sand sand stain sand stain GRANITE beer beer beer

If you should choose to re-do your kitchen, that is the process we followed, and it seemed to work well. A more detailed process is below the before and after pictures.

View from living room. (Click for a larger picture.)
From the front door. (Click for a larger picture.)
In this before, don't miss the arm chair/boom box holder, concrete board floor, 1990's era appliances, alarm clock on the counter, phone on chop saw table, batchelor-esque quality to the house. Not that I'm prissy, but there have been some upgrades.

Happy Granite David!

Here is a brief renovation recap, as seen above:
Summer 2005-Renovate entire living area of house including the kitchen, including flooring instaltion
Spring 2006-Build peninsula island
Winter 2007-Get tax refund to pay for (most of) granite
Spring 2007-Strip and restain cabinet faces:
4/1-3/2007: Empty kitchen cabinets
4/4/2007: Sand with 60 grit sandpaper
4/5-6/2007: Sand with 180-220 grit sandpaper, test for stain color
4/7/2007: Remove part of block wall and prep for over-the-range microwave installation
4/8/2007: Happy Easter!
4/9/2007: Stain with Minwax Polyshades (mix of Bombay Mahogony and Anique Walnut, 1:1)
4/10/2007: Sand with ooo steel wool and apply a second coat of Minwax Polyshades (mix of Bombay Mahogony and Anique Walnut, 1:1)
4/11/2007: Have emerald pearl granite enstalled by Steel City Stone (no website, but a wonderful company)
4/11/2007 (later): Have beer (beer, beer) with friends at the Villa Fiesta and miss the new countertops.
4/11/2007 (even later): Return home to gaze upon granite again.
Spring and Summer 2007-Build new cabinet doors

I'll post more projects as they arise.

Hi... I'm Winni...

I like to sit in the yard, and watch ants.
My mom told me that she started this blog. I'm not sure what that is, but she is doing some laundry right now, so I thought I'd drop in to say hi.

She took this picture of me while I was practicing my yoga. I'm working on my lotus pose, but I think I'm a bit off center.

It was the ants fault. I'll keep practicing my concentration.

Well, that's all for now. I'm going to play in the yard. My dad just got home, so maybe he will throw me some sticks and then I will eat them.

Winni

Progress on the house...

In case you don't know, David and I are renovating our house, and getting ready to put on an addition. David bought the house in 2001 and started renovating it soon after. With all of the renovations, the exterior looked a little busy with brick, vinyl siding and wooden siding. To remedy this, we decided to paint the whole exterior.

Since everyone loves a before and after, I have two. The before pictures were taken soon after he purchased it and the afters were taken today.

You can click for a larger view, but this is the front view.

And here's the back.

Paint Colors:
Main House: Behr Sweet Georgia Brown
Trim: Rustoleum Black Semi-Gloss
Doors: Glidden Cranberry Zing

Does knitting fiction count as an FO?

I'm going to keep track of the books that I read this year. I'm terrible about reading a book and then picking it up a few years later and starting it again. NO MORE!! I shall log them here, with a mini-review. There will be another post later to list what I've read up to now, but one step at a time.

Title: The Friday Night Knitting Club
Author: Kate Jacobs
Pages: 340
Rating: ****

Pros: chick lit while dealing with real interpersonal dynamics (illness, interracial families, reconciling with estranged friends), characters seemed very believable

Cons: no patterns (save a garter scarf), predictable in parts

Favorite parts: James' mother telling him that he hand picked which of her rules to follow, using obedience as an excuse for his behavior toward Georgia; Dakota's baking, Georgia's entrepreneurship and Anita's working all ignored the stereotypical rolls of child, business owner, senior citizen

Happy Spring (Break)!

Some of you may be on Spring Break this week. I'm not. In fact, I'm on the way to work with the worst case of hayfever ever. Anyway, David (my husband) is taking this week off. He and the dogs spent some time in the yard on Monday. Sure wish I was staying home too.

I'm off Thursday and Friday. Perhaps there will playing in the yard and progress on the house. I'll let y'all know later.