Lordy, now I went and did it. Was talking to the hub, trying to do two things at once and POOF! Must have pressed the wrong button and reverted back to an old template of my blog. Loverly. NOT! Bear with me as I try and correct it. As if I don't have enough mess in my life right now! Grrrr.
For those of you familiar with the movie "The Money Pit," all I have to say is "two weeks.""Contractors Art and Brad Shirk are called in, work permits are issued, and the job is originally estimated to take two weeks. The estimate of two weeks is a running gag throughout the movie. When asked how long a process will take, the answer is always "two weeks". Walter is increasingly frustrated by the delays and dubs the house “the money pit".; it'll get done in two weeks."Oh, the famous last words of contractors! Ok, last week, the demo was supposed to begin on Monday. Then, it was changed to Tuesday, then Wednesday. I kid you not. This morning, I get a phone call, "Do you mind if we begin on Monday?" hehe. I think they (all contractors and workmen) go to the same school, don't you? It is quite a specialty they have of putting things off.
Of course, as I mentioned, the kitchen has been cleaned out since Sunday. And, as of Tuesday, I have given all misc. parts of my old stove to the friend who called dibs on it. So, obviously, I have no stove to cook on either. Grrrrrrrrr. I swear.
Tonight, we did our first cooking (and eating) at "Mom's Place." She was so happy to see us lugging my favorite pots and pans down. She cooked our hot dogs just right, like she always does. She watches things cooking on a stove like a professional guardsman keeping an eye on the safe. She never takes her eyes off the pan (except to smile for a photo op) and keeps food turned like a machine. She had those dogs evenly browned on all sides! The hub is out of town and the teenager is out with his buds, so it was only the three of us--mom, the kid and I. Yum. We ate on paper plates since we're moving the old dishwasher down here on Monday! We'll see if that rings true or not.
Today, we received our Chocolate of the Month from my brudda. Cupcakes!! My all-time favorite dessert (or snack, of course). Look how pretty. I haven't had a moment to see where they're from, but they are almost too pretty to eat. Never too pretty, of course, but almost. Think it's about time to have one to make sure they're fresh!
Oh, to have it all done and finished with--dream on girlfriend. The men helped yesterday to remove everything from all the cabinets. It was so much easier with all those hands. The old saying "Many hands, little work" rang true yesterday.
We got most of it done, leaving the crystal stemware and vintage tea cups for me to box up today. I told the hub, we may as well just move; it's all packed up ready to go! You should see the bags of outdated items I had to toss from the pantry. Perhaps the new system will help me keep an eye on that stuff.
As you can imagine, everything has spilled over into other areas of the house. I stacked a lot of junk on the dining room table. I'll get to it later. I just wanted it out of the kitchen so I could concentrate on the job at hand. Within a couple of weeks, everything on the back side of the house will have to be moved in order for the floor guy to come in and refinish the hard woods. Lovely. What a ball that will be. The fun begins on 
Wednesday when the demolition begins. I am giving most of the cabinets and appliances to Habitat for Humanity. A friend, who is using our house plans to build his house will be taking the range. The island with sink and old desk is being moved upstairs to the "Pit." That should finish out that part of the house nicely (and perhaps entice the teenagers to stay up there? hehe) In the meantime, I have moved my computer over to the study. It's nice being able to look out the front window and see what's happening, ya know? Won't be here permanently, who knows where I'll end up with it.
Today was the first day of school. Can you believe it? The kid brought home a big ol' box of supplies. We were able to order the collection from the school this year. What a difference! I remember last year as if it were yesterday. A list of 45 items was like finding a needle in a 
haystack (last year's post here). Of course, I bought all the wrong things, so I let them do the shopping this time! What a relief! Both boys had a good first day. Tomorrow the fun begins when it's the actual first full day. The teenager was up and gone before we knew it; so I guess he was ready to get back into the swing of things. Even the kid was up and 'atem. Looks like a good start to a great year. Let's keep our fingers' crossed, shall we? Now, it's time for my homework. Looks like a lot of paperwork for me to fill out is waiting on the table.
The heat has lowered a bit, but yes, it's still hot! We've all been staying in and enjoying the cool air conditioning. I sure would hate to be without it these dog (er, cat) days. The cats have been tearing up the house. Bella just aggravates the kajeebies out of the two older kitties. Every once in a while, Dave gives her a good nip to let her know who's really boss. She runs away as if she has been beaten to a pulp, only to return to irritate him some more.
We found this great little boiled wool rug for the kitties yesterday and they are loving it. I named it "the jelly fish." I think Dave likes it the most. He has been on it since we brought it home. The thought of lying on wool give me the heeby-jeebies. Lord, don't need any more heat!
Abby and Dave's life isn't so rough either.
We're heading out to the airport in a few minutes to drop MJ off. Pout. Til then, her and the kid are playing their last round of UNO. It has been a fun visit.
I came home to a garage full of cabinets (and a penguin). Oooh, they look pretty. Of course, I am doubting my choice of jatoba for the island. It is really dark. Here's a pic of the island legs and a shelf that is going over the stove. It actually looks better in the picture..jpg)
It is with sad news that I post on closing up Riverside for the season. Pout. I'm sure we will be down in the fall sometime; but just in case we don't make it, I'm seeing to it that everything is getting done. As you can see, my handy sidekick is supervising--making sure I get everything put away as it should be.
I found these wonderful canvas "bags" to put all my sheets in so they will be fresh when we (or guests) return. I love them. This is the kid's room. All fresh and tidy. I'm trying to be as organized as possible. I also found these great HUGE zip-lock baggies (can't find them in TN!) to put food products in. There's 
one in the fridge completely sealed with my spices and such. We'll see if they are air tight the next time we're down and open the cracker box, right? Don't know. All I know is that it is better than leaving ANY food products out to entice any varmint to enter the house. Lord forbid. That is my worst nightmare here. Knock wood, we've been fortunate so far. Of course, we have the occasional bug here and there--which totally freaks me out; but overall, for the climate and area we are in, I can't complain.
I found these cute shell "cases" to make a vignette in the kid's room. We found them at the 
store where I got the sofa. I told you it was a great place, didn't I? Speaking of sofas, here's the one in our bedroom. I finally got the hub's desk up there too with a great little lamp and a glass fish. Perfect for him to begin his writings, I hope. (Finger's crossed.) I moved the little deco table over to my window in the kitchen after we found a nice farmhouse table. (I opted against the old 40s desk.) Of course, we had to stain it the table--nothing is ever perfect.
Think I will have to paint it some more before I am happy with it. Time ran out this trip; so the stain will have to do. Do you remember the table cloth Peggy sent me in a swap? It is once again being used with lotsa love. Thank you Peggy for sharing such a special piece of you with me.
MJ has been here since Friday and we have been having a heck of a good time. Friday, our downstairs air conditioning was acting up and, of course, the repair man couldn't come until Monday. Saturday was so hot that we moved upstairs 
to my bedroom and played games all night. In fact, we ordered pizza and ate it up there while we played. It was too fun (and cool!). Sunday, we made it over to the beach where we found several weddings taking place. As you can tell, he water was a lot greener. I would love to find out what makes it that way. Several days before, it was crystal clear blues. We stopped for shaved ice on our way back home. I chose watermelon, and it was soooo good (and refweshing)!! Yum.
We have been having so much fun playing board games--Parcheesi, Uno, Sorry, Monopoly. OMG. What fun! It's been a while since we've whipped out the old games. Let me tell you, MJ 
tore our behinds up at Monopoly! Gee whiz. She hit the jackpot three times! The pic above is just before she won. This pot had over $6 k in there!!! After I landed on HER Boardwalk (with only three houses) and the bank couldn't afford to pay me for selling my hotels and mortgaging my property, we decided to call it a night (at Monopoly, anyway). As you can see, SHE had all the money!!
We then moved on to Sorry!. As you can see, I won that game (I was yellow).
The kid and I have been on a roll. We're trying to cozy up Riverside. We don't have much more time here before the "season" is over. All the sales are hot and heavy so we have been burning up the streets (as my mom used to say.) Yesterday, we found these great bird houses and an old shutter to use as a table behind the sofa. Of course, we couldn't let well enough alone and had to paint it up a tad. The navy blue just wouldn't do. We chose some mustard and a little red in the nooks. It turned out great.
Of course, the kid had to blow dry it due to you-know-who. We actually had to put Miss Bella in the laundry room, paint and blow dry the shutter. You know she would have been all over the paint like flies to . . . well, you get my drift.
All our friends have left for home and the kid and I are just sitting back at Riverside chillin' and watchin' the river flow. All of a sudden the sun has disappeared and it looks like we may get some rain--tut tut. We were supposed to have a rainy weekend, but we didn't get a drop. I was actually looking forward to the rain so maybe now it will finally arrive. Two bluebirds were sitting 
just outside the window Of course, by the time I found the binoculars and focused in on them, they were gone, poof. The kid and I attempted at one point to put a bird feeder outside this window but found it futile. It would have been difficult to keep clean anyway. Perhaps a birdhouse. Now there's thinking! Ah haw! It's such a lovely spot to sit here and watch the outside world of river life. As you can see, Bella enjoys it as much as we do.
Saturday, we found a new place to have lunch at one of the many marinas in town. Another hot spot to add to the growing list of eateries here. As I mentioned, we were supposed to get rain, and it sure did look as though we would get some. We saw the storm coming in and buzzed on
over to the pier to watch it come in. I don't think it ever did hit Fairhope. It sure looked omnibus though. It just makes me giddy to watch these storms. And here is one of the newest additions to the flock of Fairhope pelicans. Isn't it adorable? A little construction pelican, hehe.
Yesterday was a day of fun. We first went to lunch at Lulu's, 
one of the infamous places in Gulf Shores. It's quite the tourist trap, but I do enjoy their fru fru drinks and L.A. Caviar (Lower Alabama--of course). They have the best pina coladas around (even if they don't put but a lick of alcohol in them--which is probably a good thing). The boys had their virgin daqs--strawberry and key lime. How refreshing. Sorry, I had already dug into the LA Caviar before even taking a pic. Soooo good on crackers. (There's those peas again!)
After our bellies were good and full, we headed over to the Coastal Living Dream Home just across the way. I haven't been to one of these in years--they make me depressed. Who wants to go to a $2 million house and then go home? hehe. I am so happy we went though. It was gorgeous, needless to say. At 2 mil, I guess it should be. Golly. Of course, I did pick up some ideas to use. (Don't tell the hub!)
I loved this hanging shelf. Perhaps in our nook in the master bedroom? Hmmmm. Oh yea, I thinks so.
These shadow box ideas have been added to the kid and I's list of things to do. I'll let you know when we're finished. Wink wink.
Loved the horizontal striped bath. The colors in the house were very soothing, just what I am looking for at Riverside. (Did I mention the paint bug is beginning to bite again? After a visit to a show home, how couldn't it? Don't know if I'm --ever-- ready to do stripes again though, grrrrrr.) Here are a few more shots of some of my favorite spots. DANGEROUS!
Who doesn't like taupe?
And a beautiful laundry room (yea, right).
Clean pendant lighting.
And lots of extra pillows for cuddling with (when the hub is not home).
And a house with major curb appeal.
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