee-hee!)