A Lot of Time with Tile Today

Our friend and carpenter extraordinaire B was able to give us a day of her time today so we jumped back into the remodeling by getting the floor tile laid in the kitchen.

The first order of the day was to move everything we could out of the kitchen (hey, you sure this is not going backwards?) and spread a sealer/leveler on our very uneven floor. Above Papa Pea is mixing up another small batch because it dried in the pail very quickly after being prepared.

B and Papa Pea getting the last of the leveler just right.

Papa Pea tip-toeing across the floor after applying the film of adhesive and having decided it had finally dried enough. We could have all taken a nap in the time it took to dry but instead stood around . . . well, watching the adhesive dry.

Me on the left and B on the right starting to lay the tile around the stove.

The work day ended with the floor covered except for the pieces we have to cut and fit around the perimeter.

The tile looks pretty "busy" to me in that last picture, but I'm pretty sure once everything is moved back in and the large expanse is broken up it will be fine. (Yes, that is our refrigerator peeking through the doorway of the to-be living room.)

I don't know how B feels tonight but I do know two people in this house who have a couple of aches and pains from so much time spent on the floor involving sore knees and creaky backs. But, heck, a few stiff drinks and a good night's rest and . . . we'll probably still have sore knees and creaky backs tomorrow!

I Did It! Sort of.

I quilted today until I could quilt no more. My body isn't used to that much inactivity, I guess, because I stiffened up in so many muscles that long about an hour or so ago I had to give up and reluctantly crawl out of my quilt cave.

What did I do in there?

I had lots of fun playing around making some Halloween potholders. As you can see, I didn't get even one completed. Got the binding started on only one of them, but the binding is all that has to be done to finish them all.

I did take a little time off from quilting this afternoon to brown and start a pot roast simmering for tomorrow. And I also baked a batch of cookies for Papa Pea. Well, see, he has been a pretty good boy lately and after he pathetically asked, "So, we really don't have any more cookies stashed in the freezer anywhere?", what could I do? I mean I didn't even cook one single decent meal today, and the poor guy obviously needed a cookie fix.

The good news for the forest fires still burning in our area is that it has rained almost all day today. A light mist/drizzle this morning that turned to a steady rain all afternoon. I don't know of anyone that won't be happy about this wet day. It should help the fire fighters significantly and last week when I worked on weeding the strawberry patch trying to get a head start for putting it to bed for the winter, the dirt resembled concrete. Now I should be able to finish up that task a lot easier and quicker.

I wouldn't mind watching a Netflix movie to end this lovely day, but I know darn good and well that I'd fall asleep if I tried it. Gotta work up my stamina a little more for all of this relaxing.

Can She Do It?

I'm taking the whole day today to spend in my quilt studio. (Although just getting into my quilt studio with all the "stuff" stored in there because of our remodeling is a challenge in itself.)

Needing to spend some time in a creative manner with my mind and hands (no paint brushes allowed) has been gnawing (GNAWING, I say) on me for some time now.

Something woke me at 4:30 this morning so I got out of bed, wrapped myself in my warm robe, made myself a latte (which woke up Papa Pea in the process -- oops), and headed for a head-first dive into fabric, thread and batting.

Now a little before 10 a.m. I need a short stretch and break. I see I've gotta take my time working back into this quilting thing; seems I have a little tension in my neck, back and shoulder muscles.

Can I forget everything else I could/should be doing on this gray, drippy Sunday and allow myself to quilt, quilt, quilt?

Stay tuned . . .

Pics from the Past Week or So

Our California family is currently winging their way back home and it's time for Mama and Papa Pea to put their work clothes back on and dive into chores needing to be done!

But first, a quick (although lengthy in pictures) recap of what's been going on the last week and a half.

We did manage to take M & D on a hike or two before the smoke from the forest fires in our area got too thick.

A little rest at the top at the spectacular overlook. Papa Pea's brother M and his wife D in the foreground, Papa Pea in background.

Papa Pea in a contemplative pose.

M & D on the return trail ahead of us after going down one area of steep steps. Much easier going down than coming up!

We did coerce them into helping with a bit of work while they were here. Above we're applying new caulking to the top inlet of the stovepipe for our main wood burning stove. I'm manning (womaning?) the caulk gun, D is smoothing the caulk with a highly technical tool (a popsicle stick) and M is lending support . . . and paper toweling.

D donned my Mrs. Darth Vader mask after volunteering to do the spray painting on the stove. (I'm sure she's thrilled this picture leaves her so unrecognizable because she looks about as fetching in the get-up as I do.)

The next day after the paint had thoroughly dried, Papa Pea took advantage of M's help to move the stove back into the house.

In place and nearly ready to be fired up.

A couple of days later, Papa Pea dragged M out as slave labor to do some wood working.

We had a couple of big poplar trees fall this summer right on our pile of eight-foot long logs waiting to be processed. More work for Papa Pea to clear them off before he could start the "real" chainsawing.

We are so, so blessed to have the good neighbor we do. Mr. Heavy Machinery Neighbor was clearing a client's land for a house site. The people didn't want the maple trees he took down and asked him to remove them. We were the lucky recipients of this big pile of excellent firewood delivered right to our wood working area.

Last night was the last time for the five of us to get together. Above from left to right is SIL D, Chicken Mama, me and M.

Same line-up but Papa Pea in my place next to his "little" brother. What we really needed was someone here to take a picture of the five of us as a group!

For Anyone Who May Be Concerned . . .

Just hung up from a phone call from my dear brother in Illinois-land who called to make sure we were alright considering the news he's been hearing about the wild fires around us.

My blog posts have been scanty because of our time spent with Papa Pea's brother and SIL from California who have been visiting. Our usual day-to-day schedule and my blogging schedule have been topsy-turvy with our company here so worry was added to Brother J's thinking when my regular posts haven't been turning up.

There are several fires burning in the area . . . but keep in mind that our "area" is vast, heavily forested and sparsely populated. The worst fire has now burned 100,000 acres. The closest area that has been evacuated is about 30 miles from us as the crow flies. Our immediate area is experiencing heavy smoke and falling ash but we don't currently feel any danger from the fires.

In the 38 years we've lived up here, we've had a burning fire much closer to us (one within a mile and a half) but this is the heaviest smoke for the longest period of time we've know. My visiting SIL suffers from asthma which is aggravated by the smoke so this has been an unfortunate happenstance during their visit.

The fires that are nearest to dwellings or moving toward dwellings are being fought aggressively but some are in spots in the heavy wilderness with no road access and can be fought only from the air with droppings of water and/or flame retardants. These fires are being watched carefully but for the most part are left to burn themselves out which can take literally months.

The smell of smoke is very evident even inside our house and we'll all probably smell like smoked fish for a while after all is said and done. Forest fires are a natural part of the area we live in but they can also be terrifyingly scary and they are nothing that those of us living here don't take seriously. For us personally here at our little homestead, at this time, we're not in any kind of danger. And we're very, very thankful for it.

Quick Post . . .

There's evidence in our back yard that fall is moving in.

We've seen more pronounced fall colors out and about and after our temperature of 94 degrees (!) day before yesterday, I'm ready for autumn to arrive!

Look what else I stumbled upon this morning. Some of my volunteer cherry tomatoes are actually getting ripe! I really didn't think I would see it happen this year. Maybe that 94 degree day had something to do with it?