Monday started off quieter since Rebecca and her girls went to visit Kera Sunday evening. I worked on more kitchen upgrades, those lesser important things that still need doing. I managed to get baseboard and one door trimmed; need the pantry door before I can finish that job. I ordered an oak door, which the cabinet maker will trim to accommodate the glass insert which the glass lady in Springdale will make, once she recovers from a recent motorcycle incident. I got part of the pasture bush hogged in the cool of the evening (cool is a relative term). Nathan also came and attached the last of the kitchen cabinet doors. He had installed a turn table in the corner cabinet, but it was not designed for what we wanted. So we went out to the barn where all the old cabinets are stored and removed the old one and replaced it. It is much more user friendly. The only real item left for the kitchen remodel is the installation of the countertops, which won't happen until mid August.
Tuesday I had planned to drive the 90 minutes to Menard's to purchase exterior vinyl siding to cover the new kitchen. They are the only place that carries what my house is sided with, and I can purchase it by the piece. I had a few minutes before I wanted to leave and remembered the girls saying the downstairs bath sink backed up. Simple fix; just put a pan under the p-trap, loosen the nuts, remove the p-trap, clean it out and replace. Unfortunately, the water softener did it's purging about the time I removed the p-trap (the water from that action runs into the drain line for the sink) and instead of a small bowl of water leaking out, the flood gates were opened and the water kept coming. Reattaching the p-trap should have been simple, except I discovered the reason for slow drainage: there was a butter knife in the trap which made it a little difficult getting it reattached. There may have been some water overflowing onto the bathroom rug, requiring it to be washed; there might also have been water that seeped into the adjoining water heater closet requiring immediate attention. The water was contained, the rug was washed, the p-trap properly cleanout out and the knife thrown out. It had to have been there for a couple of years since I replaced that faucet about two years ago and installed the sink stopper.
I did manage to get to Menard's and get my siding. Rebecca returned late evening with two cute bunnies that Callie had purchased from her aunt. They are now temporarily housed in the old chicken coop.
Wednesday I spent part of the day (that means I worked for a while until it got too hot, came in and rested, then went back out) installing siding. The new kitchen is about 8 feet by 12 feet and I needed to side three sides. I had enough old siding to do the one side that marries up to a wall with the older siding so the color would match. While the color is the same, 20 years of weathering has lightened the original. So I installed the new siding on the two sides that no one will pay much attention to. And that is when I learned that my math skills need refining. When purchasing siding on Tuesday, I computed cutting 12 foot pieces in half would give me two 8 foot pieces. Hence, I am short two pieces. Miranda arrived with her four in the afternoon.
I finished the siding on Thursday and completed bush hogging the west pasture. I also spent some time cleaning up around the exterior of the house and got help from some grand kids in loading into the truck four months worth of building material trash that had been accumulating around the grounds.
Friday I was off to the transfer station to dump my load of trash. While there, the skies opened up with a tremendous downpour. I was inside a huge metal building and the sound of the falling rain was thunderous. There was more organizing needed before family started to arrive later in the day. Jonathan plus four and Andy plus two were coming off a multi day canoe trip and came directly to our house after pulling out of the river and Miranda's Dan also joined us. We had 19 to feed and house for the night. All the canoers required showers and somehow, we had sufficient hot water!
Saturday was the traditional Pie Celebration Day for which Rebecca started baking pies a couple of weeks ago. Her final pie came out of the oven just as the event started at 2 pm. Kera came with Charlotte and her Dad; Deborah and her entire family also drove over, so by my count we had 28 family members here for the event. The kids took over, rearranging the furniture to open the kitchen for pies and the dining/living room for visiting. With help from Miranda, she and Rebecca made 26 pies and four more were donated by attendees. As in the past, we let the grands have one slice at the beginning and then banished them from the kitchen until the event was near the end; then they could come and eat as much pie as they wanted. Here is a list of pies:
From my perspective, this was our best pie celebration yet; more pies and more people. When the dust settled, we had two whole pies plus varying amounts of three others left over. People came and stayed to visit. It was a fun time and the grands had fun playing/interacting with one another. The children put the furniture back and the house was back to order shortly after the festivities. It was an early to bed night for me.
We had two good youth speakers this morning followed by our high council speaker. Interesting quote: "Sometimes I win, sometimes I learn". This evening, the daughters made lumpia (yum, yum) for dinner and it was followed with a delicious chocolate cake to celebrate (early) my birthday.
Hope you have many winning and learning experiences this week!
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