Pull up a chair and have a slice of birthday pie with me...I am 52 years old today!
DD3 landed on the Slope this afternoon for her summer job. She is such a great daughter- she had one of her friends deliver a fresh strawberry pie out here today. HOW SWEET! My mom used to make sure I had one every year on my birthday..and since she has been gone, DD3 makes sure to get mom one. (Even when she is thousands of miles away in Alaska!!) I am so blessed!
I am wrapping up a busy four day weekend. The hub and I spent most of it working on the big house and squeezing in some RnR.
Yesterday I decided to really deep clean the bathroom in the big house. There is just something yucky about scrubbing (someone else's) grime that has been accumulating for probably a year. Uh, beyond YUCK actually. But, I used several pairs of gloves and LOTS of those mechanic-strength blue paper towels. It took almost two hours, but when I was done the bathroom was completely disinfected and it sparkled. Today I stopped by the dollar store and bought a new shower curtain liner. We will need to move electrical switches and outlets and hang a new mirror, but otherwise, now that it is cleaned, I dont think we need to redo anything major. I had budgeted $3000 for the bathroom, but I think it will end up costing under $500 for electrical and drywall repairs and new mirrors.
Let me take a step back and talk a little about the home repair budget. When we first decided to move back to the country, I made a list of all the things I thought I needed. The budget was a minimum of $40,000 but could have easily gone way above that amount.
Thankfully, the semi-frugal part of my brain (and my desire to retire eventually) has kicked into gear and I have re-examined wants vs needs vs goals.
Because the one of the load bearing walls in the living room is not sealed well, and therefore neither weather or pest resistent- plus the brick work on the fireplace (same wall) is crumbling...AND the wood stove is too small for the house and doesnt heat properly, repairing this wall is a NEED. The estimated cost for this wall, plus new brick work and a new wood stove =$12,000-15,000. This is our first and main priority.
New kitchen cupboards would be really nice...but they are not a need, they are a want. As are updated appliances. However, the budget jury is still out on whether or not this will make the budget cut.
New flooring is a need, since what is currently in the house has been damaged by pets...and given the state of that bathroom, for my peace of mind, new flooring is a must for me.
New paint falls into the need category, in my opinion. Patch jobs, half painted walls, kids allowed to use markers, have all factored into this. I will probably hire my sons mother in law (who owns a painting company) to do the painting. having someone else paint, is a want. I could paint on my own, but the house will need to be painted in July or August. The heat and the fumes dont sound AT ALL fun to an asthmatic-menopausal gramma.
Laundry was all washed and line dried. I have missed my clothesline. I love the smell of line dried sheets!
We went to lunch today with SIL who just started six months of chemo. He has been through round one and has lost some weight. It was good to visit with him. He has such an amazing outlook.
The hub is going to bbq some steaks and corn on the cob tonight- which will be followed up by the pie!
And tomorrow, its back to work.
Strawberry Pie tonight!
June 4th, 2013 at 01:18 am
June 4th, 2013 at 01:42 am 1370306528
Can you charge your nephew a cleaning fee? That bathroom sounds very gross!!
June 4th, 2013 at 01:52 am 1370307136
June 4th, 2013 at 02:14 am 1370308482
A cleaning technique that I learned about recently (and happened to find a box of what I needed for a big clearance ...) using denture cleaning tablets in the toilet bowl! I've used 4 so far, and the toilet looks amazingly better - with no scrubbing by me.
June 4th, 2013 at 03:28 am 1370312906
June 4th, 2013 at 04:08 am 1370315285
June 4th, 2013 at 05:12 am 1370319166
ccf- the hub worked out the arrangement with his nephew, so no, I dont feel we can do anything now..but its been a good lesson.
Laura- I will have to try that! We are on well water here and there are lots of minerals in the water.
LR- I have been considering that option. I am actually going to try that first- and see if it doesnt help.
Again, thank you for the kind wishes..I wish you all could join me for pie!
June 4th, 2013 at 02:31 pm 1370352666
June 4th, 2013 at 04:49 pm 1370360967
June 4th, 2013 at 09:52 pm 1370379173
June 5th, 2013 at 06:53 am 1370411636
June 6th, 2013 at 10:53 pm 1370555581
June 7th, 2013 at 05:41 pm 1370623272