Spring

It's 'that' time of year once more!

Friend

A friend became the owner of her mother-in-law's 'stash'. She passed much of the yarn on to me.
Thanks!

Shopping, Shopping for the Bathroom

We don't exactly live in town. We live in an unincorporated community where shopping is limited to gas stations, convenience stores and the post office.
When I need to do "real" shopping it's ten miles to town.
Today I was at Lowe's to order white grout.
After lunch back to town with 'Shel to decide on a bathroom sink which we found at the Home Depot. Then the faucet we liked was not in stock.
Back to Lowe's where we found a similar, more costly, faucet. We made a decision on the floor tile and bought those. And mortar.
Now that we have assembled all materials and Michelle has cleaned out the bathroom, there is no reason to delay getting that room redone. I'm tired of fix-it-stores!
So it's a date on Wednesday, full steam ahead!

Most Thoughtful Gift

This bird of stone sat on our neighbor's post, overlooking the yards as a live bird would do. Those same wonderful neighbors have moved.
Knowing how much I enjoyed the bird, Antonio gave him to me, and he now lives with me. For the time being the rooster is in the house until I find the perfect spot and strap him down. There are two places I'm considering. In either case he will face to the East. And he will have to be save from Alani the Destructor.
Next week, when spring is back, he gets to go outside.

Contractor Connect

The website that promised four quotes in 24 hours did not come through. The local guys showed up, looked, either gave me a price on the spot, or called back after hours of crunching numbers.

I chose a fellow that seems kind of quirky, in looks alone. He even suggested he gets the counters at the Home Depot himself, no extra cost. Part of the deal. The price of his services is much less than $4100, but closer to the others that came.

Michelle and I picked up the sink and faucet yesterday, so now we have something to get excited about. There will be a sprayer - Azi shower. The one we now have stopped working well a long time ago, it just drools.

While at Lowe's we looked at tiles again for the bathroom floor. Instead of replacing the linoleum, we talked ourselves into laying tile. Not that difficult to do, and it's only thirty-five square feet. Lowe's will cut and only charge twenty cents per cut. Much cheaper than ruining tiles with the "score and crack" cutter that I have.

That will be the extent of the home improvement projects this year.

Avon

True or false?
Is Avon cosmetics company named after England's Avon, Shakespeare's old digs?

Well, the answer is yes, and I won four pastel bowls from the radio station as a reward.

The DJ asked if I would blog about it, so I did.

Contractors

I'm on the search for a home repair contractor.
I want the kitchen counters replaced. Our kitchen is small, galley style. Cutting the holes for the assorted appliances is beyond my expertise. As is the plumbing and wiring, so someone else needs to do it. I plan to do the trim work, adding mosaic above the back splash. (Michelle's idea)
I also want to install a sink from IKEA in the bathroom. Rip out the wall of cabinets and counter. I contacted the bathroom specialists, who had done some work for us, four years ago. They were quite late and then send a worker, not the main man. The estimate is (drum roll, please!) $4,100.00. Not a joke, they meant that, for two days work. Silly people, they'll never get work from us again, and I'll chat to anyone that cares to listen about it.
Rule of thumb is 50% for supplies, 50% for labor. Clearly we will not pay $4000 for fomica counters.
Then I made contact with the website for contractors. Four estimates were to come in today. Not a peep out of those folks. Not even a call for an appointment.
Our newspaper has a daily half page of pros looking for work. Licensed, and not. I checked on the validity of their licenses thanks to the internet. (It is the way we found our tree guy. That contact has worked out very well.)
I called two people who's ad stated, "No job too small!" and have two appointments tomorrow. Let's hope at least one will work out.
With so many craftsmen out of work right now, you'd think it would be easier to establish a relationship with a handyman.

Continued tomorrow!

Bird Bath

I was too slow with the camera this morning. Two little songbirds were having a grand time in the birdbath, doing what it's meant to do. Water was flying high and chirping was heard. It was very cute.
I must refill the water, maybe they'll be back.

Inspiration

Mosker has been busy in her yard, and although she's working with snow on the ground, I feel inspired to get out and spruce up. So I've raked, weeded, mulched. As always, I'm formulating the annual "plan" for projects. Nothing pricey, just some changes that need to be made.

But I've been busy inside as well. Freshening one of the bathrooms with primer and paint. Scraping water deposits (thanks Shel) and caulking. At the original installation caulking must has been rationed as they really skimped.
My break is over, so back to the paint brush with me!

Product Endorsment

I needed new windshield wipers and had them replaced at the last lube service at Jiffy Lube. I choose the most expensive assuming those would do the best job on my very slanted windshield.
By the next time I needed to use them, those wipers left a huge unwiped area. So back to Jiffy Lube. While they were searching for the proper style one technician came and wiped my glass with Rain-X. He said it would have the rain just bead off.
Sure, pigs fly.
OK, I stand corrected. Rain beads off. I bought the product at Walmart, did my car's back window, Ray's car windows, my neighbors car, the mirror in my bathroom, shower doors. Then the front room window, inside and out. After the last rain I noticed that the dining room window, which was left untreated, has dried dirty raindrops on it. The front room window is spotless.
I usually don't get excited about new product, but this stuff makes my happy.

What The ...#3

How can people have a good sized piece of property and then fill it with this stuff? Clearly it's been there for years. No doubt a breeding ground for vermin and mosquitoes.
Yuck!

Pacific Flyway

Millions of migratory birds come through our area every year. This is just a few of them gleaning a field a couple of miles away from my house.

The Mighty One has Fallen

I was sorry to see that this huge Eucalyptus tree has fallen. It had been an oasis of deep shade in the summer.
Many of the branches can't be seen because it fell into the creek. Good thing those had been southern winds.

Saturday's Production

Allspice flavored Easter braid. (Nice texture, taste is unimpressive).
Olive bread. (Nice texture, wonderful taste, I'll make this again )
Simple baguette in round form. (Baked a bit too long, otherwise OK)

The Curative Effect of Sunshine

I feel like I've been let out of a cave.
It's daytime.
It's not raining.
There is no wind.
The sun is shining.
It's warmer than 50'.

Most of the ground is still soaked, so the backyard is no fun. I spent an hour cleaning up a flower bed by the house, sweeping the patios.
Refilling the bird feeders was a relaxing chore today. Hummingbirds are back. In two weeks the first of the fruit trees will be in bloom.

Last night I acted like an ostrich. I pretended there was no wind, no rain, the table and chairs outside were not being shoved about. This morning we had to pick up toters, move the furniture back into place and pick up the neighbors shingles from our driveway.

Seems the wild month of of January is over.