Working the House Plan Post (3)

Finally after a month of having the bathroom under construction, it is beginning to take shape.

All the wall paper is gone, and all the holes, bumps, and other hideous uneven surfaces are smoothed.  

Most of the dust has settled – WE HOPE! 

Roger found a cool door handle for the medicine cabinet, and we cleaned and reused the antique hinges. I really like the splash of color with the wood.  

We were jockeying for position all weekend with two stepladders in one small space! Most of the walls have been painted. Still have the trim and back of the door to prepare & paint.  Yippee-more DUST!

We have one messy area to open up and explore; the light switch, the light/fan, and the electric plug, are all separate boxes, we intend to consolidate them.  

 Cleaning out the horrid tall cabinets behind the tub area was a pain! Now they look fresh and clean with a new coat of white paint – top to bottom. The outside will be the same color as the walls. We have decided we love the wall color. (It hasn’t photographed well) It is an extremely light, sand color with a tiny hint of pink. It makes me think of Bermuda.

 Cleaning out the horrid tall cabinets behind the tub area was a pain! Now they look fresh and clean with a new coat of white paint – top to bottom. The outside will be the same color as the walls. We have decided we love the wall color. (It hasn’t photographed well) It is an extremely light, sand color with a tiny hint of pink. It makes me think of Bermuda.  

Most of the grunge work is done; I can hardly wait to see the finished room. We will be installing a new light fixture over the mirror, a new overhead fan/light, light switch covers, and ART.

 Meanwhile in the real world, we are registered for two local upcoming dog shows. I am franticly working Ella and Cabby’s coats.  Roger will be showing Ella and I will show Cabby. I’d really like to get this boy’s championship done so he can move on to other things. His tail set is a major handicap and his soft disposition does not help him to show at his best. Neither of these things makes him lesser a dog and actually his sweet personality is a plus for any companion animal. Ella is coming along nicely. The puppies have settled her down as they wear her out. LOL

Pups are doing well-growing like crazy! We started last evening putting them in separate (very large) cages just for overnight. They did very well for the first time being apart. Hana has a scabby spot on her side which appears to be from a dog bite. It is time to separate them when they are not supervised. I think they will transition to the crates quickly. Also a plus is they are using papers to potty both inside and outside. It’s so difficult to house break puppies when you are not able to be with them constantly!

Percy was not feeling very well this week end. I am hoping he is just tired from his self-imposed duty of taking care of Ella’s physical needs. She is in heat and Percy thinks he’s the PIMP-DADDY! I must be hard on the old boy.       

Working the House Plan Post (2)

Thursday and Friday I sent the day moving into my new office at work. We have no idea why this was necessary, but a couple others had to move around also.  I will be so happy to retire and move onto something else! I always joke about a prerequisite to working here being one must be insane, but the truth is if you are not when you are hired; just stick around awhile!      

Another beautiful week end! It’s as if we haven’t had winter at all this year.

My new wedding/Anniversary band arrived and I love it! It’s just what I wanted and what a bargain it was too.  The artist is Fernando Benally:    http://www.fernandobenally.com/

Mailing Address

Fernando Benally

903 west alameda #522 SANTA FE NM 87501 US

Phone:     5058629142

E-mail: fbenallyinfo@gmail.com

Roger made a lot of progress on our bathroom project this week end. Peeling off all of the wallpaper, fixing quite a few wall issues as he went and getting about half of the room painted. I finished the medicine cabinet with a Sea & Sand theme. It will be the primary color focus in the room.

  We are considering adding large Rain type shower head and consolidating the switches & plug outlets.

Saturday I cleaned the entire house and baked a large turkey. I really love having food cooked and ready to warm up for easy fast dinners after working all day. The bird will last us awhile!

We made another run to Lowes where we bought a light fixture and a new overhead light/Fan. I can hardly wait to see them installed! We consider new hinges for the cabinets but didn’t find anything we liked there, we will continue to look.  We found some perfect switch covers there but we will have to wait to see exactly which ones will need after the consolidation.

David Young brought his wife over to meet Cabby. We had considered re-homing Cabby with this man and his wife, but Roger was not too impressed with the idea.  He thinks Cabby would benefit from a family with children, IF he is to leave us. Sounds to me like Cabby will be staying with us and that’s okay with me!   My only hesitation is in having two intact boys, but that is something we will deal with.    

Speaking of boys, wee Percy will be 14 ½ on March 5^th. How is it that some days he can hear better than other days? The stinker knows how to work it!

We had our first recommended painter come by to give us an estimate on replacing bad boards, scraping old paint and painting the outside. I have collected several other recommended painters to contact.

I updated Debra Jones, Realtor about our increased square footage; 1461. She was excited$$$$.

Sunday started out winding, overcast and cool but it soon turned to breezy, sunny and warm. I washed the Scots and got busy with their grooming. Crazy, but I still don’t think their coats are ready!  It is what it is and the show will go one whether they are ready or not. Ella is coming into full heat, which will make for an interesting time. Poor girl is rolling with hormones right now and so needy! Of course Cabby is happy, happy, happy, excited.

Roger was stuck in the bathroom all week end and hardly got to enjoy the lovely weather at all.  At least we were able to have the windows open.  

I sliced up the big turkey bird and we had a feast for dinner. The freezer is now full of meal size turkey dinners and I am cooking the bones in the big crock pot for broth.

Roger ran to the store and picked up some of that delicious box wine. Julie & Mark spoiled us, ha-ha-ha. So enjoyed some refreshing white ‘whine’ while we watched the Oscars, but it didn’t take long before I was in bed sound asleep, leaving Roger to finish watching the show by himself.

It will be a short work week for us as Thursday AM we leave for the Heart of America Specialty dog show in Gray Summit, MO.   (By St. Louis)  

Working the House Plan Post (1)

We sat down the neighborhood Realtor and discussed an cussed for what seemed like several hours.  They are a family of Realtors; husband & wife & and son. What they had to say is both good and bad. Tulsa's downtown has been enjoying a wonderful revitalization over the last 10 years or so. We benefit because we are the oldest planned neighborhood in Tulsa and very close to the thriving downtown arts district. Homes in the neighborhood 20 years ago were falling down in disrepair while the larger ones were purchased by smart investors. Over the last decade or so the remaining smaller homes have been or are  being restored and purchased by young professionals who enjoy the urban lifestyle at a minimal price. We have downtown condos with a starting price of $875K, so it is easy to see why our neighborhood would be a wish choice.

Realtor Debra Jones is aware of the demographic and trends but we believe she finds it easier to sell these little cottages for a lesser amount because it is an easy sell. We know she sold the houses on both sides at below value!  Due to the larger homes selling off earlier we have lots of recent sells for at or under $100K in the area. Debra says when you have a 1100 sf cottage with only  1 bath, and  without a fully redesigned kitchen with granite counter tops, coupled with the low priced sells in the immediate area,  it might be difficult to impossible to get a loan over $100K.

The upstairs area and the inclusion of the back porch into the kitchen area, have not been added to the deed square footage. So this Friday morning at 6:30 AM no less, we have an appointment with a certified residential property appraiser to give us an accurate number.

Meanwhile our next task is to check around for home loans for our new property to determine how much we should borrow and from whom. It's going to be tricky because we really need to move out of the Bonhaven cottage prior to putting it on the market.

We have made a start on the Bathroom and it has been WORK but fun. 

                                                             100 years of paint

                                                              scrape scrape scrape

                                                                   Faded Glory?

                                                                    Sanding the door

Finally down to the wood! I plan to varnish the door because it reminds me of driftwood. The molding part of the cabinet will be turquoise. I am also planning a cool shade to go over the light fixture.  

Boy does this look better than the old one! Roger did a great job with the installation! 

Roger has started striping the wallpaper. The walls will be a light sand color (not pink!) He has replaced the fan/light and painted the ceiling too.  Looking good! 

Tonight we get to take the night off  with bargain hamburger night at McNellies Tavern and then take Cabbie, Ella, Chief and Hana to Handling class.

Cabby getting ready to show. 

Roger and the fur-balls hanging out in the bedroom while showing off the beautiful paint job which Julie and Mark did while we were soaking up the sun on vacation. Are they good friends or what!!!  Speaking of good friends, the bed is adorned in a lovely red Scottie quilt given to us as a wedding present by Theresa Stewart. 

Received this cute picture of Olivia. Previously known as the orange collar puppy. You can't see it in the picture but she has a cute milk chin. 

                                           I think this is the most perfect spot in the world.