Garage Lights

We recently rehabbed 2 outdoor lights for our garage. We had 2 carriage lights that were pretty in design, but not so much in color. Another rummage sale find. Using Rust-oleum's black hammered finish spray paint, they turned out looking great. The previous paint job was rough and uneven, so the hammered finish hid a lot of sin. I was surprised how cool the texture looked afterwards. Neat stuff.

Laundry Redo

As always, the order we do projects around the house sometimes surprises us. We had a pretty ugly laundry room. Yes, it was on the redo list, but a little further down the list.  It started with us just getting real sick of looking at the floor in there. For some reason, half of the vinyl was torn out before we bought the house by the previous owners. And we had new flooring on hand in the garage, earmarked for this room. It was 4 boxes of nice wood laminate I found at a rummage sale last winter for real cheap, that I couldn't resist, for some unknown future project. When we bought this place, it was the perfect amount for this size of room. 

Finally last week, we couldn't take it anymore. The other ongoing projects could wait a few days.

The peach walls and the rapid flicker of the overhead light, made us nauseous every time we walked in there. The peeling wallpaper didn't help either.

So, it was decided to redo the flooring at least, thus needing to move the washer, dryer and hot water heater out of the way. Hmmm... since the room was empty for flooring...

Zachary got the idea of installing wainscoting around the room, and adding a false wall for the supply lines and vent to the washer and dryer, thus making a nice shelf behind them.

 Zachary's mind continued to work by solving the issue of where to put the litter box, by building a stand for the water heater. Added bonus, Zachary also learned how to install PEX plumbing.

 Almost a suitable stopping point for the time being, but color and storage beckoned.

 Zachary's decision to not paint the trim prior to installing it, came back to haunt him a little and made painting finicky. He plans on avoiding that when finishing the door to the garage soon.

 Another rummage sale find, that ended up fitting in quite nicely.

So far the cats don't seem to mind the new litter box location under the water heater. We have a few finishing touches to do, but we are very pleased with the result.

Passing Through

In my sights

I noticed Quee staring intently out the patio door yesterday, tail swinging. I figured it was a bird, as she loves bird watching. Nope, turtle watching. She would start to lose interest, then the turtle would take a step and the hunt was renewed.

TS Karen

Couple pics of Tropical Storm Karen inching closer on Sunday morning, before eventually dissipating in the Gulf before getting to PCB. The beach was fairly active though, lots of people enjoying the warm humid air with the waves.

House update

Diogenes in cleaning cycle

Some more changes happening in the kitchen again. We started adding the frames for the trim above the cabinets. We also added the frame for the wall oven next to the fridge and the box for the microwave near the cooktop, below the small upper cabinet.

Flooring in the bedroom! We had a change of heart about our change of heart about carpeting and put in wood laminate instead. Our first laminate choice wasn't in stock so we went with a little darker flooring, it isn't as dark as the living room floor though. We stopped about 2 feet from our patio door in the bedroom, since a moisture problem has appeared there more prominently in the last couple weeks. The doors were installed backwards originally and rain water has been pooling along the bottom of the door frame for years. Now no amount of caulk and Great Stuf has been able to quell the water anymore. (Another interesting factoid- the other patio door in the house, in the living room, is also installed backwards! Oy...) Turning the door around now doesn't pay since the frame is rotten, so we are looking to get a replacement door soon before finishing the last 2 feet of flooring.

We compost now! We got a little kitchen scrap pail for the house and a barrel to make the compost outside. I am very excited.

Our little orange trees are heavy with green oranges right now, about the size of baseballs.

We brought one pumpkin back from my parents' pumpkin patch from WI 2 weeks ago. I bought a mum from Lowe's to make it feel a little more like fall around here. Fall leaves generally don't change around here until early November.

Quee lounging in the window sill, watching me take pics of the mum.

One Year

Making it past our first year in Florida, I thought it would be suitable to list things we like about here and things we miss from living up north.

Good things living here:
Great weather about 9 months of the year, Sept-May
Lots of neat state parks and rec areas
Interesting flora and fauna (well that could be a minus in some cases, looking at you wall snakes)
The Gulf and the Beaches
No state income tax
Lots of fun attractions to see
Always a coastal breeze

Things missed:
Cheese curds and good cheese in general
Ruby Red Squirt
Wilmar Chocolates
Renaissance Fairs
Friends and Family
Cool state parks and rec areas
(I do admit, I miss snow a little bit. Like November/December snow, not March/April snow)

It has been a good first year for us here. We took a bigger risk than we normally would making a move like this, but so far it has been working out; good jobs and a fun project home to renovate. Florida might not be our forever home, but it is a good home for us now.

Oh, you again

Hello again web people... we are alive. Inadvertently about a month and a half has past without a post unfortunately. It is not like much has happened, we've been on the move, in a few different ways. Firstly we have completely moved into the house, and gave the keys back to the landlord for the apartment. Having one housing and utilities payment again feels nice. We are still unpacking, and leaving some of it packed until we get more progress done on the house renovations. More progress on the renovations have been made, in the kitchen area mostly. Pics to come.
I made a job change end of August and had the opportunity to go back up to Wisconsin for nearly 2 weeks for a job orientation and family visit in early September. Zachary had planned to stay back in FL to hold down the fort with the cats while I would be away, but we lost Zachary's sister unexpectedly and re-arranged travel plans for both of us to travel north instead. It was crappy circumstances, but it was really good to reconnect with Zachary's family for a few days.
After a few days in IL with family, we parted ways for almost week, I went up to Wisconsin for job orientation and Zachary went to Holland, Michigan to visit good friends for a bit. While in WI, I bunked at Mom & Dad's B&B. It was nice spending time with my parents again. Zachary rejoined me the following weekend in WI. We developed an appreciation for old TV shows on the MeTV channel, like F-Troop, Perry Mason and Hogan's Heroes. We got to see some of our family and friends in WI, but didn't get to everyone. Next time.

Tunnel Park in Holland, Mi

Morning fog on the lake at my parents' house

Got to watch my niece Sydney compete at a horse fun event

By mid week, we said so long again to Wisconsin and started the drive south again. This time, we broke the drive into 2 days, with a rest in Louisville, KY at a neat riverside hotel for the night.

View from our Louisville Hotel

We made it back to PCB, 2 weeks after we left, back home to 2 very lonesome cats. The neighbor across the street checked on the cats daily for us while away, but the cats still missed us. Queequeg even meowed like songbird to us for like an hour after we got home, she rarely meows under normal circumstances.

Quee not impressed with the neighbor's Great Dane showing up on the back deck one afternoon.

Now a week later, the road weariness has worn off and settling back into a routine. Zachary is plotting his next moves with the house renovation project and I have been setting up my home office, as I will be working from home majority of the time for now. I had a blog post half written before our travels about making it to our first year in FL, discussing things we like and things we miss. I think I'll get around to finishing that soon, better late than never... (End of August was the anniversary)
So here's to more frequent posting again!

Early morning walk to the beach this morning, just to say hello again the sea.