Making Progress!

For several months we have been working on our sun room project. It all started 2 years ago (when Adam graduated high school). We needed our roof replaced and Kevin suggested extending a roof out over our deck. Since our yard used to be a sheep pasture, there wasn't much in the way of shade, and our deck was always blistering hot and we barely used it during the 15 previous years living here.

Since we had the roof over the deck, we used it more than we ever did in all of the previous 15 years combined! Last fall, we decided we wanted to use it year round because we love it so much-so we started the process that was supposed to be a 2 week process (or so our builder told us). On June 1st it will be 8 months! It took forever to get the permit (the local building department was being stinky). Once we got going we ran into a host of issues, but I think we are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!!! Another obstacle is the permit expires on June 1st. So we are going to have to pay another $50 for a new permit-ugh!

Yesterday we finished the tongue and groove pine on the two peaks, and we hired a guy we found on Craig'slist to do the small amount of dry wall. He called and asked if he could come do the job today! He thought he could have the whole thing completed by the end of the day because he uses low moisture mud that dries faster than traditional. He got here about 11 this morning...left at 5 and had an hour lunch break half way through----AND--- he got it all done TODAY!!! He did a great job too!

The next step is to make the built-in cabinets and tile the floor, and then we can finally enjoy our room!

Here are some pics to show the progress...

 Once it stops raining for a few days, these doors will be painted to match the transom windows.

 That post was Kevin's idea of a way to hang my hanging baskets-it won't be there very  much longer-I got two shepherd's hooks from my grandma that look way better.

I didn't take any pictures of the walls after they were taped and mudded, but you can take my word for it it-they look GREAT! This is the ceiling that drove us crazy for the last few weeks as we put it up. We still have to trim out the skylights (I got them at a garage sale-new in the boxes with the flashing!). and where the ceiling and wall meet, but we can really see some progress and that is such a wonderful feeling!!

Sunday, May 29, 2011

I got half of the garage cleaned yesterday-the half I park my car in. Kevin's side was just too overwhelming! Plus he kept calling me back to the sun room to help him-on top of catching up on the laundry-and getting side-tracked with other things needing to be done-so I didn't get it totally finished. I am tempted to just leave it and see how long it will take him to clean up his mess-especially since my side is so neat and clean. Never got out to the pool yesterday either-it started raining again-boo!

Today was the big parking structure sale in Warren. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you may remember me posting about it last Memorial weekend. Last year Auntie went with us. This year she wasn't able to go.I almost missed it myself. I totally forgot about it until Auntie said something on Friday when we were out searching for treasures together. She had her city wrong though, she thought it might be the Royal Oak Parking Structure Sale, but I looked it up and that sale isn't until mid July.

Eric and I scooted out after church and went to the sale. They were only charging $1 each this year for admission as opposed to $2 each last year and previous years. We both thought there was about a whole floor less of vendors as compared to previous years. There were more dealers there than average people trying to get rid of some junk. There also was a huge influx of flea market kind of stuff there, like flags, crafts, sauce mixes, cell phone covers-all the new bulk stuff you see at flea markets. I think there was at least a dozen people selling vintage jewelry and maybe that many more selling new.

Can you guess what my first purchase was???   Yep! Kettle Corn!!! Freshly made and still warm-mmm! I brought my red granny cart with the anticipation of filling it up with all kinds of wonderful treasures. I ended up with 2 things other than the kettle corn.

 It's already almost half gone! We LOVE kettle corn in our house!!!

I think this might be a bakelite handle...

This beauty was sitting on top of a shade that went to a broken lamp. I was so excited to find this especially in such good shape-and at the price it got it at! It was one of those, "quick start the car" moments.

We zipped through pretty fast and the whole adventure, including drive time only took 2 1/2 hours. That left us plenty of time to work on the sun room when we got home-woo hoo! We had a guy come out today to give us a quote for the drywall, and he was incredibly quick showing up, and had a really good price. He says he is going to come tomorrow-start and finish in one day!!! Based on our previous experiences with contractors...I'm not going to hold my breath.

We are sitting low right now, there is a tornado warning in effect for our area. We all ran around like crazy battening down the hatches, and getting the birds all put away. There are 4 projected tornadoes heading our way...with our luck one will come by and rip the sun room off!

That Was Different...

What is the strangest, weirdest, most unexpected place you've ever gone to a garage sale? Today I went to a sale at a local campground! I've seen their ads for years, and have always wanted to stop, because we  camped there for several years when I was growing up. Our church would rent out several spaces and a whole group of us would go every year.

I was surprised at how big the park has gotten! It was a decent size the last time I was there (probably my junior or senior year in high school), but today it was absolutely HUGE! There are some tiny mobile homes there on the lake that are permanent, and there were hundreds of pop-ups, 5th wheels and motor homes.

It was kind of hard sometimes to tell if someone was having a sale or if they just had a lot of junk on their picnic table. So when in doubt, I skipped it. It was fun to see the old place and see what it has become. It was nice to see so many people enjoying it and to see that it is thriving all these years later!

I only got a few things, but I am very excited with my finds...

Did you get to any sales today? The skies are clearing up now, and it looks like the rain may be moving out for a while. I'm so tired of working on the sun room, I think I'm going to clean out the garage and then open the pool. Maybe summer will finally happen and we can get some use of out it!

Happy Weekend!!!

Midland Antiques & Collectibles Festival is Just Around the Corner!!

I have been soo busy lately, I haven't even had time to just relax-let alone pay attention to what day it is!! I just got a great reminder email...

I CAN'T WAIT to go!!! It's just around the corner!!! Are you planning on going this year? If you are. send me an email, maybe we can meet for lunch or a fresh-squeezed lemonade!

Springtime Treasures...

Our one night respite to my parent's house last Friday was so relaxing! It almost felt like we were at an exclusive spa! They have a gorgeous house on a beautiful lake in the Upper Peninsula and I just love it there. While we were there I took a few pictures of my mom's flowers, because when she gets back from Alaska in a week and a half, they will all be gone!

Their weather always take a little longer to warm up in the UP than it does here in lower Michigan. Our daffodils have been long gone. When we left on Wednesday, our trees were just starting to pop out little tiny leaves, and my lilac bushes were just starting to bud. When we got home, the leaves were all popped out and full-size. The lilac bushes were overflowing with flowers and the wind took their refreshing fragrance all over our yard. I spent an hour in my favorite spot yesterday-just enjoying the lilacs and the trees. My favorite spot? A rope hammock stretched between two trees-best thing we ever bought was that hammock!

We Cleared Out a LOT of STUFF!

We're back home from our whirlwind trip to help my grandparents with their estate sale. It couldn't have gone smoother! It took about 8 hours for me to price the entire house. I think the first half hour was spent by me walking around, rubbing my temples---very overwhelmed at the task before me! Kevin worked in the garage for a couple of hours from the list I gave him for prices and Eric mowed the lawn for a couple of hours, and then the first day was done-it really flew by too!

The second day was the first day of the sale. We made $1200 in the first 3 hours and we barely made a dent! There were 12 people waiting to get in when we opened! The first people arrived an hour early, and I was so afraid that they would be sorely disappointed once they got in and realized that nothing in the entire house or garage was worth waiting an hour in your car for!

We finished the first day off around $1700. The second day was slower, but not much. There was a constant stream of people in and out of the house, but we only made a little over $500. Today was the big sale day...one lady thought it was funny that a garage sale was having a sale. Everything was 50% off from 9-11 then from 11-12 it was 75% off-all except the tractor and cart and craftsman toolbox. I ended up giving my grandparents close to $3000 when all was said and done.

They stayed at their "apartment" and let me bring the money to them each day-although grandma made Eric pick her up the first day so she could come out and pick out some junk treasures to take back. She packed up 3 BIG boxes of stuff, and would have taken more if she hadn't worn herself out. It was truly an answer to prayer that they weren't there each and every day! It would have been so awkward for people trying to shop!

One of the last ladies there bought the coffee table that was loaded with Knick Knacks, and Eric jokingly said, if you take the table, you have to take all the knick knacks too, and I jumped in and agreed. She was actually THRILLED!   We ended up boxing up about 4 or 5 big boxes of junk knick knacks and she took them all! She was all teary eyed when she thanked me. She was going to use them for things with her family and her church and she couldn't be happier.

We met a LOT of interesting people. One old guy was looking over all the small kitchen appliances and was trying to decide what to buy when he mentioned that his wife took all the stuff he used to have. He told us that for their 21st anniversary they gave each other a divorce-because it was what they both wanted as their gift. He made some other comments, and said how much happier he is and another woman who heard the conversation mumbled under her breath and said, she bets the wife is happier! I laughed so hard-he never even heard it, because she was walking out the front door and he was walking into the garage when she said it.

I was surprised at how many people were worried that someone had passed away, even though we listed it as a "Living Estate Sale" in the paper and on Craigslist. I was surprised to see how relieved each and every one of them was when I told them they just moved to the new assisted living facility behind Walmart! I got called honey and sweetie so many times in the past couple of days-I almost felt like I was with a bunch of old relatives!

The only things left (other than the garage stuff I mentioned earlier) were the queen headboard I sold it twice and then they realized they couldn't fit it in their vehicles!), a couple shower seats, a few coffee mugs, a tea kettle, a couple books, a shower curtain and some knick knacks. The pile was so little that it could fit into the trunk of a small car.

I was really happy and felt so blessed to be able to help my grandparents out! My grandma was furious with my grandpa for telling me to sell the dining room set-she wanted it-even though they didn't have room for it (an oval table with 6 HUGE chairs). They were arguing about it when I left. I think they were happy with the work being done and having some extra cash-even if they didn't say it.

Last night we drove to my parents house-just past the Mackinac Bridge (about 45 minutes from my grandparents house). We stopped at my favorite little hole in the wall restaurant-Scalawags!!! It is a little fish place that has the best ever, hands down chicken strips! My boys and I just LOVE it and we always try to stop when we are in town.We spent the night at my parents house, and it was really quiet without them being there. They are en route to Alaska-a trip to celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary. Eric and I got to kayak on the lake for an hour or so, and then I took my book and took a lonnnnnnggggg soak in their huge jacuzzi tub. It was so nice!

Now we are home and all unpacked, and the laundry is just finishing up in the dryer-it almost seems like the last few days didn't happen...almost.

Here is what the house looked like all set up and ready to sell on Wednesday ...

Here is what it looked like when we left today...

We were so busy trying to clean up and get out the door I totally forgot to take pictures of the kitchen and living room-but take my word for it-they were just as empty!