Hello out there

I have been slacking. Or have been so tired when I get home from work I don’t get much done. Eek. I have decided I need to focus on one room at a time in my house so it isn’t as overwhelming. I even found this app for my phone called Pendo. It’s notes but with photos. So each note has a picture of the room and the list of what I need to do in there. Well not sure that it has worked yet, but starting today I am working on the one room at a time. Period. When I lived in this house before renting it out, I had already added ceiling fans to every room. I had switched out all the door hardware to silver (I hate gold). I had painted every room (with the help of my parents). Put in some new lights except the hall lights. After the renters, before my brother and family, my parents had wood flooring put in and replaced the swamp cooler with a Master Cool (which still runs on water but more effectively). Interesting how because it is such a dry state, they like to use swamp coolers but we are supposed to be conserving water.

I am getting itchy though with these new changes. I love my house. The layout. The closets. I would stay here but I know that in order for my son to live with me I need a house closer to his school and my parents. I just keep telling myself that I am learning new things and can make my next house as pretty, even if it is older. My dad finished getting the willow tree out of the middle of the back yard. Why people put those things close to houses is crazy. They don’t grow deep roots, only invasive ones that grow towards the surface so they grow towards houses and sidewalks. He said once he got the big roots cut at the surface the stump fell right over (my son and I had already cut off all the small branches). I used to have a flower bed around the base of the tree. But my brother’s dog liked to chase birds around the circle, so the grass has to be replaced. The bricks were moved and I am going to use them to make a flowerbed by the fence where the neighbors over water and weeds grow from. I figure I might as well get free water and grow something that will cover up where they are staining the fence. Although, they must have several raised beds because I notice in this photo some water damage there too.

The room I am focusing on now is the hall bathroom. Before my brother moved in, I painted it this color I really loved. Replaced the light, the mirror and the shower rod (I really like the arched ones so you don’t have the shower curtain right on you). Oh yeah, I also had to replace the toilets while they were living here. You can see the old color next to the beadboard. Once I got moved back in, that color started getting to me. It made me think of a Mexican restaurant. Too much. So I painted the room the color from the living room. A very lovely milk chocolate. I am for sure using this color again in my new abode. I didn’t take a good before picture, so these are works in progress. I went to try and hang the large piece of beadboard myself yesterday. It doesn’t fit. My parents decided it was better to hang the wall piece first instead of the big piece. We used the baseboard and made sure it was level. See the big gap up against the wall with the arrow. That is why the big piece doesn’t fit. I am going to try to sand it down a little and see if that will work. I also had to take the toilet tank off so I could paint behind it and get the yucky baseboard out. Not sure why it had water damage because the plumber told my brother nothing was leaking. The vent in here was so rusted (mostly from my brother running the cooler all day long) so I spray painted it with Rustoleum’s hammered. It’s silver now too. I also used that paint to spray the metal plate that is up against the wall from the toilet hose. It was really rusted. Makes me think that was what was leaking onto that damaged baseboard. Slow leak so the plumber didn’t notice it. I love hammered spray paint.

I have been doing some baking, created a gallery wall and all these little things around the house. Even though it feels nothing is getting done. I found the best banana bread recipe ever. I will share more on all that later.