Hi everyone,
I thought I’d answer a few of your comments…
Charlotte… I’m so glad you are finally out of the woods and feeling better…it’s crummy to be sick and not know what is wrong… at least you got SOME good news…
Linda…Just between you and me, I’d like to skip my “big day!” But apparently that’s not an option! Oh well, it’s just a number!
When everything is finished??? I’d like to know if that will ever happen… all I know is we are a lot closer to the finish line than we were a few years ago!
Dorothy…you have my word…no more projects before the wedding… pinky swear! :o)
I guess I didn’t make it clear in my post, but Cindy and Tom aren’t here YET… that picture of Tom and my hubby was taken a few years back when they were putting up my ceiling in the kitchen… it’s just been that long since we decided to finish all the unfinished “parts!”
Joy…the trim in the hallway area isn’t even finished, but we both LOVE it and can see how it’s going to look when it’s all one color with the nail holes filled in and painted in a semi gloss white… I’m so excited… We have a zillion things still left to do on this house… I told my hubby this afternoon, “we’re going to have a completely new house when we get some of these last jobs done.” He looked at me and said, “Yeah, but don’t forget the basement!” It’s creepy and not the best but I’m hoping the upstairs will be so beautiful and charming that if we ever sell it, the new owners will overlook the basement.
Paula…Welcome back and I hope you enjoyed the posts since I haven’t been sewing lately… it sounds like you have been busy lately too!
Today Rebecca and I were discussing foods for the reception (in between moments when I wasn’t helping with the trim…) the thoughts of having some of these bigger jobs completed is like a dream come true… We are going to do the floor in the sitting room and the back of the house after the wedding… that will make a HUGE difference… and then we have 4 windows in the dining room that are the last windows in the house for us to replace. We did all the others ourselves, so why stop now? There is still plenty to do, but things are getting done bit by bit!
Sally…my sister, Cindy and her hubby Tom aren’t here… YET… that was an old picture of when Tom was helping put in our ceiling in the kitchen. They are coming next Friday… There is still lots to do around here, but I did like your idea of going out for ice cream! I might have to suggest that when we get this trim project finished! It’s getting there but I have to get the Caulk King to caulk and punch in the nails so I can spackle the holes and do the touch up painting… Some of the boards were primed and painted but I didn’t get them all finished before he wanted to use them…
Susette… thanks for the compliments on something you haven’t even really seen yet, but it’s almost getting to the “pretty” part… once all the boards are painted the same color and the nail holes all filled in, it will look wonderful. We can hardly believe how much it has changed the looks of that area just since yesterday! :o)
No, unfortunately Reuben won’t be going to the wedding… he is much too excitable to be invited to a wedding… now if he were a good dog and didn’t bark at every stranger he saw, we might have kept a seat for her… he LOVES Rebecca… but he’ll be staying home…
Laura… I think my hubby wanted to fix the area up because he’s got family coming in who haven’t seen it in years… he also wanted to just get it done and this was a great deadline to push us to finish it… maybe not the wisest move he ever made, but now that we are on the homestretch, I’m glad we did it!
Kathie…I’m sorry your comments disappeared… I sent an email to Sara to see if she knew what was causing that… hopefully it’s just a minor adjustment… but I know that’s frustrating…
Ingrid…sorry you lost your comments too…
Barbara… I’m sorry, but I had to laugh when you told about the cake you make and the clown getting “freckles!” That’s happened to me too! Well, I’m not going to be as young as I am now in just a few days… yep, the big 65 is coming my way! I know it’s only a number but I’d much rather be 64 than 65 for some reason! I guess when we are REALLY old we won’t have any home projects to do… I hope I’m still able to sew then! :o)
Dorothy L…thanks for that line where you said you enjoy posts other than the dolly ones… I’ve certainly had plenty of those lately. My hubby decided he wanted it too look as nice as possible around here… too bad we didn’t do it BEFORE Rebecca was leaving… now it will only be us to enjoy it… Oops… I better not go down that path… the tears will start flowing… I’m still not sure how I’m going to handle her moving so far away…
Joy…yes, that baby was very sweet!
Marilyn… Cindy and Tom aren’t here yet…(that was an old picture of when they were putting up my kitchen ceiling) but they will be in a week… Tom is actually going to marry them! I think that’s pretty neat! It is nice to have that eyesore of a hallway being fixed up. I can’t wait till it’s all done and gleaming white!
Anne… I have to agree with everyone on how pretty your cakes look. I’m planning on making some tiny little cakes for the wedding and I’m not very confident that I can make them look the way I see them in my head… but I’m going to try… Yours are wonderful! I had to take this home project whenever it came, and so be it that it happened the weeks just ahead of the wedding… somehow we’ll get it all done… we did a lot today… so I’m hopeful.
We are hoping for nice weather for the wedding since the ceremony will be outside (under a pavilion). Mostly we are just hoping for a less humid day than we have been having lately and for no rain. Rebecca really wants nice outdoor pictures… I hope she gets them! :o)
Ingrid… yes, you have the story right… that was years ago when we put in the ceiling…maybe in 2017 or 2018… and Tom was helping us. That area has been like that with the old oak boards and that plaster and lathe showing too… we should have done this a long time ago, but at least it’s being done now…
Congrats on your new floor… after the wedding… ( maybe a little while after it…) :o) we hope to finish our floors in the back of our house… of all the things we’ve ever done, I think those floors have been my favorite… not to be walking on plywood floors is a HUGE deal to me…
Karen…Oh how disappointed you must have been to have found Josefina and then her be $80! I agree, that’s not much of a thrift store price. I have been to a Once Upon a Child store before and they were nice, but they were a bit on the higher side… I do hope you and your girls get to go the doll show… Maybe you’ll find a new treasure to bring home and love! :o)
Okay, now for a few pictures of what we did today… I’m hanging in there while we try to wrap this “trim” project up. We made some headway today and I can see the end in sight… I just have lots of nails to set and spackle and then all the touch up painting. I did prime as many boards as I could ahead of time, but some will still have to be primed and painted. We started at 9:00 this morning and called it quits at 8:30. We were bushed… but proud of what we got accomplished…
I’m not entirely sure you can tell much from these pictures… I can’t get back far enough from the area to take very good pictures…
Remember, this was it yesterday…
…and today… lots of scraps used for fill boards to make things as level (as possible!) :o)
I can’t tell you how many shims we had to use to make things the same width from top to bottom.. but it was A LOT!
I’ve been waiting ever since I painted my cabinets to get this piece of trim up to finish off the looks in my kitchen…we even got the baseboard trim up too a little bit later…
This area was across the hall going into the bathroom and was the end of my tongue and groove wall in the kitchen. It had to be finished too, so we could put the board across the top of the ceiling to tie it all together…
…here’s how it looks now with the piece fitted into the corner and then over the tongue and groove…
It doesn’t seem like it should have been that tough of a project, but when you have trim that measures 1 1/2″ on one end of an area and then goes down to 3/4″ at the other end… well, that’s where all those shims came in… :o)
This is what the whole area on both sides looks like now… no more ugly brown oak boards showing…
We have 2 more boards to put across the top ceiling areas… and then we’ll be done with all the wood stuff… then it’s time to pretty it all up! :o)
Well that’s it for today… come back tomorrow to see this tiny little doll…
Blessings, Jeanne
What a difference in the new hallway entrance look !!! It looks so open and so tailored! Excellent work and perseverance!! I admire the dedication to your beautiful home and it’s improvements.
I bet the house has been beaming with pride in its new look!
Well done as always – you and George are a great team!!!
With all you had to do, it was very nice of you to take the time to answer our comments.
God speed today on your continued work!
Thank you Paula,
It’s kind of strange to walk by that area now and not see those old boards showing…I can’t wait to get it painted now!!
Today Rebecca and I are going to a specialty bead shop so she can find something to make a pair of wedding earrings. We gave her a gift certificate to this shop a while back and she is finally getting to go there…
I hope she finds just what she wants!!
Thanks Paula,
Blessings, Jeanne
What a huge amount of work, but the final product will be superb. Isn’t it amazing what a pain it can be to make everything fit together wood wise? Add the putty and caulk and voila!
Glad to hear Cindy and Tom are invited to the wedding. Great that he will marry the couple too. I somehow was thinking that since there were so few invited that they not make the cut. Has the number of guests changed? Just curious.
Is that a snake grabber hanging on the hall wall? 🙂 As to your basement, perhaps you can hang some Halloween banners and a few skeletons and make it the spookiest place ever! Might be fun to decorate. 🙂
As to the “Big” day, nothing will compare to “70”. 🙂
And in a very few years quite a few of us will be hitting 80! Now that’s a really scary thought
I’m there already! Yikes!
Dear sweet Jeanne,
While I was thinking you and George had gone off the deep end doing this project just before the wedding, you have, once again, wrought a miracle. All those shims! Eliminating the “underwear” of the walls and making this all white. This is where I believe white really pulls weight. Applause!
When you go out for the ice cream, make it a “high test” choice rather than “regular “, if you catch my drift. Go for the gold, sweetheart!
I also agree with some other sisters that your DIY posts are as much fun as doll ones, but the bottom line is, we love it all, and it certainly has been enjoyable seeing other sisters’ contributions of pictures.
Thank you for taking time out to address our comments; we know you are way past being busy.
How many again coming to the wedding?
Hope Miss Rebecca finds what she envisions for her earrings!
May the humidity dissipate, although, on the “bright side”, humidity will make your hair have real curl, right? Mine always curls in the most unimaginable ways in high humidity, but I have long accepted that as part of my personality. There are MANY benefits to being 65 and older. “Wear it with pride.”
Love,
Sally
Jeanne, everything is coming up roses in my opinion! You and George have wrought miracles in almost everything you have tackled in your house! What a transformation with the hall reno, and it certainly works in a house with a farmhouse “vibe”!
Oh, so Cindy’s husband is doing the honors? A real family affair! This is getting more and more fun to hear about these little glimpses of the wedding to be and keeps us all wanting more! How about she livestreams the wedding just for us?🤣. Of course you know I’m kidding, and we all will be thinking of you on that day.
I too, hope Rebecca finds what she wants for her earrings, and knowing her skills, they will be perfect for her! Is the mother of the bride getting a pair too?
This past couple of weeks have been fun for all of us, we have gotten to know each other better, and we will still be here when you start up your sewing again. It’s so true that “love makes the world go ‘round”, isn’t it?
As for your “big day”, just remember you’re only as old as you feel. LOL When I wake up in the morning I feel 30 all over again. The I get out of bed and start to move around and am reminded once again 30 was a long time ago. We returned to Chorale last evening and a woman I went to church with years ago and was in Chorale with, but who had not been in Chorale for a few years, was there. I was telling her all the family news. She asked me how old I was now. When I told her 74 she countered with I’m 87 now. She looked better than the last time I saw her reminding me that age is just a number.
What a project you’ve undertaken and how wonderful it looks already Unfortunately, and I speak from experience, when one part of the house is getting some TLC a part of the house which was finished becomes the staging point for the project and that part ends up looking messy again. When I was doing all my study re-organizing I had a table set up in the dining area of my kitchen for easier sorting, and as a staging area to make it obvious how much I still had to deal with. When I was finished and the table came down it was a welcome difference.
Thanks for responding to our comments. Just getting your blog out every day is a feather in your cap these days. Anything else is a pleasant surprise.
How wonderful that Cindy’s husband, Tom, is going to perform the wedding ceremony. It’s always extra special when a family member can do that. I hope Rebecca found what she needs to make some lovely earrings. Can’t wait to see what she designs.
Still haven’t done any sewing lately but my sewing room is looking better and beckoning me louder than ever. Oh wait! That’s all 30+ dollies in there. Next week? I hope.
Can’t wait to see the tiniest doll.
Dear Jeanne, the house looks wonderful. I think you could easily to a “then” and “now” article for House Beautiful.
I am so happy that Rebecca is making this wedding just the way she wants it to be. I know that some brides-to-be don’t care so much or use a “formula” to create the perfect wedding. Rebecca’s wedding is already perfect because it is her vision, her dream.
Thank you for sharing your joy with us. Excitement mounts here on the sofa.
Unfortunately, I only have a second to comment. Thank you for taking time to answer ours. Your hallway looks just beautiful now, Jeanne. I hope Rebecca finds just the beads she wants.
Looking forward to seeing the tiniest doll.
Jeanne I think you are amazing, you may be nearly at a big birthday but you and George have so much energy. Like everyone else I have been enjoying watching the reno and wedding process. You will really enjoy getting back to your dolls/children when this is all done. I hope Rebecca found exactly the right beads for her earrings.
I watched the Great British Sewing Bee last night. It was Children’s Night and the first item they made was a little girl’s smocked dress, smocked on the machine. They had 3 and a half hours!!! (The winner of that section, by the way, was a gay male who had no children lol. The one who came last was always making clothes for her grandchildren!) I love smocking but it is too time consuming and the thought of being able to do it by machine was intriguing. I looked it up on line and found two YouTube videos (I am sure there were more but it was getting very late) one from US and one from UK. I learnt quite a bit from both especially why the smocking wasn’t particularly successful on the Sewing Bee (in my opinion and the opinion of the UK woman on YouTube). I have the time at the moment but my good sewing machine isn’t working properly. I was going to take it in on the day after we went into Lockdown but we aren’t allowed to go anywhere in our cars except to the supermarket or unless you are an essential worker and unfortunately sewing machine repairs aren’t considered essential! (I think they should be lol). The machine I am using is far too basic to attempt smocking on it.
This Delta variant is scary. We now have nearly 400 people with it and we have been in Lockdown for 10 days! Most of the cases now are family members or close contacts because if you have been at a ‘place of interest’ at the relevant time you have to isolate immediately, have a test and can’t leave the house for two weeks with two more tests in that time! You are supposed to isolate from all your family but that is unrealistic! Even with only three children Sam would struggle to do that if she needed to but many of the Pasifika families in Auckland have many more people living together. Some supermarkets in Auckland have had to close for the duration because so many of their staff have had to isolate. The ones still able to work have been sent to other branches.
Yesterday we hoped that here in the South Island where we still have no cases we would be able to move down a level but unfortunately we have to wait until Tues at 11.59pm. Auckland and Northland have to stay at level 4 for another 2 weeks. That hasn’t pleased those from Northland (not very imaginative with their place names, those original settlers) since they have no cases but just like in the medieval plague those with holiday homes in Northland i.e. those with money, fled the city. Fortunately they don’t seem to have taken it with them so far.
Our Patchwork Guild missed our last meeting because of Lockdown and I can’t see us being out of Level 3 ( only allowed up to 10 people and only for weddings and funerals) by 4th September so we will miss another one.
It is now mandatory to wear a mask in all public places (indoors) and mandatory to scan the QR code or sign in everywhere. Currently all over 30’s can get a vaccine but from Tuesday it will be all over 12’s. (We only use the Pfizer vaccine here). Essential workers have been eligible for a long time but not all of them have taken it up. The Government have suddenly realised that essential workers also includes supermarket workers, now they are dropping like flies!!
You can tell from the number and length of my posts that I have nowhere to be can’t you lol.
I love your posts Anne. Not that I’m glad you are in lockdown, but we do get to see snips of life in NZ and you can catch up on all of those great crafty things you make. Love it. 🙂 Thank you.