A little bit “pretty” and an update on the “Olympics!”

I’m back… Rebecca to the rescue! She had reset the router last night and forgot to turn it back on… DUH! I could have done that…if only I had known! Oh well… I’m back!

I can’t thank you all enough for carrying on today when I was clearly absent all day. I read through the comments when I got home and you all are amazing… just chatting amongst yourselves and visiting with each other! I love it when that happens. We just got home from working on the church’s kitchen and made some real headway today… YAY! The sooner I get this done, the sooner I’ll be back in my sewing room…which is a LOT more relaxing and much easier on the fingernails! I had one major casualty today! :o(

Saturday we had a friend who is a “skilled” carpenter help with putting the brick boards up! Thanks Dana!

With the brick board up, it was time to spackle the cracks between the boards. I have a thing about those little slivers of cracks showing.. I don’t like them.

So I used my spackle and filled them in from top to bottom… and let it dry.

Then I sanded them and mixed a few shades of some of my “sample” paints for my kitchen cabinets and put some blobs on a paper plate. Using a dry paint brush, I dabbed my paint brush in them and then dabbed it on the paper plate and then dabbed at the bricks where the cracks were. (I know…that’s a lot of dabbing…)

It worked pretty well and was much better. I did all 3 cracks between the sheets of brick board.

I took in a scrap of my brick board to Lowe’s and the girl there scanned the “grout” part of it and then mixed up a sample jar of paint. It was an absolute perfect match. So I took a tiny paint brush and painted where I had sanded the grout lines. I was very pleased with how the grout looked.

When I have more time I’m going to add a little more creamy colored paint to the cracks in just a few places… but it’s not a priority.

I cut in the edges of my walls with the new paint… Edgecomb Gray… and then we painted the rest with 4″ foam rollers… it went pretty fast…but I’m sure my shoulder is going to be feeling it tomorrow…

We got the underlayment on the bottom part of the “ugly long wall.” (Well, the wall that USED to be ugly!)

The other side of the kitchen got pieced together with the few scraps of brickboard we had left. It will have a cabinet up above and below and the frig will be there too, so it didn’t matter too much on that… just where it showed between the upper and lower cabinet and above the frig.

My hubby repaired the floor while I edged in the paint and we are hoping to start on the floor tomorrow…although I’d like to wait one more day and get my white trim painted first… We’re putting down the same flooring as we used in our house… just a different color…

In Olympic news… Linda sent me a picture of her girls dressed up in their ice skates… I think you’ll agree they are adorable…

…and yes, that’s an Olympic Gold Medal around Ruthie’s neck! Way to go Ruthie!

Most everyone picked the ice skating as their favorite event… I would probably have to agree with you all, but I do find myself watching whatever is on, and loving it all. I’m not very athletic myself, but I sure do love to watch what others can achieve!

I’ll do the Chinese New Year’s post soon…

…and a big thank you to Sandra for all the information she gave about computers… check it out and SAVE it for a time when you might need it! I am!

See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne

17 thoughts on “A little bit “pretty” and an update on the “Olympics!””

  1. Charlotte Trayer

    So glad to see you back, Jeanne, and that the problem was nothing major. You know what they say–if all else fails…..turn it on/plug it in/read the directions! (Okay, so I paraphrased it a bit!)

    Wow, that kitchen is coming along beautifull, and I love how you spackled, sanded and painted the joins in the brick board!! You improved the appearance a great deal!!

    Thanks for sharing Linda’s picture, and congratulations to Ruthie for winning the gold!! Way to go, Ruthie!

  2. Thanks for all the cool updates on the kitchen, Jeanne. Your “dabbing” work and what followed after is a work of art. I will assume that everyone who will be working in the kitchen in the days ahead will find it a most pleasurable experience. The team of Jeanne and George brings contentment to all.

    Linda, your skaters are adorable. Congrats to Ruthie on her gold!

    Blessings.

  3. I’m so happy that you are back, Jeanne, like all the rest of us! I just love starting the day with your blog, and really miss it when there are “problems” now and then!
    Oh, I love that brick paneling for the church kitchen! So bright and cheerful looking and will make cooking there a dream! You did a wonderful job of making the seams disappear, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.
    Thank you for showing my dolls. I do wish I had my Sonja Henie doll, but I have no idea what happened to her. I have looked at them on Ebay, and while some of them look familiar, I have yet to see that darling outfit that came on mine. I do know that I got her in 1951, yes, that long ago!

    1. Hi Linda – So glad Jeanne shared the pic of your dolls. I love the way you showcase your girls. Did you make their outfits? They all look wonderful and Ruthie looks amazing with her Gold.

      1. Hello, Leigh! No, I didn’t make those skating costumes. They are all AG outfits, but they have been retired several years now, so I got them off Ebay. Betsy is wearing a Wellie Wisher ballet costume! Thank you and the others for the compliments!

    2. Just so curious about what your 1951, Sonja looked like. Do you remember the dress? I saw one with a satin cream dress with white fur that was beautiful.

  4. Beautiful seam work!! You did a great job on the seams. I’ll remember what you did there for the next time I use panel boards. The whole kitchen is looking so much prettier already! All the hard work is starting to pay off.
    Glad the computer problem was fixed so easily.
    Hope you have a good day. Try to stay dry (so much rain) –
    Take care –

  5. Hi Jeanne,
    Obviously when you say Dana is the Skilled one, you mean he got dirtier. The walls look great!

  6. Great progress on the kitchen. Jeanne you really did a fab job on making the seams disappear and that was a great idea to have Lowes mix up a sample size paint for you, I will have to remember that idea. The kitchen looks wonderful, it’s going to be bright and cheery.

    Also thanks for showing Linda’s photo of her Gold Medal Olympic champion. , Ruthie.

  7. I had no idea what your brick panels were going to look like. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen them used before. What a wonderful way to improve a wall. And, I’m with you on the gaps. Love how you were able to fill and paint to cover them. You are such an artist! I’m sure the kitchen will be so appreciated when complete. Looking forward to seeing the cabinets and counter tops. Oh, flooring too.
    I just had to look at Sonja Henie dolls yesterday after hearing about Linda’s doll. With Google and Ebay, I’ve never seen so many. Narrowing it down to 1951, I think I will take another look today. Love the photo of the Olympic skaters. Congrats to all the sweet winners.
    Oh, and so glad your computer problem was only human error. We’re dealing with things not working here also. With the very cold weather (for us) of course the heater at my parents old house is on the blink. Tried all of the first fix its and still not sure what the problem may be. Fan is not working so it could be a number of things. We’ll fiddle around again today, and then have to call in someone in the know who will want big bucks to fix it. And we also have a leaking toilet here. Fortunately it is inside the tank and not all over the place. This one, we can fix if we can get the part. May have to order direct form Kohler though. So, guess you know how our day will be going. Messy.

  8. Your extra care filling and disguising those seams takes it from OK to professional! love the soft color and the floor like yours is going to complete the total look. It’s fun to watch it come together. This is a great time to do it..boring weather and not Spring as yet. I know you have other things to do but every time you set foot in that kitchen ( which is often since you are such a good church member) you will ? smile and enjoy all the hard work.

  9. I’m amazed at what you did with the brick wall. I wonder how many people do that when installing that kind of thing? What a perfectionist you are!

    Linda’s dolls are simply adorable. She is a perfectionist as well with her scenes. Thanks for sharing the timely pictures.

  10. How nicely the kitchen is coming along. It really looks nice. What a wonderful improvement for the church building and the students.
    Linda’s girls look wonderful and are dressed so cute for the Olympics!! Perfect set up as Ruthie shows her gold medal. Love it.
    I too love to watch the skaters, singles and doubles. The costumes are gorgeous and love how the girls’ outfits flow with their graceful moves. The skiers are fun to watch but I really admire the skating racers…what strength and endurance those athletes have !!!

  11. You are just as talented with paneling seams as you are with dress seams!! Love your work makes it look so finished, just like in sewing. BUT, when do you get to start on “your” kitchen? Is this just a practice session? LOL

  12. I was so glad you got the computer/router sorted out. What I posted was the best advice I was ever told. As the tech told me that decades ago. I called it removing everything from it’s life support system…even if you turn it off its still getting power from the wall outlet. You can’t believe how many times I’ve used that advice and how many people I’ve told and unless your computer or router/modem died start there. Happy it was something minor as the router being turned off.

    Linda your dolls look so sweet and love the gold medal winner. Thanks for sharing.

    The brick wall and the walls are looking amazing. I can’t believe how very close you were able to duplicate the color with the paint. It really does take the brick wall from looking good to looking super and professional. I love those sample size paints especially for art work as you can find them on clearance.

  13. Really late tonight, so has to be quick.
    The kitchen is looking good.
    Linda, your girls are just. I love that you have time to get them into the spirit of whatever is currently going on. Congratulations to Ruthie. How talented she is with those triple axels and whatnot. I think I hear Samantha telling me she simple must have a pair of ice skates.

  14. Your work on the brick walls really is amazing. Now they look like brick walls. Once again, you need to add a category — home repair? Someone will come up with a better alternative.

    Our projected 1 inch of snow turned into 7, and in spite of the cold, it has been melting as fast as it could go. The temperature was between 0 and 1 this morning and a friend lost control of her car on a patch of black ice and was hit by 3 other cars. She and her 8 year old walked, or in her case, limped away, from the car, but it’s never going anyplace again. That’s ok — she and her son are going to be going places again, which is all that matters. She’s saying very sincere prayers of Thanksgiving.

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