Saturday, March 28, 2009

The work continues


Here's a picture of the funny little storage cabinet in the hall. It used to house the heater unit, but the house now has a combined heater/air conditioner unit on the roof. So once upon a time someone turned the empty spot into a storage area. I spiffied it up a bit with paint and new cabinet pulls, which don't all match, but someday they will.












Here's my Cow Girl Living Room complete with a cow hide rug and an Annie Oakley throw. It still needs a few added touches.








I'm getting used to the green tile. The purple accents add a little elegance.











Murphy and Annie decorate the floor with stuffy toys and lots of stuffing.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

more pix



It took two coats of Gripper to cover the ugly green sponge paint techique in the bathroom.







Mom cleans the slider verticles












New kitchen, still needs a lot of sprucing up.











Mom cleans the heater/air condition intake vent.












The kitchen pantry freshly painted and shelves lined. This was my first completed project.


















My old condo living room













My new house living room

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

A homeowners work is never done!!


Here's a picture of the gazebo I bought at a yard sale. It was a 5 man job to put it together. Unfortunately all I had was my mom and me. It was not fun. It was a major test of our patience, intelligence and perseverance. And for our love for each other. Surprisingly we are still speaking to each other. Hopefully I'll enjoy the gazebo for many, many years.

Last Sunday I took a day off from home improvement projects and went on a motorcycle ride with my favorite riding group. We rode up Yarnell Pass and on to Skull Valley where we had a pleasant lunch at the Skull Valley Cafe.

Here's a picture of us enjoying lunch on the patio.

A cute mural.


Here's a picture of one of my living room walls. Most of my walls are partially painted. They are all a work in progress. Someday they will all be completely painted.

Say Hi to Bill O'Reilly



Here's a picture of my closet with the new shelf my mom and I installed. It's actually level and after two days it hasn't fallen down!!





Here's the grapefruit tree after I pruned it a little bit.



Here's the 44 year old Silk Oak before it got pruned.










Here's the Silk Oak after it was pruned. Much prettier!!

Stayed tuned for updates on the leaky sprinkler system and the leaky washing machine faucet. :-)

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

New House Update

My friend Barbara inspired me to update my BLOG. She's updating a house on the other side of Phoenix and it's fun to compare progress.



Tree trimmers stopped by and asked if I would like my Palm Tree trimmed.
They spoke English so I said "Sure."

This is definitely one job I can't do myself. They are coming back this morning to trim a Silk Oak in the backyard, while I trim some smaller trees.

































Little Annie out on the patio












Butch my handyman installing a new bedroom window. I got a good deal on the window. I got it from a neighbor of a friend for a really good price. Eventually I'll replace all the other windows too.










I found an even better leather chair and ottoman on Craig's list for $100. Larry my condo buyer can keep the old chair!!!













The beautiful rose bushes I hope to keep that way. And cute little Murphy!!









Barb, can I borrow your 40 pound sledge hammer?

Sunday, March 08, 2009

Annie

I plan to post pictures of my new 45 year old house soon, but in the meantime here's something else I've been busy with.......







Here's a picture of Annie, my newly adopted Cairn Terrier. I adopted her from Colonel Potter's Cairn Rescue Network. http://www.cairnrescue.com/
Scroll down to Available Cairns in Arizona to find Annie. Her rescue name was Bourbeuse. Her foster mom called her Mitzi, and I named her Annie, after Little Sure Shot, Annie Oakley. Annie, like most of Colonel Potter's rescue dogs, are from puppy mills. Annie spent her first 4 years in a cage having puppy litter after puppy litter. Thanks to the Colonel Potter Organization she, and many more, are rescued and given the opportunity to find a loving family in which to spend the rest of their lives. Annie spent 3 weeks in a wonderful foster home in Yuma, AZ being taught how to live in a real home with 5 other Cairns. Annie seems to be adapting very well to her new life of freedom. She learned very quickly that mom's lap is the best place in the world!! Murphy seems to be taking it all in stride and shares his toys and romps a bit with Annie.